MULLET BAY BEACH
This would be the first time the kids had been to St Maarten and they all wanted to go see the planes at Maho Beach. It had been several years since I had been there and figured...why not? Last time we had went, we started out at Orient in the morning and then went over to Maho in the afternoon. We really didn't want to go to Orient again, so after a little bit of research on the cruise boards, it was suggested that we go to Mullet Bay first and then walk over to Maho in the afternoon. It sounded easy enough.
Away we headed toward the area to catch the cabs. The taxi's move in and out of the taxi area so quickly that we didn't have time to sit and wait. Then off we went.
On the way, we discuss our plans with the cab driver. We were getting dropped off at Mullet to spend the morning there and then walking over to Maho to watch the planes come in the for the rest of the time. He said he would pick us up at Maho when we were ready and gave us his card. (I'm really not sure what we were supposed to do with the card unless he expected us to have one of the bars call for him to come pick us up.
We arrived at the parking lot at Mullet. The first thing I spotted was the porta potty. I really had to use it, so off I went. I only noticed 1 of them, so I'm not sure if there are others somewhere else or not. It was pretty clean and didn't smell. The only thing I noticed was there wasn't any toilet paper. Ok, drip dry time for me and to the ocean to "cleanse". hehe It was almost like camping.
We walked out onto the beach and it was beautiful. I spotted the rocks that I had been told about prior to coming here and knew I would have to check them out later. I have to say that the water was pretty calm. I know the waves at Maho can get really big and this place was basically right next door, so I really didn't know what to expect (especially with the little ones). Also I had watched youtube videos before coming and read that this is actually a spot for surfers to come because the waves can get HUGE!!! We were lucky this day.
The kids loved it. We found our "spot" and decided to get 4 chairs with 2 umbrellas. There was never a need to get enough chairs for all of us and umbrellas to go along with each set because you best believe that none of us were ever sitting all at the same time. (Everyone knows I rarely sit down, you can go ahead and mark me off of that list immediately) So, we decided to share. I believe I was told previously that the cost was $20 for the set of chairs and umbrella. However, they only charged us $15 per set. That meant I was headed off to get a drink with my newly found extra $5.
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Here is Rosie's snack shack where you get drinks and food.
The pricing (you can tell that the prices have went up by the markings)
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I decided it was too early in the morning to be drinking and I wanted to do some snorkeling, so I opted for a diet coke.
This is what I called my "tall boy" that day. Man those things were skinny and tall
I decided I wanted to climb up on the rocks and go exploring. I got out on the beach and started my journey while taking some pictures of the kids still snorkeling.
Kendra was giving a pose like always when the camera is pointed at her.
Kolin decided that he would join me with the rock climbing adventure. Then Kendra and Courtney followed suit. Although Kolin decided to take the hard way up.
The kids all had water shoes on and I let Courtney wear my water shoes since she didn't have any.
Kendra was trying to save a fish caught in the little pool of water during a big splash of waves. She never did get it.We made it to the big hole area that Kayrsa had told me about. It was beautiful.
Kolin kept talking about jumping in, but I told him it was too dangerous with the water splashing against the rocks and of course everyone knows that looks are deceiving in the ocean and it's very hard to tell just how far down the rocks really are from the surface.
I loved the picture with the water crashing over the rocks. It managed to knock a few birds off the rocks with that one.
Kolin and Courtney climbed over to the other side for a picture opportunity.
Of course Sakari is always the first in the water. Even though she can swim pretty good, I always make her wear her puddle jumper while in the water if I'm not immediately beside her. Kendra had packed a suitcase (I kid you not) but yet didn't have enough room to pack Braydens puddle jumper, so he was winging it today. (Which I explained to Kendra that there is NEVER a time where it won't fit since it has a belt around it with a snap and we always just snap Sakari's to the handle of our bag and let it hang outside the bag).
Kolin and Courtney headed out and got their first mouthfull of sea water. LOL
We swam for a while and then I decided I would gear up with my snorkeling equipment and head over to the rocks and check it out. After awhile, the kids joined me. I always bring tons of snorkel mask when they come, so everyone had something to wear (just not the full gear).
There were a few fish here and there, but the main thing you find there are HUNDREDS of sea urchins. They were everywhere. From small to extremely HUGE. Some of the biggest I have seen.
