March - 3 Ships in Port - Orient or Grand Case?

[sakigemcam]

Hi there - 

 

Would love help with choosing between these two beaches on the French side in March.

 

Three ships in port:  Edge (us), Oasis & Jewel. We like a gorgeous, relaxing beach day with whatever food and a decent restroom, with rental chairs and umbrella. Snorkeling a bonus. Obviously the fewer people the better 🙂 

Both beaches look lovely with Bikini Bar or Rainbow Cafe. Any differences between the two in terms of where crowds will be thinner, and issues with transportation? 

 

Thanks very much! 

[SnorkelAway]

I would choose Orient over Grand Case; Bikini over Rainbow.  Orient easier to get to and to return to pier.  Bikini better (IMO) tha Rainbow.  Neither offers much snorkeling.

[sakigemcam]

Thank you!

[RunnerGurl615]

We went to Grand Case/Rainbow last May.  it was beautiful. we didn't eat there as we wanted to eat at a local vendor that our driver knew.  the beach was not crowded at all.  they did have loungers and umbrellas for rent.  the water was so nice.  we didn't snorkel tho.  

[kdawg954]

Rainbow has one of the nicest setups you are gonna find and it was very quiet and relaxing.  Food and Drink both very good and reasonably priced.  2 beer, 2 mixed drinks and the main appetizer for 2 ran 40 euros and it included use of the chairs and umbrellas.  This was in May 2018.  i just gave them $50 euro with tip added in.

 

Gonna probably do Orient in May to see what the hype is about but it has big shoes to fill.

[2Long2NxtCrz]

I know this is too late for the OP, but we did Grand Case for a couple of hours as part of our Bernard's Tour last June and loved it.  The beach was not crowded, the water was crystal clear and warm with almost no waves.  Rainbow was great.

 

But because it was part of a tour, I wasn't sure about how to get there on our own.  It seems to be a bit away from the port which is probably why it was so quiet when we were there.  Any ideas about getting to/from Grand Case?

 

Thanks!

 

And OP please come back and let us know what you did and how it was!

[LadyDivot]

On 2/2/2019 at 10:28 PM, kdawg954 said:

Rainbow has one of the nicest setups you are gonna find and it was very quiet and relaxing.  Food and Drink both very good and reasonably priced.  2 beer, 2 mixed drinks and the main appetizer for 2 ran 40 euros and it included use of the chairs and umbrellas.  This was in May 2018.  i just gave them $50 euro with tip added in.

 

Gonna probably do Orient in May to see what the hype is about but it has big shoes to fill.

So? Orient or Grand Case? Bikini or Rainbow?

 

 

[kdawg954]

2 hours ago, LadyDivot said:

So? Orient or Grand Case? Bikini or Rainbow?

 

 

 

Funny enough I skipped Orient this time because I got up late.  Ended up taking the $7 roundtrip water taxi across Great Bay and rented 2 chairs, umbrella and 2 rum punch for $20 from a guy that was working with Lay Back Beach Bar and Grill.  

 

Very nice day.  The water was perfect and the food was pretty darn good.  Rainbow was nicer as was the open water beach, but factoring cost and convenience, us being close to the port, I wouldn't hesitate doing the same day again.

 

[LadyDivot]

58 minutes ago, kdawg954 said:

 

Funny enough I skipped Orient this time because I got up late.  Ended up taking the $7 roundtrip water taxi across Great Bay and rented 2 chairs, umbrella and 2 rum punch for $20 from a guy that was working with Lay Back Beach Bar and Grill.  

 

Very nice day.  The water was perfect and the food was pretty darn good.  Rainbow was nicer as was the open water beach, but factoring cost and convenience, us being close to the port, I wouldn't hesitate doing the same day again.

 

Got up late? Too much fun the evening before? LOL been there...  We're treating SXM as our chill day. Oddly enough, trying to figure out what to do on our day with no scheduled excursion is actually harder than the day with the excursion! 😳 What to do and where to go on the day we aren't "going or doing" anything?!? Thanks for the tip - now I've got a third place to check out. Although we do enjoy a good water taxi...  Haven't heard a bad thing about Rainbow.

 

Appreciate the response!

[kdawg954]

1 hour ago, LadyDivot said:

Got up late? Too much fun the evening before? LOL been there...  We're treating SXM as our chill day. Oddly enough, trying to figure out what to do on our day with no scheduled excursion is actually harder than the day with the excursion! 😳 What to do and where to go on the day we aren't "going or doing" anything?!? Thanks for the tip - now I've got a third place to check out. Although we do enjoy a good water taxi...  Haven't heard a bad thing about Rainbow.

 

Appreciate the response!

 

We did the Fascination out of San Juan in May 2018 and liked it so much we did the exact same cruise in May 2019 (7 ports in 7 days both times).  The 2018 version was great but exhausting as we did all of our excursions and used Bernards in Saint Marteen (highly recommend and they did a 2 hour stop at Rainbow when I went . . .and Maho Beach for an hour).  So 2019 was about relaxing and not waking up at 7 am to make the 8 am excursion pick ups lol.

 

The only negative about Rainbow is the distance from the port as it's 30 minutes with little traffic . . . But it is certainly a step up in quality, quieter and IMO very reasonable if they still include the chairs/umbrella with food/drink purchase.  That open water view is one of the best you will get in the Caribbean.