St. Thomas & St. Martin Best beaches for toddler

[jlrn366419]

Looking for a nice beach for a toddler on either island, here are my criteria:

-calm water with shallow area that extends out a decent distance

-short taxi ride from pier (less than 10-15 minutes)

-chair & umbrella rental or a beach with some shade

-restrooms would be nice but not a dealbreaker.

 

I'm not concerned about a fee to use the beach, nudity or food.

 

I posted this here and not the ports board b/c I figured this was a better target audience.

[JennLuvs2Cruise]

I'm cruising with my 21 month old son next month to St. Thomas & St. Maarten. After thorough research, I have decided to go to Megan's Bay Beach in St. Thomas. It is considered to be one of the top 10 most beautiful beaches in the world. Another recommended beach for St. Thomas was Le Gallion (aka Baby Beach).

 

For St. Maarten.. We have decided to visit the ever most popular beach, Orient Beach. We are going to stay on the clothing side, though nudity can sometimes be found anywhere in St. Maarten & we are OK with that. We have heard many great things about Orient Beach. Depending on time, we may visit Maho Beach before returning to the ship to watch a few planes.

[cb at sea]

Since you won't be allowing a child that age to roam about on their own, it really won't matter where you go...you'll be within arm's reach at all time.

All the public beaches have chair/umbrella rentals...most have watersport rentals as well, and there should be a bathroom nearby.

A guidebook can tell you which beaches in which places are best for babies, and what facilities there are in each place.

[beachchick]

I'm cruising with my 21 month old son next month to St. Thomas & St. Maarten. After thorough research, I have decided to go to Megan's Bay Beach in St. Thomas. It is considered to be one of the top 10 most beautiful beaches in the world. Another recommended beach for St. Thomas was Le Gallion (aka Baby Beach).

 

For St. Maarten.. We have decided to visit the ever most popular beach, Orient Beach. We are going to stay on the clothing side, though nudity can sometimes be found anywhere in St. Maarten & we are OK with that. We have heard many great things about Orient Beach. Depending on time, we may visit Maho Beach before returning to the ship to watch a few planes.

 

We absolutely love Orient, but to meet jlrn366419's number 1 and 2 criteria, Little Divi might be a better choice. Orient is more than 10-15 by taxi from the pier and (at least to the best of my recollection and the parts of the beach we know) the shallows do not go out terribly far. It seems to me that the water at Orient tends to be a bit rougher than on the other side of the island (again, to my recollection--not a complete fact by any means).

 

beachchick

[jlrn366419]

Since you won't be allowing a child that age to roam about on their own, it really won't matter where you go...you'll be within arm's reach at all time.

All the public beaches have chair/umbrella rentals...most have watersport rentals as well, and there should be a bathroom nearby.

A guidebook can tell you which beaches in which places are best for babies, and what facilities there are in each place.

 

The purpose of a forum like this is to ask questions and get firsthand accounts from those who have firsthand experience. Guidebooks are dated and like a lot of print media, on their way out.

[MamaParrotHead]

Megan's in St. Thomas has very shallow water and no waves.

 

St. Martin, as far as I recall, there's a little beach right near the shops, not far from the water taxi stand.

[geegee1]

We did Megan's Bay Beach in St. Thomas with, at the time our 7 month and 2 year old daughters. No problems. The only thing I would reccomend is that if there are a lot of other boats in town ask your cab driver the best place to go. Megan's Beach was packed when we went, which was OK, but rather of went somewhere not as crowded.

[khm1]

I have been to St Martin 5 times and St. Thomas 6 times with and without kids.

Given your criteria, this is what I would do:

St. Thomas: Magen's Bay

St. Martin: Le Galion beach or Divi Little Bay. Galion has calmer water but is harder to get to. It is down a long, dirt road. There is some nudity since it is fairly isolated and on the French side. There are facilities (bar, restaurant, bathrooms) on both beaches.

