Yet More Taxi Etc. Questions

[JuJuBe500]

Sigh...I can't believe how many taxi related St. Maarten threads I have read and still have questions.

Anyway, here it is...we'll be in St. Maarten from 9am to 6pm (is island time the same as Miami time?) and I'd like to first take a taxi to Marigot and find some good pastry/croissant type French (Dutch? Don't know what side Marigot is on) breakfast (any recommendations?). The SXM Taxi website does have a fare for the cruise ship dock to Marigot (is that private taxi or the kind where you wait for it to fill up?), so thats not a problem. But, from Marigot I'd like to go to DIVI Little Beach for a while. Are there taxis in Marigot that can take me there? I didn't see any info on that on the taxi website. Anyone know how far it is from Marigot to there, and approx. how much money? Then maybe DIVI to Maho for the prime time to watch planes. Taxis available for that trip? Cost? Distance? And, whew, finally MAYBE maho to Bayside Riding Club which is next to Orient Beach. Is that far? Taxis available? Distance?

LOL.:o :p That is a lot I know! But any ANY info anyone has would be appreciated.

Oh yeah, guavaberry liquer. Best place to buy?

Thanks!!:eek:

[gtaylor]

Wow, that’s a lot of travel! And mostly crisscrossing the island!

 

First, let’s get a good map:

 

It's available here .

 

The cross-island trips that you’re planning are roughly comparable; just figure that the Cruise pier – Marigot fare is about what you should expect for each of the taxi rides.

 

Taxi’s will be available at each of your stops – could require a phone call from Sunset Beach Bar and the stables.

 

There aren’t many spots on the island that are even 10 miles apart. Driving times vary dramatically depending on time of day and day of week.

 

For the croissants, I’d recommend Zee Best, which is located in Marigot (It’s on the French side – see the map) at the Marina. The taxi will take you there. But they also have a new shop on the Dutch side in the Simpson Bay Yacht Club complex. It’s in Simpson Bay, behind the Scotia Bank, across from Goodfellas.

 

If you’re running short on time, and you may, with this idea of a schedule, buy the Guavaberry anywhere you can find it. You haven’t mentioned shopping on Front Street, but suggest you fit that in and taste the stuff at the ‘Factory Store’ first. If you have the time, we usually find the best liquor prices on the opposite end of Front Street from the big cruise ship pier, or to the left facing the courthouse. Check Ram’s, Price Club and Splash.

[JuJuBe500]

You are now officially the second person to point this out to me (crisscrossing the island). :D Now that I have access to a map, I find I am revising my plan a bit. First off, do you know of any good breakfast places in Philipsburg? Second, do you have any beach recommendations for either the Dutch or the French side? I don;t want to go to Orient Beach because it so touristy. From other posts, particularly one I read from a girl who lives on St. Maarten, DIVI Little Beach sounded good. I am looking for uncrowded, nice sand, clear water, maybe some watersports like jet skiing...basically a beach the locals would go to and love. But then someone responded to this thread of mine and said DIVI wasn't that great. Any ideas? Also, do you know if in October Caribbean time is the same as Eastern time? I also would like to experience some good Caribbean flavored reasonably priced food for lunch. I have read that Pedro's at Orient Beach is a favorite spot, and also one mentioned near the Simpson Bay Yacht Club, and one near the airport...

 

ok, ok I am done, for now! :p Thank you for your help.

 

Julie

[Riskywood]

You would probably love Orient Beach. It was one of the nicest I have ever been on even with a few tourists there from 2 cruise ships. It is so long (over one mile) that you won't have any trouble finding your own spot for privacy/relaxation. I can't remember a nicer beach for swimming - perfect sand, nice waves, no rocks!

[gtaylor]

Before I start, I feel that I should mention that we’ve been visiting St. Maarten since 1981. For the last 8 or so years we’ve been spending an average of three weeks on the island, usually in the Fall.

 

To your questions:

 

Breakfast: You can always have a nice breakfast on board, but if you want an island flavor for breakfast, here we go.

