St. Maarten, North America (2017)
| COUNTRY: | Sint Maarten (D) / Saint-Martin (F) |
| CAPITAL: | Philipsburg / Marigot |
| CONTINENT: | North America |
| LANGUAGE: | Dutch, English, French |
| CURRENCY: | Antilean guilder, US dollar |
| INHABITANTS: | 41 109 (Dutch side) / 36 824 (French side) (2017) |
| TRIP DURATION: | 9 days |
| COUNTRY: | Saint-Barthélemy (St. Barts) |
| CAPITAL: | Gustavia |
| CONTINENT: | North America |
| LANGUAGE: | French |
| CURRENCY: | Euro |
| INHABITANTS: | 7 184 (2017) |
| TRIP DURATION: | 1 day |
NOTE: This article is written about my experiences in Sint Maarten, June 2017. This was just a few weeks before hurricane Irma hit the island and devastated almost everything. I don’t know the extent to which things are repaired nowadays, but I heard you can still see what Irma did to the island. (March 2019)
Why go here and where is it?
The reason why I visited Sint Maarten (and Saint-Barthélemy) started with the suggestion: “shall we attend a football match in England”. It was the question my dad asked me a couple of years ago. Yeah sure, I answered. But in the end we actually never went. But this question kept popping up and we discussed other options. Like a city trip to New York or something. In the end we agreed to pick a destination where we could relax on the beach, but could do some sightseeing or cultural exploring as well.
We discussed our interests and came to the conclusion we both never went to one of the Dutch Antilles. Most obvious options are the ABC islands. Aruba, Bonaire or Curacao. But after some research we chose to go to Sint Maarten. We thought Sint Maarten would be more interesting. First of all this country has (for us Dutch) an interesting history. Thereby this island is split in a Dutch and a French side. In addition, from Sint Maarten there are several other countries/islands which can be visited easily. Such as Sint. Eustatius, Saba, Anguila, Saint-Barthélemy or St. Kitts and Nevis. Enough reasons to go to Sint Maarten.
The island of Sint Maarten is situated in the Caribbean and is part of the windward islands. There is a tropical climate with an average year round temperature of 27 degrees, which means summer all year! Sint Maarten has two seasons, dry season and rainy season. Rainy season is from April til October, in this period you can expect heavy (mostly short) rainfall.
We booked our tickets with KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and had a straight flight from Amsterdam. The International airport on Sint Maarten is called Prinses Juliana Int. Airport. You probably never heard of this airport, but there is a good chance you do know it because of the spectacular landings (and take offs) over Maho Beach, where you almost can touch the airplanes.
We stayed in Sonesta Great Bay resort in Philipsburg for the whole duration of this trip.
What can you do
Of course, on a tropical island you certainly can relax on the beach. Sint Maarten is not an exception here. As said, we had our “base” in Sonesta Great Bay resort. This resort is located at the very end of Great Bay, just outside Philipsburg. The resort has everything you need, entertainment (even a casino), restaurants, swimming pool and is directly at a white sandy beach, overlooking Great Bay. From here you have a nice view at the huge cruise ships sailing in and it is only a 15 minute walk to the center of Phillipsburg, where you can shop duty free.
Poolbar at Sonesta Great Bay 
Huge cruise ship sailing in 
View from Sonesta Great Bay beach resort
Drive around the island
For our convenience we hired a car for our stay. We picked it up right upon arrival in Simpson Bay. Driving in Sint Maarten is not that difficult, and you can drive to the French part easily. No customs or what so ever. So, since we had a car we decided to do a tour around the island. Starting in Philipsburg and getting back there, driving non stop, will take you about an hour. But there are many places to explore on the your way around the island. For example, explore some of the famous beaches such as Maho beach (right at the airport), Anse Marcel (hidden gem in the north – French part), Friar’s Bay (less windy in the west – French part) or Dawn Beach (heavy waves in the west – Dutch part).
During your drive around the island you will see that the Dutch part of the island is the busiest part. More tourists, especially when one of the cruise ships has been docked for the night. It is up to you what you do like most, more excitement or just a little more quiet. Nevertheless I enjoyed just driving around the island and its small and ‘bigger’ towns.
Simpson bay 
St. Maarten license plate
Fort Amsterdam
Just outside Philipsburg, on top of the bay entrance, is Fort Amsterdam (Fortress Amsterdam) located. The entrance is free of charge, but is not well indicated anywhere. Just go to Divi little bay resort, park your car at the parking lot and take the (small) hike upon the mountain where the fortress is.
Fort Amsterdam is the oldest fortification in the Dutch
Caribbean. It was build in 1631, but is now in decaying
state of repair. There are still several old rusty canons at the fortress.
Standing on top of the hill you will have an amazing view over Great Bay and Philipsburg. Overlooking the site you might think of it as faded glory. But just try to imagine, this was build almost 4 centuries ago. Close your eyes and you almost can smell history.
On a clear day, turn a round (backwards to Philipsburg), you can see some other islands on the horizon. Islands like Anguilla, Saba and St. Eustatius.
Old rusty canons 
Saba on the horizon 
Amazing view over Great Bay and Philipsburg
Philipsburg
Philipsburg, the capitol of Sint Maarten. Do not expect a major metropole. According to Wikipedia there are only about 1500 residents. And even looks like a ‘ghost town’ (the centre) when the cruise ships sailed away…
Nevertheless worth a visit. If you’re in to duty free shopping, this is the place to be. Walking down the main street of Philipsburg you’ll find a lot of shops and you’ll also see some colorful Caribbean-style houses.
However Sint Maarten is a former Dutch colony, English is the main language now. But, strolling through Philipsburg, take a good look around and you’ll still see some Dutch influences. Like the old courthouse, Dutch schools and even some street names and roadsigns are still in Dutch.
Colonial church 
Courthouse
Sint Maarten museum
Walking further down the main shopping street, at the end, you’ll find the Sint Maarten museum. It’s located at 7 Front Street (Voorstraat 7) and it is actually a very small museum telling the history of the Island. There are several items, photos, pottery and other artifacts displayed in the museum.
The museum is certainly worth a visit, but within an hour you’ve seen it all and you can proceed to the harbor, cruise boat terminal or just stroll the boulevard and have drink at one of the many restaurants.
Museum interior 
Blunderbus 
Stout jars 
Entrance of the museum
Philipsburg boulevard
So when you leave the museum, the boulevard of Great Bay is just around the corner. From here you have a nice view over great bay and the boats in the harbor. You’ll find several restaurants and bars and of course the beach.
Artifacts from the past 
Police station on a small pier
Snorkeling and Great Bay viewpoint
Obviously there are multiple areas in Sint Maarten where you can go snorkeling or scuba diving. I picked a place in Little Bay. Best way to get there? Just drive to the Divi Little Bay resort (the resort where you also find Fort Amsterdam). Park your car, find your way through the resort and dive into the ocean. Too bad for me, I didn’t had a good waterproof camera on me back then. So unfortunately I don’t have any good pictures.
Divi Little Bay resort 
Snorkeling
On top of a small hill, right between Great Bay and Little Bay, you find a spectacular view point. From here you can overlook Great Bay and Philipsburg.
