St John Antigua/St. Maarten

[Elsammo46]

Never been to either port, but am going for the fist time in May? Does anyone have any recommendations/must-dos at those ports? They can be official ship excursion or otherwise. Thank you!

[hallux]

The Ports Of call section has forum sections for each - https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/456-caribbean/

[Panhandle Couple]

St. Maarten port is Phillipsburg.  It is maybe 1/2 mile from the dock to the heart of downtown.  There is also a water taxi that can take you there for minimal amount.  The beach area is not large, but many vendors have their own 50-100 yards of beach.  They will sell you a couple of chairs and a bucket of beer for the day.  The water is calm and clear, the waves small.  No need for ship excursions if you just want to hang out.  Plenty of places for food and quick snacks with beach access.  The town has 2 or 3 streets of 4 or 5 blocks with tourist stores and an outdoor market a few blocks from the water taxi pier. 

Going to the French side will be pricier.  Cabs will be $20/person and up.  

French side officially has topless sun bathing, maybe 50% partake..  Dutch side is unofficial, but no one seems to care.  Maybe 10%, or simply current residents.   For a 4-6 hour stopover, I wouldn't bother with the French side.  

 

St. John Antigua.  Stopped there last year.  Outside small port area, vendors are VERY aggressive.  Jamaica aggressive.  We opted for a cheap 4 hr beach excursion from NCL in the afternoon. Using the $50 freebie.  The beach was only a 10 minute drive, and OK, but limited to their bar.  We did get the obligatory "free" rum punch, but tips helped with the refills.

 

[cruisequeen4ever]

We’ve been to both Dickinson Bay Beach and Jolly Bay Beach in Antigua and love them both. Both have beautiful long beaches, inviting water, lounge chairs for rent, and restaurants. Jolly Bay has jet ski rentals. Dickenson Bay had (pre-pandemic at least) a swim-up, floating bar out in the sea that was awesome. 

[sunkey1]

We go to the French side (St. Martin), every time as the beaches are beautiful. Have to say the topless I've ever seen looks more like about 5% than 50%, if even that.

[Elsammo46]

44 minutes ago, hallux said:

The Ports Of call section has forum sections for each - https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/456-caribbean/

thank you! My apologies, I didn't know 

[Grandmafreddie]

15 minutes ago, sunkey1 said:

We go to the French side (St. Martin), every time as the beaches are beautiful. Have to say the topless I've ever seen looks more like about 5% than 50%, if even that.

In st Martin French take cab to grand case rainbow restaurent. If u have a lunch bill totaling about twenty $ get free chair and umbrella beach caom and beautiful. Food good and never disappoints 

Er

[Joesantos]

1 hour ago, Elsammo46 said:

Never been to either port, but am going for the fist time in May? Does anyone have any recommendations/must-dos at those ports? They can be official ship excursion or otherwise. Thank you!

St Martin take a cab 🚕 to Maho beach 🏖️ and the sunset bar watching the planes ✈️ beautiful little beach with nice 🌊. Antigua take cab to sneaky Pete’s beach bar At Dickerson bay and walk miles in front of sandals resort 

[brookie848]

In Antigua, BeachLimerz. Our favorite place to go -- we like it even better than Jost Van Dyke. https://www.beachlimerz.com/

[kitkat343]

Maho beach is really great for plane spotting, but please note that as a beach itself is a little underwhelming.  You can rent a beach chair and stay for a while or go to one of the nearby outdoor bars and enjoy the planes, but after an hour of plane spotting I'd recommend moving on to one of their beautiful beaches.  

 

In Antigua, if you like animals you can swim with stingrays and visit the giant tortoises at laviscount island that can be done  as an independent tour.   I think they are close to Devil's bridge, so I'd recommend visiting there too, but our morning in Antigua was cut by NCL for environmental reasons after final payment so we were only able to swim with stingrays (which is great if you enjoy swimming with stingrays but something to skip if that's not something you like).

 

[Panhandle Couple]

18 hours ago, sunkey1 said:

We go to the French side (St. Martin), every time as the beaches are beautiful. Have to say the topless I've ever seen looks more like about 5% than 50%, if even that.

I was pointing topless out because that is unusual, and wanted OP to be aware.

We stayed a week, and the % varied.  Much lower to non-existent when cruise ships were in.  Higher when they weren't, and again, it depends on which beach.

 

Hope you enjoyed your visits.  We certainly did.

 

[luvsboozecruises]

The best excursion in the Caribbean is in st Martin.. captain bob's speed boat excursion, it's a 5 min Walk from the Port, it goes All over the island and stop's at different beaches and a couple of stops to snorkel.. great fun, food and drinks provided, it's a family run company and has been in business for a long time. Captain Brett is Bob's son and now runs it and is alot of fun.. look it up, you will be back in plenty of time to board the ship.. Best excursion in the Caribbean..

[DiverJohn]

Not sure of your age, mobility, or interests but wife and I did a Harley davidson tour of the island, bikes were well maintained and fairly new, picked us up at ship and got us back in plenty of time, need to wear closed toe shoes,  pants and have a valid motorcycle license, passenger no extra cost.  Even though we booked without ship ( do this every island we can) there were eight of us that booked ourselves, our dinner partners were supposed to do a swim with the dolphins but that got cancelled on them so they found us on the dock and joined tour last second was a great tour 

[cementhands]

On 2/3/2023 at 1:58 PM, Elsammo46 said:

Never been to either port, but am going for the fist time in May? Does anyone have any recommendations/must-dos at those ports? They can be official ship excursion or otherwise. Thank you!

Antigua cab ride to sneaky Pete’s beach bar with wonderful waves and lots of beach to walk around in front of sandals resort. Cold beer and drinks local bbq toooo!
  St Martin you have to take a cab to Maho beach 🏖 with the planes. Sunset bar with yellow awning great cold beer and decent bathrooms plus the gentle warm waves are heavenly and hard to leave. Check out the surfboard for plane ✈️ schedule!

Hold onto your hat, your kids, your drink, if you drank enough hold onto the fence! 🤣 

[jbcallender]

St. Maarten, Maho Beach is a must!  Antigua, we did a Segway tour that was great!