My wife and I just returned from 18 days on Maui. This was our first time back to Maui in 14 years. the past 10 years we have been vacationing on St. Martin but this year we wanted to try something new (given the issues on Orient Beach and around the island of St. Martin/St. Maarten). So we decided to give Maui another chance. Bad decision!
This report compares St. Martin and Maui based on our experiences on both islands as they relate to our expectations.
We enjoyed our time on Maui but in our opinion it doesn't come close to the standards set by our time on Orient Beach.
Maui beaches (including Little Beach)are very poor for any water activities we enjoy. We like snorkeling and lounging around in the water for hours at a time. We couldn't do that on Maui beaches because of the rough water. Beaches were not even pretty. Plus none of the beaches had any water sport opportunities (besides snorleling) nor did they have any bars or restaurants unlike Orient. Little beach (clothing optional) was a "good" hike to get to - especially with a full pack of coolers and chairs and umbrellas to haul in. Too much work for us!! The club O resort is right there as are the parking lots and chairs and umbrella's. I guess we're spoiled by the convience of everything on Orient.
The roads in Maui were very crowded as were the restaurants in town. The island has lost it's Hawaiian flavor because of the infestation of people. Hope St. Martin doesn't fall into that same trap.
After 13 days on the island we were ready to come home. So we changed our car and airline tickets to fly home four days early even though we had everything paid for thru 18 days. We changed our minds after thinking about the rain and cold back home - so we stayed for the duration even thou we didn't care for the extra days.
We can see why so many vets on this board say "there is no place better than St. Martin". We found that out with Maui - there is no comparison, in our opinion.
Now we are looking forward to our two week stay on Orient Beach in April. Looking forward to meeting friendly people, warm, calm, water, sun, clothing optional beach, the convience of water sports and beach bars and the opportunity to walk a mile long beach, and most of all some peace and quiet - none of which we got on Maui.
Be thankful we can vacation on St. Martin!!