Wait, is it SAINT MARTIN
or SINT MAARTEN?
Why not both!
It’s about time you and I discover the two sides of this little Caribe island that’s unlike any others:
Delicious French-Caribe cuisine? Check.
Dutch happy vibe? Vibrant blend of cultures? Check.
Unspoiled world-class tropical beaches? Check.
Actually friendly islanders? Check.
Amazing hike, snorkel trails, coastal caves and adventurous activities? Check, too!
Sint Maarten
Saint Martin
Index
Pre-trip
Itinerary Day-by-Day
Get to Know SXM
Here’s a fun fact: many frequent Caribbean tourists will tell you they never heard of Sint Maarten. Some cruise folks however will correct you for spelling Saint Martin wrong. And if that means anything, that’s actually a 𝗀̶𝗈̶𝗈̶𝖽̶ great thing in my vacation book!
When a majority of tourists are not so familiar with a travel destination, the minority of travelers who’s learnt about the place and done some research will often have an absolute great time there. While Cancun, the Bahamas, USVI and Puerto Rico are getting much of the attention of the crowd and CocoCay, Half Moon Bay collecting half of the cruisers, you can sleep soundly on your redeye flight and wake up at noon on Sint Maarten with miles of empty beaches, excellent service at local eateries and potentially end up having many amazing adventures and possibly the entire resort to yourself –only if you know when to visit, where to stay and the right time of the day to do certain activities.
I’ll share with you all of the tips, secrets and things to know about SXM in this post today, so you could see the same beauty, get to feel the same experience and joy my wife and I had on SXM during her birthday trip. Perhaps this could also be a very fun trip for couples on your anniversary or baby moon as well. Just promise you’ll keep this article to yourself and not sharing it with any of your friends, your coworkers or even relatives –so that we can do it all over again without the crowd, I know you will want to!
Lay of the Island
Now let’s get to know SXM with a visual understanding of the island.
Sint Maarten is roughly 120 miles, or approximately 1,013,760 bananas, off the east coast of Saint Thomas. That’s just about an hour flight away from any of the US Virgin Islands. Those of us coming from the northeastern states with a direct flight likely won’t spend more than 4 hours 30 minutes on the plane. There are two airports on the island for each of the two countries, but you likely land at the Princess Juliana International Airport on the Dutch side.
Another thing to note is when the standard Google Map layer shows you how stunning bright the color of the coastal ocean surrounding an island is, you know it’s going to be a great vacation.
The marked icons in the close-up map of the island below are some of the points of interest that you should be able to visit following my 6-day itinerary. The trip is meticulously planned to give you plenty of time to chill and relax on the beach but not compromising on the activities and the discovery of the island’s culture, foodies and unique breathtaking landscapes.
I refine the original schedule around the mega cruises (how many are in ports) + road traffic (times of the drawbridges) + tides and wind (beaches that likely have the calmest, clearest water) so that you should have the most efficient use of your time on the island. I’m sure you’d love to spend more time swimming, lounging at a quiet beach or exploring a destination rather than being stuck for hours on end in the traffic line.
However, at the end of the day, remember that the planning is just purely a suggestion of space and time, you can also divert and wander off to the very dimension of your own liking.
Back to the map. The northern side of the island, above the white line that splits the island in half, belongs to France and is called Saint Martin. Meanwhile, the Netherlands oversees the smaller southern half of the island and calls it Sint Maarten. France gets to own 2/3 of the island because some French man somewhere in the past drank more wine and walked faster than the Dutch man in the game of “finder keeper” but with land. Fun folklore to know, right?
Now for those who are wondering, the hardest part about crossing the border between the two sides is that you won’t be able to find that white line anywhere in real life. There are also no customs checkpoints, border guards or wall dividing the two “countries”; you just hop on your rental car or taxi and go where your heart desires on this friendly island (well maybe not the haunted and abandoned La Belle Créole resort). Folks on both sides live in peace with one another and for the most probable chance, they also welcome you with a smile –as long as you don’t pull a Karen, a MAGA attitude or a Florida man behavior here.
Speaking of temperament, the weather in SXM is about the same caliber as the USVI and often warmer than the Bahamas during the winter months. This year 2026 is quite an exception when it comes to the Atlantic storms and hurricanes, but a normal year may bring inclement weather from July to the September peak and eases out around October. Most of the time, the weather forecast will tell you it’s going to rain every day: absolute rain at 11AM, totally rain on your lunch, sure as hell rain while you are swimming at the beach and makes you all wet. But that is just how tropical weather vibes.
