Island hopping, St. Martin to Anguilla
 

We have a stop in St. Maarten in May as part of our cruise and I just read that you can take a 25 min. ferry ride from Marigot to Anguilla. Has anyone ever done this and is it worth it? Thank you. Larry

Yes I've done it several times and yes it is worth it although you don't say how long you are stopping in St Maarten for. The beaches in Anguilla are spectacular but the landscape is flat and dry.

I am not sure how long we will stay in St. M. I just thought it would be neat to go from Dutch to French to English all in one day. :D. I think we will shop arounf in St. Maarten but thought of having lunch in Anguilla. Any recommendations for restaurants? Thanks, Larry :-)

If your cruise ship is only in port for one day you really won't have time to spend an appreciable amount of time on both the Dutch and French sides of St. Martin and go to Anguilla and get back to your ship in time for your departure.

It takes about 45 minutes to get from the cruise dock (on the Dutch side) to drive to Marigot (assuming no traffic). It's then another 25 minute ferry ride but unless you time your arrival at the ferry perectly you have to factor in waitng time so figure at least an hour for the actual trip each way. That means at least 3 1/2 hours getting to/from Anguilla from your ship. Assume you spend 4 hours on Anguilla that doesn't leave you much time on St. Martin to see that island.

Anguilla is a terrific island with beautiful beaches (most daytrippers go to Shoal Bay East - about a 30 minute ride from the ferry). As for restaurants, there are over 80, not all open for lunch if that's what you had in mind. Some are also very expensive.

If your ship is inport only for one day, your real decision is to spend it on Anguilla or St. Martin - it's difficult to do both.

We will have to see but you make a good point. The last thing we want to do is rush around. The ship is in port from 0800-1730 though I think it will be closer to 1000 by the time we get going. The decision is to see if we want to see a little of all of more of the two. Cheers, Larry :-) BTW what would you recommend to do for just St. Martin/St. Maarten?

If you want to just go to the beach, I'd recommend renting a car and going to Baie de Friars, which is a lovely small beach on the French side with a good restaurant. That will give you plenty of time to drive around the island and see the sights without having to rush.

You could do Anguilla rather easily, but the real draw there is the beach; otherwise, there's not much to see on the island. If that's what you want, then go for it.

Thats a good thought. Perhaps renting a car and driving around is the best option.