TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Airport to Orient Bay

Wife & I will arrive in SXM, after a 10+ year pause in 14 days. Will pick up car at airport. With a new bridge across Simpson Bay, is travel via Marigot the preferred way to get to Orient Bay? Thanks.

YES....easiest and fastest way.

Yes. Safest too.

Thanks. I did read a post reporting traffic delays in Marigot could be as long as 1 to 1.5 hours, and that is what concerns me. Apparently it has to do with cruise ships & time of day. Thanks again.

On Tuesday, February 15, it took us over two hours in the afternoon to drive from Juliana Airport to our hotel in Orient Village. The traffic was the worst we have ever encountered, and we have been vacationing in St Martin since 1989.

P.S. We drove through Marigot

Same for us on Monday the 14 th. We thought Valentine’s Day??? 2 hours for us to orient from the airport. School kids and people selling valentine stuff all thru Marigot. At a standstill thru Marigot. Haven’t left orient until yesterday when we ventured to Gran Case Beach Club.

For what it’s worth from BSV to the French side, usually Friars Bay or Anse Marcel, we find it quicker to go through Mullet and Cupecoy and the lowlands area than to take the causeway route to Marigot. There’s a school area just outside the main shopping area of Marigot that clogs up almost daily during the week with parents dropping off or picking up their children, or such has been our experience.

By going the lowlands route through Nettle Baie and literally through the Marigot marketplace and left hugging the waterside you eventually come out on the other side of that school area relatively close to the roundabout before Rambaud (sp?) hill and the traffic congestion eases up.The amount of traffic also has a lot to with the time of day. Returning is anybody’s guess….😊😊

Speaking of Orient beach, what is the current situation with seaweed? Are vacation is in 2 weeks and we cant wait...

We were there last week. There was some in the ocean, but very little on the beach. It was pretty windy, and rained off and on much of the time we were there, so we did not go swimming. We stayed at Orange Fever, and they had cleaned off the seaweed, as had many of the other beach bars, the photo is from walking down the beach, probably not directly in front of one of the restaurants or bars.

This pic was from last Saturday at Bikini Beach. The seaweed was never an issue for us and was generally raked well.

Thank you! Looks great! We are staying in Orient Beach Hotel which I think is next to Bikini beach?