Timo Breidenstein · GFDL 1.2Sint Maarten
“Aircraft over the beach, and the busiest small airport in the eastern Caribbean”
Sint Maarten is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands occupying the southern 41 km² of an island it shares with French Saint-Martin. It is the transport heart of the northern Leewards — Princess Juliana International feeds Anguilla, Saba, Sint Eustatius and Saint-Barthélemy, and the cruise pier at Philipsburg takes some of the largest ships afloat.
Maho Beach sits at the end of the runway and has become the island's most famous sight for the wrong reason: the approach passes a few dozen metres overhead. The jet blast on departure is genuinely dangerous and has killed. The rest of the Dutch side is Philipsburg's boardwalk, Simpson Bay's bars and a lagoon full of yachts.
Highlights
Maho Beach
The famous approach. Watch the landings; stay well clear of the fence on departure, where jet blast has thrown people into the rocks.
Philipsburg
Front Street and the boardwalk between two piers — busy when ships are in and pleasant when they are not.
Simpson Bay Lagoon
One of the largest inland lagoons in the Caribbean, spanning both countries, with a bridge that opens on a schedule the whole island knows.
Day trips by air
Saba's cliff runway, Sint Eustatius's volcano and Saint-Barthélemy are all short hops from here — the reason many people route through.
Entry requirements for Sint Maarten
Checking your passport…
We don't hold entry details for this passport group yet.
Before you fly
The detail
- Passport validity
- Most destinations want validity beyond your stay, and some want six months. Check yours against the return date.
- Onward travel
- Airlines may ask for a return or onward ticket at check-in.
- Health
- A hospital in Philipsburg; complex cases go to Guadeloupe, Colombia or Miami. Insurance essential.
- Money
- Caribbean guilder pegged to the dollar; dollars used universally. Cards widely accepted.
When to go
BestDec–Apr. AvoidAug–Oct.
Dry and breezy; peak season.
The band above each month is our editorial verdict - it weighs crowds, prices and access as well as weather. The line is average daily temperature, the bars are monthly rainfall. Select a month for the figures. Climate figures: ERA5 reanalysis via Open-Meteo, 2005–2024 normals.
What it costs
A day in Sint Maarten
Comfortable · sample day
≈ $146
Line items are real prices we track. The daily budget is an editorial estimate for this level, not their sum.
Where this sits among 244 countries we have costed
Cruise arrivals set the rhythm more than the season does — Front Street prices and crowds swing with the ship schedule, which is published.
Updated Aug 2026 · Editorial synthesis — Sint Maarten tourism tariffs, regional airfares (2025–2026) · confidence medium
Excludes international flights - they depend on where you fly from.
Regions to know
5Philipsburg
Front Street, the boardwalk and the cruise piers.
Simpson Bay
The lagoon, the marinas, the airport and the nightlife.
Maho and Mullet Bay
The runway beach and the best swimming on the Dutch side.
Cupecoy
Sandstone cliffs, a sunset beach and the border with the French side.
Dawn Beach and the east
Reef snorkelling and the quietest coast on this half.
Practical guide
Getting there
Princess Juliana (SXM) is the regional hub, with direct flights from Europe and North America and connections across the Leewards.
Getting around
A hire car; buses run the main roads cheaply. The Simpson Bay bridge openings stop traffic several times a day and every local plans around them.
Money & costs
Caribbean guilder pegged to the dollar; dollars used universally. Cards widely accepted.
Safety
Petty theft from cars and around the nightlife strip. Otherwise ordinary precautions.
Health
A hospital in Philipsburg; complex cases go to Guadeloupe, Colombia or Miami. Insurance essential.
SIM & internet
Good 4G. EU roaming does not apply despite the Dutch link — crossing from the French side changes your rate.
Driving
The single road around Simpson Bay lagoon is the island's bottleneck, and the bridge openings close it entirely — check the schedule before an airport run.
Rules change - verify with an official source before you rent.
ExplWorld VerifiedNo verified partners here yet - all 6 country seats are open.
Become ExplWorld Verified →Before you go
Sint MaartenFrequently asked questions
What currency do I need?
The Caribbean guilder replaced the Netherlands Antillean guilder in 2025 and is pegged to the US dollar. In practice the Dutch side runs on US dollars, and euros from the French side are accepted at a poor rate.
Is Maho Beach safe?
Watching landings is fine. Standing behind a departing jet is not — the blast is powerful enough to throw an adult across the road, and it has caused deaths. The warning signs are not decoration.
Do I need a visa for the Dutch side?
Sint Maarten sets its own entry rules and is outside Schengen; a Schengen visa does not admit you. Most European and North American nationals enter visa-free.