currents in St. Maarten/martin

[JonathanBelles]

I am going on a cruise to St. Maarten/martin in mid to late may and I want to know what are the water curents in mid to late may in and around St. Maa/ma. I want to know this because 2 years ago when i was there (and i forget what side of the island i was on) the waves were so rough that i couldnt stand up (literally) and i would like to avoid that this year. Can somebody help me?

[terstorm1012]

I imagine you were on the Atlantic side of the island if the waves were rough. The Caribbean side should be tranquil.

[msbee]

when you were in sxm 2 yeras ago, what time of year was it??
usually the seas are not rough but at certiain times of the year we can get Northern swells that roll in..usually associated with some sort of cold front.
that most often happens in the "winter" months.
In the summer months in huirricane season we can get rough seas from tropical waves passing through.
terstorm is also correct..the Atlantic side is rougher than the Caribbean.
the beaches on the Atlantic side usually have rougher surf.. There are always quiet beaches you can find though..
When the wind is up, the seas will get choppy.
These web sites give you the wind and weather reports for sxm:

http://www.windguru.cz/int/index.php?sc=3604
http://www.windfinder.com/report/st_maarten

It's hard to predict what the seas will be like in May.
They change from day to day.
My husband went out fishing on Wednesday... Beyond Anguilla, they met 12 foot seas. Of course, they were way out in the Atlantic.
We went out on the boat for a sailing day the very next day and the seas had calmed down to 2-4 feet.

[JonathanBelles]

it was late may early june

[msbee]

certain of opur beaches on the Atlantic side can have surf..beaches such as Orient or Oyster Pond.
we have a beach facing West called Mullet Bay..sometimes the rollers there can be very high.. and sometimes there is no surf at all.
other beaches such as Le Galion and Friars Bay are always calm.
so it does depend on where you were and if any front was causing unusally high surf.
I can tell you that, in general, we usually have higher surf in December or January than we do in May or June because the winds are higher then.

[gatorcane]

when you were in sxm 2 yeras ago, what time of year was it??
usually the seas are not rough but at certiain times of the year we can get Northern swells that roll in..usually associated with some sort of cold front.
that most often happens in the "winter" months.
In the summer months in huirricane season we can get rough seas from tropical waves passing through.
terstorm is also correct..the Atlantic side is rougher than the Caribbean.
the beaches on the Atlantic side usually have rougher surf.. There are always quiet beaches you can find though..
When the wind is up, the seas will get choppy.
These web sites give you the wind and weather reports for sxm:

http://www.windguru.cz/int/index.php?sc=3604
http://www.windfinder.com/report/st_maarten

It's hard to predict what the seas will be like in May.
They change from day to day.
My husband went out fishing on Wednesday... Beyond Anguilla, they met 12 foot seas. Of course, they were way out in the Atlantic.
We went out on the boat for a sailing day the very next day and the seas had calmed down to 2-4 feet.

As a side note the same applies for the Florida Keys as I have been down there many, many times in the summer months. The Gulf side is relatively tranquil unless a cold front is to the north or passing through. The Atlantic side is a nightmare when a tropical wave moves through. Typically its is usually pretty breezy in the FL keys with ESE winds usually around 10-15mph and when a tropical wave moves through it is usually ENE at 20-30mph with higher gusts and (as the axis passes by) ESE at 20-30mph with higher gusts.