recommendations for a day in St.Maarten

[S.S.Oceanlover]

Will be in St.Maarten on February 7th on the Caribbean Princess. We'll be there from 7am to 6pm.

 

We are (5) 40-50 somethings looking for a day at a beach with jet skis and parasailing with a beach bar available for food and beverage.

 

TIA

 

Bill

[Charles4515]

Will be in St.Maarten on February 7th on the Caribbean Princess. We'll be there from 7am to 6pm.

 

We are (5) 40-50 somethings looking for a day at a beach with jet skis and parasailing with a beach bar available for food and beverage.

 

TIA

 

Bill

 

Orient Beach has all that. You can rent jet skis, do parasailing. There are many beach bars. I prefer Bikini or Kakao beach bars. They are lively, but there are a bunch of others.

[DiTomCruisers]

Orient Beach has all that. You can rent jet skis, do parasailing. There are many beach bars. I prefer Bikini or Kakao beach bars. They are lively, but there are a bunch of others.

 

Aren't Bikini & Kakao all part of the same stretch of beach? Aren't there like 5 sections (or something like that)? I'm a bit confused, I guess.. Thanks

[Charles4515]

Aren't Bikini & Kakao all part of the same stretch of beach? Aren't there like 5 sections (or something like that)? I'm a bit confused, I guess.. Thanks

 

Along the beach there are a bunch of different bar/restaurants. Bikini and Kakao are next to each other on a section that is wider than the ones that are close to the nudist club. And the whole of Orient Beach is walkable so you don't have to go to just one of them either, you can go to more than one. I always pick one and rent an umbrella or chair for the day, but you can also put a beach towel out on the beach and go into any of the beach bars and get a drink or food. Even renting a chair last time in front of Bikini, I stopped at three different beach bars during the day.

[MN Annie]

Will be in St.Maarten on February 7th on the Caribbean Princess. We'll be there from 7am to 6pm.

 

We are (5) 40-50 somethings looking for a day at a beach with jet skis and parasailing with a beach bar available for food and beverage.

 

TIA

 

Bill

 

Are you sure you aren't going to be there on February 6th? I have reservations for St. Thomas on the 7th.

 

We are also looking for para sailing.

 

Annie

[rubegoddess]

Hi Bill

We're on the same cruise- aren't we in st martin on the 6th? i'm a little nervous as we have a charter in st. thomas for the 7th... i hope i didn't royally mess us...

[The Big Booper]

The five beach bars in the center of Orient are all owned by the same interests, and are the most expensive. The cruise ships all dump their bus loads at Bikini.

[S.S.Oceanlover]

Hi Bill

We're on the same cruise- aren't we in st martin on the 6th? i'm a little nervous as we have a charter in st. thomas for the 7th... i hope i didn't royally mess us...

 

OK sorry for causing palpitations. My mistake. It is the 6th. We have godfrey booked for the 7th in St Thomas.:o

 

Since we have 5 ships in Port on the 6th I'd like to find the least crowded place.

 

Bill

[Charles4515]

The five beach bars in the center of Orient are all owned by the same interests, and are the most expensive. The cruise ships all dump their bus loads at Bikini.

 

You are getting there on a cruise ship too right? You can't avoid cruise ship passengers at Orient Beach. The whole beach will be full of cruise ship passengers. That is why you can rent jet ski's and go parasailing, cause there are lots of cruise ship passengers going there for the locals to make money on. Not taking the bus just means we are cruise ship passengers who are smart enough to get there and back on our own which saves money and means we can go there and leave on our own time not an excursions schedule. The beach bars, Kakao and Bikini are located at what in my opinion is the best part of the beach. It actually seems less crowded there because the beach itself there is much wider than the part closest to the nude club. And being in the center means you can explore the whole beach easier.

[beachchick]

You are getting there on a cruise ship too right? You can't avoid cruise ship passengers at Orient Beach. The whole beach will be full of cruise ship passengers. That is why you can rent jet ski's and go parasailing, cause there are lots of cruise ship passengers going there for the locals to make money on. Not taking the bus just means we are cruise ship passengers who are smart enough to get there and back on our own which saves money and means we can go there and leave on our own time not an excursions schedule. The beach bars, Kakao and Bikini are located at what in my opinion is the best part of the beach. It actually seems less crowded there because the beach itself there is much wider than the part closest to the nude club. And being in the center means you can explore the whole beach easier.

 

The point is that the cruise excursions (busloads of pax) all tend to drop at those five places. If cruise pax go to Orient on their own (not taking a ship excursion), they can ask to be dropped at any number of other places (away from the throngs of cruise pax). That those beach bars are in the center is meaningless (at least to us) because Orient is only 1.3 miles long anyway. As well, we like the Pedro's/Baywatch area the best. This is away from the "Big 5" and usually not nearly as crowded and not as pricy. (This is, of course, just our experience.)

 

beachchick

 

p.s., Orient is not a nude club. It is a fully clothing-optional resort. There is no requirement to be fully nude there.

[kal]

...It actually seems less crowded there because the beach itself there is much wider than the part closest to the nude club...

 

The beach near the 5 high-priced bars is indeed wider. This width lets many of those beach bars set up 9-10 rows of beach chairs. The end result is wall-to-wall people.

[Charles4515]

The beach near the 5 high-priced bars is indeed wider. This width lets many of those beach bars set up 9-10 rows of beach chairs. The end result is wall-to-wall people.

 

I have never encountered wall to wall people there but perhaps I was there when there were less cruise ships docked than you have had. No matter what you are going encounter people anywhere on Orient Beach.

 

For those who want less people I highly recommend Pinel Island. No water sports or para sailing but there is snorkeling I was at St. Martin a couple of weeks ago and that is where we went. Gone there the last two times at St.Martin cause it is almost like a private beach. It is a little harder to get to than Orient because you take a taxi to Cul de Sac, then a boat but it is worth it. If you want to avoid crowds, that is the place.

[snedecor]

Are you sure you aren't going to be there on February 6th? I have reservations for St. Thomas on the 7th.

 

We are also looking for para sailing.

 

Annie

 

We're also going to be in St. Martin on the 6th on the Carnival Glory, we have a roll call going on here:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=565495

 

 

 

We haven't picked what we're going to do, but we're watching this thread pretty closely.

 

Gayle and Belinda Snedecor