Philipsburg, St. Maarten Cruise Port Reviews

We grabbed a cab/shuttle to Maho beach. Round trip is $16pp. We were lucky enough to see 3 planes, including a 737, come in within 15 minutes of being there. It was an awesome experience. The beach itself is extremely small. I’ve been told that it shrunk quite a bit when they were hit with the most recent hurricane. When the tide comes in, the surf almost comes all the way up to the last row of chairs. Several people had their belongings soaked with a couple of large, unexpected, waves. We sat on the concrete wall that divides the beach from the road to watch the planes. There is a bar/restaurant that you can also visit directly next to the beach. Maho is definitely not a relaxing “beach day” kind of beach so if that’s what you’re looking for, you need to choose a different location. It’s absolutely packed with people and very loud even when there aren’t planes coming in. That said, watching the planes is a MUST for any bucket list. We stayed about an hour, got our pictures/videos and returned to the ship. The ride each way is about a 1/2 hour each way depending on traffic. We also did the RC Champagne Sunset Catamaran sail. It was AWESOME!! The crew of the Golden Eagle was amazing-very accommodating, nice and always making sure you had a full glass of Champagne or Rum Punch. They also had a small, complementary buffet with cheeses, fruit, crackers, cured meats, chips & salsa. We were fortunate enough to see a gorgeous sunset and met some great people. I would definitely do this tour again!!! ***A caution to anyone prone to seasickness, although the catamaran is good size, it’s still very small compared to the ship and does rock quite a bit even in calm seas so take Dramamine before you go and go easy on the drinks. Unfortunately one of the guests on our tour got very ill. The crew was wonderful though and did everything they could for her.

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by gkendrick

Also an outside tour of the island with a knowledgeable and humorous guide.

Visited: Apr 06, 2019

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by gjkari

We did the Maho Beach experience through Royal Caribbean. The beach was quite an experience. We saw several large jets land while we were there. The downside was the small size of the beach and how crowded it was. There were vendors everywhere trying to sell to you. We had a good lunch at the Sunset Beach Bar but it was quite expensive and then paid $1 to use a filthy toilet. The experience of being that close to the planes outweighed all the negatives however.

Visited: Jun 30, 2019

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by JackieB7

We headed for Orient Beach. This is a large beach with many restaurants, water sports and a nude beach area. We had a taxi driver named Ramon (we found through water taxi captain who called him from water taxi so that he was waiting for us as soon as we stepped off). Ramon was excellent and waiting to pick us up at end of day. He recommended Johnnies where he drpped us off at Orient Bay. I was happy with Johnnies because 1) it appeared that it became extremely crowded with multiple rows deep of sunbathers further down the beach, 2) water sports were easily accessible, 3) drink (Margarita) and chair for $7, near snokeling, 4) near nude beach area which is worth a curiosity stroll, and 5) during brief but quick and torrential downpour which is common on this island, very close to Johnnies covered dining area so backpack and items don't get soaked.

Visited: Dec 23, 2006

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by PaniGosia

make sure you visit the Maho Beach (low flying planes)

Visited: Jun 29, 2019

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