TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin The anti-rental car thread. Can we do without?

We usually spend a week in SXM, and we always get a car. But in a few weeks we are heading down for a long weekend (in on Friday, out on Monday - better than nothing) and we are wondering if we can do without wheels.

Before everyone says "yes" immediately, there are some rules in this game. We fly into Julianna but stay in Grand Case. We like to go to Serafina in Marigot at least once, probably twice. We like to buy some supplies at the Supermarket at Hope Estate, but we could probably make do at the little stores in GC.

Rental car is less than $100. I think we are going to spend at least that much in cabs. Thoughts? And, in the interest of science, what are people's experiences going carless? TIA

My opinion is that for a short trip, you could go carless if you are staying in Maho,( Maho Beach, Mullet Beach, Cupecoy Beach) or Grand Case. Anywhere else you should have a car. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/breakingnews.gif" alt="" />

Good question if only 3 nights / 4 days - why not use Shop N Drop to stock up what you need - Jeannie can get Serafina product - save the time driving for R&R
If you really want to visit Serafina and like shopping [not sarcasm, I like grocery stores!] then cabs will outweigh the car cost, though a cab is convenient if parking in Grand Case is going to be difficult
J&B

To ME, personally, it's not worth the hassle to try to get a cab when you need it, considering you will have to pay for a cab at least from PJIA and back. But if you decide to do it, I would contact someone like TTOL sponsor Wilfred Brooks and arrange to have him do all your transport, so you can at least call him and expect him to show up whenever you need him.

Kenny's (Lesley) only charged us $40 a day and no extras, great guy.

Strictly from a financial point, rent the car. All the non-financial considerations, e.g. convenience, are just icing on the cake.

You'll probably spend at least $30 each way for cabs to the airport, so at $100 for the car for a week, you'll spend around $5 a day for the convenience of having the car. Go to Seraphina, Simply, and perhaps a dinner out one time, and you're ahead of the game.

Sure, you can do without, but I don't think it's worthwhile.

ETA: I just noticed this is a short trip. My conclusion still holds.

Thanks, all. I did rent a car...for $67. Can't beat that.
Actually, it seems to me that it might make better sense to cut back on the rental for longer trips: take a cab back and forth from Julianna to GC, then rent a car one or two days a week for island travel. Anyone done that?

Tried that plan last year and rented a car on day 2.

When I book with my regular place, Hertz, they tell me that when you rent a week your paying for five and the last two are free. So a five day rental is the same as seven. Some thing to consider for short trips.

We've rented/not rented about 50-50. One experience stands out in a bad way-- we went to the Butterfly Farm and had no trouble getting a taxi there however trying to get a return taxi was a 2 hour + wait. So it depends where you will be going.

I would suggest you rent a car from one of the sponsors on this board and enjoy your freedom to come and go as you please while on vacation. Even a short vacation needs to be stress free!

Spent a week at Mt. Vernon without a car. It was everything I hoped. Just glued to lounge for a week. We took a taxi to Marigot on a Wednesday but that was it. Leslie gladly stopped at the market on our way to Mt. Vernon. We just really didn't want to do much of anything else.

We do that on most other islands we travel to, but have never done it on St. Martin. Maybe if we didn't stay in the Orient area we might try.

We spent 4 nights in Orient Beach last month and did not rent a car. Of course it was more expensive to rely on taxis but it was worth it for us since we like to have drinks with dinner but will not drink and drive.

Two nights we dined in Orient Village and 2 nights we took a taxi over to Grand Case. We used a taxi twice during day times hours to go to Marigot. In the past I have rented a car for a portion of the trip to explore during the day but I know I will not use it in the evening, so either way I am spending money on taxis.

Much easier to rent a car. You could wait half your vacation for a cab... but... if people have specific French Side cab drivers who can respond quickly... that might really work!

We are not renting a car this year for the first time in 30 years. We're staying at Maho and everything is right there. Parking is $5/day, so we probably won't even use a car that much if we do rent one and why pay to have it sit in a garage? I find I don't see as well at night to drive, so when we stayed at our timeshare; we limited driving to mostly Simpson Bay area anyway. I've gone back and forth on this one, but figure if we need a car; we can always rent one for a couple days once we get there, other than that we'll probably do cabs. This will definitely be a very unique experience for us this time around.

4D4,

We have rented a car every trip since our first one many years back and I always thought I'd never want to be without one, but last April we added a few days to our trip and stayed an extra few nights at Grand Case Beach Club after our two weeks at the Towers and it was the first time we truly could have been just as happy without a car as with one, so my way of thinking is that you could be fine carless in some lications but in others you might find yourself 'stuck' in paradise without one. Our truth is, we drove from Mullet Bay to Grand Case and from the moment we arrived at GCBC until the moment we got in the car to head out to the airport we never used it again. It remained parked the whole time we were at GCBC and we were perfectly content to walk or take the little jitney service to get around at the rare moments we actually wanted to leave GCBC, say for dinner ....

But remember, we had already been on the island for two weeks and had done all our sight-seeing and shopping and at that point we were perfectly happy to sit back and enjoy the time we had left quietly.

It really depends on you and your plans, as well as exactly where on the island you'll be staying. If you're an OB person staying there, or a Maho/Mullet person you'd be fine without wheels, and perhaps a few areas that I'm not as familiar with, but in the end, based on the price you paid for your car, I think you made overall the best decision as long as you're in a location where parking it won't be an issue. <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 also pay for parking with my three weeks at Royal Islander, but personally would rather pay for a car and parking and not use it...but then use it whenever we are there. This way can go where we want, when we want...and don't have to worry bout busses and cabs. I kind of look at it the same as insurance..."rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it".