Question 1

St. Maarten on Your Own

Accepted Answer

St. Maarten is an easy port to explore without a tour, because Philipsburg, its beach and a fort from 1631 are all close to the ship. A simple plan is a morning in town on foot, one short taxi ride if you want more, and a return to the pier well ahead of all-aboard. Morning in Philipsburg: Walk or take the water taxi into town. The shops are along Front Street and Back Street, the Courthouse on Front Street has a wooden pineapple on its roof, and the Boardwalk between the town and Great Bay Beach is lined with restaurants and bars. A short taxi to the fort: Fort Amsterdam stands on the headland between Great Bay and Little Bay. A taxi from the pier to Little Bay cost $10 for one or two people in 2026; you enter through the gate of Divi Little Bay Resort, say you are visiting the fort, and follow the signs on a walk of about five minutes. Entry is free. Afternoon on the beach: Come back to Great Bay Beach, which you can walk to from the pier, or take a taxi to Maho or across to the French side. Getting back on time: All-aboard is usually about 30 minutes before sailing, and your ship posts the exact time. A ship will not wait for passengers touring on their own. If you have gone beyond Philipsburg, aim to be back at the pier an hour before all-aboard. Watch the clock: All-aboard is given in ship's time, which may not match the island's clocks or your phone. St. Maarten keeps Atlantic Standard Time all year, which is an hour ahead of US Eastern while the US is on standard time, roughly November to March. Carry photo ID: Dutch-side law requires visitors to carry a photo ID such as a passport or driver's license, and a photocopy is usually not accepted. Petty theft does happen, so take only what you need to the beach.

Question 2

Getting Around

Accepted Answer

Taxis are the simplest way to reach anywhere beyond Philipsburg. On the Dutch side, fares are set by the government from zone to zone rather than metered, and the price depends on where you are going and how many of you share the car, so agree the total before you set off. From the pier, one or two people paid $10 to Philipsburg, $10 to Little Bay and $25 to Maho Beach in 2026. Groups of three to five pay per person instead: $4, $5 and $9 for the same trips. A 25 percent surcharge applies from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. and on public holidays. Waiting is free for the first five minutes and then costs $5 for every 15 minutes. Licensed taxis carry plates that begin with TAXI. The driver holds a permit, must show the fare chart if you ask, and will give a receipt on request. The Dutch-side fare table does not apply on the French side, where taxis are usually not metered and the fare is agreed before you get in. Public minibuses run often between Philipsburg, Simpson Bay and Maho without a timetable. Fares are low and paid in cash. Driving is on the right, and the roads are busy with few signs, which is worth weighing before hiring a car for a single day.

Question 3

Tipping and Currency

Accepted Answer

US dollars are accepted on both sides of the island, so most cruise visitors never change money. Carry some small bills, because taxis and many small businesses prefer cash, and check a restaurant bill for a service charge before you add a tip. The Dutch side's official currency has been the Caribbean guilder since March 31, 2025, at about 1.80 guilders to the dollar. The French side uses the euro, so check which currency a menu is priced in before you order. Banks and cash machines are easy to find in Philipsburg, including on Front Street. Cards are accepted in some shops and restaurants, but ask before you count on one, especially in a taxi.

Question 4

What to Eat

Accepted Answer

Lunch is easy in Philipsburg, where restaurants and bars line the Boardwalk beside Great Bay Beach. For a longer meal, Grand Case on the French side is the village known for its restaurants, but it is a taxi ride each way. Grand Case's main street runs for about a mile, with more than two dozen restaurants on it. Go for lunch rather than dinner, and leave a wide margin before all-aboard. Local dishes to look for include chicken leg with johnny cake, salt fish, and conch and dumplings. Guavaberry liqueur, made from rum and the island's guavaberry, is the Dutch side's traditional drink, most of all at Christmas.

Question 5

Beaches

Accepted Answer

Great Bay Beach, right behind the Philipsburg Boardwalk, is the one beach you can reach from the ship without a taxi, and the beach bars along it rent loungers and umbrellas. The island's best-known beaches, Maho and Orient Bay, are each a taxi ride away. Maho Beach sits at the end of the airport runway, and landing aircraft pass less than 100 feet overhead. Jet blast from a departing plane killed a visitor holding the fence in 2017, so watch from well back. Orient Bay, on the east coast of the French side, is the island's most popular beach. The southern end of Orient Bay is used by naturists.

Question 6

Shopping

Accepted Answer

St. Maarten is a duty-free port, and in Philipsburg the shops line Front Street and Back Street. Harbour Point Village at the pier has duty-free outlets of its own for anyone who does not walk into town. The Guavaberry company, which makes the island's guavaberry liqueur and sauces, runs a shop at the cruise port that opens on ship days. A tourist information booth stands at Captain Hodge Wharf, where the water taxi lands in Philipsburg. For jewelry and electronics, know the price at home before you buy.

