St. Martin

Anyone been to St. Martin that can give some insights to the island and the casinos there? How are the beaches? Good for snorkeling? Food? I'm sure the gambling is nothing like vegas, but are they more like local joints or (gulp) cruise ships? What are the slot demons and do they have good variety? What is the video poker like? What are the craps odds and do they allow dice setting?

Lots of questions, but I do appreciate any insight for any who have been.

Thanks

 

The French side has no gambling, all the gambling is on the Dutch side. I spent all my time at Orient Bay, away from the gambling. If I were making a St. Martin trip again I would definitely stay on the French side for the day-life and head to the Dutch side for the night life!

 

Thanks BJ. Would you ever go back? Looking for something different and St. Martin seems like a good time. Trying to decide between St. Martin and Barbados. No gambling on Barbados, but that's not a deal killer. I can always get my fix locally or vegas.

 

Been to St. Maartin a couple of times, however we've never gambled there. If you are interested in doing a tour of the island, I highly recommend Bernard's Tours. We toured with him a couple of years ago and they did a wonderful job showing us both the French Side and the Dutch side. We also spent some time at Orient Beach.

Another option is to go to Maho Beach. The beach is right next to the airport and the planes fly in right over your head. Plus there's a cool little beach bar there.
It's pretty crazy, but definitely worth checking out. Do a search on You Tube for Maho Beach. I tried to post a link, but i guess I can't post one here.

For more information about St. Maartin check out cruisecritic.com under their Ports of Call board. And of course, Trip Advisor has lots of info too.

Enjoy your trip.

We'll be going back in March and will also be headed to Barbados for the first time.

 

Barbados is great. Clean beaches, not overcrowded. Try the flying fish sandwich if you go. Did some gambling on Antigua at King's Casino. Kinda reminded me of the Casino Royale in Vegas. Guess most of those casino's in the Caribbean are like that!

More info for what you need can be found over at Cruise Critic. Check their message boards if you have a few hours. Tons of useful info over there.
http://boards.cruisecritic.com/

 

I am constantly trying to find an excuse to go back. Loved it.

 

Been several years since I have been to the islands but i would choose St. Martin over Barbados mostly for the gaming and I also found the beaches to be much nicer. We went into a casino for only about an hour. Definitely not Vegas but we found a few things to play. Like BeeeJay we also spent the day at Orient beach and manged to get in a bit of shopping. Better shopping on St Martin. Either island would be nice, i just think Mt. Martin's beaches are more beautiful. Good luck choosing.

 

the islands are like cruise ships in terms of gambling. the comps are terrible and the games/odds are pretty bad. maybe not quite as bad as a cruise ship, but definitely even worse than the little local/Indian casinos in the US and nothing like Vegas.

personally I stick to gambling in Vegas and occasionally Biloxi and just enjoy the beach at places like that.

 

Good info folks. Thanks for chiming in. I should have added I'm going on a cruise in March with St. Martin being one of the stops, but figured that isn't much time to really enjoy the island and am considering a week long stay as well in the fall. I do know about cruise critic, which does have a lot of good info, but gaming doesn't seem to be their strongpoint. I figured I'd ask my fellow degens on here.

Sounds like the good advice is to stay away or simply donk off a few, but rather enjoy the other aspects of the island.