Best Beach to swim & how do I get there?

[Cruisin' Patty]

What would be a good beach to swim at and how would we get there? Thanks.

[Cruisin' Patty]

No ideas??

[gtaylor]

I think your question might have been a bit too vague.

 

Read the article at MSNBC about the island's beaches, and check out the information over at Experience St. Maarten, then come back with your thoughts and maybe a more specific question.

 

gary

[Cruising89143]

Personally I like Orient Beach on the French side. It is very easy to grab a taxi when you depart the ship. Just look for the signs showing you to the taxi stands. The price per person depends on how many travel over in the vehicle. There are plenty of cabs at the beach to get you back to the ship.

 

The beach itself is very clean and there are plenty of places to eat and drink along the beach. Be aware that this is a clothing optional beach but you will find that most are from the ships and keep their clothes on.

[Cruisin' Patty]

Thanks for the links and comments.

[geekgirl]

We just got back from the Mariner of the Seas 7 day Eastern which included a stop at St. Maarten. This was our favorite port ever!! I can't speak for the other beaches but we went to Orient Beach and absolutely loved it! Easy to get a cab/van from pier to beach and back, lots of places to grab a cool frozen drink, restaurants although we had lunch on the ship and were glad we did. The restaurants we saw were really expensive like $15 for a cheeseburger and fries! I'm sure there were other places to eat that were hopefully less! Tons of beach chair umbrella set ups. They were $10 per day for 2 lounge chairs, a little table and umbrella at Bikini Beach (part of the stretch of beach at Orient Beach.

 

The sand and water were beautiful and they had tons of water sport items for rent. Again, I have nothing on St. Maarten to compare Orient Beach to, but I can't imagine anything any better!!

 

Hope this helps and have a great time!!

[lisaanne0220]

when you go to the beach what do you do with your money and stuff if you both go in the water?

[H2O babe]

We were also on Orient Beach last month. Absolutely gorgeous. I purchased surf safes before we left and we kept our money, credit cards in those. However, cameras were another story. We usually had at least one person in our group who stayed in the lounge chair and watched our stuff. We rented chairs and umbrellas at Bikini Beach as well. Would highly recommend it. There was jet skiing, water trampoling, parasailing, etc. for activities. Hope this helps.

[L_T]

Orient Beach is about a mile and a half long, and the swimming conditions can vary a lot along it. If you like waves, you normally can find them. The south end (by the yellow unbrellas) usually has the calmest water as it is protected by reefs and an island. It's a great place to swim and, being within Club Orient (a clothing optional resort), you don't even have to get your swimming suit wet! Just walk along until you find a spot that appeals to you for swimming, leave all your things on the beach where you can see it (you might ask someone sitting on the beach to keep an eye on it for you), and go get wet!

We also enjoy swimming at Pinel Island as it is very protected from the prevailing wind, and is shallow for a ways out.