St.Maarten: Simpson Bay or Pinal Island??

We will be sailing on the Jewel of the Seas in January. We're looking for a great beach on St.Maarten. Royal offers excursions to Pinal Island and Buccaneer Beach (on Simpson Bay). Anyone been to either??

Unless you really want to pay for an excursion, just hop in a cab to Orient Beach.

We were at Orient Beach a few years ago. Wanted to try someplace different.:cool:

Mullet Bay beach is beautiful! $32 round trip for 2 from the cruise port

Thanks Pete. Is it rocky or smooth sands there? Public restrooms?

Sandy beach and restrooms. Beautiful place and much nicer than Pinal Island. Also Pinal is on the French side and when we were there, the French took over the beach area, moving their loungers right next to ours and forcing us to move away.

Just south of Orient is Galion. It has a reef or such off shore, reducing the waves on rougher days. Chairs umbrellas and food available. Taxis too. No need for an excursion.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Forums mobile app

I haven't done it yet, but it was recommended on another thread to do Pinal Island. We booked with Caribbean Paddling (just google it) and it was only $40 each for transportation from/to ship to Cul de Sac, which is adjacent to Pinal, plus the rental of stand up paddle boards (or kayaks!) for the entire day. They even include a dry sack for free. For only $80 for the two of us this seems like a great price. This is the excursion we are most looking forward to. There are apparently two restaurants on site, include water-side waiter service for drinks and food with tables in the shallows they will set up for you. There are hiking trails, AND a bunch of friendly iguanas!

Look up mullet Bay beach on trip advisor,lots of pictures and reviews

Look up mullet Bay beach on trip advisor,lots of pictures and reviews

Is there anyplace at Mullet Bay Beach to get something to eat?

Yes. Drinks and food available at Mullet.

Grand Case Beach.

Peaceful, food nearby (other side of pier in picture). Water is deep enough to jump off the end of the pier. Didn't look for alcohol (only there for a couple hours).

Here's the address: 70 Boulevard de Grand Case, Grand-Case 97150, St Martin

Don't confuse this with the Grand Case beach club.

We have been to St. Maarten 5 times, and 4 out of the 5 times we went to Pinel, we love it! Definitely a nice beach, much calmer waters than Orient Beach, but Orient has all the water sports like jet skis. We have never been Simpson Bay so I can't speak to that, but Pinel Island is a nature reserve, with great snorkeling as well. We would recommend to just get a cab when you get off the boat. It costs us about $37 average roundtrip to get to Pinel Island ourselves, versus the $100 the ship charges you.

Have not been to Pinal Island but have been to Simpson Bay several times and we enjoy staying in the Simpson Bay area when we aren't cruising. We enjoy Kim Sha Beach...right close to wear the Burger King is...there is a Greenhouse Restaurant there so food and drinks available along with rest rooms. Chairs and umbrellas available and its on the ship side of the draw bridge if you can call it that. Sometimes the draw bridge is up for quite a period of time which can cause sitting in traffic a little stressful returning to the ship.

Well, this is a moot point now, isn't it? I hope and pray St. Maarten can recover in a few months. It's our favorite island.

Well, this is a moot point now, isn't it? I hope and pray St. Maarten can recover in a few months. It's our favorite island.

Quit being the wet blanket of reason....

Just had to read this thread due to the title and timing

JC

I am on the Adventure sailing that swung by St. Maarten on a humanitarian mission. Just being docked you could see the utter devastation. That island won't be open for business for many months is my opinion. Would t be surprised if it takes over a year, but take my opinion with a grain of salt.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Based on our personal experience going to Cozumel post Wilma, St Martin won't be back in action until the spring. I believe it was 4-5 months before ships were allowed back to Cozumel and while they were pretty well destroyed, Irma's destruction to St Martin beats it by a long shot. Naturally, I could very well be wrong - only time will tell.

I am on the Adventure sailing that swung by St. Maarten on a humanitarian mission. Just being docked you could see the utter devastation. That island won't be open for business for many months is my opinion. Would t be surprised if it takes over a year, but take my opinion with a grain of salt.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

If you were able to dock, that means St. Maarten's cruise port fared way better than Coz after Wilma. It was weeks before the terminal in town opened to anything but tender service and months before the RCCL and CCL piers were back in service.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

We loved Kakao Beach near Orient Beach the last two times we were in St. Maarten. Our son inlaw who said that he is not a beach person, claimed that Kakao Beach had changed his mind and he would definitely go there again and stay longer the next time. Unfortunately, it may be some time before we can return and by then I hope that they will have been able to restore the area to its previous wonderful condition.

Both St. Thomas and St. Maarten were on the itinerary of our upcoming Serenade repositioning cruise and it will be interesting to see what alternative ports of call, RCI will be able to arrange for us.

We loved Kakao Beach near Orient Beach the last two times we were in St. Maarten. Our son inlaw who said that he is not a beach person, claimed that Kakao Beach had changed his mind and he would definitely go there again and stay longer the next time. Unfortunately, it may be some time before we can return and by then I hope that they will have been able to restore the area to its previous wonderful condition.

Both St. Thomas and St. Maarten were on the itinerary of our upcoming Serenade repositioning cruise and it will be interesting to see what alternative ports of call, RCI will be able to arrange for us.

If all you're looking for is a beautiful beach (like us), all you need is a dock (and it seems like that's still in order at SM) some transport (that's a question) and a beach towel and sunscreen. There may still be hope for visits in the near future.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums