TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Anguilla

Is the ferry ride to Anguilla comparable to the ferry ride to St Barth's. Sea sickness is an issue for me........

Several options to get to Anguilla. Public ferry (and the least costly) out of Marigot, private ferries from several places on the island and excursions can be booked from several places. Not sure what you mean by " comparable" to the ferry ride to St. Barths.

I have done both the public ferry out of Marigot and GB Express out of Simpson Bay. Very little sea sickness and it is only about a 20 minute ride, unlike the much longer ride to St. Barts.

Thanks! I meant roughness of the sea and duration of the trip. We have always flown to SBH, except for one year when the runway was being repaired we took the ferry.......not fun

We've taken both the Anguilla ferry service from Marigot and a private charter service, GB Express from Simpson Bay many times and have never experienced rough seas. I'm pretty good on water but DH not so much on occasion. Have we been lucky? Maybe. But it is a channel of open water between the two islands and unless the 'Northern Swells '( I don't know exactly what that means beyond high and rough seas but I like the way it sounds....) are running, the crossing is generally no where near similar to the sail out to StB or Saba.

Most people will be fine. If in doubt, sit outside or near a window and focus on a fixed horizon. This seems to help some who have issues, and of course there's always wristbands or patches. I personally wouldn't take Dramamine or Bomine because they should limit your drink experiences on the island and at least one of them might make you drowsy. But like I said, we generallybhave nonissues and I would NOT waste the money to fly over. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" />

I think the GB Express (out of Simpson Bay) is smoother but about 3X (or more) the cost of the public ferry. The public ferries are all different but all take about 20 minutes. Of that 20 minutes, there is perhaps 6-8 minutes of the crossing that (at times) gets a little bouncy. If you can get on a ferry that has an open top deck, that eliminates some foe the potential for seasickness.

You can fly to Anguilla also but the public ferry is a good and inexpensive alternative.

Here is a link. Might be a little dated but it will give you a basic idea of cost and schedules.

Anguilla is MUCH less rough than going to St. Barts, and the ferry ride, particularly from Marigot, versus by the airport, is much shorter. Unless the seas are particularly rough, shouldn't be an issue going to Anguilla. The good thing about the public ferry from Marigot is that you don't need reservations at all, so just watch the weather and if the seas are really rough, don't go. St. Barts, you can almost always assume the trip OVER will be rough, because of the prevailing currents. The trip back from St. Barts is normally much calmer.

My mother in law, who was very prone to seasickness once vomited on me while on public ferry to Anguilla. Yuck!!!!!!!!! So it can happen! She was aiming out the window btw. Rough.
Cheers
irina

Yeah, for sure, it can happen. Much less likely going to Anguilla though.

Most (and very little at that) queeziness I have seen on the public ferry is with locals and not tourists making the trip.

The one time my family took the ferry to Anguilla the water was very rough. The 20 minute ride to the island was not good for me. I have motion sickness, i now use the motion sickness patch for flying and boats and im fine.

[quote]irina said:
My mother in law, who was very prone to seasickness once vomited on me while on public ferry to Anguilla. Yuck!!!!!!!!! So it can happen! She was aiming out the window btw. Rough.
Cheers

Irina,

I am so glad you saw fit to share that last little bit of trivia! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/jester.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/jester.gif" alt="" />

just depends on the sea state and wind direction. the trip to st barths is usually more into the waves than anguilla. however it just depends which motion is worse for you...front to back, or side to side.

I'm getting a little queasy just reading this post! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Sick.gif" alt="" />
<img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/jester.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/jester.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/jester.gif" alt="" />

We just traveled back and forth via the public ferry. Although I am not a fan of boats I did ok! I used some Motion Eaze drops (behind the ears). Watched the horizon. I was ok! If waters are rough I would rather be on a bigger boat than a small private one. Just my opinion.

I had an exceptionally great experience in November,2015 from Margot to Anguilla. The captain spotted wales and circled them for a view.

Now that is really cool. We had a pod of dolphins come into the bay on the Maho side of Mullet one time and they stayed and played for about an hour. And this past January we saw a pod of whales in the distance off Cupecoy. We almost missed them and finally realized the water spouts we were seeing in the distance weren't wave runners but actually were whales. They're pretty awesome sites to see......both of them. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" />

The ONE time we took the ferry out of Marigot, I was seasick. The longest 20 minutes of my life! I am prone to seasickness. Sitting outside away from fumes does help.

In the last several years we have never been on a ferry with outside seating and have not had any trouble with fumes. We have crossed when the seas were rough so I can see how someone could easily get sick. Since I have started using the drops I have had no issues with the crossings as far as getting sick. One time the crossing was especially rough, we made it to Anguilla, but I was pretty sure I was going to have to stay there rather than cross again!

We took the ferry to anguilla from Marigot april 9. I am a person who gets seasick...and i did not have a problem. It took 20 minutes.

Coming back...there was a storm...and it was rougher...but i still did ok and i did not take any medication,

I guess it is truly an individual opinion....but I have certainly gotten sick in the past...and I did ok this time.

Good luck