# Aruba vs. St Marteen



## Carlsbadguy (Apr 17, 2007)

Deciding on a Caribbean vacation this fall and am considering either of these 2 islands.   Living on the west coast have visited Hawaii numerous times, but never the Caribbean. As i have to be on the east coast early November, thought I might take a trip here first.  Which island has beeter beaches, snorkeling, sight seeing?


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## gmarine (Apr 17, 2007)

They are very different islands. It is mostly a matter of personal preference. Both have great beaches, great food and great snorkeling. Both have casinos, with Aruba having a more active nightlife. St Maarten has more of a local island feel to it with Aruba being more americanized. 

Some people prefer Aruba, others St Maarten. Aruba is the number on island in the caribbean for repeat visitors. 

Search these forums and you will find many threads comparing the two


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## m61376 (Apr 17, 2007)

Check the weather for when you want to go. Aruba's weather is fairly consistent year around and it is below the hurricane belt. Late Oct./early Nov. is the end of the hurricane season for St. Martin and it is a rainier/more humid season there.


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## Conan (Apr 17, 2007)

Clearly St. Martin is more "foreign" than Aruba, especially the north (french) half.  St. Martin has topless and nude beaches (french side), street-side barbecue stands, Paris-quality restaurants (french side), petty crime (mostly car break-ins), crazy drivers and broken roads.  There are daytrips to good snorkel spots on nearby Anguilla.  And St. Barts is right next door (bring lots of money!).

The question is whether you find foreigness appealing or repellent.   A good test is St. Martin's Orient Beach.  Among beaches of the world, it's near-perfect.  But one end of it is a nudist resort, so for better or worse you're likely to see naked people there.

If your Fall visit means September-October, by the way, you're far more likely to meet with a tropical storm or hurricane in St. Martin than in Aruba.


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## Carlsbadguy (Apr 17, 2007)

I am considering one of the last 2 weeks in October if that makes any difference.  Any other Caribbean Islands worth considering for something different.  I have been to Grand Cayman on a cruise.


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## doubledigit (Apr 17, 2007)

*Aruba vs St Maarten*

We just returned from Aruba and really enjoyed it. It is very very Americanized. The beaches are great, but the island itself, once you wander off the beaches, is not pretty at all. It is just very dry and desert and flat. We had a car for the week and also took a bus tour of the island. The island itself is very small. We liked the casinos where we could spend some time in the evening. We stayed at divi village and really enjoyed that resort.

On the other hand, we have spent 2 weeks in st maarten, and I still think it is my favorite island. You definately need a car. I love the fact that is has both lowlands and mountains. I loved the people, the food, and the wonderful beaches. It also has casinos for evening entertainment. We loved the lolos and stopped often to have a plate of ribs. You really can't go wrong with either island. We took a catamaran day trip to anguilla which was very nice also. Go to one now and one later. We went in november and it was not a busy time, which is really nice.


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## m61376 (Apr 18, 2007)

Admittedly I am a bit biased toward Aruba, although St. Maarten is my second favorite island, but the last two weeks of October may be better in Aruba weather-wise.

Other than that, they are both great islands. As others have said, St. Maarten is interesting with two types of cultures and is prettier. The nude beaches may or may not be a problem for you (personally a detraction for me and a big deal when there with kids; even on the topless beaches people just change out in the open, making it difficult to walk with kids even on the beach side of the street). On the other hand, the beaches at Aruba are wonderful and unique due to the constant breeze, so you can lay out and not feel hot and sweaty. Some people don't like the breeze, but for us it is a major plus. The resorts are landscaped so when you lie out you see the tropical greenery, so the desert feel is not an issue for us.

Aruba, as posted above, is very Americanized and there are a multitude of fine "American" food type restaurants, one better than the next. Although I typically am an "on the go vacationer" (translated that means my family quips they need a vacation from one of my vacations), Aruba is the only place I have ever been to that I am content just to relax for the week (again, "relax" is a work generally not in my vocabulary). There is shopping, Casinos, snorkeling/water sports, but limited sightseeing there. St. Maarten is better for sightseeing.

HTH- and enjoy wherever you go.


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## Cathyb (Apr 18, 2007)

hi howard, I too live in Carlsbad.  We are going to BOTH islands in 2/08 and have been to StM twice and Aruba once already.  We love StM for its culture--where else can you land on one island and have two countries? You can snorkle with clothes, gamble and shop in Dutch St. Maarten and can snorkle sans clothes  and eat gourmet food in St. Martin. We also took the fast ferry to St. Barts on one visit and the local ferry to Anguilla the second time so that expands what you can do while there.  Aruba on the other hand was like home and the Dutch are so exacting that if your tour is supposed to leave at 9:11, it will.  You can also extend a few days and go to Curacao or Bonaire which is an hour or so flight from Aruba.  I pick St. Maarten first but Aruba is a very close second.


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## Cathyb (Apr 18, 2007)

howard: we live in Carlsbad too and are going to BOTH islands in 2/08 having visits StM twice and Aruba once before.  Earlier post made a very good point: October could be hurricanes so Aruba is a safer bet.  If it were early Spring I probably would suggest StM because you have two other islands to visit if you 'get bored'. We took fast ferry to St. Bart's the first time and the local ferry to Anguilla the second time.  You cannot go wrong with either island and forgive me if this posts twice!


