St. Maarten

[abby1257]

Has anyone RECENTLY done an excursion in St. Maarten...Looking for an excursion that has tour, beach and shopping...thx

[AdGuyMG]

Lots of info here on the Cruise Critic St. Maarten board:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/57-st-martinst-maarten/

[shof515]

I use Bernard tours: https://www.bernardstours.com/tours/

[panoramaofthepast]

Check Viator or Shore Fox

[teknoge3k]

We use Bernard's Tours as well. There are lots of excursion brokers out there such as Shore Excursioneer, Island Marketing, Viator, etc. Those are just brokers though and you can't get true reviews on your guide for the day. 

[mrsv41605]

We did exactly that type of tour last April.  When you get off the ship, go through the port shopping area to the taxi area.  There are a bunch of pre-set taxi tours that include tour, with stops at shopping areas and beaches.  There are large signs with your options on them. The more people that get in the van, the cheaper it is per person.  

 

We went to two shopping areas, and to Maho Beach and Orient Beach, and several scenic overlook areas.  We were at Maho for 1.5 hours, long enough to eat, swim, and see a jumbo jet land.  Another passenger in our taxi was over 30 minutes late returning to the taxi at the Marigot shopping stop, and that cut short our Orient Beach time, but there is not much there anymore, which is sad to see.

 

I just checked my travel journal--we paid $25 per person, for the Yellow Tour, eight people in the van. 

Edited April 7, 2019 by mrsv41605
added info

[purplephenom]

I’d suggest Bernard’s tour 2. You get beach time early in the day. So if others are back late during shopping or maho stops, it doesn’t change anything. It’s a good 90 minutes of beach time, and maybe 30 to 40 minutes shopping on the French side 

[A2Mich]

2 hours ago, purplephenom said:

I’d suggest Bernard’s tour 2. You get beach time early in the day. So if others are back late during shopping or maho stops, it doesn’t change anything. It’s a good 90 minutes of beach time, and maybe 30 to 40 minutes shopping on the French side 

 

 

Also highly recommend this.  We had Mailman as our guide.  Great tour-free cold beer, rum punch, soda, and bottled water.  Pastries at Sarafina’s in Marigot were excellent, though expensive with the exchange rate.  Had some beach time at Orient Beach and also some time at Maho Beach.  One thing about St Maarten, for those that may have never been, if you venture on your own, afternoon traffic can be very heavy, especially between Simpson Bay and Philipsburg. 

[mets123]

Use Bernard. You will have a great 

 

time, and he is very reasonable. How can you go wrong with free drinks?😇

[Ellaleah]

I second The Mailman at Bernard’s.  We did an island tour with beach time.  Very nice day!

[RonaldL]

Beware of a common scam in the downtown area:  a lady will approach you with a free scratch off ticket and then tell you that you have won with a choice of some expensive gifts.  You pick the prize up at a nearby hotel and she will even pay for the taxi.  When you arrive you sit through a long timeshare presentation and loose a good part of the day.

[2Long2NxtCrz]

I can't recommend Bernard's highly enough.  In fact, we're going back this November and I'm considering just booking with them again, though we really only want a leisurely beach day.