Sint Maarten Recommendations

Sint Maarten recommendations - The Friendly Island

Welcome to Sint Maarten, the Friendly Island! And welcome to Sint Maarten Stays! We hope you’ll enjoy your stay as much as we always do. 

As a family we put together this little list of ‘Sint Maarten -Things To Do’ – those are the things we often share with people that visit the island. There might be some helpful hints or suggestions that are useful to you. Enjoy our Sint Maarten recommendations! 

Tropical Sunset with Palm Tree

Google Maps

Download and add Sint Maarten/Saint Martin to your offline Google Maps, so that you can find your way around the island when you don’t have WiFi and/or don’t have a navigation system in your vehicle. We recommend renting a car in Sint Maarten to explore the beautiful island!

Sint Maarten Beaches

Sint Maarten is famous for its many beaches. Not one long beach, but many small beaches with awesome turquoise colors. Mullet Bay Beach, Orient Bay Beach, Great Bay Beach, Baie Rouge (especially for sunsets!) are our favorites. Sint Maarten beaches should be on top of every list of Sint Maarten recommendations!

For some plane watching, world famous Maho beach needs to be checked out, where spectacular and somewhat risky landings and take-offs happen. If you don’t like getting sand-blasted, enjoy Maho from the bar on each side of the beach. You can park for free on the parking lot at the casino if you can show a receipt from Sunset Beach Bar on your way out. 

Click here to see more about the best beaches on Sint Maarten/Saint Martin.

Tropical Saint Martin restaurant at beach
Bistrot Caraibes Grand Case Saint Martin dessert

Fine Dining

Not only the great influence of the French kitchen, but that of the many other nationalities that call Sint Maarten home create dining experiences that gives the island its nickname Culinary Capital of the Caribbean. Among many, here are some of our go-tos:

  • Lé Piment (Orient Bay) – In a very cute square with many Saint Martin restaurants. Great and chic atmosphere.
  • The Greenhouse (Philipsburg and Simpson Bay) – 2 for 1 drinks… what more do you need to know?
  • Chesterfields (Philipsburg) – Just delicious.
  • Buccaneer Beach Bar (Simpson Bay) – All you can eat ribs and chicken Tuesdays from 5-7 and Pizza Thursday from 5-7.
  • BZH – This French Saint Martin restaurant is located in Oyster Pond. A very much worth it short drive.
  • L’ Oasis – Also a great place to eat in Oyster Pond, near the villas.

Click here to see more about the best restaurants on the Saint Martin / Sint Maarten island.

Money Matters

On the entire island you can pay with the American dollar. The official currency on the Dutch side is the NAF, the Antillean guilder, and on the French side it’s the euro. You can find ATMs all across the island.

Dollar notes
Old Canon at Fort St. Louis Marigot Saint Martin

French Saint Martin

You are very close to the French side of the island. Want to buy breakfast pastries? Go to the Oasis bakery in Oyster Pond. We love to buy baguettes there on the days we stay at home. Because the sun sets early and the evenings are long, we love to get out the pesto, garlic butter baguettes and wine mid-afternoon and sit, eat and visit around on the deck and enjoy every minute of daylight, and not go to the kitchen to prepare a real meal until it’s dark.  A fav place of ours to dine close by is BZH in Oyster Pond Saint Martin. If you visit the French part of the Island, Saint Martin, we recommend visiting Fort Louis in Marigot. It provides some exceptional views and therefore should be on every list of Sint Maarten recommendations!

Click here to see the difference between Saint Martin vs Sint Maarten!

Hiking Sint Maarten

We love to get our workouts in. But jogging and bicycling here is too hard for us… So hiking it is! Our 3 suggestions:

  • Pay your way into Lottery Farm to hike up to Pic Paradis, we think it’s worth it!
  • We also love to put on good shoes right here and walk down to the water in Red Pond, or exit our neighborhood and visit the neighborhoods nearby and the resorts in the area.
  • At Dawn Beach you’ll see a rock/little hill off to the left (east). It is fun to drive through Oyster Pond and get as close as you can, park the car and hike around this hill. On the other side you might see some serious hurricane Irma damage and also some re-building projects.
  • The Naked Boy Hill is a fun hike starting near Red Pond that leads to great views and outdoor lifting equiptment.
Loterie Farm Saint Martin Sint Maarten Recommendation Flower and Ocean View
Beer and Cocktails at the Beach are Sint Maarten recommendations

Groceries

We love the variety that Carrefour in Phillipsburg offers: the best of many areas in the world, and such a good selection of American and Dutch foods that we love. Our kids that have lived on the island like the prices of the French Super U’s (Grand Case and Marigot) better and think their selection of food is good as well. For cultural experience you’ve got to stop by any local market run by the Chinese, of course.

The Boardwalk Sint Maarten

Like on many Caribbean islands, tourism is one of very few industries/income they have. So the locals are glad to have you. To survive the economic impact of the Covid epidemic, SXM (Sint Maarten) took on more cruise ships. Phillipsburg can be ‘dead’ but there can also be scores of people, together with some impressive cruise ships docked. Visiting the Boardwalk right then, might be entertaining. Craving ‘bitterballen’, famous Dutch snacks; they can help you at the Dutch Blonde in Philipsburg. You can also visit the cute, little museum on Front Street 7 to learn more about the island. While you’re there, pick up a map to lead you along the nearby murals. 

Green and red windmill with restaurant called Dutch Blonde Sint Maarten
Little Monkey in Green Bush Looking into the Camera

Monkeys in Sint Maarten

Much on the island is imported, as are the monkeys that you may have the pleasure of meeting. They are said to have been brought over in the 17th century by European settlers as exotics pets. What were pets have now become a pest if you ask certain locals since they are often the first ones to get to the fruit in the trees at people’s homes. Luckily, that doesn’t change the fact that they are adorable. When chilling on the deck be sure to pay attention to rustling sounds in your yard: monkeys might be munching on the sea grapes.

Sint Maarten Nightlife

Celebrate the good island life at the many bars and clubs on the friendly island. We never miss a chance to practice our dance moves and drink some Carib beers or frozen mudslides.  After testing out many places, here is our list of our favorite nightlife locations. This includes Mykonos, a European-style club and Lotus, popular with tourists and conveniently located in Simpson Bay.  We hope you enjoy them as well!

Click here to see our Sint Maarten nightlife recommendations!

Group of Friends enjoy the Lotus Sint Maarten nightlife