Would love to try to answer as many St.Maarten questions as possible...

[cruizeblues]

Trade with me ANYTIME!!!! Especially from November through March:D My DH and I visited 5 islands on our last cruise, and we fell in love with St. Martin...Definitely our favorite of the five! We felt like we could live there because it seemed more like home than the others. Would really like to own a villa overlooking the ocean that we could live in from above stated months, when upstate NY is coated in a few feet of snow & below zero temps! Better start playing the lottery:)

[snoopy_leogirl]

Disneycruiser,

 

According to cruizeblues, Friar's Bay (a beach on the French Side) is a nice place to be, and quiet and private-ish with lots of relaxation. May you can try that out. Also, I would suggest Mullet Bay beach if you like waves. The waves there are quite rough at times, though not as big as surfing waves. Mullet Bay is usually crowded, espeiclaly on weekends. MOST of the popular beaches are crowded on the weekends, especially Orient Beach. I wanted to stress to you some very important safely tips. Please don't try to leave anything unattended, especially wallets, cameras and stuff like that, especially don't leave them out in the open for people to see.

Also, if you are renting a car, don't leave anything on seats in the open that may be of value, and your trunk isn't very much safer either. One last tip, don't go wandering out in dark areas after hours, especially when there are no crowds of people nearby.

I am not trying to scare you away but just alerting you all to be careful. Vacationing here can be amazing if you are careful.

[snoopy_leogirl]

Trade with me ANYTIME!!!! Especially from November through March:D My DH and I visited 5 islands on our last cruise, and we fell in love with St. Martin...Definitely our favorite of the five! We felt like we could live there because it seemed more like home than the others. Would really like to own a villa overlooking the ocean that we could live in from above stated months, when upstate NY is coated in a few feet of snow & below zero temps! Better start playing the lottery:)

 

Oh jeez, NY is cold in the winter! I was there 2 years ago in late Nov/early Dec and it was freezing! Yikes! LOL. I am glad that you like it on our small island. I hope that you do come back again and again. :D

[snoopy_leogirl]

If you were going to take a boat snorkeling tour designed by you, 1: which outfitter would you use, and 2: where would you want to go? Thanks

 

Your question is the biggest challenge for me to answer because I have zilch experience with snorkeling. I am trying to research some stuff for you. I think most probably anywhere you snorkel here will be good because our waters are very clear blue and clean. So visibility would be great just about anywhere.

I found these websites that have decent snorkeling info.

 

http://www.sxm-info.com/SXM-Beaches/snorkel/ ** good site **

 

http://www.cruiseweb.com/CELEBRITY-CARIBBEAN-PHILIPSBURG-STMAARTEN.HTM

 

http://www.jmbcommunications.com/sxm.html

 

http://www.saintmartinsintmaarten.com/beaches.html ** good site **

 

http://www.thescubashop.net/ ** scuba shop site -- looks good **

 

Hope this info helps! Happy snorkeling!

[snoopy_leogirl]

I'm done for now, if anyone has any other questions, post back right here and I will try to answer asap.

[tahitibarb]

We have never been to St. Martin and planning on going next year. Need a place to stay. Not sure which side - French or Dutch. We picked St. Martin because it is close to other islands to visit for a day. I don't think we would be interested in an all inclusive. We just stayed at one in St. Thomas, really enjoyed it as we like to drink but it sounds like it would be more fun to go out to eat, drink and dance. Any places you can suggest to stay and dance would be appreciated. Thanks

[idcruisers]

Thanks so much for the information. We will deffinately be doing DIVI beach with our family. You just helped solve one of my biggest stressers about my cruise. Thanks for taking your time to help out.

 

Ilise

[snoopy_leogirl]

Thanks so much for the information. We will deffinately be doing DIVI beach with our family. You just helped solve one of my biggest stressers about my cruise. Thanks for taking your time to help out.

 

Ilise

 

No problem at all! Glad to help. :D

[mandiecandie5]

Any suggestions for a day long car rental that will pick up and drop us off at the cruise pier?

 

I know that Hertz, Budget, Best Deal and one other unknown company is right at the pier...do you know what the fourth one is? We are also considering Aurthur's and St. Louis car rentals from other Local's suggestions. Any good/bad experiences with any of the above companies would be appreciated or if you can suggest any others that are inexpensive and reliable!!!!

