St. Maarten public buses?
 

We will be at Grand Case Beach Resort for one week in March. Trying to decide if taking the public buses will be suitable. Everyone seems to be recommending car rental, but if the public transit is convienent, we would rather not have the hassle of car pick-up/parking etc. It's a holiday and we want to be able to relax. We don't mind taking taxis on occassion though, like getting into Phillipsburg. Has anyone used the local buses to get around?

The public buses can be hot and crowded and stop at every telephone poll. They are not really "buses" per se, but rather mini vans that go to various areas of the island.

You can use them, but to be honest you will waste a lot of precious vacation time getting where you want to go. I would really advise a rental car over taking the bus everywhere.

Taxis are fine to get around, but can also get expensive and you have to be able to call one. The only places that really have "taxi stands" are Marigot, Phillipsburg, and the airport. At least as far as I've ever seen.

A rental car is honestly the easiest, most economical, and most convenient way to get around the island. If, however, you plan to mostly stay at your resort and only visit a couple of places during the week, then taxis or the bus would be a better option.

It might be possible but by no means convenient to use public buses on St. Martin. But you won't be able to go to any of the really interesting smaller beaches by public bus (Friar's Bay, for instance). You'd probably be limited to Marigot, Orient Beach, and Phillipsburg. You really have to rent a car in St. Martin. Taxis are, as Statia points out, pretty expensive. And since rental cars are not expensive in St. Maarten, you're better off having a car even if you don't use it every day. Just rent from a local company, and you can save even more. Rates can be as low as $30 per day there, and you can get the rate down even more by renting by the week.

Thank-you for the quick responses. Looks like will will rent then. Our flight lands at 8 pm- any issues driving at night up to Grand Case? Also, don't often take the insurance on car rentals as our personal insurance covers. But we have discovered, is some countries it is just less of a hassle to take the insurance. What is the recommendation for St. Martenn regarding the insurance? Many thanks...

I can highly recommend Best Deal Car Rental at SXM as I've been using them for years (after running the gammut with companies there).

http://www.bestdealcarrental.com/

I agree on the insurance issue that it's much more peace of mind to just take their insurance. My card also covers my car rental insurance, but at SXM I always take the company's insurance to avoid all the hassle should anything happen.

I'm familiar with the drive to Grand Case for many years now so I'm not quite sure what it would be like for a first time at night. The roads aren't that well lit or signed, but it's a pretty straightforward drive until you actually get into Grand Case. For me personally I would prefer to take a cab and would return the next day for the car when it's daylight out, but maybe the drive would be relatively easy for a first timer. Perhaps Barbara can chime in on that one.

Thanks Statia. I checked the rates and looks good. If we do arrange to pick-up at the airport on arrival, are the rental cars actually there, or do you have to pick up else where? Did I read somewhere that the cars for rent are not actually on site???

They used to be farther off site with the old airport. With the new airport they have a driver that takes you a very short way to the rental lot where all the cars are. It's very quick and easy, to be honest.