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## Zac495 (Apr 23, 2007)

We LOVE Aruba. We love the food and the winds - never hot. The restaurants on the beaches are amazing.


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## stmartinfan (Apr 25, 2007)

We've visited both, and enjoyed the trips.  But we really love St. Maarten.  However, given your timing, I'd agree with other posters that Aruba might be a better choice for weather because of its location.


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## timesharejunkie4 (Apr 25, 2007)

Howard - can you go after your business trip? That would alleviate the concerns of hurricaines a bit. There is much more to do and see in St. Maarten and the island is easy to navigate. Food is better too. You also have the neighboring islands to explore if that would interest you. I guess it really depends on what you like to do. Aruba is more upscale with fewer but still good activities.


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## m61376 (Apr 25, 2007)

timesharejunkie4 said:


> Howard - can you go after your business trip? That would alleviate the concerns of hurricaines a bit. There is much more to do and see in St. Maarten and the island is easy to navigate. Food is better too. You also have the neighboring islands to explore if that would interest you. I guess it really depends on what you like to do. Aruba is more upscale with fewer but still good activities.



I'd agree that St. Maarten has a little more to do and see, but I found the beaches much more comfortable on Aruba due to the ocean breeze. I would disagree that the food is better in St. Maarten. Aruba has an incredible selection of really good restaurants, quality-wise comparable to NYC restaurants. Personally, I think the restaurants there are overall better than other places I've travelled (either that or we were just lucky in picking only really good ones).

You'll enjoy either island though.


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## Carlsbadguy (Apr 25, 2007)

What II  resorts would people recommend in St Marteen


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## timesharejunkie4 (Apr 25, 2007)

howard said:


> What II  resorts would people recommend in St Marteen



None of the resorts in St. Maarten are of Marriott quality so if that's what you expect you will be disappointed. The only 5* resorts are Oyster Bay and Royal Islander and both are nice. There's always alot of availability at Pelican, where I own. It's an older resort with some of the units remodeled. It's nothing fancy but I like it. Just stay away from the sleep 2 studios as some of them are dark & dingy with a view of the parking lot. The location is good, near alot of restaurants. There are 5 pools and a casino on site as well as water sports and quite a few boat trips go out of the marina.
I've heard a lot of good things about Oyster Bay and I stayed in one of the hotel rooms at Royal Islander when I was bumped from a flight and thought it was nice. Royal Islander is right near the airport so you can watch the planes come in. There is like a little city at Royal Islander with a casino, shops and restaurants.


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## lunarbrian (May 8, 2007)

My wife goes to Aruba and St Maarten both for about five weeks each year. (I go for a lesser time to each as I can't get that much time off work.) She loves the diving on both. I have a slight preference for Aruba and she has a slight preference for St Maarten. As others have mentioned, they are very different islands. Aruba is hot, dry and windy, St Maarten is more humid and greener. One downside to St Maarten is that each year the traffic seems to get worse and worse-roads are in bad shape, more people every year, not really any alternatives to getting around. Getting around in Aruba is easier. We get a car in both places. Some people are OK with taking the buses but we're not willing to wait around when we want to go somewhere. In St Maarten, Oyster Bay is off the beaten path. You may want to try and stay somewhere around Simpson Bay. 

We are also from the West Coast (San Jose.) First question people always ask-why the Caribbean instead of Hawaii. We just like the Caribbean better after having been to Hawaii many times. 

To be honest, I don't think you can go wrong with either St Maarten or Aruba-that's why we go there every year. I would say that both are quite a haul from the West Coast. We stopped the one week a year thing after the first year-between unwinding when we got there and then getting ready to go home, there was not enough time for the vacation! You might want to just take your best shot with what resort you can get on an exchange and what airfare is best-expensive from the west coast and sometimes miles are tough to use unless you book way out. (I just booked our airfare using miles yesterday for 3/08 to St Maarten!)


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## normab (May 14, 2007)

My perspective as a long time SXM lover:

We are in Aruba right now--we had not requested it but II called us up while we had an existing search for other carribbean islands ongoing, and we decided to take it.  It is windy and extremely humid, 90 degrees F.  So windy that even at the pool, buffered by the tall buildings, the towels are blowing off the chairs.   Sand is blowing on the beach. So humid I don't know what to do with my curly bangs--everyone wears baseball caps or hats.  When you walk outside everything fogs up--it is very humid--I cannot understand how people can say it is not humid--they must have straight hair!!!   These are the biggest negatives for me personally.

Of course, we are at the Marriott Surf Club, and that is a major positive. Plenty to do right here-we always rent a car but many people do not--there are buses and taxis.  In SXM you are better off renting a car. I think there is more nightlife here than in SXM but there is lots to do there too.

We prefer SXM for several reasons: less wind and humidity, cannot beat the food on the French side, better buys (duty free even in grocery stores) and overall we think friendlier people.  Even though there are no Marriotts, we own at LaVista and have exchanged into Oyster Bay and they are both well maintained resorts, so we cannot complain about our lodgings there!

As others have said, it depends what you like and when you are going.  We have always had good weather in SXM, exception being some rainy days here and there in the fall.


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## chrisnwillie (May 14, 2007)

As an Aruba lover and timeshare owner there, I love Aruba and I love the wind BUT, you are sooo right about the humidity. I don't understand how or why people say it is not humid. It IS humid, although when I go in late February and March, I welcome all the heat and humidity I can get after the long cold winter season in NY.


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