Great Bay Express Ferry Information as of 10/20/14

JEK

Senior Insider
A tip of the hat to Jerome for this information!


Hello from sunny again Saint-Barth, I am jerome from SBTT, agents for the Great Bay Express in Saint-Barth,

I would like to give you some more information:

Since the first of October, Great Bay Express does have a counter inside the arrival hall at Princess Juliana Airport St Maarten.

It is situated in the luggage claim area. There you can buy a ticket or check-in for the ferry.

It gives more time for passengers to make it for the ferry since they are checked-in already and they can go straight to the boat when they arrive at Bobby's Marina (until 1730 for now).

There is a shuttle bus that is at the arrival that departs several times during the afternoon and goes straight to Bobby's Marina.

The ride from the airport is now much faster since the bridge connection has reduced the traffic on the simpson bay road, and usually takes not more than 30 minutes.

By the 15th of november we will have a new vessel on the line.

This is the old Rapid Explorer boat that has been entirely rebuilt.

New powerful MTU engines, new bigger water jet, 2 new generators. Electricity connections and air conditioned system are also brand new.

The boat has also been re-equipped with the ski and foilers.

It means that Great Bay Express will be the only ferry company to have more than 1 boat in operations (a total of 3 vessels).

Soon, we will publish new schedules with a new mid afternoon trip and a later departure from philipsburg in order to cope with earlier and later arrivals in Sint-Maarten.

Regarding the safety in Philipsburg, it is totally safe to walk from Seaview or Holland House hotels to Bobby's Marina in the morning, the area is busy with beach boys and restaurants opening.

I hope it helps,
 
Rapid Ex was an awesome boat and MTU power is as good as it gets....and the shuttle is a great idea

good for them
 
I agree . . . congratulations to Great Bay Express for its apparent success and client-friendly service. Jerome's note is a masterful PR piece . . . and tempts me to ue the ferry more often. Bon Chance !
 
I have only ever done Winair but this year we will be traveling with friends who expressed interest in the ferry. How long does the ferry take? Is the experience worth it?
 
about 35/45 minutes....

i prefer flying but have done the ferry a few times..

kinda fun on a nice day....not so on a stormy day
 
I have only ever done Winair but this year we will be traveling with friends who expressed interest in the ferry. How long does the ferry take? Is the experience worth it?

The ferry times are posted above In Getting to St Barts
 
Is it as rough as so many people say?

rough is VERY subjective....

I m a commercial fisherman who has worked off shore in raging storms.....nothing in the crossing would faze me one bit

But someone not used to it could think it to be the end of the world as they know it

the Caribbean is a windy area of the world by nature......lots of convection creating lots of wind at times.....

waves are are mostly wind driven in their creation.....

Draw your own conclusions
 
Wendi was my crew on the whale watching boat which is how we met....she s a rock in anything

I ve had Lena out in some marginally nasty stuff and she was fine....

but I got my parents sick more times then I d like
 
Two years ago a freind of one of our daughters took the ferry against our advice. She told us that although she did not get sick many people did. She took the ferry back but only because we told her the return trip should be calmer. If you fear the plane, try a few Caribe's at SXM.
 
Only time I have ever been sea sick in my life was on the Rapid Explorer several years ago. Definately made worse by red eye flight and little sleep, plus no fresh air below deck (no option on the old Rapid Explorer to be above deck). I was fine until others started getting sick. Have been on the ferry since on a calm night (not by choice) and it was quite lovely. But it is only a last resort if we miss the last flight to SBH. Rather be sick on the ferry than miss a night in a gorgeous villa in SBH.
 
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