How Do You Get To Maho Beach W/O Renting A Car?

[kaysha2004]

We're sailing on the Celebrity Silhouette for the March 30th departure. We want to venture to Maho Beach in St. Maarten. Renting a car is too expensive. We heard that a taxi is $30 USD each way for 2 people.:( Does anyone know a cheaper way to get over to Maho Beach to watch the jets land without doing a cruise line excursion?:eek:

[Wine-O]

We're sailing on the Celebrity Silhouette for the March 30th departure. We want to venture to Maho Beach in St. Maarten. Renting a car is too expensive. We heard that a taxi is $30 USD each way for 2 people.:( Does anyone know a cheaper way to get over to Maho Beach to watch the jets land without doing a cruise line excursion?:eek:

 

There's a taxi stand at the port to shuttle people all over the place -- downtown, Maho, other beaches, etc. Cost is $9 per person one way to Maho, and we got one for $8 for our way back.

Edited February 16, 2014 by Wine-O

[auesar]

Public bus -- we paid $2 pp each way. It was simple. Also, there was a fantastic place (Caravanserai) about two minutes from the beach that lets people use their pools/chairs/umbrellas as long as you buy a drink at their bar. It was amazing, especially considering they had an awesome kiddie pool that our 18mo could play in. There were probably only 10 people in the huge pool area during the two hours we were there.

[billyelliot]

Taxi stand is just as you get off the ship, mini buses holding about 8/12. All the prices are displayed on a board. Very easy..... You can arrange a pick up time with the same taxi, but there are plenty about to come back to the ship. Don't leave it too late to come back because traffic can be bad.. :eek:

[Guernseycruiser]

Agreed, the cheapest way is to take a public bus/minibus. Just to note these are only available downtown (not directly outside the ship). About a 15/20 minute walk into town. There is no set timetable, just hail down when you see one saying Maho/Mullet in the window. To find these, you need to walk a couple of streets back from the "front street". Very easy to use, have used this option many times when in St Maarten with no issues. They are very regular, so do not have to book a set time, when you are ready to leave, just hail down again with Philipsburg in the window, should not have to wait more than 10 mins on average.

 

Most of the larger planes arrives after midday, so no need to rush off the ship. You can spend some time downtown first. You can check flight arrivals on the airports website before you go. When arrviving at the beach, there is a bar at the far end, where they have a blackboard on a surfboard with all the expected flight times.

[OldJerseycruiser]

If you wanted to do a local tour look at Bernard's Tours, St Maarten, he has various options and we thoroughly enjoyed our trip including Maho Beach. He now also does just a Maho Beach tour.

[TravelerThom]

Agreed, the cheapest way is to take a public bus/minibus. Just to note these are only available downtown (not directly outside the ship). About a 15/20 minute walk into town. There is no set timetable, just hail down when you see one saying Maho/Mullet in the window. To find these, you need to walk a couple of streets back from the "front street...

The buses are on Back Street, which is the next street beyond Front Street. Note that Front Street is one block inland from the pedestrian Boardwalk Boulevard that is next to the beach. Front Street is one way Eastward (actually SE) back toward the ship docks; Back Street is one way away from the docks. The buses are mostly used by locals, but are tourist friendly (on some islands you may catch an attitude if you take up seats on local transportation).

 

Thom

[boogs]

Here is a photo I took a few years ago on our cruise stop. It is well worth a visit. Two of us took a taxi there and back. There are always taxis waiting at both ends, so it's easy to grab one. But, we almost didn't make it back in time for the ship's departure. The traffic coming back was horrible as we entered town, with more stop than go. We finally got out and walked to the ship with only a half hour to spare. If we had stayed in the taxi we would have never made it. Allow yourself plenty of time to get back.

 

Edited February 16, 2014 by boogs

[cherylroslyn]

We're sailing on the Celebrity Silhouette for the March 30th departure. We want to venture to Maho Beach in St. Maarten. Renting a car is too expensive. We heard that a taxi is $30 USD each way for 2 people.:( Does anyone know a cheaper way to get over to Maho Beach to watch the jets land without doing a cruise line excursion?:eek:

Cab.... Good luck finding a cab that would even consider driving just you and your husband. Cabs are shared in St. Maarten and there is not much choice about it.... At the stand they will pile the people into your cab without asking you, and that brings the price down significantly......

[boogs]

Cab.... Good luck finding a cab that would even consider driving just you and your husband. Cabs are shared in St. Maarten and there is not much choice about it.... At the stand they will pile the people into your cab without asking you, and that brings the price down significantly......

 

We had no problem getting a cab for just the two of us. But that was four years ago. Have things changed since then?

[vedettes1]

Do you know if those buses run frequently through Grand Case?

[kaysha2004]

Love the pic! I look forward to the adventure!

[TravelerThom]

Do you know if those buses run frequently through Grand Case?

The two main bus routes from Philipsburg are to Maho/Mullet Bay and to Marigot. I don't think there are frequent buses from Philipsburg to Grand Case, and may be no through buses. I think there are buses from Marigot to Grand Case, but I have never actually seen them.

 

Thom