Help with car rentals in St. Martin

[stan wood]

We will be in St. Martin on Jan. 12th (on the Victory) and are considering renting a car and touring the island. Answers to the following would sure be helpful.

 

Are there rental agencies at the port? Would you recommend a local or national company? Should we try to make a reservation before arriving? Am I making a mistake renting instead of just trying to find a tour?

 

Any help would be appreciated as we're first-timers to both St. Martin and cruising. Thanks.

[derf5585]

St. Martin - St. Maarten Car Rental

from

http://www.caribbean-on-line.com/sm/smc.shtml

 

Auto Rental & Other Transportation

from

http://www.st-maarten-st-martin.com/YP_trans.html

[P5Girl]

If I remember correctly, there are about 4 rental agencies at the port. They will welcome you off the ship.

 

We walked to the booths, and they all started bargaining with us. I think they started by wanting 60$ for a jeep, then the booth over offered one for 50$ and we ended up getting one for 30$. (Scary ride, they don't seem like they are kept in the best condition...and we found it hard making it up some of the hills.....but we still had a blast).

 

We have been to St. Maarten twice and both times rented a jeep. Better value than booking one of the tours, plus you get to see the whole beautiful island on your own time. Very easy to navigate around since there is only one main road.

[BabsandPaul]

Hi Stan, I noticed you are sailing with us on the Victory Jan 9...please join us on the "Carnival Roll Calls" section..look for the Victory 1/9/05 thread. Paul

[Ricks]

We will be in St. Martin on Jan. 12th (on the Victory) and are considering renting a car and touring the island. Answers to the following would sure be helpful.

 

Are there rental agencies at the port? Would you recommend a local or national company? Should we try to make a reservation before arriving? Am I making a mistake renting instead of just trying to find a tour?

 

Any help would be appreciated as we're first-timers to both St. Martin and cruising. Thanks.

just returned from my cruise 12/5, I rented a car in St Maarten, and also in St thomas. I would not do it any other way, It is the best way to see the island and do what you want. I would highly recommend using Arthur's Car rental

 

http://www.arthurscarrental.com/newfile4.html

 

He was great, he will pick you up at the docks. Price was great also.

 

ARTHUR'S CAR RENTAL

Front Street # 7 - Philipsburg

Sint Maarten - Netherlands Antilles

Tel/Fax: (599) 542-6260

Cellular: (599) 557-5565

or

info@arthurscarrental.com

 

One more note remember they are an hour ahead of us, no day light saving time!!

[Robin G]

We used Hertz car rental last February for our Jeep rental and we are using them again this February. They are located right at the pier. While they do keep their vehicles at another location, the arrival of our brand new Jeep was only a matter of a few minutes wait. Good luck and have fun!!

 

Robin

[kujobie]

Definitely the best way to see St. Maarten. We rented online ahead of time, so there was no haggling involved. Ithink we paid $40 for a civic for the day including insurance. the driving there is easy, good roads. THe locals are pretty crazy there, but I would do it again. Do not leave anything of value in your car at any time while parked. Several locals warned us of this and even said it is best to leave the car unlocked, windows down.

[stan wood]

Thanks for all of the information. I feel comfortable with the idea of renting a car. :)

[beachbrat]

We were in St. Maarten last week.There are rental companies near the dock. Walk straight to the rental office and IGNORE the locals offering to rent their cars. We made the mistake of trying to save a few bucks. The "local" guy took us in his car to his car rental agency which was an empty building with only a desk inside. We felt VERY unsafe. He then tried to change the price on us. We promptly left his place and walked back to the docks to rent a car from Hertz.