Hello dear readers. First time visiting the blog or old friends…. I welcome you.

Today I’m sharing a travel guide that I compiled based upon my recent travels to Sint Maarten.

My hope is that this guide provides you some fresh inspiration and allows you a mini escape with me today as I share a little of the beautiful place that inspired me most recently: Sint Maarten.

Come away with me and let’s explore the luminosity of Sint Maarten together.

About Sint Maarten

Sint Maarten is an island that is split in two - half is owned by the Dutch and half by the French. Our accommodations were on the Dutch side in the Cupecoy Bay area. Most likely you’ll want to stay on the Dutch side.

Where we stayed

Pros: We stayed at the Sapphire Beach club resort which was just 3 miles from the airport. The resort offers direct access to Cupecoy Beach (which is where we spent many an evening admiring the sunset over the ocean), and has an absolutely wonderful concierge service that can help you arrange sunset cruises, tours and catamaran trips.

If you do end up staying at the Sapphire Beach club resort you simply must ask for Marsha. She spent time with us the morning after we arrived helping us with our itinerary, booked most of our excursions for us and even hand drew on a map to show us where the best spots for private beach going are (where the locals hangout). She even lent us a cooler for our drinks and said we could use it for the duration of our stay. She was absolutely incredible!

Cons: While I’d give 5 stars for Marsha, I’d only offer 3 for the hotel. In full transparency it’s a bit dated, so keep that in mind. There are a few reasons I cannot recommend this hotel in particular. I do, however, recommend that you remember to book your stay on the Dutch side of the island.

Where to eat

Breakfast

Our first morning, we stopped for coffee and breakfast at Jule’s which is rated the #1 bakery in St. Cupecoy. Here you can grab breakfast sandwiches, quiches, pastries, coffee/lattes and juices.
I’d also recommend stopping in at Creperie cape cafe sxm - it’s a french bakery spot. We grabbed coffee, a strawberry mango banana smoothie (just fruit no milk) and a chocolate crepe. If you’re lucky, you’ll see the owner’s resident dog chilling nearby.

Happy Hour

Grab after dinner/before dinner drinks at Stevez Bar in Port Cupecoy Marina. For bonus points go during sunset prior to dinner and watch the sun go down over the horizon with a couple glasses of wine. Great music and ambience!
Bar Code was great for drinks/apps. We split some calamari and had drinks and then continued walking around. Loved the outdoor candlelit ambience but it was still casual.

Lunch/Dinner

Steak dinner night at Fat Tony’s (very good) on Tuesdays. For like $20 you can get a really tasty steak dinner. Casual outdoor/live music vibe.
Rendezvous - ooooh this was our absolute favorite meal of the trip. We started with bruschetta which was absolutely life changing. It had pesto and basil and was beyond compare. The pizza was also so good - it had sausage, chorizo and pepperoni, and we ended with the most delicate and fluffy Lemon Meringue pie for dessert. So good!
Ocean Lounge - pricey. Went for lunch and absolutely do not regret! It overlooks where the cruise ships would normally dock and has a spacious outdoor lounge yet upscale dining area. Great atmosphere - this is a place you experience. Order fresh seafood and slowly savor a bottle of wine while enjoying the view.
Some other recommendations we received but did not try: Lee’s for seafood, Mamas for Italian.

Sint Maarten Bucketlist

Beach hop around the island

There are over 3 dozen beaches in Sint Maarten so you seriously don’t have to look far to find one that’s perfect for what you’re looking for. Why not grab a map and drive the loop and beach hop to a few different ones on the lazy “sun” day of your trip?

Here are my recommendations:

At Friar’s Bay, we realized how nice and quiet this beach was and decided to stay. It was a pretty non touristy spot - there were a lot of locals and it’s off the beaten path past Marigot on the French side. Just don’t overdo it like we did - we spent so much time in the sun that we were sunburnt on day 1. We ended up being a repeat visitor here - this was my favorite.

Mullet Bay - a lot busier than friar. Not private in the slightest. We had women coming up to us every 5 minutes trying to sell scarves, massages, aloe leaf foot rubs, coverups, hair braiding. You had to tell the same person “no” insistently like 3 times! The waves were pretty intense here. If you get hungry, you can pop over to a little beach bar called De Water Hole. We had fried red snapper and rice for lunch. Very fresh - so good!

Le gallion beach - very clear water. You can actually wade right in for quite a long ways it’s only 1-2 ft of crystal clear warm water. Kind of a local hidden gem. Quiet and peaceful.
Maho beach- Ahhh the infamous planes flying so close overhead you might get a shave if you aren’t careful beach. We didn’t go here but heard it’s a must see. We drove past and thought it looked pretty overhyped but that might just be us. Very small.

Visit Historic Ft. Louis in Marigot

18th century fortress? Definitely a must see while you’re here. A short climb and make sure to read the signs along the way. This fort has an interesting history and offers a magnificent view!

Sail around the island in style

Next up? Take an all-day island sailing and snorkeling tour while you’re here! Highly recommend booking a sailing day. Our driver picked us up from our lobby at 7:45 am. We picked others up from various hotels on the island and headed to the sailing place. We sailed around the island, swam and snorkeled all day and were served unlimited food and drinks with a gorgeous sunset view. Definitely a reasonably priced excursion with meals and food included and a magnificent way to pass the day and see more of the island of Sint Maarten from a different vantage point.

Book an ATV tour

Take a ride on the wild side and explore the island from an ATV point of view. From local pastry shops to ocean cliffs, to high speeds racing up and down winding highways, to a little bit of offroading, get an off the beaten path look at the uniqueness that is the island of Sint Maarten. With Q and Andre (our fearless ATV guides) we saw so much!

Grab a fresh smoothie from a local stand

In Marigot, you have to stop by this local fresh fruit and smoothie stand at Exodus juice bar. Nothing beats fresh island fruit - grab yourself a strawberry mango and lemon smoothie! We went twice on our trip. Easy place to stop in at in between Marigot activities.

Take a Sunset Beach walk

There are so many wonderful things to do and see that sometimes we can forget the simplest ones. Many an evening can be happily wiled away with a sunset beach walk. Nothing like watching sailboats go by as the sun tips over the horizon and the waves lap gently at age old rocks.

Transportation and getting around

Rent an island car

Getting around Sint Maarten can be tricky but it doesn’t have to be! We decided to rent an “island” car to get around since we were wanting to get out and explore most of the time - not stay on the resort. Did you know there can be a standard hold fee of around $1000 (common in Caribbean destinations) for these cars?

Passport Check

Just don’t forget to get it or to make sure that it’s not set to expire within 6 months of leaving the country.

Let’s Talk Money

Will my Debit and Credit Cards work?

You will definitely need to call your bank and card companies to let them know the exact dates that you will be abroad and ANY country that you might use your cards in (layovers, etc) Major credit cards like Visa are accepted.

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Prosperous travels my friend. Until next time.

St. Maarten travel guide