 

Also we want to drive around the entire island, any advice on driving times between major points on the island (Philipsburg, Orient beach, Marigot, Sunset beach, etc) would be of great help!!!!! :) :)

[Reyes28]

snoopy leogirl:

 

Wow!!! Thanks SO much for the very thorough information! Any one of these places sounds great - now the hard part will be choosing! (Oh, yeah - and having to wait till the end of October for my cruise...) :-)

[snoopy_leogirl]

snoopy leogirl:

 

Wow!!! Thanks SO much for the very thorough information! Any one of these places sounds great - now the hard part will be choosing! (Oh, yeah - and having to wait till the end of October for my cruise...) :-)

 

 

No problem at all! Glad to be able to help everyone here. I know what its like to go on vacation and know more or less what you will be doing, its more comforting. :D

[snoopy_leogirl]

We have never been to St. Martin and planning on going next year. Need a place to stay. Not sure which side - French or Dutch. We picked St. Martin because it is close to other islands to visit for a day. I don't think we would be interested in an all inclusive. We just stayed at one in St. Thomas, really enjoyed it as we like to drink but it sounds like it would be more fun to go out to eat, drink and dance. Any places you can suggest to stay and dance would be appreciated. Thanks

 

 

I found a website that looks really helpful in selecting hotels on St.Maarten, check it out:

 

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotels-g147346-St_Maarten_St_Martin-Hotels.cink_html

 

My suggestion to you would be to try to stay away from certain areas because they are too far away from popular restaurants, attractions, and main places. But even though they are far, they are still great places so it is ultimately your choice. If you like to drive, then go for the far ones. These areas that you might want to avoid staying at are Cupecoy, Dawn Beach/Oyster Pond areas, and certain areas on the French side that are further away after Marigot.

 

Here are a few of the most popular hotels to stay in and their locations:

Royal Islander - Maho

Maho Hotel - Maho ****

The Atrium - Simpson Bay

DIVI Little Bay - Close to Bel-Air ****

Port De Plaisance - Cole Bay ****

Pelican Resort - Pelican/Simpson Bay

 

My star picks would be the ones with the astericks, based on location, convenience, activities, and they just seem to be the nicest hotels of the bunch. However, that's just my picks. St.Maarten has beautiful hotels and you can pretty much be guaranteed a great stay almost wherever you choose.

[snoopy_leogirl]

Any suggestions for a day long car rental that will pick up and drop us off at the cruise pier?

 

I know that Hertz, Budget, Best Deal and one other unknown company is right at the pier...do you know what the fourth one is? We are also considering Aurthur's and St. Louis car rentals from other Local's suggestions. Any good/bad experiences with any of the above companies would be appreciated or if you can suggest any others that are inexpensive and reliable!!!!

 

Also we want to drive around the entire island, any advice on driving times between major points on the island (Philipsburg, Orient beach, Marigot, Sunset beach, etc) would be of great help!!!!! :) :)

 

The biggest problem that I have answering this question is that locals are not allowed to enter the pier area in general. I have been to the pier and walked around a bit but I don't know the area well neither do I know what car rentals we have there so I can't help you there. Sorry about that. However, I think that most of the car rental companies should have similar prices and most should be reliable as well. The one thing that I can help you with is the driving times. Getting to Orient Beach and Sunset Beach Bar/Maho Beach shouldn't be too much of a hassle because there isn't much traffic mos tof the times. However, to get to Philipsburg and Marigot, you will go through at least a minimum amount of traffic no matter what. Our island has too many cars so there's always some traffic almost everywhere you go. To get to Philipsburg from the pier, you will only have a little traffic since the pier is very close to town. Marigot will take a longer while because of its distance from Philipsburg. If there is no traffic, it will take at least 15-18 minutes but if there is traffic, it can take about 30-45 minutes sometimes. Try to get to Marigot either before or after lunch time because thats when the traffic tends to be the least getting into Marigot.

 

Happy Travels and good luck!

[joy21]

We would love to do some scuba diving while in St. Maarten's. What company is best to book with?

[snoopy_leogirl]

We would love to do some scuba diving while in St. Maarten's. What company is best to book with?

