Prettiest Beach in St Maarten

[mitsugirly]

THanks for the links.

 

By the way....after these posts I went back to my "St Maarten in 8 hrs" book and read about Mullet. It said that Mullet can have strong waves and to be careful of the undertow. So it doesn't seem like Mullet would be for us as my younger one doesn't really swim yet (although we have a life vest for her). Having said that, it certainly doesn't look rough in your pictures.

 

You are correct. It was a nice calm day the day we were there. It's pretty much a hit or miss and I'm not sure if it has anything to do with the time of year/season or just the weather/winds. :(

[Karysa]

The last time that I experienced undertow conditions of any significance at Mullet was March of 2010. Our one daughter got knocked down and was nervous enough on that trip that she didn't want to go back there during that holiday. She was 14 at the time. We have been back every year since but usually in the summer months and have not had an issue. I will tell you that Mullet often has a large drop or hill from the sand where the top of the beach is to where the water is. It's 3 ft sometimes higher.

[Karysa]

I just googled surfing mullet bay beach St. Maarten and there are many photos of surfers and big waves at Mullet. I have never seen waves like there myself though. :) some pictures may not be mullet because they are tight shots and hard to tell but there are several shots with buildings in that are clearly Mullet.

Edited December 11, 2015 by Karysa

[LuCruise]

Thanks so much for the feedback. I'm not dismissing Mullet, but I think my selection goes back to either Bernard's Tour or Little Bay Beach (with Mullet as a third option). Even if in recent years the waves aren't strong at the shore (we like a bit of waves but not strong), the drop in sand makes me nervous too. We have a life vest for our younger one (who is 6.5 years so not that young but is just in the learning phase of swimming) and our DS10 can swim...but has never swum in the ocean...which is very different from a pool.

 

I agree that it would be nice if there was a daily website that you could check that posted the conditions at the beach...since it seems to vary from day to day.

Edited December 11, 2015 by LuCruise

[mitsugirly]

Thanks so much for the feedback. I'm not dismissing Mullet, but I think my selection goes back to either Bernard's Tour or Little Bay Beach (with Mullet as a third option). Even if in recent years the waves aren't strong at the shore (we like a bit of waves but not strong), the drop in sand makes me nervous too. We have a life vest for our younger one (who is 6.5 years so not that young but is just in the learning phase of swimming) and our DS10 can swim...but has never swum in the ocean...which is very different from a pool.

 

I agree that it would be nice if there was a daily website that you could check that posted the conditions at the beach...since it seems to vary from day to day.

 

I'm not trying to talk you into going there, but just trying to explain a little better. When Karysa said there was a drop in sand, it's not IN the water it's from the beach and it's not that bad and certainly nothing to worry about anything related to safety. (Or at least I think that's what was meant since Karysa stated "I will tell you that Mullet often has a large drop or hill from the sand where the top of the beach is to where the water is.") It's just a gradual decline in the beach/sand before you hit the water. There's a lot of beaches (especially in the Caribbean) that have this. It's just where the water/tide goes in and out during the day. It takes sand with it and such.

 

I tried to find the best picture I could to show it and this is what I came up with from the day I was there. You can tell by the picture that the sand was higher where I was standing than at the beach entrance. Obviously some days it will be bigger than other days. But that part is certainly not something to worry about.

 

As you can kinda tell in the following picture, the man is walking upward to the beach after getting out of the water. I'm standing up higher.

 

 

Here you can see there's somewhat of a hill, but not bad

 

 

 

See the lady standing up, she's at the top (for this day)

 

 

 

This is taken from a different angle. You can see the gradual decline from the beach to the water.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some days it can be worse than others obviously depending on the current and such (as Karysa said it could be 3 feet or so), but I have been to so many beaches in the Caribbean and have experienced this everywhere and this is probably the last thing you need to worry about. ;)

 

 

If you do a search on Mullet Bay and look at the images, you will find that most show a calm, wave rolling ocean that's not bad. It "seems" to be like this for most of the pictures you'll find. However, I would never say that it's never too wavy due to I have read many times that people also use this beach as a surf beach and you'll also find huge waves with guys surfboarding there as well. There usually is some mention of a hurricane passing by, so that's probably a factor as well. You just never know the conditions at any beach when you go.