In reality, the rain comes with an intention, and it also leaves very quickly after 10-15 minutes –just like the money in my bank. Sometimes you drive on a road and see dark cloud ahead, but you’ll never get a drop of water once you get to your destination. It’s very patchy; and for locals that’s actually a nice little relief from the all-day heat beating down from the sun. All you gotta do is wait it out.
Cellular Service
Folks from the States definitely should activate your roaming plan prior to the trip, as you may find that your home cellular service may not work here like it does on the USVI. However, eSim is the way to go these days -unless your phone does not support eSim then you will need to stop by FLOW in Marigot to get a $20 unlimited one-week plan that works on both sides of the island.
If you prefer eSIM, the Ubigi 7-day UNLIMITED Caribbean costs around $30 and it should be everything you need for your trip. It works everywhere we went on SXM, and I even got near perfect LTE reception while on board the Catamaran out and about in the ocean. I’m actually more anxious about my phone runs out of battery than if it comes across a deadspot.
If you are not familiar with eSim, the process is quite simple. Download the Ubigi app, search for the plan (Cabibbean UNLIMITED 7-Day), then make the purchase. Before checking out, try code ESX2YZCZ to see if you could get a 20% off the order for first timer. Once done, let the phone app auto sets up the eSIM for you. If you come across any error, exit the app entirely and start the eSIM setup process again then it’ll sort itself out right away. Your data plan will activate immediately the second you switch to the Ubigi eSIM after you land –don’t forget to turn off the home eSIM. Easy peasy!
On the other hand, if your phone does not support eSIM, you could actually save a few bucks and buy a $20 physical SIM card at the FLOW store in Marigot or Philipsburg. It comes with 7-day UNLIMITED plan as well. Let the store tech pops the SIM in for you and you are on your way. There is also a FLOW kiosk right on-site at the airport, but it costs much more for the same package. If you follow my itinerary, you will have a chance to stop by Marigot during a lunch stop and take care of the SIM while you are there.
Flight Booking
There are a handful of flights from Delta (Atlanta), Jetblue (JFK, Miami), American Airlines (Miami) and Southwest (Orlando) heading to SXM every afternoon between 12:30PM to 3PM.
There are also two big European planes arriving around this window, one of them is the KLM from Amsterdam and the other is the AF498 from France –which both are the most participated planes for a money shot photo-ops at Maho Bay Beach upon their landing.
Those of us depart from New York or Florida really should appreciate the 4-hour flight it takes to get to SXM, because the European passengers on the two transatlantic airbuses sit for nearly 9 hours for this beloved destination. A few months ago, Air France AF498 had to turn back halfway right from the middle of the sea due to a cargo smoke (Flight AF498 incident). That’s really a nightmare to start the vacation!
With that being said, now Spirit Airline has gone away for good and the jet fuel price are ridiculously expensive –thanks so a certain someone with his self-inflicted shenanigan which affects the whole world– you’ll find that it won’t be so easy to buy a cheap ticket to SXM nowadays. I talked to many people on the island, and they all agree that it has been unusually quiet for 2026 and many local businesses are in financial trouble due to the lack of customers.
However, that does not mean you can’t score an affordable ticket to Sint Maarten and single-handedly save the SXM’s economy. The key is you have to be flexible and opportunist. Here’s my tried-and-true formula to find the cheapest flight tickets:
If you book with Jetblue from Google Flight, the Main ticket costs only $318. For the same ticket option, same layover, same date and route, if you search and book directly on the airline’s website it could cost you $518 –that’s almost $200 more!
And here is the final price of the ticket if you click the Continue to Book with Jetblue on Google Flight:
$200 might not sound a lot to many of us, but for a family of 5 or 6 that’s over $1000 saved. You could use that extra for some really fun excursions or a beautiful resort on the island later.
Another tip is you should take advantage of the sign-up bonus from either Chase Sapphire Preferred, Wells Fargo Autograph Journey or Capite One Venture credit cards. These travel credit cards usually offer $600 to $750 cash back once you spend $4000-$5000 in the first 3 months, that could cover the entire cost of the flight for two, or a lot of meals for a family on the island. I actually love my Autograph Journey more than the Chase card for that extra auto $50 credit toward flight ticket annually, no matter which airline and you don’t have to go through the credit card’s own booking portal with jacked up pricing.
