St. Martin question

[jenlev]

Hi. My family of four (including a 3 and 7 year old) has settled on an itinerary for St. Martin. Take a cab to the butterfly farm and walk to Le Galion beach and set up shop for a few hours. I would rather not carry around car seats. Are there any family-friendly cabbies in town that would be willing to drop us off in one place, keep our car seats, and pick us up later in the day? Thanks for your help!

[khm1]

Just so you know, it is a pretty far walk from the Butterfly farm to Le Galion beach. It was a long, potholed, dirt road the last time we went. It took a pretty long time just to drive it. My memory may not be perfect, but I don't think that I would try to walk it. St. Martin is one of the easiest islands to rent a car and drive yourself. Have you considered doing that? We have driven ourselves each of the 5 times that we have gone there.

[jenlev]

I hadn't thought of that, but certainly seems like a good idea. Is there a particular rental company you'd recommend?

[khm1]

I hadn't thought of that, but certainly seems like a good idea. Is there a particular rental company you'd recommend?

 

We use Hertz and reserve ahead of time. We usually travel with extended family and need a van. You don't have to have a reservation for a regular car. The rental car facilities are right past the taxi stands. Very easy.

[jenlev]

thanks for the info. What do you typically do when you are in St. Martin?

[khm1]

We try to do something different every time. I have been to the following beaches, some several times: Orient, Divi Little Bay, Dawn, Le Gallion, and Maho. We like to do the beach in the morning then return in the afternoon to sneak in some shopping in Philipsburg. We usually turn in the car then use the water taxi at the pier.

 

We have not done the butterfly farm yet. Next time we go, I want to rent a car and go to Pinel island. We are going again in July of '12 with a large family group.

 

As I stated before, the island is easy to drive on. You just need to keep in mind that you should try not to drive through Philipsburg on the way back as the traffic can be bad. If you are coming from Le Galion, you will be coming from the other direction so you should be ok. We used my droid phone and Google Maps to get around last time. We went through Marigot to do some sight-seeing. It worked great! I had an international data plan added to my phone before we left. They will give you a map with your car rental. It is pretty hard to get lost. The island is not big at all and the roads are good and mostly well marked. Check the St. Martin boards for more information.

[OasisFamily2011]

We were just in St. Martin last week with a 5 and 7 year old. We took cabs around the island, and I would not hesitate to rent a car and drive yourself. When I was researching beaches there were some mentions that it was slightly more difficult to get a cab to pick you up at Le Gallion. Our cab driver dropped us off and returned to pick us up at Orient Beach. You risk losing your seats if they don't return, I'm not sure I would risk it-- we did not bring boosters for our kids so didn't have to worry about it.

[Julienatul]

Not sure about the taxi situation there. We tend to just walk around and shop and then hit the beach right off the water taxi dock. My kids age 5 and 2 played for hours in the sand and the beach there and it was only a short walk back to the water taxi.