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We are going to Anguilla in late July - early August. After making travel arrangements from US mainland to St. Maarten, we were planning on taking the Winair puddlejumper to Anguilla. Well, turns out that the Winair flights are all booked on the day we're arriving (very poor planning by me).
Anyway, we can still take the ferry, Cap Juluca shuttle ($70pp), or private boat transfer ($400pp) to Anguilla. BUT I am VERY susceptible to seasickness. Will I stand a chance with any of these options? I don't want to have to cancel our trip - we were looking forward to staying at Cap Juluca - but I don't know if I can bear the boat ride.
I'm thinking I could handle a speedboat ride better than a slow moving ferry, but I've read horror stories about the choppy water between the two islands.
Help - Have to take BOAT from St. Maarten to Anguilla
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No one can guarantee you "smooth water" for your passage but generally at that time of year the water between Anguilla and St. Martin is usually quite calm. The ferry takes only 20 minutes. Personally I'd go on the ferry as it is larger and you won't feel the waves as much as you would in a smaller boat.
Have you thought about taking dramamine before your trip or wearing a patch that helps prevent seasickness?
Thanks for your reply. Are the smaller boats open-air and do they travel faster than the ferry? I think I'd do better in a speedboat where I can feel the wind, etc. Is the trip the same length whether I leave from French side or the dock by the airport?
I'll certainly take Dramamine, but it doesn't really help much if the boat is really rocky.
I've never taken a "speedboat" between those islands but do know the location of the dock by the airport is further away from Anguilla than the ferry dock. On the other hand the smaller boat will travel at a higher speed than the ferry. What this really means is while to trip on the smaller boat will be longer distance wise the time difference won't vary by more than 3 or 4 minutes.
Yes, the smaller boats are "open air".
Your biggest concern has to do with the height of the waves on the day you are travelling. If the water is calm the smaller boat will be fine but if there are ocean swells you'll find the ride on the smaller boat very bumpy.
FYI - It is sometimes difficult for the inexperienced traveller to determine sea conditions. Obviously if you see big waves pounding the shore or you observe lots of whitecaps out in the channel you'll know the seas are rough On the other hnd water near shore can look calm but the waves can be bigger in mid-channel. Given your propensity toward seasickness you'd be wise to check with the boat captain about the sea conditions before making your final decision as to taking the ferry or the speedboat.
Just my opinion.
In April we stayed on St. Martin for a few days before heading over to Anguilla. We took the public ferry to Anguilla and the Cap Juluca-arranged boat back to the SXM airport. I am prone to seasickness as well and I didn't have any trouble with either transportation. The ferry was very easy and as RoamsAround said it is only 20 minutes. It is not slow-moving. My husband and I sat on the top deck so we had the wind in our faces (and a little spray) the whole time.
We didn't really find that the Cap Juluca shuttle was very quick on the return trip to the airport. One of the crew on the boat collected all the passports and got us through immigration without anyone having to leave the boat. The downside to that was it took about 25-30 minutes and the boat was bobbing up and down in the water while we waited. I don't know if the process is the same from St. Martin to Anguilla but it's something to keep in mind. If you are very prone to seasickness the motion of the boat bobbing in the waves for that long might be an issue. The Cap Juluca shuttle was a little more convenient but I'm not sure I would take it again, especially for the price. I think it was $150 for both of us one way and the ferry was $30(?) for both one way.
I really don't think you'll have trouble with the ferry, especially if you sit outside on the upper deck where you have fresh air and you can see Anguilla getting closer. It's a quick ride over.
Thanks again! I really appreciate your insight on this issue.
I would certainly not enjoy bobbing up and down by the dock for 30 minutes before leaving. I would probably ask if I could wait on the dock until the last minute, if that's possible. If they say no, I'll threaten to make a nasty mess.
I think I'll go for it since 20-25 minutes really isn't that much to be worth cancelling the trip. I'm leaning towards the Cap Juluca arranged boat purely for convenience purposes.
Well, see, the thing about the Cap Juluca arranged boat is that it was only a little bit more convenient. You still arrive and depart from the ferry dock and at least for the return to SXM we had to get to the ferry dock on our own. Cap Juluca does not provide transportation to the dock (about 15-20 minutes away) and they didn't even have a representative there when we were departing. There were about 8-10 of us from Cap Juluca taking that boat and I had assumed there would be someone there to get us to where we were supposed to go. It was a bit chaotic at the ferry dock and we had to locate which boat we were supposed to take. We were initially told we would be on one boat and then when we tried to board we were told we were on another boat. (Cap Juluca does not have its own boat for shuttling guests to and from the airport.) I was not impressed with the whole situation given the Cap Juluca reputation for service. Then when we finally arrived at the St. Maarten dock there was more mass confusion as to which people were loaded into which vans to take us across the street to the airport terminal. It probably took at least 15 minutes to get everyone loaded up and on our way to the airport. Everyone was complaining about the lack of organization, especially given how much we had paid.
Not to disuade you but as I said I probably wouldn't take the CJ shuttle again.