Try this link for St. Martin: http://www.sxm-beaches.com/#embouchure Or this one

http://sint-maarten.net/St-Maarten-Beaches/LeGalion.html

[rebeccalouiseagain]

I have done Meagan's Bay and the taxi fare used to be $15.00 each way and you sometimes get horrible taxis- dirty and scarey drivers. So if you do find that the taxi is unfit for human transportation- by all means ask whoever is running the taxi line to provide another driver and car. I got stuck in a filthy taxi with ripped seats and a possibly drunk driver. Not trying to scare you but just a word of warning. Once you are there the water is warm, there is no surf but the water is murky not tropical blue and clear.

 

I have never been to Coki beach but my understanding is that is a nice clear water beach in somewhat shadey surroundings. I have heard people on here that went there with little ones and loved it. You can see it on Youtube and it does look nice.

 

We went to a beach very close to the ship one time and it was too rough for us to enjoy. It was at a nice resort but the surf was unbelievably strong.

 

If it were me- I would probably just stay onboard the ship and enjoy the pools all to myself!

[milton333]

I'm curious about Divi Little Bay. Is this the beach at the resort? Would we need to pay a resort fee or get a day pass to visit the beach? We had been thinking about just staying on board the ship at St. Maarten with our toddler, but I'd like to beach it as much as possible.

 

We're also considering an excursion to St. John from St. Thomas. I'm debating whether a 45-minute boat ride over would be acceptable to him. There's a 4 hour excursion that might work - we initially thought about doing one of the longer 6 1/2 hour ones, but that's probably asking too much from a toddler. But 2 1/2 or so hours at the beach, plus the boat ride, is probably workable. We'd bring our own life vest for DS. OP, I know you want something closer, but just throwing this out there. The beaches on St. John are so beautiful.

[mrspjotter]

My recommendation for St Thomas would be Megan's Bay and we went to Le Gallion in St Maarten in February and it was great for the kids.

[milton333]

I'm curious about Divi Little Bay. Is this the beach at the resort? Would we need to pay a resort fee or get a day pass to visit the beach? We had been thinking about just staying on board the ship at St. Maarten with our toddler, but I'd like to beach it as much as possible.

 

We're also considering an excursion to St. John from St. Thomas. I'm debating whether a 45-minute boat ride over would be acceptable to him. There's a 4 hour excursion that might work - we initially thought about doing one of the longer 6 1/2 hour ones, but that's probably asking too much from a toddler. But 2 1/2 or so hours at the beach, plus the boat ride, is probably workable. We'd bring our own life vest for DS. OP, I know you want something closer, but just throwing this out there. The beaches on St. John are so beautiful.

[jlrn366419]

I'm curious about Divi Little Bay. Is this the beach at the resort? Would we need to pay a resort fee or get a day pass to visit the beach? We had been thinking about just staying on board the ship at St. Maarten with our toddler, but I'd like to beach it as much as possible.

 

We're also considering an excursion to St. John from St. Thomas. I'm debating whether a 45-minute boat ride over would be acceptable to him. There's a 4 hour excursion that might work - we initially thought about doing one of the longer 6 1/2 hour ones, but that's probably asking too much from a toddler. But 2 1/2 or so hours at the beach, plus the boat ride, is probably workable. We'd bring our own life vest for DS. OP, I know you want something closer, but just throwing this out there. The beaches on St. John are so beautiful.

 

I'm dying to go Trunk bay but I think we will wait until our son is a little older. If you ever do land vacations, check out Maho bay camps & resorts (its on St. John), its an ecotourism 'thing'. Looks amazing.

[khm1]

I'm curious about Divi Little Bay. Is this the beach at the resort? Would we need to pay a resort fee or get a day pass to visit the beach? We had been thinking about just staying on board the ship at St. Maarten with our toddler, but I'd like to beach it as much as possible.

