Dawn Beach, Isle Pinel or DIVI Little Bay?

[bbaileyfamily]

If anybody can help, we are trying to decide between Dawn Beach, Isle Pinel and DIVI Little Bay. We wish to do one of these on our own and not with the ship's cattle herd. Any thoughts on the pros or cons to these 3 would be greatly appreciated.

 

We are not looking for a packed beach. We would like a little solitude, some good snorkeling ,white sand and not too rough water. Can anybody give any comparisons? Any thoughts on how crowed each of these gets.

 

And, has anybody been to Dawn Beach recently? I hear from reliable travelers here that there is quite a bit going on here. If so, is there still peaceful beach area to get to?

 

Many thanks, Brad

[RocksNoSalt]

If anybody can help, we are trying to decide between Dawn Beach, Isle Pinel and DIVI Little Bay. We wish to do one of these on our own and not with the ship's cattle herd. Any thoughts on the pros or cons to these 3 would be greatly appreciated.

 

We are not looking for a packed beach. We would like a little solitude, some good snorkeling ,white sand and not too rough water. Can anybody give any comparisons? Any thoughts on how crowed each of these gets.

 

And, has anybody been to Dawn Beach recently? I hear from reliable travelers here that there is quite a bit going on here. If so, is there still peaceful beach area to get to?

 

Many thanks, Brad

 

Hi Brad,

We were at Dawn Beach on Sept. 7th. We were only there for the afternoon, but absolutely loved it. The water is pristine. The water temp was very warm, just the way I like it. The beach was gorgeous. We had lunch at Mr. Busby. Lunch not so great, but the Carib beer was only .75

They only charged $1 on the beach. I don't snorkel so I can't comment on that. Only to say that the water was very clear. We would go back in a heartbeat. The area where we were was not crowded. You are bothered a little with vendors walking up to sell their wares. Other than that LOVED IT!

Have a great trip!

[gtaylor]

We had lunch twice at Ms. B's (not to be confused with any other food options on the beach) last year and absolutely loved the food, the staff, and the beach!

 

 

gary

[Nan-L]

Try Bay Rouge (SP?) Small beach, there is nudity,if that bothers you. But they have a rock wall at one end very good for snorkling.

you may need to rent a car to go to this area.

[SeaTrailer]

If you don't want crowded, my vote is Isle Pinel. We went there in March and had a wonderful time. Lovely beach, chairs and unbrellas readily available and two restaurants to eat. Be forewarned that both restaurants do not accept credit cards, cash only.

 

We are going back there in January.

[thewolffs]

We went to Dawn Beach earlier this month and had a blast. The construction is at the other end of the beach. You couldn't hear any noise over the sound of the waves. 75 cent Carib beer from 11-4. How can you beat that? I love Dawn Beach because of the waves. They aren't too rough. It's just not really calm. It makes it more exciting to be in the water. I don't snorkel, but everyone says there is great snorkeling there. We ate at Beau Beau's and had a wonderful lunch. Prices were very reasonable. We got 4 lounge chairs and 2 umbrellas for $20. I thought that was a good deal. I can email you pictures of Dawn Beach if you want to see what it looks like.

[stillkiki]

Hi,

 

How did you get from cruise ship to Dawn Beach (or other beaches)? Is a taxi hard to find? I'm traveling with my family of 5, and my parents, so I don't want it to be difficult, but paying an excursion price for 7 of us seems ridiculous, if we can enjoy a beach day just as much doing it on our own. Any help is greatly appreciated!

[thewolffs]

We had rented a car. We spent a week there before, so we knew we wanted to rent a car to drive around the island. St. Maarten is a very easy island to drive. There is basically one main road. Dawn Beach is very easy to get to and it is close to where the cruise ship pier is. You could rent a mini-van or take a taxi. I would think it is about a 10-15 min. drive. Orient Beach is probably another 15 min. beyond Dawn Beach. It may not even be that far. There are plenty of taxis when you get off of the ship. There are other threads that will tell you how much taxis are to the different beaches and how far away they are. Have fun. Let me know if you have any other questions.

[Sheffie]

We just got a taxi to take us to Dawn Beach. There are a LOT of taxis at the end of the pier. We grabbed a taxi for the return trip,too. I am sure that if you ask a taxi to pick you up at the beach, they will be there.

[kchesneylover]

Very cool. Thanks for the advice.

[kchesneylover]

so which has the best reef?