These travel credit cards also offer no foreign transaction fee and most importantly, travel insurances such as rental car insurance, trip delay or disruption insurance, baggage loss, etc. A few Octobers ago, when we flew back from Saint Croix and our flight got canceled due to crazy weather at Fort Lauderdale, the insurance claim on the credit card paid us back all the expenses for the extra night and 3 meals plus one day car rental with no hassle, total worth over $750. Then Spirit reimbursed us with another $600, so we actually came out ahead. That event definitely made me a believer, because I’d absolutely take free extra vacation day(s) on an island plus more money any day.
The only other insurance that I’d pay separately and hope it never comes to mature is the medical/evacuation insurance that usually costs $30-$100 to cover the whole trip with medical transport back to the US –in case I got too drunk with my virgin pina colada and decide to do something so stupid with the conch and hurt myself really badly.
Here is the package I paid for our 6-day SXM trip –note that I crossed out the trip cost ($0) during the quote preparation. I don’t need additional trip cancellation/interruption insurance as my credit card already offers those same benefits.
Car Rental
Sint Maarten is a pretty small island compared to USVI Saint Croix, or Puerto Rico. Which means you have a decent chance to see a lot of the places without feeling rushed. It takes nearly 8 hours to drive around the entire island of Puerto Rico nonstop, but less than 2 hours to do so on Sint Maarten. And I think it’s also important to mention that unlike most other Caribbean islands, you drive on the right side of the road on SXM just like back in the States. That is certainly a huge relief to many American tourists; because throwing yourself headfirst into left-side driving after a long flight, with no prior practice, doing a left-side merging onto a clockwise round abound and turning right from the left lane into a left-side lane, like we did in Bahamas, would be totally nerve-wrecking.
And yet one other comforting thing to know is here on Sint Maarten the speed limit is just around 35-40mph (60km/h) and if anyone wishes they could speed like they are on an US interstate, those sneaky potholes and comically blend-in speed bumps are going to show them who’s boss. If you are a careful driver with moderate awareness, you will not have any trouble getting around; as long as you also rent a vehicle that meet your needs and the island’s terrain, no more no less.
In my opinion, Sint Maarten is a lot easier to drive than in Saint Thomas and Saint John by a huge margin, if not the easiest one among other Caribbean islands. Nevertheless, always keep an eye out for local scooter drivers –potholes, speed bumps, rain, traffic, goats and even lane divider lines got nothing on them.
So what car to rent on Sint Maarten? First off, if you have any slight thought about those land boats of a SUV in the States, don’t. It is island roads, built on island mountains and hills, that lead to those little coastal alleys where sometimes they just end because. Anything from a mid-sized SUV and up means you will be more frustrated from finding a parking spot, managing a U-turn, merging into roads or just from driving around in general, than actually enjoying exploring beauty of the island.
Another reason to consider is, even though the crime rate in SXM is low –even much lower than the Bahamas’ and the three US Virgin Islands at the time of this post, yet a big SUV also means getting unwanted, unnecessary attention from those who think you are likely leaving many things inside the cabin. There is an economy downturn going globally and people are not getting paid fairly everywhere, which always brings the bad side out of even a good hearted yet poor and hungry person, who have to feed a family. Just don’t give yourself an attractive target on your back –that is just common sense for travelers everywhere in the world. I bet you guys who traveled to Egypt would understand.
Now for a party of 2-4: You will be happy with a Hyundai Venue, Kia Soul, Toyota Raize, Chevrolet Groove.
The Hyundai i10/i20, Kia Picanto and Toyota Agya on other hand are smaller and the ride height is much lower so that likely makes you very nervous going over any big bumps and hilly or eroded roads on the islands. If you are not planning to drive around a lot, the smallest ride is perfect. Lastly, some folks really want to get the Suzuki Jimny but it’s often very pricey, mainly for show and doesn’t deliver significant advantage over my other more affordable recommendations above.
Party of 5: You should try to settle with a compact SUV if everyone in your group is ok with it. It’s a bit longer than the compact sedans, a little harder to find parking if you are in the high season, but it will not be much of a problem otherwise. You’ll have all the confidence going over bumps, steep dirt road like the one to Pelican Park (slowly ofc) and an acceptable room for luggage.
The contenders are Kia Seltos (115 HP or 158 HP for Turbo version), Nissan Magnite (71 HP or 100 HP for Turbo version), Suzuki Vitara (120 HP) and Chevrolet Tracker (116 HP).
