St. Maarten

On our upcoming cruise in November, one of the ports of call is St.
Maarten. Since we'll only have a day there, what are the most important
things to do/see?

Thanks,
Kent Huffman
http://www.pruneville.com

"Kent" wrote in message
ups.com...
On our upcoming cruise in November, one of the ports of call is St.
Maarten. Since we'll only have a day there, what are the most
important
things to do/see?

Thanks,
Kent Huffman
http://www.pruneville.com

You will be deposited at Philipsburg, which is largely devoted to
shops aimed at separating cruise ship passengers from their money.

St Marten/Martin is not really a sightseeing island. That said, a
drive around the perimeter of the island could be nice if you stop off
at look at the various beaches: Maho at the end of the airport
runway, a nice beach that served a now devastated resort, Long Bay,
Plum (Prune) Bay, Baie Rouge, downtown Marigot - good restaurants on
the harbor, crafts for sale on the waterfront, less agressive that
Philipsburg, Friars Bay, Grand Case - home a dozen of the best
restaurants in the Caribbean, Orient Bay - the best beach on the
island (south end nude). There are a number of restaurants on Orient
Beach.. Dawn Beach may be inaccessible since a posh hotel is being
built there but the drive from the town of Orleans to Oyster Pond /
Dawn Beach is over a good road with nice seascapes. .There is now a
good road from Oyster Pond back to Philipsburg.

Getting to Long Bay, Plum Bay and Friars Bay requires driving on dirt
roads. Drive SLOWLY on them.

The boat ride from French Cul de Sac out to Isle Pinel is OK and the
beach is fine. Beach restauant on Pinal.

I don't think Paradise Peak is worth the effort. Too overgrown and
there have been theafts from parked cars - a problem other places on
St Maarten/Martin.

English is the de facto language of both sides of the island.

Enjoy you day.

"Kent" wrote in message
ups.com...
On our upcoming cruise in November, one of the ports of call is St.
Maarten. Since we'll only have a day there, what are the most important
things to do/see?

Thanks,
Kent Huffman
http://www.pruneville.com

As you get off the cruise ship at Philipsburg, I assure you that you will be
approached by quite a number of "tourist guides' offering tours of the
island lasting 2 hours or more. These guides typically have vans that
probably hold up to 12 people and so they try to fill up the van before they
go. I would just choose one of these tourist vans and they will give you a
birds-eye view of the island.

Anyway, this initial tour will give you the "lay of the land' so to speak,
after which, you can explore on your own. Public transport is readily
available and so you can explore the Dutch side and the French side of
Marigot.

Sounds like good advice. Thank you both.

Kent
http://www.pruneville.com/travelandevents/prunecruise

"Kent" wrote in message
ups.com...
On our upcoming cruise in November, one of the ports of call is St.
Maarten. Since we'll only have a day there, what are the most important
things to do/see?

Thanks,
Kent Huffman
http://www.pruneville.com


Hi,

The French side has lots of pretty women sunning topless around the various
hotel pools.

And of course there is great snorkeling at Pinel island and the nude beach
at Orient, Both are on the far east end on the French side, and so not very
close to Phillipsburg.

Look at the St. Martin link on my web page.


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jim blair ) Madison Wisconsin USA.
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Shopping ( St.Maarten is well known for jewelry shopping) then hit the
beaches, Dawn Beach is pretty nice about 15 mins.drive away.

"Jim Blair" wrote in message
...

"Kent" wrote in message
ups.com...
On our upcoming cruise in November, one of the ports of call is St.
Maarten. Since we'll only have a day there, what are the most important
things to do/see?

Thanks,
Kent Huffman
http://www.pruneville.com


Hi,

The French side has lots of pretty women sunning topless around the
various
hotel pools.

And of course there is great snorkeling at Pinel island and the nude beach
at Orient, Both are on the far east end on the French side, and so not
very
close to Phillipsburg.

Look at the St. Martin link on my web page.


,,,,,,,
_______________ooo___(_O O_)___ooo_______________
(_)
jim blair ) Madison Wisconsin USA.
This message was brought to you using biodegradable
binary bits, and 100% recycled bandwidth. For a good
time call: http://www.geocities.com/thetropics/8092


I agree about the beautiful women on the French side. However, these are not
the same women who go naked on Orient beach. In fact, the people who go
"raw" at Orient are precisely the kind of people who should keep their
clothes on. On the other hand, there are some good-looking women on Orient
who go topless.

wrote in message
oups.com...
Shopping ( St.Maarten is well known for jewelry shopping) then hit the
beaches, Dawn Beach is pretty nice about 15 mins.drive away.

I agree about the jewelry shopping especially on the Dutch side, I remember
I bought an ESQ watch for about $50 less than the prices I had seen in the
CA Bay Area, and there were no tazes. Quite a discount for a $150 watch.

wrote in message
oups.com...
Shopping ( St.Maarten is well known for jewelry shopping) then hit
the
beaches, Dawn Beach is pretty nice about 15 mins.drive away.

I mega-resort is under construction at Dawn Beach. I think this is
likely to prevent access to the beach. It is being built where the
ruined Dawn Beach Hotel used to be and almost surely closes the road
to the parking by the little beach bar / restaurant. Maybe there is
still access to the end of the beach near Oyster Pond.

"Cesar" wrote in message
...

I agree about the beautiful women on the French side. However, these are
not the same women who go naked on Orient beach. In fact, the people who
go "raw" at Orient are precisely the kind of people who should keep their
clothes on. On the other hand, there are some good-looking women on Orient
who go topless.

Orient Beach is not a fashion or body-building display. It's a nude beach.
I don't use that beach to be judged and I doubt anyone else does either.

If all you want to do is look at naked hotties then please buy a magazine
and stay away from the honest sun worshippers.