 

We're also considering an excursion to St. John from St. Thomas. I'm debating whether a 45-minute boat ride over would be acceptable to him. There's a 4 hour excursion that might work - we initially thought about doing one of the longer 6 1/2 hour ones, but that's probably asking too much from a toddler. But 2 1/2 or so hours at the beach, plus the boat ride, is probably workable. We'd bring our own life vest for DS. OP, I know you want something closer, but just throwing this out there. The beaches on St. John are so beautiful.

Divi Little Bay is a resort on Little Bay beach. You do not need to purchase a pass to use the beach. Chairs and umbrellas are for rent. There is a bar, a restaurant, and a small convenience store. The water is calm and beautiful. It is not a crowded beach and I saw no nudity. It is short taxi ride through Philipsburg from the pier.

 

Here is a link to a beach map. On the lower right corner is Great Bay where your ship will dock. The next bay over to the west is Little Bay. We took a taxi to Little Bay, then had the cab driver drop us in town for some shopping before we went back to the ship via water taxi. I would not use the beach at Great Bay as PP suggested. There has been a lot of postings on the St. Martin board about contaminated water draining into Great Bay.

 

With a toddler, IMHO, it is probably better to go to St. John on a ship excursion. We have made the trip on our own 3 times. I would not be comfortable taking a toddler on the open-air taxis that are most common on both islands. When DD was an infant, I insisted on sitting up front with the driver and DD in her secured car seat. It is a worthwhile trip. St. John is one of the most scenic islands that I have been to.

[rebeccalouiseagain]

I agree St. John is a really neat island. We did do the excursion to St. John on one of our cruises and we did take our baby who was 6 months old at the time. It was fine. There was good snorkeling and the island is pristine and unspoiled.

[ehough]

With our 11 month old and 2.5 year old, we did Magen's Bay in St. Thomas. It was gorgeous, calm, and shallow. It may have been a bit farther than 10-15 minutes, but we were on a ship excursion so I don't honestly remember. It wasn't a lot farther, maybe more like 15-20. The kids did ok on the ride. That's 2.5 year old DD in the water with DH, so you can see it's fairly shallow.

 

 

We honeymooned in St. Martin, so we have a soft spot for Orient Beach. We think it's the most beautiful beach in the world and I would recommend it for that reason. I don't think the kids went in the water for long there so I don't remember how shallow it is, and it is more of a 15-20 minute ride too, but did I mention it's beautiful? ;) It doesn't look very calm here, it stormed soon after so that may have been part of it.

 

[IMDORY]

We went to these ports last year and both the beaches we went to would be great for a toddler in my opinion. Shallow, calm waters, calm atmosphere on the beach, food, drinks, bathrooms available too.

 

St. Thomas-Emerald Beach

St. Maarten-Le Galion (my favorite beach that I've ever been to) In fact I've read that the locals call Le Galion "baby beach" (in french of course:D) because it is so calm and shallow.

[jlrn366419]

We went to these ports last year and both the beaches we went to would be great for a toddler in my opinion. Shallow, calm waters, calm atmosphere on the beach, food, drinks, bathrooms available too.

 

St. Thomas-Emerald Beach

St. Maarten-Le Galion (my favorite beach that I've ever been to) In fact I've read that the locals call Le Galion "baby beach" (in french of course:D) because it is so calm and shallow.

 

Ok, next question, do you or anyone else know how to pronounce Le Galion? Is it Le Gay-own or Le Gal-E-Own? :confused:

[IMDORY]

Ok, next question, do you or anyone else know how to pronounce Le Galion? Is it Le Gay-own or Le Gal-E-Own? :confused:

 

I believe it is: Le Gal-E-Own

[YOWmom]

close - Le Galion is pronounced Le Gal-E-on (no "w" sound), and yes, I agree with previous posters - Magens and Le Galion are both great for small kids, and Le Galion is actually quite close to Orient, so you could easily check out both (especially if you rent a car like we did). The water at Le Galion is much calmer than Orient though... Also, if you take a taxi, you might want to arrange for a pick up time as Le Galion is smaller and less developed, so no taxi stand like you would find at the larger more popular beaches (though the bar could probably call a taxi for you if need be)