Party of 6-7: Hauling over 5 passengers through some of the rough patches of the island requires a solid driving and laser focus capability, also a lot of patience. If you are up for the challenge, get the Suzuki Vitara XL7, Mitsubishi Montero Sport or Kia Carens. You definitely need to plan ahead for parking and destinations to avoid wasting too much time being stuck in a car situation. Fortunately, you come across this post today and my itinerary should have your back.
Party 7 or more: You don’t have much of a choice other than the vans. Hyundai Staria is often seen haunting the roads of Sint Maarten. And more than a dozen occasions, I came across one that flying down a round abound faster than my little rental. Every time I saw those vans, they were always in a hurry as if all the passengers are about to be pier runners.
Which companies to rent from? Here are a few decent and well-known rental services on SXM that do not shuttle you to an offsite location for pickup and drop off –which is often an inefficient and inconvenient approach.
I don’t doubt you have noticed that there is no mention of Hertz, or Budget or Enterprise or all the big ol’ US brands here.
Well, first the SXM local car rental businesses are always more reliable, more customer-oriented, easy to reach after hours and less likely to leave you stranded without a ride upon your arrival or when your tire blown. If you have some time, check out all the nightmares with Hertz on the reddit sub.
Second, you are embracing and making a positive economic impact directly to the people on the island. It might not be much but by contributing even a bit of a financial support to someone’s salary, it makes a great difference when done at a larger scale.
Where to Stay ?
I truly believe that a great place to stay usually sets the tone for your entire travel. Your away-from-home base allows you to indulge on what the island has to offer without having to worry about comfort, safety and security around the clock. Sometimes, paying a bit more for a gated remote resort a few miles down the road than the casual stay in a crowd downtown is worth it when it indirectly prevents many headache problems that tourists may not know about; such as drunk crimes, petty theft, car break-in, problematic internet, evening noise, street scams etc.
A strategically booked accommodation also saves you time and effort when getting around for excursions, restaurants or activities quickly and safely. Now I’m going to go over all the places for a stay on SXM –ranked based on their popularity– as well as other locations that might not be a great fit for new visitors.
Grand Case
You will hear a lot about this magnificent, laidback beach town once you begin your deep dive into SXM, and it rightfully deserves the rank.
Grand Case, also known as the gourmet home of Saint Martin, is located right over the mountain on the French side and it’s a perfect homebase to spend the vacation for families. Tourists could enjoy a walk everywhere in this small town safely, even sometimes late into the evening. There is a decent amount of parking lots, shops and law enforcement on the road throughout the day. Grand Case is no doubt a solid option for groups that wants to minimize driving and enjoy the company of each other at a slower pace; such as chilling and snorkeling right at the beach, taking a spontaneous hike, visiting all the colorful souvenir shops, and getting some of the best meals of the Caribe.
Most young kids and teens will absolutely adore Grand Case, though they may run out of things to do in this area on a longer stay (first world problem right there, aint it). The turquoise beach is gentle and clear like a morning swimming pool, plus bonus: it is almost always sargassum-free unlike the eastern shores. The local restaurants, called Lolo’s, are some of the best French-cuisine restaurants on the island and you have an entire block of over 20 them just a few walks away from your stay; such as the Océan 82, Captain Frenchy SXM, Rainbow Café SXM.
If you are feeling up for a fine dining night, the French will certainly deliver at an excellent level with Le Cottage and L’Auberge Gourmande. Craze for some sweets also? Nothing beats the delicious French bakeries at Sébastien Quilleré Pastry Shop and Chez Fernand down the roads.
For stay, the Grand Case Beach Club is a well-known gated resort with too many travel awards to count. That means you don’t have to worry about someone scratches or breaks in your rental car, unlike many other stays that only offer parallel street parking. And the best of all, you’ll wake up on the beautiful turquoise water of the Caribbean just to find a vibrant blend of hospitality from the French, Dutch and Caribbean cultures all day long in this area. Their Deluxe ocean-front two-bedroom condo can sleep 6 and has a full kitchenette, two floors where both bedrooms have balcony that looks out to the breathtaking blue ocean below.
Other lovely stays are Bleu Emeraude Hotel (beach-front), Hotel L’Esplanade (hilltop) and the Le Temps des Cerises (beach-front).