 

I may be returning to St Maarten in a few months and when I do, I'm also looking at possibly going to Little Bay. It looks lovely and I need a new place to go as well. I just can't comment on it, since I haven't been yet. So definitely not trying to talk you out of it. Just trying to inform you to the best of my personal knowledge/experience.

 

What ever you decide, have a wonderful time and cruise. It is beautiful there.

[LuCruise]

Thank you mitsugirly. Really appreciate you explaining. So if it's a drop in the sand before the water, then no problem. I was thinking in terms of "a sudden step in the water" when not expecting it, as I remember that kind of thing myself from when I was a kid. It was scary.

Your pictures are lovely and put Mullet back on our list. :rolleyes:

 

So what I've done is I've collected some pictures of Little Bay and of Mullet (and will also have some of Bernard's Tour). End of Dec we will be telling our kids about our cruise. (We booked a year ago and they still don't know about it). So once we tell them, we'll go over the pictures and pros and cons of each beach (e.g. porta potty for Mullet is a bit of a con...esp if no toilet paper as I think I read in your report)..and then the 4 of us can decide together.

For Mullet, I think you said you can walk to Maho?

 

Enjoy your upcoming cruise. Would love to hear what you think of Little Bay...esp as you have many Caribbean beaches to compare it to. You going before April?

[Karysa]

The drop was not that gradual this summer. Many folks got help going down to the beach and back up. It was nothing like the pictures posted above.

[mitsugirly]

Thank you mitsugirly. Really appreciate you explaining. So if it's a drop in the sand before the water, then no problem. I was thinking in terms of "a sudden step in the water" when not expecting it, as I remember that kind of thing myself from when I was a kid. It was scary.

Your pictures are lovely and put Mullet back on our list. :rolleyes:

 

So what I've done is I've collected some pictures of Little Bay and of Mullet (and will also have some of Bernard's Tour). End of Dec we will be telling our kids about our cruise. (We booked a year ago and they still don't know about it). So once we tell them, we'll go over the pictures and pros and cons of each beach (e.g. porta potty for Mullet is a bit of a con...esp if no toilet paper as I think I read in your report)..and then the 4 of us can decide together.

For Mullet, I think you said you can walk to Maho?

 

Enjoy your upcoming cruise. Would love to hear what you think of Little Bay...esp as you have many Caribbean beaches to compare it to. You going before April?

 

 

Yes, it's a very easy walk over to Maho from there. We headed over to watch the planes come in for awhile and it made for a decent day.

 

We are trying to make plans for Spring Break in March. One of the ships we are looking at goes to St Maarten and if all works out, we'll be there at that time. I'm not sure yet if we are going to Little Bay, but it's also on my radar. :D I still need to do some research (and hopefully Karysa can help me out with that since that's how I decided to head to Mullet last time we were there) :D

[Karysa]

Yes, it's a very easy walk over to Maho from there. We headed over to watch the planes come in for awhile and it made for a decent day.

 

We are trying to make plans for Spring Break in March. One of the ships we are looking at goes to St Maarten and if all works out, we'll be there at that time. I'm not sure yet if we are going to Little Bay, but it's also on my radar. :D I still need to do some research (and hopefully Karysa can help me out with that since that's how I decided to head to Mullet last time we were there) :D

 

You love Maho too much not to make it there even for a short visit. :D I've got a couple of ideas that I think that you may like Mitsugirly. :) ( interested in learning more about Bermuda/Bermuda cruise and your reviews are top notch, do you have one for Bermuda Kim?). Thanks:) :) just figured out all I needed to do was click. You are beyond organized!

Edited December 12, 2015 by Karysa

[mitsugirly]

You love Maho too much not to make it there even for a short visit. I've got a couple of ideas that I think that you may like Mitsugirly. ( interested in learning more about Bermuda/Bermuda cruise and your reviews are top notch, do you have one for Bermuda Kim?). Thanks just figured out all I needed to do was click. You are beyond organized!

