Shopping and Maho beach

[johnny tallentire]

Hi ill be in st maarten in early nov for the day and my plan is to visit maho beach for an hour or 2 then go shopping,what i want to know is would it be better to go back to the port and catch the water taxi after the beach or would it be quicker to go straight to the shopping island from maho.

[Karysa]

Hi ill be in st maarten in early nov for the day and my plan is to visit maho beach for an hour or 2 then go shopping,what i want to know is would it be better to go back to the port and catch the water taxi after the beach or would it be quicker to go straight to the shopping island from maho.

 

Since the majority of the larger planes land in the afternoon I would go shopping in the morning, return your purchases to the ship and either grab a quick lunch on board or eat when you get to Maho. It should take around 30-40 minutes to get to Maho from the pier and I would suggest that you plan to arrive around 1 and give yourself plenty of time to be make it back to the ship on time. Most likely it will take about one hour but traffic can be very heavy so give yourself two or more for safety. In the afternoon I find the traffic very heaviest from about 3:30-6 and when you couple this in with the bridge openings at Simpson Bay traffic can really get backed up.

Regarding the water taxi. I would take the water taxi in to town and back.I would take a taxi from the pier to Maho. Depending on what time you get back to town from Maho you might even want to ask the driver to drop you back off in town and enjoy the atmosphere on the boardwalk before you take the water taxi back to the ship.

[Cruises 4 us]

Since the majority of the larger planes land in the afternoon I would go shopping in the morning, return your purchases to the ship and either grab a quick lunch on board or eat when you get to Maho. It should take around 30-40 minutes to get to Maho from the pier and I would suggest that you plan to arrive around 1 and give yourself plenty of time to be make it back to the ship on time. Most likely it will take about one hour but traffic can be very heavy so give yourself two or more for safety. In the afternoon I find the traffic very heaviest from about 3:30-6 and when you couple this in with the bridge openings at Simpson Bay traffic can really get backed up.

Regarding the water taxi. I would take the water taxi in to town and back.I would take a taxi from the pier to Maho. Depending on what time you get back to town from Maho you might even want to ask the driver to drop you back off in town and enjoy the atmosphere on the boardwalk before you take the water taxi back to the ship.

Hi, you have me a little worried about timing, I plan to go to Maho Beach in March but I was told on another forum that the taxi ride is only 10 minutes away!

Regards

Lynn

[The Big Booper]

Hi, you have me a little worried about timing, I plan to go to Maho Beach in March but I was told on another forum that the taxi ride is only 10 minutes away!

Regards

Lynn

 

The taxi ride to the pier from Maho can be 20 minutes, at 3 AM in the middle of the night, in August when everybody is on vacation and away from the island.

 

Other then that, you should plan for up to two hours, to allow for serious congestion, Simpson Bay bridge openings, construction delays. Whenever we stayed on the island, we never went near that route in the afternoon.

 

If the cab makes great time, then wander around the stores and stalls at the Wathey pier with the leftover time

[Karysa]

Hi, you have me a little worried about timing, I plan to go to Maho Beach in March but I was told on another forum that the taxi ride is only 10 minutes away!

Regards

Lynn

 

Everyone has different experiences but 10 minutes in either direction would seem impossible to me. One thing to remember is that if you are held up in traffic when you are on vacation on the island for the week is one thing, but to be stuck in traffic with the thought of missing your ship on the line is a nightmare for most people.