Some activities in the area:
Now what’s not to like about Grand Case? The location is somewhat remote, expensive and isolated within the northern side of Saint Martin. The traffic might not be in your favor between there and the main airport. There are several cases where people underestimated the time it takes to get to the Dutch side due to heavy traffic and ended up missing their flight or an excursion. Grand Case could also get much more crowd in certain season and places are fully booked out very quickly. It proves to be a challenge to secure a stay or a seat at the table if you don’t prepare well ahead. Some cheaper condo/rooms near the restaurants and bars area tend to be noisy with loud music at late in the evening, so make sure you scout the reviews carefully.
My Take: choose Grand Case if your family longs for an easy, relaxing getaway with less stress on the logistic of cooking and planning. Grand Case does not come with the busy night clubs nor casino, but rather a humble delivery of unforgettable sunsets –where you know for certain at that passage of time, the best memories are truly being made with your loved ones.
Simpson Bay
Simpson Bay is like the yang to the Grand Case yin. You’ll find a lot more upbeat beach clubs, oceanfront apartments, hundreds of great restaurants and many fun water activities within this beautiful 2-mile long beach. And it welcomes you anytime of the day –be that a long walk at sunrise or sunset, a slow day by the water or happy hours by a sea-view bar, it’s no doubt that you will enjoy a lot of it during your stay, and more.
Speaking of stay, there won’t be many high-rise hotels here for the most part of Simpson Bay. Instead, you will find yourself navigating smaller yet more crowded roads in a denser area to get to your beachfront rental. Many of these rooms, apartments or condos are just about 20 steps to the beach, while eateries are a short drive away. That also means a rental car is quite necessary to have here than at Grand Case.
Central Simpson Bay (map above) is a great budget choice for active couples or experienced travelers who won’t lose their cool when the power is out and takes the water pressure along with it, momentarily, hopefully. Not that it happens often, but it could happen in a busy season or after a bad storm.
For those bigger families that prefer a more convenient, resort-type accommodations with on-site restaurants, pools and cabanas, backup generators then you’ll just have to go a tiny bit further over the drawbridge to the eastern side of Simpson Bay. In this very lively area, you have several excellent options like the Hilton Flamingo Beach Vacation Club (easy access to Pelican Key, an amazing snorkel spot), Hilton Royal Palm Beach Club and Simpson Bay Resort Marina & Spa (both on or near the lovely Kim Sha beach with an excellent view of the bay).
If your knees don’t like the little hilly walk from the beach to Simpson Bay Resort, you can also look into The Atrium an Ascend Collection Hotel.
The beaches at Simpson Bay in general are very calm and as clear as it could be, when the wind direction is in your favor that day of course. Meanwhile the smaller Kim Sha beach is your best bet to have a waveless swim as it’s more protected and the southern Pelican key also helps reduce a lot of onshore winds. Activity-wise for a fun in the sun family day, there is clear-bottom kayak and pedal boat rental as well as jetski tour right off Kim Sha beach.
I’d also like to mention the west side of Simpson Bay where the stays are closer to the SXM airport. Folks who vacation here probably have some really awesome videos of all the planes landing –if you don’t mind about the noise and gasoline smell every once in a while. The west side of Simpson Bay is a cul-de-sac that does not have a direct road to central Simpson Bay, so it’s often less crowded and more chill than the other side. Check out Beach Side Villas to see whether it’ll pique your interest.
The nearby Morgan Resort & Spa (pricey) is also another popular option that has its own secret beach and gives you the shortest walk to Maho Bay Beach.
Some activities in the area:
Now what’s not to like about Simpson Bay? It is indeed a very crowded area –in a Caribbean bustling sense, not the Miami kind of vibe. Traffic could get quite hectic at some point, especially during drawbridge operations and early evenings. The streets are busier and you must crank your attention & awareness up a notch or two during rush hours to avoid a collision with a yolo scooter driver. I always have a medicine kit with me in the car, so if push comes to shove, I can definitely share my brand-new Tiger balm with the other party.
My Take: If you choose central Simpson Bay, you’ll get a raw and down-to-earth experience of the Caribbean; whereas the waves of the ocean whisper into your soul to slow down, let go and take a breath to see the unfiltered beauty of life here on the island. It however does come with a challenge of dark (safe) roads at night so it’s not very ideal for solo walk. Short-term rentals in this part of the bay have beautiful ocean view and affordable but often do not have the amenities of a resort nor the capability to resolve issues with water or electric post haste. Verify with your host for any backups to power or water in case of emergency. Another great budget option is Mary’s Boon Beach Resort, Restaurant & Spa which has a very lovely ocean-front outdoor atmosphere.
