St. Maarten question

[MrMike45]

Me and the wife are doing the 9 day / 4 island Gem cruise in October.

 

We have been to St. Maarten before, but in looking at the shore excursions, they have a beach trip to Maho Beach, which seems like is right next to an airport and the planes fly right over head. The picture on the website makes it seem pretty cool, so we're thinking of doing it, but my wife is wondering if it is going to be insanely loud and dirty.

 

Has anyone been?

[jackson bernard]

Me and the wife are doing the 9 day / 4 island Gem cruise in October.

 

We have been to St. Maarten before, but in looking at the shore excursions, they have a beach trip to Maho Beach, which seems like is right next to an airport and the planes fly right over head. The picture on the website makes it seem pretty cool, so we're thinking of doing it, but my wife is wondering if it is going to be insanely loud and dirty.

 

Has anyone been?

 

Its a small beach, and was pretty rough when we were there. I also remenber a steep drop off in the water. I don’t remember it being dirty at all and the planes taking off and landing were really neat.

 

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[poppadevan]

Me and the wife are doing the 9 day / 4 island Gem cruise in October.

 

We have been to St. Maarten before, but in looking at the shore excursions, they have a beach trip to Maho Beach, which seems like is right next to an airport and the planes fly right over head. The picture on the website makes it seem pretty cool, so we're thinking of doing it, but my wife is wondering if it is going to be insanely loud and dirty.

 

Has anyone been?

 

If you haven't been to Maho, then do it. It is on many peoples Bucket List. Spend a few hours at Sunset Bar and Grill. Go to Youtube.com and look at the videos. This will give you a good idea of what you are missing.

[runner15km]

It's a, "been there done that" type of place. Most big jets arrive in the afternoon so plan something better to do in the am.

[MrMike45]

Thanks all

[cyndiloucruise]

Actually I was just there last week. Maho Beach (sand) got wiped out during the last storm so there is no real "beach". Just Rocks. Just an FYI for you. Everyone was hangig on rocks and the wall. Locals say it takes about a month for it to re-generate.

[pamera]

We visited Maho beach earlier this year. While we were there, several smaller planes took off, but also a 747. It was crazy. I stood a bit to the side and my DH was directly behind it. It was super hot, sandy and loud. The blast actually knocked everyone over. Be prepared to get sand everywhere! It was a pretty cool experience (I wasn't too excited about doing it in the beginning...but liked it much better than I thought.) If you sit out of the "blast zone" you can enjoy the planes without being sandblasted. Overall, I'm glad we did it.

 

The beach itself was small. They had chairs and umbrellas for rent and of course, drinks for purchase.

[TrumpyNor]

Maho Beach is absolutely worth a visit if you haven't been there before - but NOT for a "day at the beach", but for the plane spotting. Especially when the larger planes take off or land it can be quite impressive. The beach itself is nothing special, it is the planes that is the attraction. There is also a huge bar/restaurant at the sight. And at the entrance of the bar, there is a board that states the scheduled arriving times for the various flights - so that you can be prepared with your camera when a large one arrives... :)

 

If you want a beach excursion, and don't care about the planes - then there are many other beaches on the island that is much nicer than Maho.

[spidybabe]

The U tube videos look very interesting, but we live so close to two major NYC airports, that seeing more planes does not interest us. We get close enough to them daily. Much nicer beaches if you are looking for a beach day, or just goto front street....shopping, boardwalk, beach( still not the nicest, but good), bars..... what more can you want out of life.......

Safe sailing

[candydane]

If you haven't already, check out the Cruise Critic forum for : St. Martin/St. Maarten.. Lots of posts about Maho Beach and other things to do on the island.

 

Enjoy your cruise!

[laurabegorrah]

If the excursion is just going to Maho Beach, I would do it on your own. You can get a taxi over for much cheaper than the ship excursions, and you can time your visit to the plane schedules.

[MrMike45]

thanks all. i actually live right in the middle of JFK and LGA, but i wouldn't call the Grand Central or Belt Pkwy a beach lol. We've been to St. Maarten and have gone to Orient Beach (believe that's the most popular one). Truthfully, we didn't like it. Too many street (beach) peddlers. Literally, every 5 minutes another person offering to braid my wife's hair or sell us stuff. So figured let's do something a little different this time and check out the plane beach.

 

As someone else pointed out, only time we book shore excursions is stuff like swin with Dolphins or SeaLions. Have found that grabbing a cab right outside the pier is A) much cheaper, b) much quicker and C) much more enjoyable as every cab driver we have had on all our cruises has been nice and told us stories about their island. Of course I just jinxed myself with that.

[spidybabe]

Hey MrMike. ...we are neighbors...from Queens...?? We from whitestone...

Got enough planes flying overhead here...Don't need extra on vacation. LOL .....but I still love the airplane overpass by the Van Wyche expressway. Love to watch them go over the highway, so I guess anybody not living close to airport would find Maho Beach amazing

Safe sailing

 

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[Cliodhna112]

How far is maho beach from orient beach??

Edited September 8, 2014 by Cliodhna112

[medsed]

Hi MrMIke45!

 

Are you on the October 18th sailing. If so swing on by our roll call!

 

We are going to Mullet Bay in the morning and then taking the fifteen minute walk over to Maho around noon. We will just taxi or bus to Mullet, walk to Maho and taxi back. There is no need to do the ship's excursion. Just leave plenty of time to get back. From all accounts I Have read and from those I have spoken to taxis are readily available at Maho to return you to the ship.

[OCruisers]

Its a small beach, and was pretty rough when we were there. I also remenber a steep drop off in the water.

 

It's not a good place to spend "a day at the beach". :(

LuLu

[LrgPizza]

How far is maho beach from orient beach??

I don't know exactly, but nothing is "far" on the island. We rented a car and visited one beach where we walked in the water to some small islands, then we went to Orient briefly, then to Maho in time to watch the 747 land at 11:00am. Hung there for a couple hours eating lunch and watching more planes, then we drove around the entire island, stopping briefly to check things out in Marigot before heading back to Orient Beach to wander again. We had the car returned and were back on the ship 1 hour before sailaway. Obviously we didn't spend much time at the beach, but we clearly could have had time if that had been our plan. Those who do Maho Beach only are selling themselves short. Our car rental was right at the port, and including all fees cost us only $64.