St. Maarten - Good family vacation destination in July?
 

Still planning our summer vacation. Need to be educated about St. Maarten - someone recommended it to me as a great family vacation spot. We have 3 kids - 20,16 and 13 years old. Would like to stay on the beach - somewhere not too crowded and swimmable. Need to have a nice pool. Would like to have restaurants/things to do near by - we like the beach but not all day/every day. Looking into Dutch side - would like to avoid French side nudity - or is this not a problem? A villa/condo/time share would be great so we could eat in sometimes. Any and all info/advice/ideas will be greatly appreciated! Thanks!!

We are currently planning our second trip to St. Martin this time with my mom and son. We love this island, it is one of our favorites in the Caribbean. We stay on Simpson Bay but spend most of our time on the French side. We stay at Sunterra Resort, Flamingo something? It is a time share but you can rent from them as well. The beach is perfect no strong current and the pool is a negative edge so it appears as if your in the ocean. Fun activities here as well. There is a little italian resturant over looking the bay down the hill and to the right. Someone else could probably can help you out with the name. Maho is great for shopping and swimming. Also, we enjoy Sunset Beach Bar out by the airport. A small beach where the jets land right over your head. There is some nudity on Orient Beach but you have to wonder into it there is a "line" in the sand that separates the nude side from the clothing side. You should be prepared to see some topless bathers no matter where you are on the island.

Having visitrd the island on both sides I would say it is not the ideal family resort place.
St. Lucia, Dominican Republic (distant second), Grand Cayman, Puerto Rico-Vequiz (spelling?) are different but offer more family options, in my opinion.
But, airfare to St. Lucia is not inexpensive (~75% of Hawaii) but you get there in less than 1/2 the time and only 1 time zone for the body to adjust to.

StanKase
why don't you think it is the ideal family resort palce?
Families come to SXM all the time.
especially, for teenagers there is so much to do. Kids can get bored quickly just beaching it.
St. maarten has things to do like Rhino Riders, America's Cup Races, day trips to other islands, great shopping, and lots of fun beach bars and restaurants. There also is parasailing and lots of water sports.
The Maho area is a great area to stay in because there are shops, restaurants, clubs..all within easy walking distance.
THe Sunterra Royal Palm Hotel is also nice, as is Flamingo and Atrium , or Pelican Resort.
they are in Simpson Bay which is right near the Maho area and is also an area filled with restaurants and fun places.

As far as the French side, nudity is not really a problem except on Orient Beach.

Although we have not been to St. Maarten, we are going June 13. We rented a villa on VRBO.com. There are pictures of all types of villas/condos on this site. We are staying on Dawn Beach just south of the French side. We are traveling with my parents and our 16 and 18 year old kids(gradduation trip). It might be kind of late but I can let you know how it goes when we return. We are renting a mini van from Unity and cell phones from queenofsxm.com (Sharon). We are having FabulousFeasts.com prepare a dinner at the villa. Let me know if you need any more info! We can't wait! I hear that there are 375 restaurants on the island!

Stankase, We have been to all of the places you call family oriented and I can honestly say the Cayman is the only one that fits the bill. From what I have researched and heard, St. Maarten is very family oriented, especially for teens.