The Caribbean is the perfect destination if you're looking for sand, sun and sea. Best of all is that it's a year-round destination and you don't have to wait for summer to enjoy warm weather. There are many great places to visit in the region but for one that offers something different, you may want to go Dutch: that is, St Maarten.
Sint Maarten, as the country is more officially called, makes up the southern part of the island of Saint Martin. It's located due east from Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands and just to the south of Anguilla. The northern part of the island belongs to the French and is known as Saint-Martin and it's incredibly easy to hop between the two sides.
Sint Maarten's capital is Philipsburg, which is also the largest settlement on the island in its entirety. Philipsburg is renowned as a shopper's paradise and is a popular port for cruise ships. It lies along Great Bay and is backed by the Great Salt Pond, so the town itself has a long, narrow lay-out. Apart from the shops, restaurants and beaches here, you'll also find museums and historic sights such as Fort Willem.
On the Saint-Martin side, the capital is Marigot, which lies along the western coastline. The island's culinary capital, however, is in the north at Grand Case. Here you'll find streets lined with restaurants that serve Caribbean fare with French flair.
The point of a Caribbean vacation is to spend time at the beach. Saint Martin Island has plenty of great beaches to choose from and you'll also find a great array of water sports, including snorkeling and diving, surfing and sailing. For the thrill of a lifetime, make the twenty-minute drive west to Maho Beach. Here, airplanes coming in to land at Princess Juliana International Airport fly over the beach at such low altitudes that your friends will think you've used photo-editing software to create the amazing photos of you with a Boeing just above your head.
The island is not only about beaches and the sea, however. You can enjoy many land-based activities too, including hiking and horseback riding. There are golf courses, go karts, paintball facilities and a popular canopy tour. Sint Maarten Zoo makes for a great day out with the kids but young and old will also enjoy the colorful creatures at the butterfly farm on the French side.
The best time to visit is, well, any time you want. Humidity and night-time temperatures are a little lower in the first third of the year, when it's dry season. However, this is high tourist season too. Low season coincides with the rainy season, which here only means short showers before the sun comes out to play again.
One way to get to Sint Maarten is by cruise ship, which will dock at Philipsburg. Even better is to fly into Princess Juliana International Airport, the main airport serving the entire island, with flight connections to the entire Caribbean, Panama, the USA and Canada as well as Amsterdam and Paris. Besides, you then get to see the airplane-watchers at Maho Beach from a different angle.
Sint Maarten, as the country is more officially called, makes up the southern part of the island of Saint Martin. It's located due east from Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands and just to the south of Anguilla. The northern part of the island belongs to the French and is known as Saint-Martin and it's incredibly easy to hop between the two sides.
Sint Maarten's capital is Philipsburg, which is also the largest settlement on the island in its entirety. Philipsburg is renowned as a shopper's paradise and is a popular port for cruise ships. It lies along Great Bay and is backed by the Great Salt Pond, so the town itself has a long, narrow lay-out. Apart from the shops, restaurants and beaches here, you'll also find museums and historic sights such as Fort Willem.
On the Saint-Martin side, the capital is Marigot, which lies along the western coastline. The island's culinary capital, however, is in the north at Grand Case. Here you'll find streets lined with restaurants that serve Caribbean fare with French flair.
The point of a Caribbean vacation is to spend time at the beach. Saint Martin Island has plenty of great beaches to choose from and you'll also find a great array of water sports, including snorkeling and diving, surfing and sailing. For the thrill of a lifetime, make the twenty-minute drive west to Maho Beach. Here, airplanes coming in to land at Princess Juliana International Airport fly over the beach at such low altitudes that your friends will think you've used photo-editing software to create the amazing photos of you with a Boeing just above your head.
The island is not only about beaches and the sea, however. You can enjoy many land-based activities too, including hiking and horseback riding. There are golf courses, go karts, paintball facilities and a popular canopy tour. Sint Maarten Zoo makes for a great day out with the kids but young and old will also enjoy the colorful creatures at the butterfly farm on the French side.
The best time to visit is, well, any time you want. Humidity and night-time temperatures are a little lower in the first third of the year, when it's dry season. However, this is high tourist season too. Low season coincides with the rainy season, which here only means short showers before the sun comes out to play again.
One way to get to Sint Maarten is by cruise ship, which will dock at Philipsburg. Even better is to fly into Princess Juliana International Airport, the main airport serving the entire island, with flight connections to the entire Caribbean, Panama, the USA and Canada as well as Amsterdam and Paris. Besides, you then get to see the airplane-watchers at Maho Beach from a different angle.
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Before you take a trip to the amazing St Maarten island, you should first read the guide that's published on our website. Come and check out this page now at http://www.st-maarten-island-guide.com.
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