Things to Do in St Maarten

The expansive arc of Simpson Bay Beach, St Maarten’s longest, has everything you’d expect from a Caribbean beach: squeaky white sands, clear, lapping waters and gently waving palms. While it backs on to Princess Juliana Airport, you shouldn’t be unduly disturbed by noise, and the space and relative lack of other visitors will make you feel like you’ve found your private tropical paradise.

But as soon as you’re ready to return to civilization it’s right there, in the numerous bars and restaurants within reach of the beach. Or feast your eyes on nearby Cole Bay Hill, whose lookout offers stunning views towards neighboring islands, all the way south to St Kitts.

The centerpiece of the Philipsburg is the courthouse on Watney Square, at the heart of the Front Street shopping area. The historic wooden building is bright white with a bell tower that sports a clock and small spire with a pineapple at the top, which symbolizes welcome. It was originally built in 1793 as the home of the town’s founder, Commander John Philips, and has since been used as jail, post office and fire station. Today the building is a working courthouse, but if you’re interested to learn more about the town’s history, you can walk five minutes east down Front Street to visit the St. Maarten Museum.

If you like the idea of getting marooned for a day on an idyllic desert island in the Caribbean, join a boat trip to the Prickly Pear Cays. This pair of uninhabited islets sits six miles northwest of Anguilla, boasting exquisite white-sand beaches, and fringing reefs protected as one Anguilla’s marine protected areas. A day here can include snorkeling among the colorful corals and shipwrecks that are scattered around the cays. Then you can swim ashore to spend a lazy afternoon enjoying the sun and sand, along with a lunch of barbecue ribs and cold cocktails from the on-island restaurants.

Find Saint Martin’s main airport on a map and you've found Maho Beach. How close is it, you ask? Well, if you’ve ever seen a photo of sunbathing tourists gawping as 747s approach the runway just yards above their heads, it was probably taken here. So come by all means and get your own snap, but you may well find that the roar of engines and the smell of jet fuel deters you from staying too long. 

Thankfully things are calmer on Mullet Bay Beach, a short walk away. This is the tropical paradise you've always dreamed of: white sands, swaying palms, clear water. Waves can get surprisingly high here, making it a magnet for the island’s surfers. Mullet Bay is also the site of the island’s only 18-hole golf course.

St Maarten has no shortage of upscale shops jostling for the tourist dollar (or euro, or yen). But a more authentic experience awaits you on Wednesday and Friday mornings when the market sets up in Marigot, the French "capital". Fishermen bring their haul here in the early hours, and are later joined by fruit and vegetable sellers as well as spice vendors, filling the air with heady tropical scents.

If you’re after less perishable keepsakes, local artisans sell jewelry and small decorative items, and you can stock up on hats, t-shirts and anything else you forgot to pack. Color schemes tend towards the carnivalesque, but when in Rome…

After a morning’s shopping, retire to one of Marigot’s charming French cafes to review your spoils.

You don’t have to travel across the empire to find Chewbacca, Han Solo, and Yoda—since all of them are hanging out right here on the streets of downtown Philipsburg. This museum is the brainchild of Nick Maley, an artist who famously worked on Star Wars and helped bring Yoda to life. He was instrumental in creating many of the movie’s galactic characters, and the museum is stuffed with memorabilia and parts that were used in the film. That said, even though he’s known as “that Yoda guy,” Maley has worked on dozens of other blockbuster movies in Hollywood, including Superman, Hellraiser, Men in Black, Terminator, Alien, Krull, and Highlander.  You’ll also find casts that were used on the faces of Hollywood’s biggest names, from Humphrey Bogart to Marlon Brando and Angelina Jolie. Even more than the wealth of memorabilia pulled straight from the sets of the films, what makes this museum such a great stop is the fact that it all helps to fund a nonprofit that encourages children to follow their dreams and pursue their artistic passions.

While it might not be the flashiest—or even the largest—of St. Martin’s many beaches, Le Galion Beach is undoubtedly the island’s family-friendliest. Also known as “Coconut Grove,” “L’Embouchure,” and “Baby Beach,” Le Galion makes a perfect day at the beach for visitors traveling with young children. For one thing, the turquoise waters are exceptionally shallow—and you can literally wade out 300 feet and still be in waist deep water. There also aren’t many rocks or hazards located anywhere inside of the bay, and much of the sea floor is covered in a bed of gently waving seaweed. Perhaps most importantly, the north end of the bay is often protected from the consistent easterly tradewinds, which also make the offshore reef so popular with surfers and kiteboarders. While not as happening as Orient Bay, there are still a couple of beachfront restaurants with bathroom facilities and drinks, as well as a number of rental shops for whatever board you might need. This is also the only beach on the French side where nude sunbathing is discouraged, and is a safe, sunny, and simple option for a family day at the beach.