Help?

[millerboy88]

We will be arriving in St. Maarten in early April. We dock at 8:00 am and leave at 6:00 pm. Our plan is to get a taxi to Orient Beach and spend a few hours there, then head to Phillipsburg to do a little shopping before heading back to the ship. Is there any trouble getting a taxi from Orient Beach to Phillipsburg and then to the ship from there? What time should we leave Orient in order to do shopping in Phillipsburg and still have time to get back to the dock. What is the best way to get from Phillipsburg back to the dock?

 

thanks:confused:

[BarryFromBoston]

We will be arriving in St. Maarten in early April. We dock at 8:00 am and leave at 6:00 pm. Our plan is to get a taxi to Orient Beach and spend a few hours there, then head to Phillipsburg to do a little shopping before heading back to the ship. Is there any trouble getting a taxi from Orient Beach to Phillipsburg and then to the ship from there? What time should we leave Orient in order to do shopping in Phillipsburg and still have time to get back to the dock. What is the best way to get from Phillipsburg back to the dock?

 

thanks:confused:

 

Orient Beach is fairly far from the ship. It's good that you plan to be back a few hours before returning to the ship, so that if you get delayed coming back, it doesn't put you in jeopardy of missing the ship.

 

Taxis are readily available in Philipsburg and Orient Bay. Do know that unless seeing nudity is a major priority, there are a variety of excellent (and frankly better) beaches. The old cruise director joke is that everyone on Orient Beach looks like a naked celebrity... mostly Rodney Dangerfield.

 

Mullet Bay on the Dutch side has much calmer water. Orient Bay can be quite windy and wavy.

 

Baie Rouge on the French side is also really nice. BTW, it is perfectly legal to be naked at ALL beaches on the French side.

 

What I tend to see at Orient is elderly exhibitionists, pretending to be "enjoying the freedom", but really keeping themselves aroused to play show and tell. The sunbathers on Baie Rouge tend to be fitter and more youthful.

 

Cupecoy (which also has a brand new marina with lots of restaurants) is an interesting beach, also naked, which attracts more a gay crowd. There's not much beach at high tide, but people enjoy laying out on the cliffs above the sand.

 

Waikiki Beach (name of a restaurant) on Orient Beach serves great food, although pricey.

[millerboy88]

Thanks for the info, how much closer are the other beaches you named. We have been to Orient before and enjoyed. We did a tour/beach trip, so we didn't have the taxi issues then. I think we were dropped off at a place called Pedro's, and we ate at a place called Le String if memory serves me correctly. I just wan't sure about the taxi thing and time issues

[Karysa]

Orient Beach is fairly far from the ship. It's good that you plan to be back a few hours before returning to the ship, so that if you get delayed coming back, it doesn't put you in jeopardy of missing the ship.

 

Taxis are readily available in Philipsburg and Orient Bay. Do know that unless seeing nudity is a major priority, there are a variety of excellent (and frankly better) beaches. The old cruise director joke is that everyone on Orient Beach looks like a naked celebrity... mostly Rodney Dangerfield.

 

Mullet Bay on the Dutch side has much calmer water. Orient Bay can be quite windy and wavy.

 

Baie Rouge on the French side is also really nice. BTW, it is perfectly legal to be naked at ALL beaches on the French side.

 

What I tend to see at Orient is elderly exhibitionists, pretending to be "enjoying the freedom", but really keeping themselves aroused to play show and tell. The sunbathers on Baie Rouge tend to be fitter and more youthful.

 

Cupecoy (which also has a brand new marina with lots of restaurants) is an interesting beach, also naked, which attracts more a gay crowd. There's not much beach at high tide, but people enjoy laying out on the cliffs above the sand.

 

Waikiki Beach (name of a restaurant) on Orient Beach serves great food, although pricey.

 

 

Where are you getting your information that it is perfectly legal to be NAKED at all beaches on the French side of the island.