 

 

I'm trying to find something for you on the Internet since I have no experience with this. Will post back in a while with some possibilities.

[snoopy_leogirl]

We would love to do some scuba diving while in St. Maarten's. What company is best to book with?

 

Here's some info that will be helpful:

 

http://www.thescubashop.net/

 

http://www.scubaduba.com/bahamas/nfstmartin.html

 

http://www.scubafun.com/

 

 

Happy Diving!

[joy21]

Thank you for the information.

[angelkisses]

Thank you for posting such an open-ended thread.

My fiance (husband by then!) and I plan on renting a Harley for our at St. Martin. We would love to hear what your idea of the "must do" activities would be. Up until now, we have planned on visiting Orient Beach--but nothing else is particularly on our agenda. Do you think riding a motorcycle on our own is a good idea, and if so, what do you recommend as the must see sights/activities.

 

thanks!

Stasha

Please let me know how your Harley Rental goes. We are planning on doing the same thing only it will be next year. I'm sure you have already discovered that it is much much cheaper to rent a Harley by taking a cab to the Harley Shop and then renting directly. I priced an excursion on one cruise line and they wanted $499 for a Harley Rental!!!! Called the Harley Shop and can get the same thing for around $100.

[mandiecandie5]

Thanks so much for the information on the driving times! We enjoy touring islands on our own and stopping at our leisure. We've heard that this island in particular can get quite crowded at times so we'll be sure to leave ample time to/from Marigot!

[Snorkelcat]

Snoopy leogirl,

Thanks for the websites. I had seen a couple of them, but 2 others are promising. I am looking into those options. Thanks for your help. :D Greatly appreciatted!

[jakedoc]

Snoopy Leogirl I have a question. We Were at Cupecoye beach at least 10 years ago and had a great time. The pictures I've seen lately look like the beach area really shrunk. Was this due to tides or did the beach lose some area due to hurricaines? What do you think of the beach now?

[snoopy_leogirl]

Glad to be of help everyone! :D

[snoopy_leogirl]

Snoopy Leogirl I have a question. We Were at Cupecoye beach at least 10 years ago and had a great time. The pictures I've seen lately look like the beach area really shrunk. Was this due to tides or did the beach lose some area due to hurricaines? What do you think of the beach now?

 

I haven't been out to the beach in Cupecoy in about 10-15 years myself but I think I might have 2 explanations for you as to why the beach area shrunk. It is quite possible that the tides and hurricanes affected the beach, that's one. Especially during hurricane Luis in 1995, the island was devastated. Hills were stripped of their greenery which literally took years to restore, hundreds of homes and businesses were destroyed. Believe it or not, we were out of electricity for 3 months in certain areas. Imagine living without electricity for 3 whole months! I felt as if we were back in pre-historic/primitive times. LOL!

Another reason as to why the beach area of Cupecoy may have shrunk so much is because of construction. Recently, a company decided to undergo a project in Cupecoy which involved the building of a villa/condo property site for tourists. I think that partially because it is possible that numerous land was needed, they may have filled up some of the area and want to use it for construction, hence the beach shrink. I am not too sure about this second theory but I think it could be right.

[gtaylor]

jakedoc;

 

When we were on Cupecoy last Fall the beach was the biggest that we've seen in many years. It was such a change from years previous that I posted pictures when we got home.

 

Many of the beaches on St. Maarten, especially Cupecoy and Orient, change dramatically over time, hurricanes or not. Sometimes over very short periods of time.

 

Last year in July and August Orient and Cupecoy had mostly disappeared. By the end of September they were back and better than ever.

 

In 2002 we witnessed the Southern third of Orient beach literally vanish in less than three weeks. Beachfront restaurants from Papagayo's (Orient Resort) to Bikini had waves literally lapping under their foundations. NO beach in front of them.

[Shelley007]

We will be in St. Maarten in about 2 weeks. I'm have a heck of a time deciding what to do there! I've heard the shopping is pretty good, and while I'd like to make sure I have "enough" time for this, I don't want to spend the entire time there shopping.

 

Any info on how much time is "enough" for shopping? Please keep in mind I will have a non-shopping enthusiast husband with me :)