What to do in st.maarten?

[miserkris]

I have been to Bonaire for my ow and it was awesome.

My nephew and I are aviation fans and want to visit st marten Caribbean just to see the big planes land near the beach area airport.

I heard its not a big dive destination. ... but can u see stuff that you wouldn't see in Bonaire at like 30 -40ft range?

Are there good snorkel spots or scuba just off the beach? Any Sandy beaches where kids can swim or snorkel safely without rough waves?

Thanks
Kris

 

[tajkd]

I liked the airplane beach there. I did dive St Maarten and like the shore dive at Dawn Beach although the boat dives were OK too. Not Bonaire type reefs at all because they were mostly fished out from what I saw. I do recommend a short flight to Saba though as that is really good diving, especially the pinnacles. It is a low flight so no overnight stay required and the bonus is the landing on the world's shortest runway!

 

[Jersey]

Kris - There is diving in SXM, though nothing like Bonaire. No shore diving, the sites are further offshore and more exposed, lots of patch reef with a hard bottom, not the volume of fish I'm accustomed to in Bon. Which side are you staying on Dutch or French? You don't indicate your dive experience either, beyond having done your OW in Bon. Tajkd is correct that Saba is great diving, however most sites start fairly deep, blue water and I would not recommend it to someone just starting out. (Disclosure - SXM was my first OW trip and Saba was about 9th OW dive) In my mind, any day diving beats sitting around and I've seen all the usual cast of character - turtles, rays, sharks, squid, cuttlefish, trunk, the ever present sargeant majors just not as many as some other places. I've enjoyed diving there, like the HMS Proselyte (1796) dive - big anchors encrusted to the reef, most sites run 50 - 70 foot range, there are some deeper sites further off shore conditions permitting.

As for beaches - you can pick a different beach every day of the month! Some of my favorites - Orient (the clothed side), Friars Bay, Mullet Bay, Grand Case and Dawn Beach in that order. Mostly white sandy beaches and little wave action. Do bring water shoes and learn the sting ray shuffle. I always bring my snorkel gear and if the wind is up on one side of the island, pick another beach side.

Long time visitor to SXM so feel free to PM if you have any other questions.

 

[CurtSchu]

Just dove with Octopus Diving on the French side great boats and great staff. I was with my junior ow daughter so we dove the big rock just off their beach. I was not impressed you have to go deeper.

 

[miserkris]

Kris - There is diving in SXM, though nothing like Bonaire. No shore diving, the sites are further offshore and more exposed, lots of patch reef with a hard bottom, not the volume of fish I'm accustomed to in Bon. Which side are you staying on Dutch or French? You don't indicate your dive experience either, beyond having done your OW in Bon. Tajkd is correct that Saba is great diving, however most sites start fairly deep, blue water and I would not recommend it to someone just starting out. (Disclosure - SXM was my first OW trip and Saba was about 9th OW dive) In my mind, any day diving beats sitting around and I've seen all the usual cast of character - turtles, rays, sharks, squid, cuttlefish, trunk, the ever present sargeant majors just not as many as some other places. I've enjoyed diving there, like the HMS Proselyte (1796) dive - big anchors encrusted to the reef, most sites run 50 - 70 foot range, there are some deeper sites further off shore conditions permitting.

As for beaches - you can pick a different beach every day of the month! Some of my favorites - Orient (the clothed side), Friars Bay, Mullet Bay, Grand Case and Dawn Beach in that order. Mostly white sandy beaches and little wave action. Do bring water shoes and learn the sting ray shuffle. I always bring my snorkel gear and if the wind is up on one side of the island, pick another beach side.

Long time visitor to SXM so feel free to PM if you have any other questions.

Jersey,

Sorry I didn't mention. ..I jUst got certified last month in Bonaire , I have 20 dives registered in my computer lol. Man I got exhausted the last few days in Bon. Diving is heaven inside sea pia outside, where all the equipment the heat etc drove me nuts. In fact I spent lot of time snorkeling in bon it was great.

