St. Maarten Cruise Port Profile

Shopping & Dining | Attractions | Transportation | Beaches | Weather

• The main St. Maarten cruise port is Philipsburg.
  
• Walk one block into Philipsburg from the dock to find the best shopping on Front Street.
  
• Orient Beach and Marigot are two popular attractions on the French side of the island.
  
• Roads are few and busy. Build in time for traffic backups if renting a car.

A St. Maarten cruise has great appeal simply because the island has one of the best cruise ports in the entire Caribbean.

What makes a good cruise port arguably is a combination of:

• Shopping
  
• Beaches
  
• Excursions
  
• Local people
  
• Atmosphere

The St. Maarten cruise port of Philipsburg has all of the above in a satisfying combination. It is a must-see stop for any southern Caribbean cruise.

Shopping and Dining

Southern Caribbean cruise visitors will likely arrive on the docks and look to their left to see a nice beach within several hundred feet. They can rent umbrellas and chairs for a reasonable price and a lovely view of Great Bay.

Anyone wanting a break from the beach, water and sun can walk a few feet to reach the Boardwalk, which is lined with restaurants and shops.

They can walk a few hundred more feet to reach many more restaurants and the port's extensive shopping district, most of which falls along the lengthy Front Street.

Front Street ranks among one of the best shopping experiences in the Caribbean -- along with Playa Del Carmen, St. Thomas and Old San Juan.

Front Street is a long walk but not too challenging for anyone who is moderately fit. If walking isn't appealing, there are quite a few transportation options.

Restaurants are mainly concentrated in two areas -- Philipsburg on the southern coast and Simpson Bay on the southwest coast because they have the cruise port and the airport.

Additional restaurants are found in the concentrated resort areas. A smaller number of restaurants can be found on the French side in Marigot and Grand Case.

The Philipsburg and Simpson Bay restaurants cater to all tastes, but they mainly represent low-end casual in one group and high-end seafood and steak in the other.

There are very few chain restaurants. The St. Martin French restaurants tend to be smaller and casual in Marigot.

Popular Philipsburg restaurants include:

• Antoines at 119 Front Street
  
• Barefoot Terrace at Cyrus Wathey Square
  
• Bigwood Grill on the Boardwalk
  
• Chesterfields at Marina Bay
  
• Firehouse Bar and Grill on the Boardwalk
  
• La Taverne on the Boardwalk

Attractions

Philipsburg itself is one of the best attractions on the island because of its appealing and well-developed tourism district.

Orient Beach, which lies north of Philipsburg in the French district, is the most popular and well-known beach on the island. Note that it is clothing optional.

A nice day trip is a jaunt from the Philipsburg cruise port over to Marigot, capital of the French side, or Grand Case. Other St. Maarten attractions include:

• Grand Case
  
• Mont Vernon Plantation
  
• The Butterfly Farm
  

Beaches

Philipsburg has a convenient beach right there by the cruise docks. Orient Bay, a well-known clothing-optional beach on the French side, is easy to reach via tour bus or other means. That makes this destination appealing for cruise visitors, but otherwise most of the beaches are small and scattered.

Anyone with an interest in good beaches might instead consider an excursion to one of the neighboring islands, such as Anguilla, St. Barts or Saba. Anguilla has nice beaches, St. Barts is frequented by the rich and famous, and Saba is known for hiking and other eco-tourism activities.

Adding to the experience of a St. Maarten cruise visit is the friendliness of the local people, whether while shopping, touring or even taking a bus. It is with good reason that the St. Maarten tourism slogan is "The Friendly Island."

The combination of the above experiences creates an atmosphere that will be memorable for cruise visitors.

Getting Around

On foot. Philipsburg is big enough and developed enough to spend most of the day on foot. However, traffic outside of the Boardwalk and Front Street can be quite heavy, so get a taxi or car rental if you plan to see more than just the tourism district.

Taxis. Taxi rates are set according to more than 20 zones around the island. Expect to pay anywhere between $7 and $35 to get to a zone. At the time of this writing, getting to Marigot will cost $18 and Orient Beach is $20. For current and complete rates, use a search engine to find the Dutch St. Maarten Taxi Association.

Car rentals. The island has a small number of narrow winding roads, so car rentals even for a day are quite common -- so common that traffic jams are frequent. A cruise visitor who is thinking about a car rental might do so for visits to the less-populated French side of the island, especially the quaint city of Marigot. Driving around parts of the Dutch side, especially around Simpson Bay, add some risk of traffic jams and late returns to the ship.

Public bus. Taking a bus is a less expensive option. A St. Maarten bus is often an SUV; it can be identified by the BUS at the beginning of the license plate and the destination sign in the window. Taxis, which also are usually SUVs, have a T at the beginning of the license plate. A 10-15 percent tip for bus and taxi drivers is common.

Bicycles / scooters. While it is useful to consider a rental car, bus or taxi, it is wise to avoid renting a bicycle or scooter. The island has virtually no stop signs or stop lights. The roads are narrow and winding. Drivers can be aggressive when fighting through traffic.

Weather / Best and Worst Months to Go

St. Maarten climate consists of warm temperatures year round that average in the mid 80s Fahrenheit. Sea water averages about three degrees cooler, which makes swimming good at any time.

Rainfall is a different matter. It is generally moderate from January through July, then climbs to a high point for the rest of the year.

September and November historically have the highest rainfall and are the riskiest months to go there.