Tagged: anguilla, bbbaxa, beach bar, caribbean, maurice and sons, taxi, travel
When I started planning our day trip to Anguilla and its beaches (you know, for beach bar “research”), I reached out to various online groups for advice on getting around the island, specifically via a taxi service. As any longtime readers of this blog know, I’ve vacationed on the island twice before. I know it’s easy to get around, I know that the locals will help you if you become lost and I know that they drive on the wrong side of the road. I wasn’t interested in renting a car, though, because again, I was going to be conducting beach bar research. That kind of research involves rum, preferably copious amounts of it. The idea of drinking and driving didn’t sound appealing to me. That’s when I reached out to Maurice and Sons and they offered me a deal I couldn’t refuse.
For $70, a driver from Maurice and Sons (which consists of Maurice Hodge and sons Sheraul, Sheron and Maurice Jr.) would pick me up at the ferry terminal and take me to the four beaches I had planned to visit. $70. Not $150, not $200 – $70. To put that in perspective, it cost my group $40 to get from SXM to our resort … and our resort was at the other end of the runway. Granted, we had more people but for anyone who has ever had to confront a taxi bill in the Caribbean and especially Anguilla, you know it’s never cheap.
When I told the locals on Anguilla my itinerary (couple hours each at Sandy Ground, Meads and Rendezvous with a little time at Shoal Bay East), they couldn’t believe it either. My wife wasn’t convinced and held back a couple hundred dollars just in case. Lo and behold, at the end of the day when Sherlon told me what I owed him, it was $70. With a $20 tip, I was out $90 for the whole day … or about what I spent sampling rum punches in the name of research.
For that amount, don’t expect them to wait for you. They’ll drop you off and come back when you tell them. You can either set the time when you arrive or have someone on the beach give them a call 10 minutes before you want to leave. It couldn’t have been an easier process and every time we sadly left each beach, our full size van was sitting there waiting for us.
Next time you’re heading to Anguilla for one day or many, keep Maurice and Sons in mind. I’ve used other taxi services on the island and there are a lot of good ones. I don’t know how many of them, though, would charge you a whole $70 to shuttle you around the island for a day. Plus, getting to end the day talking with Maurice Sr. is a treat in and of itself.
Find out more about Maurice and Sons and their various services. You can also find them on social media on Facebook and Twitter. To reach them via phone, call 264-235-2676 for the main business line. They can be reached via email at maurice.taxiservices@gmail.com.
Check out my other stories on my trips to Anguilla and find out what I think about the beach bars of Anguilla!
Have you used a taxi service on Anguilla? How did your rates compare? Let me know in the comments!
