Help with Itinerary

[loubct]

There will be 4 adults visiting in September on the AOS. We are interested in shopping, Orient Beach, Maho Beach (for planes landing) and possible trip to French side. Do you suggest renting a car or taxi cabs. What order should be consider.

I was thinking of renting a car and
1) Orient beach in the morning for a couple of hours (ideas of places for drinks)
2) Trip to Maho Beach for viewing planes late morning early afternoon (sounds like Sunset Beach for lunch...)
3) Can we make it over to the French side and back over to Philipsburg and allow for at least 1 1/2 hours shopping before getting back to ship around 4-5p.m.

If you suggest rental cars, any ideas on agencys

[gypsygirl]

We're going in November. Going to take a taxi. I figure they know exactly how to get to those places. We want to do the same thing as you. Please write about it when you return. I'll definitely be interested.

[JRGibJR]

Most of the local car rental vendors will meet you at the pier with the car, I believe, for pickup and dropoff which is convenient. The island is not difficult to navigate, but streets are not well marked and the driving can be a little crazy. For convenience a taxi is better, but if you want to save a little money and have a little more adventure renting a car is better.

Your itinerary sounds good. Orient will be less crowded in the morning so it's a good place to start. There are a number of good beach bars, I'd recommend you park or get dropped off at Bikini Beach, which is right in the middle of Orient. La Playa is right next to Bikini Beach and is good as well. You can also opt to park at the south end of the beach near Pedros and Bay Watch, which are also very good.

For lunch I'd recommend a stop in Grand Case, which is on the way from Orient to Maho. It's called the gourmet capital of the caribbean and there are many fine restaurants there. If you'd rather have a casual lunch on the beach, though, Bay Watch on Orient is good and so is Sunset Beach Bar in Maho, which you mentioned. Most of the big planes will come in the afternoon, and the Sunset Beach Bar is the perfect place to watch them while having an ice cold drink.

You could double back to the French side from Maho if you like, but you may want to make your stops on the way from Orient to Maho as you'll pass through Grand Case and Marigot. The traffic on the island will depend on the number of ships in port that day, but since you're going in September it shouldn't be too bad.

For car rental check out [url]www.kennyscarrental.com[/url].

-J