TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Mary's Boon

I'm thinking of trying a new hotel this trip. Stray questions keep popping into my head. This one is, HOW IS THE WATER AT MARY'S BOON? I mean I don't like waves. I like to be able to lie in the surf with a waterproof radio at my head. Some times the wavlet will reach my ears, most times not. (I guess I'm thinking low-tide, right?)
I'll ask here too, could any of you walk to say Buccaneer's from MB? WOULD you walk? thx

Simpson Bay Beach is usually calm and nice but it will depend on the weather. You can walk to BBB but I would only do it during the day. Probably a 20 or so minute walk. If you don't like any waves at all, go to Le Galion Beach.

Sometimes the water is very calm at Mary's Boon, and sometimes there are big waves. It's an ocean, after all. As far as walking to Buccaneer from MB, you can do it, but it's a very long walk. You can walk most of the way along the beach, but will have to go up to the road to go across the bridge. I definitely wouldn't do it at night.

Ok..not fair I know since most of the time the water is a tad less active..but...I remember seeing this guy trying to tube during one of our walks....between MB and BSV:

Mary's Boon is a good choice, just avoid the below ground units when selecting your accommodations.
The bay is well protected and usually is calm.

I thoroughly enjoyed our stays at Mary's Boon and our 'Boonies for a Day' days there, too, but personally speaking, I think you'll be hard-pressed to find the waves (or lack there-of?) that you're describing for your stay at Mary's Boon. The beaches at Anse Marcel or those along Great Bay, or Baby Beach as already suggested sound to me like they would be more like what you're looking for. All the beaches will have their occasional 'quiet wave days' and we've enjoyed them at Mullet and Friars on many occasions too, but my limited experiences as a visitor is those days are really not the norm on most of the beaches we've experienced and definitely not on Simpson Bay Besch for the most part. We spent our last island week at BSV on Simpson Bay and there were only two or three days that the waves were calm enough for what you're looking for. You could get in and out to swim but you often had to time the waves to go so.

And as an after thought, knowing that not everyone on the beach appreciates someone else's music, I'm sure you enjoy your radio with ear buds, right? Or with a very personal low volume level?

On our most recent trip in April we had several occasions of people arriving and choosing to 'share' their music with any and all in the immediate area. It was NOT appreciated by many and on one occasion in particular, after a young foursome of beachgoers settled in on top of a bunch of us in one of the busier parts of the beach, finally a big guy walked over to the late comers and asked them to please turn down or turn off the radios. We couldn't hear exactly what was said over the pulsating music they were playing, but thankfully, they picked up their things and left shortly thereafter for a more sparsely populated piece of the beach. <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 Grand Case beach is very calm all the time (unless there is a storm). Some very nice boutique hotels there, Le Petit Hotel, Grand Case Beach Club, Love, and of course, all the great dining! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/dine.gif" alt="" />

We were at Mary's in April. Water was pretty rough, came up to the bar at the hotel. After a few days I was able to get in for a quick swim. Water here is a day to day kind of thing. Beautiful but not always my cup of tea for swimming. Pool was interesting. There are some stools in the water where you can sit and have a drink (byob).

We have walked all over from BSV so from Mary's things could be an easy walk. I would do it during the day but not at night. (One year we walked from BSV to the old Peg Leg Pub location). We are young 50s and love walking to use up some of the calories from food/drinks and bonus is not having to drive! We actually walked from Mary's into Maho to spend the day. Very glad as there were 5 ships in town that day.

I do agree with Georgia. Avoid the below ground units unless you are saving money. No ocean view. I would feel too closed in. We called them cellar dwellers! No one seemed to stay in the unit near us more than one night.

My experience has been that the water at Anse Marcel, Friar's, and Grand Case/Petite Plage would be closer to what you are looking for.

i have a little water proof radio I like to sit next to my head.. actually it's a speaker thing that holds a phone...in the old days it was a waterproof radio/tape deck where I could record local radio stations... I miss that. butI don't think this ec0-speaker thinggee is very loud

I wish everyone showed that same consideration on the beach.

I enjoy music, too, but at the beach I usually pick a location away from anyone playing any kind of audible music since I particularly enjoy the magical sounds of the waves and the birds at the beach and I particularly enjoy the laughter of the kids enjoying the water. Loud throbbing music is, to me anyway, particularly invasive and annoying. The surprising thing to me is that so often people will choose a particularly quiet area of the beach to settle in and then crank the music up with little or no regard for the others within earshot.

But thank goodness, the good people here on TTOL would never do that, would we?! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/jester.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/jester.gif" alt="" />

I think you'll find MB a tad rough at times. I stay on Simpson Bay twice a year and most of the time the west end of the Bay (MB, Karakter & west) has surf, 3 plus ft waves.

I have seen very few days of calm water on Simpson Bay Beach.
That is why we usually visit other beaches, even though we stay there. We actually have better luck at Mullet and that can be bad.....

We stay on Simpson Bay beach for 2 weeks every year. Most days there's a bit of a swell, or even some pretty big waves to get through! When it's calm, it's perfect! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" />

The way that the waves break in front of MB's isn't what you are looking for. As a surfer myself, you are not going to find a long tube to carry through. Sometimes Orient beach has some waves to surf and Mullet. Nothing like Atlantic and parts of Cali!! As far as calm beach's we like Kimsha and lunch at BBB!

I'm no SXM beach expert by any means, but Le Galion seemed to be super calm to me.

We stay at Mary's Boon often and the beach is really great however I have seen the surf so calm can clear that you could see the fish in the water and very rough also. I find that summertime can be some of the best for calm water or light winds but that can change from day to day. They do get a middle aged to older crowd and Ive rarely seen any issues with guests getting in and out of the water. We have stayed in the best rooms and also the most budget rooms. The lower rooms to us really are not that bad if you want to save some money. All are fairly large, stay very cool, and quiet. They have a high window so no real view but all the rooms are no more that 20 steps or so to the beach. That said for a few bucks more get the garden or beachfront room. Most of all the staff is excellent and if you have any problems or needs they are quick to help.