Phillipsburg - Marigot - Maho Beach Cab Prices & Itinerary

[kahcarre]

Hello!

I am visiting St. Maarten for the first time and my husband and I have a few places we'd like to see. We arrive at 8am and plan on disembarking early (8:30). We would like to see Phillipsburg, Marigot, and Maho Beach. We're thinking we'll walk to Phillipsburg and do a little shopping first, and then catch a cab to Marigot around 10am. We hope to have lunch and do a little more shopping at Marigot, and be ready to cab to Maho around 12:30pm or 1pm. Then stay and hang out at the Sunset and watch the plans land and then leave to go back to the ship around 2:30pm. The ship departs at 5pm. A few questions:

1. What should I expect to pay for the cabs between Phillipsburg and Marigot, Marigot and Maho, and Maho and the port?

2. Am I leaving myself enough time to get back to the ship from Maho?

3. Am I trying to fit in too much stuff for the time we have?

4. Will it be difficult to find a cab from Maho?

5. Will the cabs/shops on both sides of the island take USD? Do they take credit card?

 

Side note: to the best of my knowledge (and per Cruise TT), we will be the only ship in port that day.

 

Thanks in advance for your help! :)

[Sunny AZ Girl]

Hello!

I am visiting St. Maarten for the first time and my husband and I have a few places we'd like to see. We arrive at 8am and plan on disembarking early (8:30). We would like to see Phillipsburg, Marigot, and Maho Beach. We're thinking we'll walk to Phillipsburg and do a little shopping first, and then catch a cab to Marigot around 10am. We hope to have lunch and do a little more shopping at Marigot, and be ready to cab to Maho around 12:30pm or 1pm. Then stay and hang out at the Sunset and watch the plans land and then leave to go back to the ship around 2:30pm. The ship departs at 5pm. A few questions:

1. What should I expect to pay for the cabs between Phillipsburg and Marigot, Marigot and Maho, and Maho and the port?

2. Am I leaving myself enough time to get back to the ship from Maho?

3. Am I trying to fit in too much stuff for the time we have?

4. Will it be difficult to find a cab from Maho?

5. Will the cabs/shops on both sides of the island take USD? Do they take credit card?

 

Side note: to the best of my knowledge (and per Cruise TT), we will be the only ship in port that day.

 

Thanks in advance for your help! :)

It's doable, but you may want to consider doing a tour with Bernard's Tour. We did a very similar itinerary with him. We did a private tour and were able to customize to skip some of the other things and were able to spend ore time at Marigot and Maho. We had a great time, did not have to worry about catching cabs and the price was probably close to what you would pay for individual cabs. We did have a group from our Roll Call and that helped.:)

[Life is Good Cruising]

Another vote for Bernards tours. If you want more beach time go with their Tour II and it also includes free water, beer, soda and a potent rum punch.

[kahcarre]

Wow, y'all are right! It looks like Bernard's Tour II covers all my stops plus a few extras. Glad to see some positive reviews and the TripAdvisor ones seem to be overwhelmingly positive as well. I think we'd pay slightly more for the privilege but I think the fact that we'd have a guide to tell us about the island, get to go to Orient Beach, have beverages, and some peace of mind is worth that :) Any other words of wisdom concerning Bernard's or St. Maarten? Do you think we'll have time to shop in Philipsburg after the tour before the ship leaves at 5pm?

[Life is Good Cruising]

Taken from their website:

 

Upon return to Philipsburg, transfer back to the ship will be provided free of charge, or you may choose to remain in Philipsburg to shop or sightsee at your own leisure. Walking back to the ship takes between 12 and 15 minutes, or a taxi may take you for approximately $3.

[MillbrookMom]

Wow, y'all are right! It looks like Bernard's Tour II covers all my stops plus a few extras. Glad to see some positive reviews and the TripAdvisor ones seem to be overwhelmingly positive as well. I think we'd pay slightly more for the privilege but I think the fact that we'd have a guide to tell us about the island, get to go to Orient Beach, have beverages, and some peace of mind is worth that :) Any other words of wisdom concerning Bernard's or St. Maarten? Do you think we'll have time to shop in Philipsburg after the tour before the ship leaves at 5pm?

 

Since you've already sailed, I'd love to hear what route you choose to go and how it turned out.....