Question 7

Traveling with Kids

Accepted Answer

With children, the easiest St. Maarten day stays close to the ship: a water-taxi ride into Philipsburg, a few hours on Great Bay Beach, and lunch on the Boardwalk, with no long drive in the heat. Families with older children who want something bigger can ride a chairlift up the Dutch side's highest hill, and teenagers who meet the size limits can come back down on a very steep zip line. Younger children: Great Bay Beach runs right alongside the Boardwalk's restaurants, so food is never far, and the beach bars rent umbrellas. Bring sun protection and water for a day on the sand. Pelicans at the fort: Brown pelicans, the national bird, nest on the slope below Fort Amsterdam. The fort's cannons and wide views suit school-age children, and the path up from the resort gate is short but uphill. Rockland Estate: A chairlift carries you about 25 minutes up to Sentry Hill, at 1,125 feet the highest point on the Dutch side, and a museum on the estate tells the story of one family from slavery onward. Children must be with an adult, everyone needs closed-toe shoes, the park is open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., and a visit takes up to three hours. Chairlift and museum tickets started at $59 a person in 2026. The zip line for teenagers: The Flying Dutchman drops 1,050 feet from Sentry Hill. Riders must be at least 52 inches tall and weigh at least 100 pounds, which in practice rules out most younger children. Planes at Maho: If your children want to see aircraft land over Maho Beach, keep them well back from the runway fence, where jet blast can knock people over.

Question 8

A Brief History

Accepted Answer

St. Maarten's history turns on salt, sugar and a border. The Dutch came for the salt pond behind Philipsburg, France and the Dutch Republic agreed to share the island in 1648, and enslaved Africans worked its plantations until slavery ended in practice in 1848. From the 1950s, tourism became the island's living. First peoples: People lived on the island from as early as 2000 BC. The Arawaks are the earliest group identified, and the Kalinago arrived from around 1300. One early name for the island, Soualiga, means land of salt. A borrowed name: Columbus gave the name of Saint Martin to an island on November 11, 1493, but it was the island now called Nevis. The name drifted here through confusion on early charts. Salt and forts, 1631 to 1648: The Dutch built Fort Amsterdam in 1631 to guard their salt works. Spain seized the island in 1633, beat back a Dutch attack led by Peter Stuyvesant in 1644, in which he lost a leg, and abandoned the island in 1648. The partition of 1648: The French and Dutch governors signed the Treaty of Concordia on March 23, 1648, on a hill now called Mount Concordia. France negotiated with warships offshore and came away with the larger share, about three-fifths of the island. The popular tale that a walking race fixed the border is a legend. A moving border: As European wars passed the island back and forth, the border changed 16 times between 1648 and 1816. It has stayed put since. Plantations and freedom: At its peak in 1790 the island had 92 small estates growing sugar, cotton and tobacco. When France abolished slavery in 1848, enslaved people on the Dutch side set out for the border, and their owners freed them that year; Dutch law followed on July 1, 1863, a date now marked as Emancipation Day. A wreck in the bay: HMS Proselyte, a former Dutch frigate in British service, struck a reef at the mouth of Great Bay on September 2, 1801, in full view of Philipsburg. The wreck is now a dive site. Lean years: As the plantations declined, many islanders left, and from the 1920s large numbers went to work in the oil refineries of Aruba and Curaçao. Salt production on the Dutch side stopped in 1949, and on the French side in 1967. The tourist island: St. Maarten became a duty-free port in 1939. The first commercial flight landed in 1943, the first tourist hotel opened at Little Bay in 1955, and the Dutch side's population grew from 1,458 in 1952 to more than 9,000 by 1972. Two governments: The French side left Guadeloupe to become its own overseas collectivity of France in 2007, and Sint Maarten became a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on October 10, 2010. Hurricane Irma: Irma struck as a Category 5 storm on September 6, 2017, and destroyed, by one estimate, nearly a third of the Dutch side's buildings. More than a million cruise passengers visited in 2018, and the rebuilt airport terminal was fully back in service in November 2024. To learn more ashore: The Sint Maarten Museum at 7 Front Street, between Front Street and the Boardwalk, covers the island from its first inhabitants to the hurricanes, with a model of HMS Proselyte and objects from the wreck. It opens on weekdays only.

Question 9

Culture & Local Life

Accepted Answer

Daily life on the Dutch side runs in English, even though Dutch is an official language, while the French side keeps French and the euro. A short drive across the island changes the language you hear in the shops, with no border post on the way. Philipsburg lies between Great Bay and the Great Salt Pond. It was founded around 1733 by a Scotsman, John Philips. A monument on the border, unveiled in 1949, marks 300 years since the island was shared out. The ponum, the island's national dance, dates from the time of slavery and is said to have been danced to celebrate its end. Steel pan music reached the island in the mid-20th century, and steel pans often play for arriving passengers at Harbour Point Village. Fort Louis, built in 1789, stands above Marigot, the French-side capital, and overlooks its bay.

Question 10

Accessibility

Accepted Answer

Ships berth alongside a pier, but you cannot count on finding a wheelchair-accessible taxi waiting at the port. If you need a vehicle with a ramp or lift, arrange it through your cruise line before you sail, and ask your ship about the gangway on the day. If you can transfer into a car, a standard taxi carries a wheelchair or walker at no extra charge under the 2026 fare rules. Ask your ship about surfaces and curbs on the walk into Philipsburg before you set out. Ask whether the water taxi can board a wheelchair before you buy a ticket. Fort Amsterdam is reached by an uphill footpath, and the Sentry Hill viewpoint at Rockland Estate by chairlift, so ask the operator about boarding before you book. Without an accessible vehicle, Maho, Orient Bay and the French side mean transferring into a standard taxi with a folding chair.

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