TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Need suggestions for our own driving tour

This is our 1st time to the island and we are staying for 2 weeks. Early in our trip we would like to drive around the whole island in 1 trip just to get an overview of the island. We want to stop at a few beaches just to take a peak to see what ones we want to go back to later, have a few drinks along the way and have lunch.

Can you suggest an itinerary starting from the Beacon Hill area. We'd like to be gone between 6 - 8 hours. It appears there is only 1 ship in port on Fridays so that is probably when we will go to avoid traffic.

WELCOME to the island. It is not a tough island to drive around....but it helps knowing a bit in advance. I would suggest to do what we did on our first trip. The first day there, we took a guided bus tour around the island to get some bearings on how to go to where. Next day we starting exploring on our own, and found it pretty easy since we had some ''general'' idea after the tour. You will love it.

I would start at Sunset Beach Bar, then go to Maho Beach from there go to Baie Rouge. Stop at the dock in Marigot . Proceed to Friar's Bay then go to Grand Case Beach. After that go to Orient. That will give you seven stops all different. Make sure you have a designated driver and no booze in car while driving!

To add to what the previous posters have suggested, I would definitely add Mullet Bay Beach after Maho and Baie Longue just to say you’ve seen it. And I would also suggest you see Guana Bay and Dawn Beach after Orient as they are both different and lovely to look at. And lastly, some time spent on Great Bay on another day along with lunch and shopping stops is probably a given.

While not a beach stop, I would visit the Loterie Farm area, too because it’s so very beautiful but not knowing the current safety situation, I would not take the ride the rest of the way up the hill to Paradis Pic.

We have always found Sunday’s to be a good day for our annual around the island drive since there’s not too much work traffic. We’ve been making that drive almost every year since we discovered the island, originally to learn our way around and for the last twenty years or so to checkout the changes from year to year. Last years changes were heartbreaking.

Thank you for the suggestion of taking the drive on a Sunday. I hadn't thought about the traffic being lighter without the work traffic. I am sure we will take more than 1 drive but on our 1st trip I just like to get a feel for the island and things we want to come back and see. Are the beaches well marked? I have studied maps already so have a pretty good feel for where the beaches are but not necessarily how to find them from the road or where to park. Is it obvious where to park at most places?

Grand Case Beach is lovely; I would spend some time at the portion of GC Beach that is by the Grand Case Beach Club. Sunset Cafe is there and has good food; it's also a great place to watch sunsets.

And as for things to do, don't miss Parotte Ville, the parrot sanctuary. It's a wonderful way to spend a couple of hours.

Link to Parotte Ville on Trip Advisor