1/2 day to Tintamare

Is there anyone who does a half day snorkel trip to Tintamarre?

Philippe the captain of the Tiko Tiko did a half day Tintamare trip for us and 6 other couples last year. It was a 4 or 5 hour trip with snacks and drinks (beer, wine and punch). I think it was $40 or $50 per person.
Captain Philippe is usually at Papagayo at Club O early in the morning and sometimes late in the afternoon.

Can you hike Tintamarre nude?

I think there is now a cover up rule on Tintamare once your feet touch the sand.

Nudity is allowed on the beach that is close to where the Tiko-Tiko drops anchor.

Perhaps I am mistaken but I thought the nudity went away with or soon after the mud baths and is part of what this being in the Reserve is all about.

As I remember, you can now be nude on the beach, but if you want to hike around the island, you must wear a cover up of some sort.

Allowed? Tolerated? Acceptable and Legal?? I have no idea.

Allowed. It was set up originally to NOT allow nudity, but several captains protested and they backed off to allow nudity on the beach only.

I recall the Tiko Tiko Captain struck a deal with who i'm not sure if it as the local government or Natural reserve. The deal is that nudity would be allowed by the umbrellas that are set on the beach and just in that small area. If anyone left that area they are to cover up. But its been a few years since so I'm not positive that is still in effect.

I think a proper phrase might be "unofficially tolerated." At Tintamarre, nudity is tolerated on the boats, in the water, and on the beach - but what is not tolerated is walking along the beach nude, as was commonly done in the past. Presumably, the no nudity when walking the beach also would mean that there is no nudity in walking around the island. Arrete No. 001-06, January 9, 2006, bans nudity on the beaches of St. Martin, only except for the Club O beach, and it is the local legal authority for the bans on nudity on beaches.

That sounds like what I heard before just wasn't sure who was enforcing the ban

Did the Tiko party in April and all Nudes stayed at Yellow umbrellas.It was a great trip...

The current arrangement is primarily self-enforced. The excursion boats have to be registered with the Reserve Naturelle to operate in teh Reserve (including Tintamarre) and they have no interest or need in getting into a fight with the Reserve. All of the captains keep (and I think generally have) a good relationship with the Reserve. I think that currently the Reserve Naturelle has three rangers who have police powers and then there is the gendarmerie maritime (the maritime police). You just would not want to mess with any of those guys. Particularly as a tourist, if one of them "requested" you to do something, you would do it and thank them for it.

We just went there on a nude trip. Nude under your umbrella and short walk to enter the water. Bottoms are needed everywhere else!

Maureen, I think there is a little hut on the beach somewhere between Bikini and Pedro's that offers short snorkel trips...I was walking down the beach one day when my son was here and I stopped to ask a few questions but I can't recall any other details...I think there were 2 different huts that had snorkel trips

Thanks Patty. My thread seemed to be turned into "nude or not nude" on Tintamarre.!!! Only you and one other person actually answered my question

Maureen,
Try Capt Alan at Oyster Pond, he may have 1/2 day sails.

Wind Adventure may be "hut" referred to above. They have various trips to Tintamarre advertised on website. http://www.wind-adventures.com/ecotours.htm

It looks like Captain Allan has a 3 island tour which includes Pinel and Tintamarre as two of the stops. For us, it works out since they leave from Oyster Pond. See: Captain Allans site.

Tiko Tiko also offers a trip to Tintamarre which they call their PikNik trip. See: Tiko Tiko PikNik trip.

Hope this helps.

Thank you everyone who answered my original question. Greatly appreciated.

Maureen, did you walk down the beach and find the place(s) I was talking about...it was reasonable, like 40 euros

Not yet Patty. I did look at the website for Wind Adventures, but they were WAY over 40 euros, and I haven't persuaded Larry to go yet <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" />.

I think a half day trip to Tintamare would be perfect. A little sun, some snorkelling, then some lunch and head back to Club O. Price should be reasonable too.