Aruba or St Maarten for a family who loves St John??

[JeanneB]

My husband, teen daughter and I vacationed in St John two summers ago and we fell in love with it like so many others have.

I'm thrilled that we'll be going back to St Thomas and St John in late November of this year but in the meantime I'm trying to plan our vacation for next summer. I'm thinking of exchanging our II timeshare for either Aruba or St Maarten so for those of you who love St John and have been to these islands which one do you think would be the better choice? I know Aruba is SO different than St John so I worry that we'll be disappointed (even though I have a brother and sister-in-law who love Aruba) but I know very little about St Maarten. I'm looking at Oyster Bay Beach Resort in St Maarten which seems to get pretty good reviews and airfare right now to either location is about the same on AA. I'm not a huge shopper and we don't care about nightlife in part because our teen daughter will be with us but we enjoy beaches and snorkeling. I read somewhere that you can take a ferry from St Maarten to Anguilla and one thing that I love about the VI's is that it's so easy to island hop.

Any advice? St John has me spoiled!!

[hugo]

I haven't spent real time on St. Martin/Maarten for many years, but I've been in the airport quite a few times on LIAT flights.
In general the island is much more comparable to St. Thomas than St. John, although now apparently even more developed than St. T.
The French side probably still has some pretty great food, if that's important to you. A day trip to Anguilla would be fun, and I bet you could also arrange a trip to St. Barths or even Statia.
In general, I wouldn't think that anyone who really loves St. John would love either St. M. or Aruba. How about Nevis? Virgin Gorda? Vieques?

[nothintolose]

hugo - are those three that you suggested islands that are more similar to St. John? If so, in what way?

[hugo]

All three islands are beautiful, relatively undeveloped, and retain their strong individual characters. They all have beaches (Nevis not so great, maybe) and mountains/high hills (Nevis in top spot there) and a relaxed attitude. Maybe that's not what people love about St. John anymore? it's kinda hard to tell what a place is like when you live there!

[nothintolose]

hugo - those ARE the main things I like about St. John - the other one would be the ability to walk off of almost any beach and find a coral reef to snorkel.

Have you snorkled off of any of the three you mentioned?

[Knolmom]

After several day visits off cuise ships to St Martin, last year we decided to take the plunge and enjoy a winter vacation on St Martin, owing mainly to the great value of comparable villas on St Martin to those on St John during high season. We traveled with two other couples and overall it was NOT St John by any comparison. The quality of snorkeling could not begin to compare with St John-- the beaches and the beach experience was very different and the traffic was absolutely horrendous. We did get over to Oyster Bay Beach and saw OBBR ( the hotel) and it is one of the nicer locations on the island and has a great spot with the reef offshore. The water there is rough in the winter but calm in the summer. It is adjacent to the Westin and is on the Dutch/French border so you wont have as much topless sunbathing. Not much for a teen to do in that area. Feel free to PM me for more info. We stayed 2 weeks and did a lot in all areas as well as day trips to Anguilla and St Barts. IMHO Aruba would be better for a WELL SUPERVISED teen.

[b-as-u-r]

I've probably been to Aruba at least a dozen times in the past 10 years. We started taking our kids at around 6 years old through sixteen. Aruba is very different than STJ. Very flat, very dry; a desert. Also, very Americanized. Duncan Donuts, Hooters, Subway, Taco Bell...all that can be found and in more than one location. They also have alot of great restaurants if you're one that likes fine dining. There's something for everyone and everyone's budget. Also, very, very hot...fortunately, there are tradewinds which make lying in the sun comfortable but downtown can be brutal. There's shopping, shopping and more shopping which equates to at least 3 cruise ships in port at all times, sometimes more. The one big difference is the beaching. No packing up and driving to your destination. Walk out of your resort and down to your beach. I prefer staying on the low-rise section (Eagle Beach) and going to the high-rise section at night and never even going downtown. There's ski-jet rentals, parasailing, renting 4-wheelers, safari trips, sight-seeing tours, horseback riding, booze-cruises; everything like that to do. My teens enjoyed a barbeque night at The Hog Saloon which involves games of musical chairs, etc., which can be pretty funny to watch not-so-sober adults play (very touristy). There's snorkeling here and there but I never found any real great spots. We did hit a wreck or two on The Jolly Pirate boat excursion but nothing great. I preferred Palm Island (pricey day trip just off island) and a ride out to Baby Beach was good for snorkeling. One of the main reasons we chose Aruba, was because it was out of the hurricane belt, had good hospitals and was nearly crime free and the people there are extremely friendly. I think all remains to be true and the tragedy with Natalie Holloway was an unfortunate and isolated incident. Because we went for so many years, year after year, my daughter loves Aruba (better than STJ). The last few years they'd walk down the beach and go dancing at one of the resorts and yes, they can get served under-age in Aruba, just like in STJ; it's an island thing. I haven't been to St. Maarten in almost 20 years (2 week honeymoon) . Back then we'd day trip to St. Barths and Anguilla. I remember thinking Shoal Bay in Anguilla was the most beautiful beach that I'd ever seen. I think St. Maarten may be popular among the boaters these days?? For me, Anguilla is still on the short list for places to go. Good luck with your decision. Ali~

[alw1977]

Jeanne, I've been to all three. I've visited St. Martin four times, Aruba twice and St. John once (about to be twice here in a month).