 

For a very nice restaurant-style breakfast on the beach, visit the Pasanggrahan on Front Street/Great Bay in downtown P’Burg. Look at the map page. On the left side there’s an option for Philipsburg. Click that for a map of downtown. #18 on that map is Pasanggrahan. It’s where the Queen has stayed when visiting the island (we’ve stayed here twice). Great breakfast with a view of the harbor and possibly your ship.

 

For a more casual breakfast, try Kangaroo Court. It’s just to the right of the Courthouse, also downtown. You can see the Courthouse on the map, just off of Wathey Square, where the water taxi can drop you if you choose not to walk to town.

 

For a MUCH more local flavor for breakfast, you can try The Jerk. It’s a Jamaican style restaurant, on Dutch St. Maarten, run by an Asian lady from Canada; Dollie. It just doesn’t get much better than that. Using the map, you would walk from Wathey Square, between the Courthouse and Kangaroo court towards the Government building. When you see the parking lot, angle off to the right a bit, but continue heading North towards the Police Station (on the map). The Jerk is located directly South of across from the Police Station. This is where we grab lunch more often than anywhere else on the island (usually headed for the beach)! I’m not sure that we’ve EVER seen a tourist in here. Their loss!

 

See the Jerk on this page

 

A beach that the locals go to and love. I hope that you get to see Orient; it truly is a beautiful beach. We, personally, would never go to Divi. I’d recommend Mullet Bay Beach. It’s nice, fairly quiet, there are services (including freshly cooked ribs, etc.), and you can see the planes heading in and lining up for their landing. It’s quite close to Maho if you still want to hop over there to witness the landings incredibly close up!

 

The time: St. Maarten is the same as East Coast during Daylight Savings, so you’re good until October 31st.

 

Caribbean flavored lunch: Well, you could have grabbed a couple of to-go jerk pork/jerk chicken orders from The Jerk (that’s what we would have done)! If not, grab some ribs. There are good ribs cooked up at Mullet, we understand, but we’ve never had them.

 

If you can ask the taxi to stop on the way from P’Burg to Mullet, you’ll be driving right past our current favorite rib shack on the island; Lido’s parking lot on Welfare Road. Great food at an incredible price!

 

Scroll down for Lido

 

We’ve had Pedro’s, but believe that they are overrated, and have become too expensive. I think they may have a higher priced menu that they pull out on cruiseship days.

 

For a rib place near Simpson Bay Yacht Club, that MAY be Joe’s Grill & Ribs. They’re a favorite of a local friend of ours, but we’ve yet to try them. They’re located in Simpson Bay, between the Subway and 7 Alive.

 

For a restaurant near the airport, it’s probably Sun Set Beach Bar at the foot of the runway at Maho. Great location, really good food, love the swordfish steak sandwich. Topless women drink free?

[beachchick]

gtaylor: Please, please, please tell me whether "topless women drink free" at Sunset Beach Bar is true. We keep hearing rumors, but can't get confirmation.

 

Thanks.

beachchick

[gtaylor]

Neil Rooney, who owned Sun Set Beach Bar (SSBB) at the time tells the story this way:

 

The "Topless Women Drink 4 Free" started in early 1997.

There were these three Dutch guys who ran a Tandem Skydive operatiom. Well, they were suffering from bad weather and were drowning thier sorrows at the bar.

There was a group of several young ladies, sunbathing topless on the beach, about 40 feet from D bar.

After several trips to D bar, having put their tops on for the trip, one of the boys jumped over the bar and erased the "drink of D day" sign and wrote "Topless Women Drink 4 FREE".

And as is said, the rest is history.

 

Neil now owns Buccaneer Beach Bar (BBB) and adds:

 

If you feel the need to continue this at Buccaneer, who am I to stand in your way?

Sure, why not

 

My take on this is that the tradition will continue at BBB.

[beachchick]

Thank you for the info--that's a pretty good story.

 

beachchick

[JstUsTwooo]

do you know the best, closest to the pier, place to rent a jeep???

 

Thank so much!!!

[gtaylor]

No.

 

I have no experience with jeeps, and would actually recommend that you rent a car, which would be much cheaper and would have air conditioning.

 

I have read here that Arthur's and Best both rent cars and jeeps at the pier and have good feedback. Do a search of this forum and decide.