 

Another thing, I admit that I have not spent a lot of time on Orient. It is not my favorite beach to visit but that has more to do with the conditions making it rough and bringing up the seagrass then the nudity. I too am a fan of Mullet. But the part that you wrote about people "enjoying the freedom" etc. etc. I have yet to see that. Most people I have seen had bathing suits on and some women were topless and guys with thongs but I have never seen what you mentioned. I also have never heard or read about that on this site or other sxm sites. I am looking forward to posters that spend a lot of their time on Orient commenting on your post.

[Karysa]

Thanks for the info, how much closer are the other beaches you named. We have been to Orient before and enjoyed. We did a tour/beach trip, so we didn't have the taxi issues then. I think we were dropped off at a place called Pedro's, and we ate at a place called Le String if memory serves me correctly. I just wan't sure about the taxi thing and time issues

 

 

Actually they are all farther and have more pressing issues such as traffic and bridge openings that would come in to play. Going to and from Orient will not be an issue. Twenty minutes to get there and 30 minutes on return leaving another hour or hour and a half for shopping in town and 30 minutes from there to get to your ship and you will be just fine.

[Zeno]

Orient Beach is fairly far from the ship. It's good that you plan to be back a few hours before returning to the ship, so that if you get delayed coming back, it doesn't put you in jeopardy of missing the ship.

 

Taxis are readily available in Philipsburg and Orient Bay. Do know that unless seeing nudity is a major priority, there are a variety of excellent (and frankly better) beaches. The old cruise director joke is that everyone on Orient Beach looks like a naked celebrity... mostly Rodney Dangerfield.

 

Mullet Bay on the Dutch side has much calmer water. Orient Bay can be quite windy and wavy.

 

Baie Rouge on the French side is also really nice. BTW, it is perfectly legal to be naked at ALL beaches on the French side.

 

What I tend to see at Orient is elderly exhibitionists, pretending to be "enjoying the freedom", but really keeping themselves aroused to play show and tell. The sunbathers on Baie Rouge tend to be fitter and more youthful.

 

Cupecoy (which also has a brand new marina with lots of restaurants) is an interesting beach, also naked, which attracts more a gay crowd. There's not much beach at high tide, but people enjoy laying out on the cliffs above the sand.

 

Waikiki Beach (name of a restaurant) on Orient Beach serves great food, although pricey.

 

Uhm - it most certainly is NOT legal to be naked on all beaches on the French side. To the best of my knowledge, officially the only legal nude beach is that area in front of Club Orient on Orient beach.

Nudity is tolerated on the rest of Orient beach. It is also tolerated on some other beaches on the French side (and on the Dutch side). But on occasion the gendarmes on the French side have a crackdown on "unoffical" nudity. Toplessness is perfectly legal on any beach.

 

It's interesting that you seem to think that only young and fit people should be nude - to me that would indicate a more prurient view of nudity - that people should only be nude to entertain others and to flaunt their perfect bodies. I find that more exhibitionistic than nude people with less than perfect bodies on Orient beach just being comfortable in their own skin (even if it's wrinkled).

[gtaylor]

The ONLY officially sanctioned nude areas on the island are the section of Orient Beach fronting Club Orient and the private section of beach at Coco Beach Club.

 

We typically spend well over 100 hours a year on Orient, usually nestled in between Pedro's and Club Orient, and Barry's observation is just plain wrong.

 

gary

[millerboy88]

OK, thanks for the info.. Glad to know that it should not be an issue with the taxi's and such. We will stick with the game plan of heading to Orient, then for shopping. Is it practical to take the water ferry from Phillipsburg back to the port or is Taxi the best.

 

thanks again:p

[Karysa]

OK, thanks for the info.. Glad to know that it should not be an issue with the taxi's and such. We will stick with the game plan of heading to Orient, then for shopping. Is it practical to take the water ferry from Phillipsburg back to the port or is Taxi the best.

 

thanks again:p

 

Just take a land taxi. The water taxi's are great if you plan on using it for more than a one-way trip otherwise a land taxi will be the cheapest way to go.