In the near future, the only one of these islands I intend to visit again is St. John.

Aruba is very commercialized and the Palm Beach area is more like Miami or any high rise beach area. Not to say it doesn't have it's good points, but it's sort of like "Caribbean for dummies" in that everything is easily accessible, there's no language barrier to speak of, and it's very tourist friendly. The casinos are fun, so if you're a gambler, that takes Aruba up a few notches.

I used to LOVE St. Martin. I prefer the French side (Oyster is near the French side), but two things have driven me away from this island. One is the low value of the dollar compared to the Euro. They use the Euro on the French side, so meals, etc are much more expensive. Second, please understand that St. Martin is developed like St. Thomas, especially the Dutch side. There have been a LOT of recent crime reports from tourists coming out of the island, and I frankly wouldn't go. Now Anguilla, that place is really something. Also, Dawn Beach, where the resort you're looking at is located, used to be a gem. However, a Westin was recently built there and they destroyed the beach and the snorkeling along with it. St. Martin is NOT a place for snorkelers, not by a long shot. Everything's dead, especially when compared to St. John.

Where else could you trade? If you were choosing between St. Martin and Aruba, I'd say Aruba right now. This is just my opinion.

[LC]

My husband and I did an Anguilla/St. Martin trip in June. We stayed in Anguilla for 5 nights, St. Martin 2. We stayed on the French side (Orient Beach), and if we ever returned again, this would be where we stayed. I'm sure you've read about crime in St. Martin, and of all the areas on the island, I felt safest at Orient Beach. Never had a time where I felt unsafe - however, if we had stayed in Grand Case or some areas of the Dutch side, I'm sure I would have been a little uneasy.

Anyway, St. Martin is nice, but much more touristy that St. John. The beach at Orient is lined with umbrellas/chairs, bars, and jet ski rentals. Lots of hustle and bustle. The food was great. Things were a little pricey because of the Euro. Let me know if you have any specific questions.

But Anguilla - we fell in love with it! Great place. Secluded beaches, fabulous food, friendly locals. The most relaxing vacation I've ever been on, bar none. Anguilla is now on par with St. John for us.

[JeanneB]

Thanks for all the great, detailed replies everyone!!

I'm still not sure that I've made up my mind entirely, I think I'm leaning mostly towards Aruba, it's actually been on our list of places to go for several years but we always end up going somewhere else (one year it was a cruise, then it was St John and last summer it was Arizona). If we do end up choosing Aruba we would probably pick one of the timeshares on Eagle Beach, from what I've read I think that would fit us better than Palm Beach. But I'll probably change my mind half a dozen times before making a final decision!!

[MLS]

The ferry from St. Martin to Anguilla is very easy (better than by plane). Day trips to St. Barts are relatively easy by plane, as are very unique places like Saba (world's scariest runway) and Statia.

[KathyMN]

For those of us who love the laid back, unspoiled beauty of St. John.... it's difficult to go anywhere else. That said, we decided we were in a rut (after 4 trips), and joined a timeshare travel club... to broaden our horizons a bit. In March, we spent a week in St. Maarten, at Pelican Key. (Our first time on that island). We knew it wasn't going to be like St. John, and mentally prepared ourselves for that. I have to say, we really did enjoy ourselves.... It is more like St. Thomas... but not as built up (especially on the French side). There was lots of stuff to do.. including a fabulous Zip-line park (called Fly Zone) on the mountain that my 17 year old was crazy about. The beaches were nice. But...... they haven't recovered from the last hurricane, and there is virtually no good snorkeling unless you day trip to Saba, St. Barths, or Anguilla. The thing that absolutely shocked us, though, was just how affordable it was. Only having been to STJ and VG, I expected everything in the Caribbean to be "St. John Prices". Nope. We haven't been to STJ since 2004, but I would say our trip to St. Maarten was at least half as expensive as STJ. (condo rental, food, car rental, restaurants-- especially on the Dutch side). That's why this Christmas we're spending 1 week on St. Maarten and then one on St. John. We figure we'll use the first week to do the touristy stuff, and the second week just limin'. Good luck on your planning.

[Nic in KC]

Having been to both, I'd return to St.M and pay for it and not to Aruba unless it was free! I would stay in a big resort on StM and we really enjoyed the french side. We really enjoyed going to the beach there.

In Aruba, we didn't enjoy the beach at all, the sand hitting you as you try to sun just isn't fun. It just didn't feel tropical to us there. We still had fun, just don't need to return.

[elisa_nj]

I love reading everyones different opinions! We on the other hand visited STT & STJ for the first time this past May and have been going to Aruba 2x's a year for many many years! I LOVE Aruba and never let the Americanization get to me. Personally it's not something we run into everyday while there! We own a couple of timeshares on Eagle Beach and only go down to Palm Beach to catch a boat trip, eat at some of their wonderful restaurnats, etc. Other than that we hang around Eagle and usually do a 1 day shopping/browsing trip into "town" usually when we want to give our skin a break from the sun! You definately can get the whole "dutch" feel while there too...heck I shopped in K-Mart while on STT...why shouldn't someone on Aruba have a burger at Wendy's if they want?

I'm sure you'll be happy with whatever vacation spot you choose. But let me tell you...the beach at Eagle Beach is FAB!!!