St. Martens, St. Thomas Excursions unrelated from Royal Carribean

Are there any excursions that you can take from independent sources in St. Thomas and St, Marten ports as we will cruise on the Allure next April.

Royal Carribean excursions don't seem to be that good. Looking for things to see and do and places to eat while in the ports.

Any information will be appreciated

If you go to the port of call section of CC and pull up those islands you will find loads of recommendations for non-cruiseline sponsored excursions.

You might have better luck on the Port of Calls Board.

You can find St Maarten here: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=93

And you can find St Thomas/St John here: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=133

We always just take a taxi to Orient beach on St Maarten under 10 dollars, loads of restaurants , can rent chairs and umbrella's

Go on trip advisor, lots of options

A guidebook (libraries have them in the reference section!) is a HUGE help! There is seldom a reason to book anything thru the ship...or even, as a private excursion! The Caribbean is very easy to DIY! Info is key, tho...read up on your ports...have fun and save a bundle!

#1 per Tripadvisor:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=45026794&highlight=Soualiga#post45026794

On your own at a fraction of the price:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=50940969&highlight=st+marten#post50940969

I've never done the following as St Marten is extremely easy to do on your own, get to the beach yourself, to Maho and then shopping drop off.... you don't need a tour for $50 to do that, however many here on CC rave about Bernard's Tours. If it's your first time this may be a good way to familiarize yourself.

I rarely do a RCL excursion, but here I opted for one just for the ease of not thinking about it:

Turtle Bay Sail & Snorkel Adventure

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=46196178&highlight=ST97#post46196178

This was only 3.5 hours I think so had tons of time to walk around town, shop, etc.

Note it's been reported that the Havensite pier as depicted in my review is no longer used by RCL, you'll be at the other side of the Bay (and town shopping district) at Crown Bay.

We plan to rent a car on St. Marten - really easy to get around. I think we are just going to take taxi to Magen Bay on St. Thomas then do some shopping near port. We have done that in past and had fun.

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Thanks for the info

In st. Maarten, I recommend Captain Bob Soualiga tours. We had an amazing day with him.

A few weeks ago on Allure, we took an island tour with one of the locals. We took the water taxi to the main part of Phillipsburg and saw vendors offering tours. The price for four was $160 and I told the one we chose that I had $100 only. He agreed to take us on a tour and it was great. We were able to stop at several places including Maho Beach, Orient Beach, and at Serafina's in Marigot.

In St Thomas, I have done tours of the island with Geoffrey and Sonny Liston. They both basically go to the same places albeit Geoffrey's tours are more sedate as Sonny has music blasting most of the tour. They both end up at a beach. We were given choices of beaches. They were Magen's Bay (has a charge to use the beach), Coki Beach or Sapphire. I haven't ever gone to Coki, but I have the other two and enjoyed them.

St Thomas and St Maarten are two of my favorite islands. My favorite excursion ever was from St Thomas. It was though, a ship sponsored one, to St John with snorkeling at Trunk Bay. I would do that again in a NY minute.

Any good places (restaurants) at any of these ports?

Thanks for any help

We used captain Alan's in St. Maarten. Best snorkeling in all of our cruises. Great lunch and super helpful crew.

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Any good places (restaurants) at any of these ports?

Thanks for any help

Gladys's Cafe is very popular in St. Thomas.

Any good places (restaurants) at any of these ports?

Thanks for any help

As suggested above for excursions, check out the ports of call forums.

We love Horizons Day Sail in St Thomas!

I like Bernard's tours in St. Maarten. You see both the French and the Dutch side. He has a couple of different tour options. You might want to check out TripAdvisor for some other ideas.

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I absolutely recommend Bernard's Tours in St. Maarten. You will see a lot of the island and enjoy some beach time. The guides are entertaining and knowledgeable.

I like Bernard's tours in St. Maarten. You see both the French and the Dutch side. He has a couple of different tour options. You might want to check out TripAdvisor for some other ideas.

 

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Another vote for Bernard's. They're awesome!

Years ago, independently, we took the local ferry out of St. Thomas to Water Island, a short ride away. From there you can walk up the hill to several beautiful beaches. We even did some snorkeling with our own gear. At the time there was no place to eat so we brought food, but that may have changed now. Google Water Island, Virgin Islands and see if it interests you.

We have a Southern coming up in November and I found a lot of good stuff on Aviator and TripAdvisor. Google baby, google.

Another vote for Bernard's on St. Maarten.

St. Maarten- Americas Cup

http://stmaartencruiseexcursions.com/StMaartenAmericasCup.htm

Or Trikes-StMaarten

http://www.trikes-stmaarten.com/

St Thomas-Fury Charters

http://www.trikes-stmaarten.com/

These excursions are excellent. The Trikes are a blast.

Americas Cup is booked only thru the cruiseline I believe.

That may have changed

I would highly recommend Godfrey Tours in St. Thomas. Well worth the money.

In St. Maarten, Another vote for Bernard's.

St. Maarten- Americas Cup

http://stmaartencruiseexcursions.com/StMaartenAmericasCup.htm

 

Or Trikes-StMaarten

http://www.trikes-stmaarten.com/

 

 

These excursions are excellent. The Trikes are a blast.

Americas Cup is booked only thru the cruiseline I believe.

That may have changed

We did the Trikes on Aruba just before their expansion to St. Maarten and agree that they are a blast. The America's Cup excursions is also fantastic especially if you are a sailor or want-to-be sailor!