Why is there so little information on things to do in St. Bart?

[Nashna]

I am surprised there is so little information on spending the day in St. Bart's.  We visited St. Bart's on a Windstar Cruise about eight years ago.  We rented a car, drove around the island, had lunch in a lovely seaside restaurant, and sat on the beach.  We are visiting St. Bart's again this January.  We were excited to sign up for an Oceania ship excursion for a catamaran sail to a beach.  Just found out that the age limit for the tour is 70, and we are too old to go...which is rubbish as we are active adults.  Looking to do a day sail excursion and have found absolutely nothing that isn't in the thousands of dollars.  On other islands, we have been able to rent chairs and umbrellas and spend the day on the beach.  On another site, they mentioned that beach chairs were $100.00 per person and required food and drink purchases.   Has anyone done this?

[princeton123211]

On 8/19/2023 at 11:45 AM, Nashna said:

Looking to do a day sail excursion and have found absolutely nothing that isn't in the thousands of dollars.  On other islands, we have been able to rent chairs and umbrellas and spend the day on the beach.  On another site, they mentioned that beach chairs were $100.00 per person and required food and drink purchases.   Has anyone done this?

Unfortunately it just comes down to the fact that St Barths doesn't really want the cruise ship business. They look very down their noses at cruise day trippers. Unless you have a hotel room on the island it can be very limiting. 

 

I don't know if there are any resorts that do day passes (there wasn't any when we were last there a few years ago) but worth a look. We did take the plunge on our second visit there and got a room for the day at one of the top resorts. It was breathtakingly expensive and at the end of the day not worth it. We spent most of our time by the pool (getting a room was the only way to do this). We had buyers remorse on the tender back. 

 

Going to be back on Seadream this winter. I think the plan is to go ashore, have a nice lunch on the beach at Eden Rock, walk around Gustavia a bit and then head back for a nice afternoon on the ship. Plenty of other islands on these itineraries that make it easier to do the things you describe. 

[Nashna]

I wonder if St. Bart's disdain for day trippers is due to the ferry that drops off passengers from St. Martin.  While researching options for St. Bart's, I was struck by the number of day sails to St. Bart's offered at very low prices. On a recent stop in St. Bart's, we rented a jeep and drove around the island.  It was an enjoyable day, but we don't wish to repeat it.  We had signed up for a ship's catamaran excursion.  However, the local tour operator does not allow people over 70 to sail on their boats.  Our best option at this point is to do as you suggested.  Take a walk around Gustavia and have a nice lunch.  

[princeton123211]

6 hours ago, Nashna said:

I wonder if St. Bart's disdain for day trippers is due to the ferry that drops off passengers from St. Martin.

It's more just good old fashioned snobbery. The island itself is incredibly wealthy and doesn't need the cruise and day visitors relatively small revenue. Most hotel rooms are in the thousands of dollars a night. It's a huge yachting destination with owners and charter guests that spend lavishly when on the island. They just want to keep their bubble and limit what they see as the riff raff. 

[Nashna]

You really can't blame them.  It is an amazing place to stay.  I'm surprised they allow day charters and cruise ships to dock.  

[princeton123211]

16 hours ago, Nashna said:

You really can't blame them.  It is an amazing place to stay.  I'm surprised they allow day charters and cruise ships to dock.  

It is. I guess there's not much they could do to stop them without a really good reason but they just aren't going to encourage them. 

 

Ive been fortunate enough to visit the island the twice I mentioned on cruise ships but also once on a friend of a friend's yacht. It's stunning how differently you are treated when visiting on a yacht-- it's like they know. Like you area wearing a scarlet letter coming ashore from a cruise ship. 

[Nashna]

We did not have an issue when we docked sailing on a 144-passenger Winstar ship.  Perhaps it was because its size was comparable to a Saudi yacht.