Sint Maarten

Sint Maarten is the southern, Dutch half of the island of Saint Martin in the northeastern Caribbean, sharing the small 87-square-kilometer landmass with the French collectivity of Saint-Martin to the north. It is the smallest inhabited island in the world divided between two nations. Sint Maarten became a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on October 10, 2010, with a population of approximately 43,000 packed into just 34 square kilometers.

The island is famous worldwide for Maho Beach, where jumbo jets skim just meters overhead while landing at Princess Juliana International Airport. But Sint Maarten offers much more: a vibrant cruise-ship port, duty-free shopping in the capital Philipsburg, excellent beaches, casino nightlife, and a remarkably diverse food scene shaped by over 80 nationalities. The open border with French Saint-Martin means you can have lunch in France and dinner in the Netherlands without showing a passport.

The island was inhabited by the Arawak and later Carib peoples for centuries before Columbus sighted it on November 11, 1493, the feast day of Saint Martin of Tours. The Dutch and French both established claims in the 1620s–1630s and, after briefly fighting over it, signed the Treaty of Concordia in 1648, dividing the island peacefully. Legend says the border was drawn by a walking contest between a French soldier drinking wine and a Dutch soldier drinking jenever.

For centuries, the island's economy relied on salt production, sugar, and trade. After World War II, tourism gradually took over, accelerating after the construction of Princess Juliana Airport in 1943 (originally built by American military forces). Sint Maarten was part of the Netherlands Antilles until that entity's dissolution in 2010. Hurricane Irma devastated the island in September 2017, causing catastrophic damage; reconstruction has been substantial but ongoing.

Philipsburg, Sint Maarten's capital, occupies a narrow sand strip between Great Bay and the Great Salt Pond. Front Street, the main thoroughfare, is a mile-long stretch of duty-free shops, jewelry stores, restaurants, and casinos that comes alive when cruise ships dock at the nearby port. The Courthouse, built in 1793, is the town's most recognizable landmark.

Great Bay Beach runs the length of Philipsburg's waterfront and is one of the island's best beaches, with calm waters, beach bars, and views of cruise ships at anchor. The Sint Maarten Museum on Front Street chronicles the island's history from Arawak settlement through colonialism and the salt trade. Philipsburg can feel overwhelmed on days when multiple cruise ships are in port, but early mornings and evenings reveal a charming West Indian town.

Sint Maarten punches well above its weight in beach quality. Beyond Maho Beach (plane-spotting) and Great Bay (Philipsburg), highlights include Mullet Bay — a gorgeous crescent of white sand with turquoise water — Dawn Beach on the eastern shore, and Simpson Bay, home to one of the Caribbean's largest lagoons. The island's 37 beaches mean you're never far from sand and sea.

Despite heavy development, some natural areas survive. The Emilio Wilson Estate in the hills above Philipsburg is being developed as a heritage park. Fort Amsterdam, the island's first Dutch fortification (1631), crowns a peninsula between Great Bay and Little Bay. The surrounding waters offer good snorkeling and diving, with wrecks, reefs, and abundant marine life. Day trips to uninhabited Pinel Island (on the French side) are popular.

Sint Maarten (Dutch side) has no wine production. The constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands shares the island with French Saint-Martin. The Dutch side — home to the famous Maho Beach (where planes land metres above sunbathers) and the cruise port of Philipsburg — has a more commercial, tourist-oriented drinking culture than the French side. Guavaberry liqueur (a unique Sint Maarten product, made from rum and local guavaberries) is the island's signature drink. Duty-free shopping makes all alcohol affordable.

Princess Juliana International Airport (SXM) is a major Caribbean hub with direct flights from Miami, New York, Atlanta, Toronto, Amsterdam, Paris, and numerous Caribbean islands. The island is also one of the Caribbean's busiest cruise ports, handling over 1.5 million cruise passengers annually in peak years. The Netherlands Antillean guilder was replaced by the US dollar in 2011.

Accommodation ranges from mega-resorts and casino hotels to boutique properties and vacation rentals. Dining is exceptional for a Caribbean island, with over 300 restaurants representing French, Dutch, Indonesian, Indian, Italian, and Caribbean cuisines. The island is safe for tourists in resort areas but petty crime exists. The best time to visit is December–April (dry season). English is the primary language, though Dutch is official and Spanish, Creole, and Papiamento are widely spoken.

Sint Maarten is the Caribbean at its most condensed and contradictory — an island smaller than many American towns that somehow packs in a major international airport, dozens of beaches, hundreds of restaurants, casinos, cruise ships, and two European nations. It shouldn't work, but it does, spectacularly.

The Maho Beach experience is genuinely thrilling (the jet blast from departing 747s will knock you off your feet), but I'd encourage visitors to look beyond the Instagram moments. Rent a car, drive the entire island in an hour, cross into the French side for lunch in Grand Case (the Caribbean's gastronomic capital), and discover that this tiny island has surprising depth beneath its party-island reputation.

— Radim Kaufmann, Kaufmann World Travel Factbook