Beaches within walking distance of the pier??

[jscangel18]

we are going to be on rcl mariner may 11th from port canaveral and in st marteen for 1 day...are any of the beaches within walking distance from the pier? we dont have any shore excursions planned we just want to hang out at the beach and snorkel..anyone have suggestions??? Thanks;)

[hubofhockey]

we are going to be on rcl mariner may 11th from port canaveral and in st marteen for 1 day...are any of the beaches within walking distance from the pier? we dont have any shore excursions planned we just want to hang out at the beach and snorkel..anyone have suggestions??? Thanks;)

 

It might be worth it to spend a little extra and leave the dutch side for the better beaches on the french side - namely, Orient Bay.

[nsbee]

there is a beach within walking distance of the pier and it is a nice beach. It is not one of our nicest beaches like Orient, but it is a fine beach if you just

want to walk somewhere. The beach is lined with a boardwalk which has restaurants and bars and water sports.

A lot of people from the cruise ships just hang out in town, shop,eat, and hang on that beach.

The water taxi also will drop you at the beach if you don't want to walk.

[Zbayette]

there is a beach within walking distance of the pier and it is a nice beach. It is not one of our nicest beaches like Orient, but it is a fine beach if you just

want to walk somewhere. The beach is lined with a boardwalk which has restaurants and bars and water sports.

A lot of people from the cruise ships just hang out in town, shop,eat, and hang on that beach.

The water taxi also will drop you at the beach if you don't want to walk.

Do you know the name of this beach? Is there snorkeling there?

[The Big Booper]

Great Bay Beach

 

St. Martin is not known for its snorkling per some posters here who snorkel frequently.

 

And there are water quality issues with Great Bay, from untreated sewage being dumped to oil leaks from all the maritime traffic floating in the vicinity.

 

Orient has the best water sports and is 20-25 minutes away by cab.

[beachchick]

We wouldn't go wading in Great Bay much less try to snorkel. It's a pretty beach for being on the beach, not for in-the-water activities. I think (but am not positive) that Little Divi (not within walking distance) is the closest beach that's good for water play.

 

beachchick

[nsbee]

There is not much snorkeling on St Maartn as indicated above.

the closest beach to do a little snorkeling would be at Divi Little bay. the snorkeling here is fair. It's a short cab ride away and many crusiers do go there for teh day.

ther are no water quality issues at Great Bay Bayin spite of what people say.

the bech is clean.Peope swim in it all the timeand no one has died of contamination yet.

The 2 prettiest beaches s on the island though are Orient, which is only about 20 minutes awsy from the pier, and Mullet Bay, which is maye 30 minutes IF there is no traffic.

[beachchick]

nsbee: No problem if you or others enjoy Great Bay. However, as an active port with boats and ships in and out all day and the fact that there are open drainage ditches flowing into it, we don't care to test the waters (as it were). I don't know how much, if any, raw sewage goes into the bay. I do know that the boat/ship traffic alone would keep us out of the water. Add to that the fact that there is untreated water from the ditches flowing into it, and there's just no way that we'll go in the water there. That is our choice. (If the drainage ditches no longer flow into the bay, it would be good to have confirmation of that. If there are other sources of water flow into the bay, it would be good to know that too.)

 

This is my opinion and preference.

 

beachchick