 

 

We have been to Maho twice now, so it won't be on our agenda for any future trips. There's just too much to see and do and it's so hard when you are only there for a short period of time on a cruise. :( So I know we will be going somewhere new this time around. I know we have discussed Le Galion before since it's a nice, calm area for families and the locals go there. But I still must do more research on the various places that might interest us. Once I decide (for sure) that the cruise we want goes to St Maarten, I'll be making a thread to gather suggestions and throw out my thoughts. :D I can always count on you to help me plan and really appreciate it. :)

 

Yep, 2 trips to Bermuda this year and reviews in my signature line. I'm not sure if it will be on the agenda for next year or not. My husband has actually thrown out the idea of possibly going to a resort (Cancun) and staying a week for one of our trips, instead of one of the cruises we normally go on. I'm researching, but we'll see. :p

[Karysa]

We have been to Maho twice now, so it won't be on our agenda for any future trips. There's just too much to see and do and it's so hard when you are only there for a short period of time on a cruise. :( So I know we will be going somewhere new this time around. I know we have discussed Le Galion before since it's a nice, calm area for families and the locals go there. But I still must do more research on the various places that might interest us. Once I decide (for sure) that the cruise we want goes to St Maarten, I'll be making a thread to gather suggestions and throw out my thoughts. :D I can always count on you to help me plan and really appreciate it. :)

 

Yep, 2 trips to Bermuda this year and reviews in my signature line. I'm not sure if it will be on the agenda for next year or not. My husband has actually thrown out the idea of possibly going to a resort (Cancun) and staying a week for one of our trips, instead of one of the cruises we normally go on. I'm researching, but we'll see. :p

 

Maybe come spring some reliable transport to and from the Cul de sac will be talked about and you can head over to Pinel island without worrying if you will be left stranded.

 

Bermuda is somewhere that I have always wanted to go to. For our winter land vacation we are going to Cayoleventado in DR off of Samana which we first were introduced to on a cruise. We loved it but it seems others didn't and it's not on many itinerary's any longer. :)

 

Choosing where to vacation next is a good problem to have. Enjoy:)

[LoveDonuts]

Are there restrooms at Mullet Bay?

[mitsugirly]

Are there restrooms at Mullet Bay?

 

They have a porta potty there to use. No real facilities. When we were there, it didn't smell bad or anything and was clean.

[Karysa]

They have a porta potty there to use. No real facilities. When we were there, it didn't smell bad or anything and was clean.

 

This beach is packed with locals on the weekends and quite busy on days with several ships in now I think that it is more than time for a new restroom to be built.

 

Lets face it there are a lot of people drinking and one porta potty and no one has reported a line up at it! If you think about it, it's kinda yucky!

[jim_in_nyc]

Has anyone experienced the beach at the Westin? Approximate travel time, taxi cost? Also Divi Little Bay Resort?

[pghsteelerfan]

Has anyone experienced the beach at the Westin? Approximate travel time, taxi cost? Also Divi Little Bay Resort?

 

We were in Divi Little Bay this past September and really liked it. It was our last day of the cruise on a port heavy itinerary and we were just wanting a nice, relaxing beach day at a beach close to the ship but didn't want to go to Great Bay since we've heard about the pollution problems it has at times. I responded to another inquiry looking for a beach and included a few pictures. Attaching the link to that thread.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2284803

 

Also, attaching a link to taxi rates in SXM. Since there were only 2 of us, it was $10.00 per person, each way. If you have three or more, it's $5.00.

 

http://taxistmaarten.com/zones-rates/

Edited December 17, 2015 by pghsteelerfan

[navybankerteacher]

Has anyone experienced the beach at the Westin? Approximate travel time, taxi cost? Also Divi Little Bay Resort?

 

The Westin at Dawn Beach is bout $6 per person by taxi, about 20 minutes from cruise terminal. Not familiar with Divi.

[Karysa]

The Westin at Dawn Beach is bout $6 per person by taxi, about 20 minutes from cruise terminal. Not familiar with Divi.

 

Little Bay AKA Divi is about 10 minutes and $4-$5 dollars pp each way depending on the number of passengers. There is a taxi stand at the resort so getting a taxi for the return trip is easy.

[ZZROX]

We have been to Orient Bay in several years. Is the restaurant Bikini Beach still there? If not,

can you recommend a good beach spot with a restaurant?