I'm getting $590 from Newark to SXM.... is this best I'd get for thanksgiving week.? I live near Philly.

Since its only 2 guys I don't mind staying cheap. .... please recommend any good cheap place since we will be driving there too.

Thanks.

 

[Jersey]

Kris - Greetings from lovely Media PA! $590 is probably adecent airfare, from EWR and near Thanksgiving. Is that all in fare (ie taxes)?I recall seeing $600 - $800 as the norm off season, not holiday or peak.Nothing out of PHL?

Do you have a preference Dutch or French side? Grand Case and Marigot (FR) havesome small, European style lodgings that may be less expensive."Cheap" is a relative term, I've a timeshare here http://www.simpsonbayresort.com/and at quick glance, they have an advert for $55 a night, not sure the particulars. I can tell you all units are at least studio with small kitchen and a divide for living/sleeping area. Right on the water, dive shop, pools, snorkel off the beach, restaurant and mini-grocery, I like it. Divi Resort and Belair Beach are other places I've stayed.Divi has hotel rooms as well as condos and Belair is all 2 bedroom condo. All beach front. You may want to check VRBO (Vacation rental by owner), CheapCaribbean and hotels.com - all reputable. As a woman often traveling alone I tend to stay in more populated resort areas for safety. I will tell you SXM has issues, so be careful out after dark in some areas (lowlands).

I would skip Saba with only 20 logged dives, though again, I did it with half that number. Get your AOW and deep first. Typical island day: dive in the morning - it's all boat, back by noon, pack up car/cooler and hit a different beach every day. Lunch/snack on beach, snorkel, back to condo late afternoon,dip in pool, dinner (leftovers or go out), in bed by 10:00p, alarm set for 5:30a, repeat. Diving makes me hungry and tired! The diving isn't bad,there is better diving out there, but still beats a day at the office. My closest encounter with a Carib Reef shark was here, an aggressively posturing 6footer, so it will always be near and dear to me. (As an aside, my dive buddy that day was LeRoy French who survived a Great White in the early 1960's off the Farallons. He told me our chance of seeing a shark that day was "about zero".)

Do rent a car, lovely scenic driving to be done, much more crowded than Bonaire, use common sense. SXM is a food lovers dream, you could go broke eating. For some good, cheap eats head into Grand Case lolos - local bbq - where you can grab chicken, ribs, lobster w/ plantains,a beer and homemade ice cream and not break the bank. I like Talk of the Town.You can also find roadside bbq set ups. Kali's Beach Bar on Friars Bay is also worth finding. The eats along Orient Bay are delish as well. The French side beaches are topless and part of Orient is CO (clothing optional). Go see Orient it is gorgeous often ranked one of the top beaches. It's an island, no good maps or directions so try to orient yourself and navigate by dead reckoning.

Hope this helps.

 

[teamoctopus]

Just dove with Octopus Diving on the French side great boats and great staff. I was with my junior ow daughter so we dove the big rock just off their beach. I was not impressed you have to go deeper.

Hey Curt,

Thanks for your compliments and feedback about our operation.

I was a little surprised to read that you weren't impressed with the shallow dive site? Your Daughter is 11 years old, she only had one dive after certification and it was clearly explained to you in all email correspondence that due to your Daughters experience level we would dive a shallow site.

As an IANTD Trimix Instructor Trainer and PADI MSDT I have always been taught to dive to the level of the least experienced diver in my group.

I hope that in the future you allow us the opportunity to take you to some of the other awesome dive sites that St. Maarten has to offer and we dive all over the Island of St. Maarten / St. Martin and are the only dive shop to dive La Renee at 140feet.
http://www.octopusdiving.com/diving-st-martin/top-dive-sites/french-side/la-renee/

We are now also offering Recreational and Normoxic Trimix courses and guided Trimix dives to 200ft / 60M on Saba.

Thanks again for your thoughts and feedback.

Chris
Owner Octopus Diving