On the other hand, over the drawbridge is an excellent area that is centrally located on SXM. It certainly saves you a lot of time to explore the island –if that is your cup of tea. Your stay will cost more, but resorts are definitely very convenience for families with kids or older adults. Young kids and teens can’t get bored with all the cool things they could do in this area; and that is a stark difference between Simpson Bay and Grand Case in general. Verify with your resort whether you’ll need to pay for housekeep service during your stay.
Orient Beach
If you have previously traveled to Saint Thomas, you’ll find that Orient Beach has a very familiar vibe to Sapphire Beach. You will find so many great ocean-front beach clubs along this 1.5 miles (2km) beach. Most of them come with easy chairs & umbrella rental, and the delicious meal is just a few steps behind you. The only noticeable difference to Sapphire Beach is the farthest south side of Orient Beach, past Orange Fever restaurant, is a completely nude beach. So, make sure you blindfold your kids if they are trying to swim that direction. Or if your husband is somehow missing, try here first.
Orient Beach is on the very opposite end of Grand Case but not too far off, hence if Grand Case is ever sold out, tourists often settle for Orient Beach. You won’t find many accommodations that sit right on the beach like in Grand Case or Simpson Bay. Instead, you trade those features for a quieter, more intimate and secluded villa or apartment that’s either nestled beneath the shade of coconut trees or stands tall on the side of a mountain.
Orient Beach attracts a very unique type of tourists.
It’ll be a slow afternoon where you are not rushing to go out nor in a hurry for anything. No news, no technology, no bills, just some wine and some snack, perhaps with your favorite book by the table. Time just slows down for your family at the patio.
It’s a rare moment to let yourself be bored, then perhaps you’ll find this kind of boring stuff maybe worth so much more than it looks.
Sunseeker Villa
La Plantation Hotel
Some activities in the area:
Now what’s not to like about Orient Beach? Orient Beach on a gentle day is as beautiful as the Caribbean Sea could get. However since it directly welcomes the West wind, the coast here is much more exciting to see you than other beaches on the island, in a rough wave of course. That could muddy up the clear water and pose a risk for younger kids and older folks. The northern shoreline also receives quite a few layers of sargassum while the lower half tends to be calmer and less messy. Many of the energetic beach clubs around the northern part also play loud music that might not be everyone’s taste.
My Take: Orient Beach delivers a very unique vibe and feels of SXM, much different than both Grand Case and Simpson Bay in a sense. The stay chooses the tourists who wants a simple, no-frills getaway. Someone who understands the true essence of a day and allows the slower pace to decide next spontaneous part of their journey.
Oyster Pond
Oyster Pond is situated right by the border between Saint Martin and Sint Maarten, yet it somehow feels more isolated than many other parts of the island –likely due to its natural landscape.
There are a few of the lesser-known beaches in the area such as Dawn Beach, Guana Bay Beach and Coralita Beach but they are a bit inconvenient to get to and not the very best of what SXM has to offer. As an east-facing coastal location, Oyster Pond was hit the hardest by the Hurricane Irma when it arrived. Which also explains why the waves are often quite rough around here, and sargassum is a huge problem in the summer months when it all starts to decay on the shoreline.
While Grand Case, Simpson Bay and Cupecoy typically see the glorious sunset between 6-7PM, the daylight in the Oyster Pond area unfortunately fades out an hour or two earlier due to the mountain on its back. Most tourists who stay in this area are usually the participants of a timeshare vacation, such as the Oyster Bay Beach Resort, and I doubt if they will have a great impression of Sint Maarten if this is the only place they experience throughout the entire trip.
Great Bay, Philipsburg
Saying Great Bay beach gorgeous is a severe understatement. It’s no wonder the folks of SXM choose Philipsburg to be the capital of the island.
The view of the bay slowly coming into view from the hilly western roads or from the Pelican Park is absolutely incredible and unforgettable. The water is so blue, calm and mesmerizing. If Waldo was a Smurf and he took a swim here, you would never be able to spot him again. The early morning walk on the Philipsburg boardwalk is a healthy, long-lasting fountain of youth for the soul. The afternoon beach has all the fun, the food and friends you’d need. The evening brings tamer temperature which gives way for a pleasant and open view of the endless sea by the pier.
It’s just perfect paradise. But, a but is sure coming.
