Favorite St. Martin and St. Thomas Shore Excursions?

[LA_CA_GAL]

This is the best on St Maarten. If you are a cruise passenger you can book it only through the ship. ;)

 

http://www.12metre.com/regatta.htm

 

Been there, done it. Incredible. Great excursion.

[LA_CA_GAL]

In St Thomas, we went with Capt Mike and Fury Charters to snorkel with sea turtles. Small group, lovely sailboat ride, extremely professional crew, and great snorkeling! Definitely our best St Thomas excursion to date!

 

The beaches on St Maarten are among the most beautiful in the Caribbean! If you love beach days, there are many to choose from.

 

Have fun on your cruise!

 

We did this one also.

 

Great time. Sailing, snorkeling, loved it.

[DorothyMantooth]

All great info! Thanks so much!

[MrsKC08]

It isn't a ship sponsored excursion, but in St. Maarten we enjoy Bernards Tours. You will probably hear a lot about him throughout cruise critic boards. It was WELL worth the $40pp.

[At Sea 4Ever]

If you are not going to a beach because you are worried about your kids not getting an educational cultural experience, that's not true at all. Magan's bay in st. Thomas is listed on national geographic's top ten most beautiful beaches and is considered to be a landmark. If you take the excursion the ship offers with the van you will get breathtaking views of the island when the driver stops on top of the mountain. Makes for a great family photo. See going to the beach isn't so bad after all! Lol have fun whatever you decide to do!

[Candleonwater]

Our favorite thing to do, on either island, is sailing (catamaran). We just did a sailing excursion through the ship while in St Thomas. It was wonderful. We went to St John - warning though, if weather is bad, they may not make it to St John. This happened to us. We went to a nearby cove instead. St Maarten was where we first sailed - DD had a BLAST.

[shortstuf1255]

Hi We have been to St Maarten 3 times and have always gone on a tour with Benard. You see all the island beach stops and Maho and he gets you back to the ship on time

 

It St Thomas we have used Sunny Liston tours and it is shopping sightseeing and beach time and he also gets you back on time for the ship

[debbs0723]

For St. Thomas my vote go's to the powercat snorkel and beach excursion. My family had a complete blast on it. Many fun memories.

 

Basically they take you on a powercat speed boat to a reef, give you snorkeling gear with instructions. You snorkel along a coral reef. It's totally awesome. Following that, they take you to a private beach where you can snorkel more, or do beach activities. The boats big. It has bathrooms and a tiki bar. I think the pirate ship is the same company. They both advertise swim with turtles. The turtles were fun, but I think they tell you that so you don't go as much to the real treasure which is the coral reefs, just off the side. There are a few turtles, but don't get caught up in that, go to the reefs. There is another offered by RCI, a sunken ship snorkel. That's not the one we went on.

 

Snacks and cold beverages are included. Beer, rum punch, soda and water. They are generous with it too.

 

We have great pictures of the kids driving the boat ( the captain was right there), and it really becomes a blast driving back. Music and laughter.

 

We are definitely planning another trip with them.

 

If you go, I don't think you will be sorry.

 

There will still be time before to check out St. Thomas before the excursion.

 

St. Marteen- I would either go to a private beach or stay on the Dutch side. The French side is dirty, and there's really nothing there.

 

There are fun shops and a beach right there, that was fun because there was so much going on around you.

 

We love both St Thomas and Marteen.

 

Clarification: at the time of our cruise doing those excursions, our kids were under 12.

 

I'm loving this thread as I'm looking for excursions for my entire family in these two places. When you mention the power cat one in St. Thomas is that a ship excursion or private?

 

Thanks,

Debbie

[flatcircle]

This is the best on St Maarten. If you are a cruise passenger you can book it only through the ship. ;)

 

http://www.12metre.com/regatta.htm

 

Totally agree! We've done with twice with a variety of different ages in our group. Everyone had a wonderful time.

[dacsmom]

We did the Seablaster excursion in St. Thomas and loved it, it was a ships excursion. Two separate snorkeling areas, one with turtles and the other with many fish. The people running the excursion were wonderful and very helpful to those who were beginners.

Did Bernards tour in St. Marten, liked it and would do it again but had a big delay during lunch and had to skip Maho beach. Very reasonably priced too.

[SteelerCruiser]

Maho on the Dutch side and Orient on the French side in St Martin and in St Thomas we like Mehgan's Bay and Saphire Beaches.

[springfire]

We did this excursion last June and we too are doing it (again) this coming March. What ship? and when?

 

We will be on the Allure of the Seas the first week of March!