St Maarten-what to do?

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Bevard88

Guest
Sailing 4/19 on Golden Princess - St Maarten, St Thomas. Any suggestions for how to economically get around St Maarten? Are taxis expensive/available? Found some info about "jitneys" (local buses) - anyone tried riding them? Suggestions for fun activities such as snorkeling? Places not to miss? Any experience with Orient Beach, riding the Rhino Riders from Simpson Lagoon, Dawn Beach? Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

Happy Cruzin'
 
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Darlene

Guest
Would not use a local bus. Plenty of taxis in St. Marrten. Not expensive. Orient Beach is clothing optional I think. St. Thomas has lovely Magens Bay or Sapphire Beach.
 
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Ali

Guest
Taxi's and drivers are everywhere in St. Thomas and St. Maarten. Bargain with them. If one driver seems a little too high, seek out another. When you get off the ship in either port, the taxi's are right there. In December the drivers were charging $5 a person for a ride to Orient Beach in St. Maarten.

My daughter had a great time in St. Maarten on the America's Cup Sailingi Regatta. It was a ship sponsored excursion, but well worth the money.

Have a wonderful time!
 
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melissa_bel

Guest
Hi Bevard,
My husband and I rented a car in St-Maarten. Taxis can be pretty expensive (that's because we went during the low season)) and renting the car was the best idea we had during this cruise. We were able to drive freely all around the island. You can circle it in less than an hour though *lol*. It depends where you want to go and what you want to do. Orient Bay is an GREAT beach. Very lively with lots of beach bars. The sea has a hue so blue it glows!!! That's if you don't matter naked people from the nudist camp walking around (I don't *lol*). But it's at the opposite side of the island and taxi can be expensive to go there.
Make sure to spend some time in Marigot on the St-Martin side, it is very pretty!
Philipsburg? Whart can I say? Tourist trap. The price s are not even that cheap.
If you like odd things, go to Maho beach and you'll see how low the planes coming in Juliana airport are flying. That's a sight to see.
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St-Thomas: I can only recommend Magens Bay, it's the ultimate Caribbean beach fantasy. The drive up there is already worth going. And taxi-min-vans are a plenty in port and not expensive. Charlotte Amalie is pretty cute as well but VERY touristy.
Next time we go, we'll catch the ferry to St-John though. -
 
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cruisemom2

Guest
We LOVED Orient Beach! We took a taxi there and back. The rate per person depends on how many are in the taxi. On the way there, one other person was in the taxi with my husband and me and it was $7 pp. On the way back we were in a taxi van with several others and it was only $5 pp. Back in Philipsburg, don't miss the Guavaberry Emporium for some drink samples. The guavaberry liqeuer is wonderful -- we brought home three bottles (two for gifts) and can't wait to go back for more.

St. John is another beautiful place. We've been to St. Thomas three times and only went to St. John (Trunk Bay) on our last visit. On our other visits, we've done the Kon Tiki Party Raft, Paradise Point , and snorkeled at Coki Beach. The snorkeling was fantastic at Coki (better than Trunk Bay), but Trunk Bay was definitely the most beautiful!
 
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Corky

Guest
In St. Martin we used the public bus system for our transportation and had the best time. The cabby wanted $20 to take us from Phillipsburg over to the french side on the left and the bus cost us $1.00 a piece. The bus driver and the locals were all very nice and helpful. I will take the bus again. Get a map once you get to Phillipsburg and you can see how easy it is to get around the island.
 
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MyNextCruiseIsNotSoonEnough

Guest
The locals buses in St. Maarten are easy to use and cheap, cheap, cheap! The locals are very nice and they'll help you get back and forth between Philipsburg and Marigot. Find one on Back Street in Philipsburg with a hand-written placard in the window. Flag one down, and hop in; then when you jump out in Marigot, ask the driver where you can find the locals busses returning to Philipsburg.
 
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DebraK

Guest
We were there just this past April and only went from the cruise ship to Orient Beach and then back to Phillipsburg for shopping. The taxi from the cruise ship to the beach was relatively inexpensive - $5-7 per person (see above). I would suggest you go early because it does get crowded and the sun is very hot!!! We left around 8:30 and when we got to the beach we had front row chaises (better for viewing :grin) We rented 2 chaises and an umbrella (a must) for $15.00 for the day. You may be able to bargain for a cheaper rate, but I didn't want the hassle. We were pretty well cooked by 1 PM, so caught a cab back to the ship. We did this itinerary because we wanted to relax and go at our own pace, not an excursions' timetable.
 
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