Sint Maarten / Saint Martin – The split personality island

It was a nice place with excellent staff but probably the most expensive hostel I’ve stayed in around the world at $40 per night for a basic dorm bed. Saint Martin has appallingly expensive accommodation so trust me this was the cheapest option by a long way!

Sadly, the day I went the wind was in the wrong direction and the weather was terrible but we still got to sit, eat and drink with the incredible view of the planes landing beside us.

Saint Martin is one of the few islands in the Caribbean that is actually well connected to its neighbours. There are regular ferries to Anguilla from the airport and Marigot, to Saint Barthélemy from Phillipsburg and Marigot and to Saba from Simpsons Bay. Since my aim was to explore as many islands as possible without flying I took advantage of all of these routes. Check out my other articles about this:

• Public transport in the Caribbean – Why is it this difficult?
• Anguilla
• St Barthélemy
• Saba

I don’t know whether I will return to Saint Martin. It had tons to see and do and huge amounts of hiking options that I didn’t take advantage of but there are other areas of the Caribbean that I would have to visit or return to first. If I do visit again I would stay on the Dutch side like I did this time, I felt that it had a lot more character and soul while also being noticeably better value than the French side of the island.

Brief History

I was completely unaware of any of the history of the Caribbean Islands when I visited. While travelling around and writing these articles I became curious and decided to include a brief history of each. I hope you find it interesting.

Like many islands in the region Saint Martin was inhabited by the Caribs before Europeans arrived. The Dutch took control of the island in the 1620s before it was captured by the Spanish and contested for by the British, French and Dutch. The Dutch reclaimed Saint Martin after the eighty years war and the French settled in the north at the same time, with the two empires deciding to divide the island rather than fight.

The economies of both sides of Saint Martin are almost entirely dependent on tourism. About a million tourists visit the island each year and 85% of the working population are involved in the tourism sector. This also made the island economy vulnerable and the population suffered considerably when Hurricane Irma struck in 2017 doing huge amounts of damage and causing a large drop in visitors to the island.

Logistics

Getting around Saint Martin is very simple due to the excellent local buses that run throughout the day between all of the main towns. I know for certain that the following routes exist and have a frequent service costing around $1.50 to $2 for the full route.

• Phillipsburg – Maho Beach (via the airport & Simpsons Bay)
• Phillipsburg – Marigot
• Maho Beach – Marigot (via the airport & Simpsons Bay)

There are good connections to the nearby islands by local ferries. These vary greatly in frequency and price. I’ve included what I found out below:

• Anguilla – multiple boats per day from both the airport at simpsons bay and Marigot ferry terminal. $20 each way plus departure tax ($5 out of St Martin, $8 out of Anguilla)
• Saint Barthélemy – 3 ferries each day from Phillipsburg – SEE PICTURE and from Marigot 3 times a day (this route takes much longer)
• Saba – Edge Ferry from Simpsons Bay Police station dock SEE PICTURE and local ferry from Phillipsburg marina (not every day)
• St Eustatius – No ferry available

Last Updated: May 2020