Amigo Tours - Orient/Maho Beach Bum

On our recent Allure cruise, we took the Amigo Tours Orient/Maho Beach bum tour.

The pier at St. Maarten is very long - so be prepared for a long walk down that and through the shops area to where the private tour tents are set up in a parking lot. The tour was advertised as being 4 hours and 30 minutes - with a start of 9am. So we expected to be back to the pier by 2pm or so. We didn't get back until 3:45pm - and quite a few of us on the bus weren't very happy about that. They don't allow enough time for the tour - and should state that it's really longer.

We didn't get to Orient Beach until about 9:45am. We were told we'd have until noon - which was a nice amount of time there. They dropped us at Kontiki - which was a very nice bar. There were cushioned beach chairs and umbrellas - but you do have to pay $5 for them.

We left Orient a bit after noon - but didn't get to Maho until 12:50pm. Since they wanted to give us 2 hours there - they said we had until 3pm. Sunset bar was already PACKED, as was the very small beach area - by the time we got there. We ended up having to stand and wait for a table to open up in the bar. We had last been there on a Bernard tour back in 2009 - before Sunset expanded. It's now more of a party bar than a destination for watching the planes. The bar has had a major expansion - and they even have a small pool there. It was VERY hard to get a rail spot where we could watch planes. The servers were doing their best - but with the massive crowd, it was difficult for them.

We left Maho about 3pm - and when we were nearly at the pier, the driver told us he heard there was an accident - so we'd need to come around to the pier from the other side. That's why it was past 3:45pm by the time we got back. We had hoped to do more shopping at that port - but didn't really have much time - given it's a good 15-20 minute walk back to the boat. We had to be back on board before 4:30pm.

They need to allow more time for this tour - and to be upfront about what time you'll likely get back. If we had it to do over again - we'd have just taken a cab either to Orient for the day - or to Maho for the day - but not both.

We've booked that tour in reverse order for January as our ship doesn't arrive until noon. I didn't realize it was that long a walk to get to their pickup point. Good to know, thanks.

We've done the tour twice and the traffic back to the ship has been bad both times. The second visit was with friends who had never been to Maho otherwise we'd have skipped it. Tour was a good value IMO. Some days there are just too many people in port.

Last visit we took a taxi straight to Orient for the day. Soooooooooo much more relaxing of a day and getting to Orient so early we got the pick of spots and enjoy the beach before it go crowded. Stayed at the beach from around 9am until 2pm and still had some shopping time as the traffic returning from Orient Beach was much better than from Maho direction.

I suspect this will be how we spend all future visits.

Interesting, I was actually looking at this tour as we would like to see Orient Beach and Maho Beach for the one day we are in port We are on Celebrity cruise departing from Miami and arrives at St. Maarten at 8 am "Ship Time". The Amigo tour starts at 9 am "Local Time". I think the tour time actually starts the same time as our arrival (someone help me here)? Even so, is an hour enough time to catch the tour? They also offer an island tour that includes both beaches for a shorter amount of time (like 30-45 minutes) and that one starts at 10 am "Local TIme" Perhaps that is the way to go as we will see more of the island? We are not world travelers and just taking a taxi to places seems to make my wife a little nervous. BTW, Ship departs at 5 pm. Any advise?