[kahcarre]

Don't remind me - I wish I was still sailing :p

 

My husband and I loved Bernard's Tour II. Our guide (DJ) was great, really personable but also professional! We got some great shots at the overlooks. We didn't stop at the Iguana Farm as it's currently relocating, and there was also no one holding sea urchins or anything and asking for tips, like I'd read about. We had two relaxing hours at Orient Beach ($10 for 2 chairs, an umbrella, and two rum punches), a delicious lunch at Sarafina's, and about 45 minutes at Maho. We made it in juuuuust in time (about 5 minutes before) the big AirFrance Airbus came in, which was awesome!! Overall, highly recommended and a great day. I'm not sure I would do it again if I went to St. Maarten, just because I don't know if I need to hear all the history and such twice, but it's great for a first-timer to the island. I would have loved to spend more time at Maho - Sunset had a great vibe. We were back at the port around 3pm, which gave us some time to shop around the port without rushing back onto the ship. Overall, loved it :D

[jaxie001]

Don't remind me - I wish I was still sailing :p

 

My husband and I loved Bernard's Tour II. Our guide (DJ) was great, really personable but also professional! We got some great shots at the overlooks. We didn't stop at the Iguana Farm as it's currently relocating, and there was also no one holding sea urchins or anything and asking for tips, like I'd read about. We had two relaxing hours at Orient Beach ($10 for 2 chairs, an umbrella, and two rum punches), a delicious lunch at Sarafina's, and about 45 minutes at Maho. We made it in juuuuust in time (about 5 minutes before) the big AirFrance Airbus came in, which was awesome!! Overall, highly recommended and a great day. I'm not sure I would do it again if I went to St. Maarten, just because I don't know if I need to hear all the history and such twice, but it's great for a first-timer to the island. I would have loved to spend more time at Maho - Sunset had a great vibe. We were back at the port around 3pm, which gave us some time to shop around the port without rushing back onto the ship. Overall, loved it :D

 

Hi do you remember how much time you had in Marigot?

Thanks :)

[mrpayroll]

When we were with Bernard, we had 45 minutes in Marigot. By the time everyone finally got back to van it was about an hour.

Edited February 28, 2015 by mrpayroll

[kahcarre]

When we were with Bernard, we had 45 minutes in Marigot. By the time everyone finally got back to van it was about an hour.

 

Yep, that's my recollection too - either we had 30 minutes, and it ended up being 45, or we had 45 and it ended up being an hour. Pretty short but long enough for Serafina's if you go straight there!

[judyf]

Yep, that's my recollection too - either we had 30 minutes, and it ended up being 45, or we had 45 and it ended up being an hour. Pretty short but long enough for Serafina's if you go straight there!

 

Does anyone know if you can request the tour without stopping at Marigot?

Edited March 2, 2015 by judyf

[Life is Good Cruising]

Does anyone know if you can request the tour without stopping at Marigot?

 

Sure you can request to bypass Marigot but it will be also be up to all the other passengers in your van whether they want to bypass Marigot too. If some of the passengers want to stop at Marigot, then the tour will stop in Marigot. I guess your not interested in those delicious pastries at Sarafina's in Marigot. Tour 2 will give you less time in Marigot compared to Tour 1.

 

If your booking a private tour you can make all the decisions on where to go.

[judyf]

Sure you can request to bypass Marigot but it will be also be up to all the other passengers in your van whether they want to bypass Marigot too. If some of the passengers want to stop at Marigot, then the tour will stop in Marigot. I guess your not interested in those delicious pastries at Sarafina's in Marigot. Tour 2 will give you less time in Marigot compared to Tour 1.

 

If your booking a private tour you can make all the decisions on where to go.

 

Thanks, we were there once, that was enough ;) I really don't need parties and if we went I would indulge :D

[Oh Miss]

I'm going to St Maarten in September. We want to go only to Marigot & Maho Beach & then back into Philipsburg. It seems that all the tours go to a few other places... Bernard's Tour #1 may be the best for us, however, I'm wondering if 1 hour is enough time for Marigot to do some shopping & hit Sarafina's for pastries? Then 45 minutes at Maho Beach doesn't seem long enough either... since these are really the only 2 places we want to go.

 

How about renting a car... seems we can rent with insurance & taxes included for about $100.

 

Or how about hiring a private driver outside the dock gate? Has anyone done this before?

 

THANKS!