We have friends staying at the Royal Palm next week. It's their first visit to the island.

Against my advice they do not intend to rent a car. I have pointed them to GC, Dreams, Mullet, Maho, Orient and Ance Marcel. For the north island trips they intend to hire a driver or taxi.

Is there any way to get around in the Maho/Cole Bay/Cupacoy area like a bus? I have never paid any attention to public transit since we always rent a car. I have to imagine if they want to taxi all week they are going to go through $500 or more and the shorter trips could be handled by bus.

They can travel the entire island via bus if they wanted. Sure some walking, and I would bus as far as I could then taxi to Anse Marcel if money is an issue.

When we were in SXM, staying at Simpson Bay, we took the public transportation to Maho a couple of times...easy as pie, vans that are always passing by on the main roads. I think it was $2.50 each to Maho. The problem with taking the bus across the island is that they stop, a lot, for anyone who flags them down, so I think it would be a time consuming endeavor. We hired Wilfred Brooks for transportation to farther destinations on the island. He is reliable and reasonable in terms of price. I hope this helps.

bus is easy and usually $1.00 or $1.50

Bus is easy. Just stand on side of road in direction you are going. Route is usually posted in front or side.
Cheers
irina

Not sure how often they run their routes, but I recall seeing buses running quite a lot.

Daily Herald story

That photo certainly shows some upgrades to their transportation. The last buses I saw were the small school bus configuration, and most had their windows open which led me to believe the A/C was not working.
This new fleet is certainly an improvement, and should be much more comfortable to travel in- once you get into it. Looks like it might be a tight squeeze when it gets crowded, and unable to carry the amount of passengers the small buses could carry. Still an upgrade, and the color code system should reduce confusion on the destination.

We were in SXM 18 Feb - 5 Mar, our sixth trip there. We have never rented a car and utilize taxi and bus. The first week we stayed in the Orient area and the second week at Beachside Villas in Maho. We took the bus on several occasions primarily between Orient and Marigot and between Maho and Philipsburg. We never once had to wait for a bus, there was always one approaching as we neared the road and you simply wave at the driver and he stops, cost $2. I would also say they are just as quick as a taxi. The best part of the bus is the people you meet, both locals and tourists. The only time we took taxis was if we had to be somewhere at a certain time and we would book the taxi in advance.