Modern Vespa

Greetings Vespaland - next week the wife and I are headed to St Maartin's island for a week long vacation.

I wanted to check in with you guys and see if any of you had experience renting scooters on the island, and any tips on scootering around.

The island itself is only 37 square miles. I'm not sure how long it would take me to go around the island. Does seem quite larger than I am thinking since we will be watching 747's land on Maho beach.

Cheers.
RT

Scooters are readily available for rent on the island. I was there (on the French side) for college last year. Just be sure you're skilled and can handle lots of traffic on very narrow roads....they drive in an adventurous manner.

Also note that it rains frequently, so be prepared for that.

I was down there a few years ago -- stayed on the French side -- and was tempted to rent a couple of 50s for my then-fiance and myself. iKevin's comments are spot-on, and I'd add that the roads are in pretty rough shape as well.

We stayed in Grand Case where everything -- including literally dozens of fine French restaurants -- was within easy walking distance, so we elected not to take the risk. Every night along the main (and almost only) drag in Grand Case, the street was terrorized by what we dubbed the "scooter mafia," dozens of teenagers on stripped-down and hopped-up scooters and mopeds tearing up and down the street oblivious to pedestrians and traffic and pulling wheelies. It doesn't help that the street is full of pedestrians because of the near-complete lack of sidewalks.

The northern end of the island is narrow enough that we were able to walk across to the fine, miles-long beach on the east side one day. We did rent a compact car the last two days to venture a bit farther, including a repeat trip to that beach.

If we go back, I might rent a couple of scooters, now knowing that my wife is a skilled rider, but I wouldn't want to risk riding two-up due to the conditions.

Plenty of places to rent Scooter. I will assume you have experience as you are here. So many unskilled tourist come home after ruined vacation with major road rash from scooter crashes. People also tend to ride in shorts, I won't judge I'm guilty, helmets are usually sub-standard too. On the plus side, one rarely needs to exceed 45 mph. If you look you can usually find a 125 cc or a 150 cc since I usually ride two-up as my wife is not a scooter "driver" ....... IMO it's one of the best was to get around as roads are small but be careful.

make sure you go to Tahoma Beach restaurant and Karacter. Sit on the beach all day and drink and eat.