Excursion help St Maarten

[cruisinfreedom09]

Hi cruising on RCL ...Freedom of the Seas. We are super excited! I would love suggestions for fun family friendly excursions in St Maarten...what does "possible nudity observed" really mean? We are traveling with several kids of varying ages....any recommendations?

[sunandseagirl617]

We are on the same cruise! You should come over and join our roll-call!

 

St Maarten is 1/2 Dutch and 1/2 French. On the French side of the Island, the beaches are clothing optional. If you visit Orient Beach, they have a club that is all nude... If you are facing the ocean, club orient is to the far right. People from club orient walk down the beach, occassionally.:eek:

 

Having said that, we have been to Orient Beach twice and only encountered a few topless women. (not the playboy type, either:o) The beach is absolutely beautiful. My kids are 15 and 9, it doesn't bother me or DH, but some people would be bothered!

 

On the dutch side of the Island, you can water taxi or walk from the Ship to some very nice beaches and shopping along the Harbor! No nudity!

 

This year, we are going with Bernard Tours. His tour consists of 2 hours of touring the Island, 2 hours at Orient Beach, and about an hour at Maho Beach! My kids love Maho Beach because the gigantic airplanes literally fly overhead and land at the airport right by the beach! (no nudity at the beach, either!)

 

We have also visited Dawn Beach and Little Divi Beach. Both are nice, just not as beautiful as Orient in my opinion! Bernard will also take you to another beach, if you do not want to go to Orient Beach.

 

Hope this helps!

[cb at sea]

At Orient Beach, you can find spots where nudity is complete, or less so---the further you go, the "more nude" it will get! And the above poster is right---Penthouse or Playboy it's NOT!!! Think 60 yr. olds soaking up the rays!!!!

Don't worry about it so---your kids have seen worse online or on tv than they will on this trip!

[crusinmama06]

Orient Beach does have topless sunbathing (think discovery channel not playboy channel)

 

Then at the far end is Club Orient which is clothing optional...but there is a huge sign marking that area. Can't just wander into it accidentally. ;)

 

What did you want to do? Did you want a beach day or something more?

[smoothy]

We did the semi-submersible boat last year (sorry I don't remember the exact name of the excursion and I'm at work so I don't have my brochures) and both DS (5 and 3 at the time) loved it. You take a bus to the north of the island, get on a boat that takes you out to a reef, and then go 'downstairs' in the boat to where the underwater windows are. Tons of fish and sea life and there is a diver that feeds the fish to get them closer. On the way back, most folks got off the bus in town to get lunch and shop.

[NanciRDH]

ITA with the previous posters...the clothing optional wasn't a big deal when we went. Even to my 15 yo nephew. ;) We weren't at Orient beach, it was further to the right. We did see a few topless ladies walking, the worst I saw was the old guy wearing the thong. lol Our trip was with Carnival, but the beach was nice and it included a barbeque lunch.

[chrystine]

Usually in St. M we just rent a jeep and explore the island- stopping at several beaches. However, last time, we did the Lord Sheffield Pirate excursion and had a great time. The crew was excellent, good food and overall just a great day. We booked the excursion on our own, however, I believe RC now offers this excursion (probably more expensive though).