The traffic my friend, the traffic, is the stuff made of Davy Jone’s perpetual nightmares. It also makes you understand why the pirates choose ship instead.
When the 4 mega cruises carry in nearly 16,000 passengers and even 1/4th of them flood the streets and boardwalks –though I’m happy for my Indian folks at the jewelry and souvenir shops everywhere– I’d start to wish I chose to stay at the Oyster Pond, even. The beach will soon be crowded with cruise tourists. You also start to realize the real adventure you made along the way are the standstills in Philipsburg traffic you met 47x during your island journey.
Yet if you are up for the challenge, or joke on me when you are not driving, then The Villas on Great Bay or could be a perfect pick for your SXM vacation, right in the heart of Philipsburg.
On other hand the oceanfront Divi Little Bay Beach Resort, on the west side of the Great Bay, is only 8 minutes from the Philipsburg boardwalk and it could be one splendid stay for your whole family. The resort has excellent amenities & water activities as well as boat tours. Your condo is only a few steps to the beautiful Little Bay beach with direct access to the Fort Amsterdam, where you can take in the incredible view of the Great Bay, or from there you can dive right into the bay and snorkel the underwater trails and statuses by the floating Tiki Hut.
Sandy Ground
Sandy Ground is well known to be the one of the sketchier parts of the island, though it does not truly deserve the reputation. The area has seen better days before all the hurricanes mercilessly beating down on it; like some of the beautiful wall arts here that have faded with time.
Rue de Sandy Ground is a long stretch of one main road that takes you through many different walks of life here on the island.
From the bustling marina town Marigot that welcomes thousands of international tourists every day, to Sandy Ground where morning traffic suddenly slows to a halt and you get to catch a glimpse of little children in uniform holding their parent’s hand for the walk to schools. Then further out to the west-end of Rue de Sandy Ground is the most expensive zip code on the island that occupied with million-dollar mansions –including the Trump Saint Martin hotel (which should take one for the team when the next hurricane approach). It’s a short 10-minute road, with thousands of life stories from the beginning of the raging waves to the last dying light of the sunset.
When the night falls in Sandy Ground, people love to hang out in front of their house to enjoy the cool breezes, leaving behind the long day of work. But that also brings out different characters of the populations. And some are more affected by the ever-rising cost of living than another, which could lead to troubles in paradise, understandably.
However, fortunately most of the incidents do not involving tourists at all –and if it does it’s usually petty theft when people leave too many belongings in the car to attract attention. I have driven through Rue de Sandy Ground probably a dozen times at night and a dozen more in the day during our trip without any issues. Folks always take a moment to greet us with a smile if we happen to make eye contact, then hurry back to their busy life as we drive on our way, perhaps never meet again in this lifetime.
I find that being respectful to people and their homeland often gets you an equal or greater karma in return, as opposed to no good deed goes unpunished in the States. However, at the end of the day I’d still would not stay here as there are other greater options available –Sandy Ground is a place that you need to practice higher caution and awareness which isn’t very ideal for an enjoyable, worry-free vacation.
6-Day SXM Itinerary
Now that you have made it this far, I’m sure you have gotten a sense of what the island is like. But you won’t know how it all feels until you are really there, breathing in the island air, touching the sea water and walking the paths. To help guide you to the best possible experiences on SXM when the time comes, I’m going to share with you my own itinerary just like many previous trips. And I will go over each day and every day from start to end to explain in detail about the location, the activities and the logistic or reasonings of why certain things are planned for that day. May your trip is more amazing than mine. Now let the fun begins!
Day 1 – Arrival
We hope for a great lunch in Marigot and then circle back to check out David’s Hole while day is still with us.
Day 2 – Maho
It’s beach day with a happy dosage of adrenaline. Speed boat, plane spotting, lounging, snorkeling, you can call it the day well spent!
Day 3 – Saint Martin
We go on a fun and challenging adventure to explore the unique Cupecoy cliffs and caves, then a chill horse ride by the coastal shore in late afternoon.
Day 4 – Grand Case
We take a catamaran snorkel & lunch excursion to explore Creole Rock, Tintamarre island and Grand Case.
Day 5 – Sint Maarten
I let a bird eating seeds in my hair. Also hike up and down the seaside mountain to a tidepool and fly down the 1,200ft zipline.
Day 6 – Departure
Hanging on to enjoy each and every second on SXM until they drag us off the island.
You may have to switch the days around to fit your own variable conditions.