I was swimming along and "thinking" that I was taking pictures of them, but once I got home discovered that I must have hit the wrong button and was actually video recording. Sigh. This won't be the first time I have done this and I'm sure it won't be the last. So you have a full 7 minute video of me swimming in the water and the camera going back and forth and then a still moment while it's looking at something then back to what appears to be a struggle in the water. (No, I wasn't struggling, but when you watch someone swimming with a video rolling in their hand you wonder if they are drowning).
The few pictures that I did manage to get turned out completely crappy. Of course I had also forgot to put it on underwater mode as well. Total failure.
One other thing I noticed once I got home and was looking at the pictures, I must have had it on my "Magic-Miniature" setting (which gives you the tilt shift look and blurs the edges of the picture automatically) during this time too. So, not the great pictures you are use to from me while snorkeling.
Then soon a "party??" boat came in. They pulled up, anchored in the water and about 10 people piled out of the boat. Along came a guy from the boat with a floating "beer" holder. They didn't stay long. I'm guessing maybe 30 minutes or so. It was just weird that they pulled up, jumped out with their floating beer holder, then left. Ok, maybe they needed to cool down and couldn't wait to get back on the boat to finish their drink? LOL
As you can see, there's a big plane coming in. It had a pretty good view of the planes coming in from there too. I was kinda upset when I seen what plane it was. It was the BIG BOY OF ALL BIG BOYS. We had missed it coming in. It was only about 11am at that point. I had planned on being over to Maho by noon since that's usually when the big planes come in. Darnit. I had missed this one.
Kendra decided she was hungry and went and got some fries. She just had a baby 3 months ago, so she said she was using her post-pregnancy belly as a table. LOL
I kept seeing big planes come in and landing over at Maho and I started to panic. Were we missing all of them? Was my timing all wrong? Did my watch stop and it was later than I thought? Was the time on St Maarten actually different from ship time? Or were there just a bunch of people trying to get into St Maarten earlier so they could enjoy their vacation a hour earlier than normal? I just didn't know but I got into panic mode and started telling everyone we needed to start packing things up and heading out to Maho.
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We completely enjoyed Mullet that day and really wished that we had more time there. The water was nice, the scenery was nice and the beach was nice. We loved everything about it. I highly recommend it to anyone as a day in St Maarten.
We got things packed up and started heading out.
I took a few pictures at the entrance of the parking lot where we came in.
We headed down the street that brings you into Mullet and started our journey over to Maho not knowing what this was going to be like. I can tell you that it was hot out and I had wondered if I was going to die of heat exhaustion on the way there and never make it back to tell my story.
We had several cabs come in and stopped to ask if we needed a ride, Kendra glaring at me during the time, while I shook my head "no thank you, we're just going over to Maho". hehe Consider this a pay back for all your lateness Kendra...your butt is walking!
The walk honestly was not bad since there were trees here and there and it gave us some shade. We also seen multiple lizards along the way, so we had some entertainment as well.
For anyone worried about walking along the street out of this place (which is backed up to a golf course), there are trails along the way and plenty of grass of course. No worries about traffic here.
We came to the intersection and quickly made it to the sidewalk with no problems and started walking along the street. It was very nice in this area with tons of places to eat and some shopping.
We noticed a Subway along the way and my kids commented on it. (They were amazed any time they seen anything fast food related that we have back in the states. I guess they didn't realize that other countries have fast food places too and every time they seen one, they pointed it out).
After a short walk down the sidewalk and past the Casino, I could see the airport landing strip and knew we had made it to Maho. This was such an easy walk. I don't really think there's a way to screw it up unless you decided to go off in a different direction and head down a side street or something. Super easy.
We arrived at Maho with no problems and immediately found the Driftwood Bar. Before we had went over to Sunset and really enjoyed it over there. But I have been reminded several times over the years from threads that there was another bar on the opposite side of Maho Beach and I figured since it would be the first place we came to along our route that we would just try that place out instead this time.
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(My Maho review here)
​I will stop to show you my water shoes after Courtney had worn them climbing the rocks at Mullet. Yes, they are about 4 years old, but no they were not worn like this or had anything wrong with them prior to her rock adventure.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Mullet Bay Beach was a very pretty beach. It was an excellent place to spend the morning prior to going to Maho to watch the planes come in.
This beach is popular by the locals and didn't seem to be very crowded.
There's all the amenities that you need here, including chairs/umbrellas, food, drinks and ....a porta potty. No, there's no luxury restroom here, but the potty was clean and didn't smell. So, it worked for us.
I would highly recommend spending some time here at Mullet.