TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Catamaran excursions

Any thoughts on full-day or half-day Excursion. Which one is your favorite and why. Not sure if the tiko tiko is still around

There are many cat trips and to the best of my knowledge, Tiko Tiko is still one of the big hits out of Orient.

Two others that we've enjoyed over recent years and trips are the Sugar Rush from Simpson Bay - an all day trip out of the lagoon under the drawbridge and up the coast for a quick snorkel stop at Creole Rock and ultimately a sail over to Anguilla for some lunch and beach/pool time - and the other was Eagle Tours all day ecosail on the Quality Time around the island with stops at Tintamarre and Baie Longue for snorkeling and eventually a lunch stop at Calmos Cafe in Grand Case. This latter trip picks you up at your hotel and brings you to Dock Maarten in Philipsberg and returns you at the end of the day on a large bus while the Sugar Rush picks you up in a smaller van type bus and brings you to their location in Simpson Bay and ultimately returns you to your hotel.

I know you asked for cat trips but one other really nice day is a sail with a lunch prepared and served on the Passat - an older and beautifully maintained boat - I want to say it's a schooner but I may have that wrong, but whatever it is, it's a lovely day. Pieter and Miriam are great crews and they have several offerings and price ranges. The crews on all of these trips take very good care of their people and all three are lovely options but none of them are clothing optional. They all have open bars and snacks but none of them are the typical booze cruises.

I second Pat's recommendation of a sail on the Passaat. They have half-day, sunset, and dinner cruises, all of which are delightful. I love that there's no music; all you hear is the water lapping up on the sides of the schooner (it's over 100 years old) and the sails flapping in the wind. They turn on the motor usually just to get in and out of Simpson Bay; the rest of the time, you are enjoying real sailing. I go several times during my three weeks as I love it that much.

I heard tiko tiko trips are good but we just did 2 days with bluebeard charters and had a great time. 1 day on racing catamaran Arawak to dog island and another trip on their bluebeard heinken catamaran to Anguilla (sail to rendezvous bay then 20min bus tour to shoul bay where you have a nice bbq lunch at beach restaurant and approx 2.5hrs on beautiful shoul bay to lounge around or snorkel).

Are you specifically looking only for c/o? If so, I think you are limited to Tiko Tiko (still around, for sure, check out their website for their various cruises), Paul's nude cruises (which are on a SPEED boat, not a cat, not bad, just a different experience) and I believe that occasionally Neil from Celine runs some c/o cruises. Otherwise, if you are looking specifically for c/o, it would have to be a private cruise.

Thanks everyone, not looking for just c/o experience at all, just trying to find a nice day experience doing something wife and I haven't had before. All sound like fun.