 | Sint Maarten General Tips | Tips 1 - 10 of 24 |  |
Popular General Tips | Other General Tips Tips | All Tips (24) If your plane is leaving St. Maarten in the late afternoon.
Check with your airline at the Juliana Airport at what time that day they´re opening their check in desk.
For example: The check in desk of Air France and KLM opens at noon. But the plains leave in the late afternoon.
So I checked in my luggage at noon just as they opened. (no lines, the first one !!)
Then I still had a couple of hours to enjoy St. Maarten !!!!
Then before the plane leaves I went back with my handluggage to the airport and only had to pay the departure tax.
While the others.......stood already for a long time in a long long line waiting to check in !!
So its a tip for a few hours more on St. Maarten and avoiding the long check in lines at the airport !! Leave a Comment
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The official language of St. Maarten is Dutch though English is widely spoken, and the currency in St. Maarten is the Dutch Florin or Guilder, but everyone prefers the U.S. money. If you pay in U.S. dollars, you will receive change in U.S. dollars. We traded coins with a local woman so that I could have a Dutch Florin as a souvenir because we would not get one otherwise.
The Dutch side of St. Maarten is home to 32,000 residents who enjoy an annual average temperature of 80 degrees (which only feels like 95 degrees) and 45" of annual rainfall.
Banking hours are 8:30 am to 3:30 pm only though some banks are open Saturday mornings.
Tipping here is expected as in many places in the Caribbean where there tourism is firmly established. While hotels add 10 - 15% service charges, the same percentage is expected by taxi drivers and other service personnel.
Hotels are wired as in the U.S. for 110 volts, 60 cycles.
The children enjoying the beach and the great shopping! Leave a Comment
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The words every husband loves to hear, no more shops please.
we walked down between two shops and found the beach, the sky was blue and the warm Carribean was bluer, so we sat a while, paddled in the waves and hunted for shells
as we were just going onto the beach a group of about 20 local children were coming off it. Seeing that my husband had the camcorder out and was filming they all wanted their faces to be on film.
We have what must be one of the most charming video sequences ever, of the beautiful children each saying hello to the camera.
They were the most well behaved, polite children you could wish to meet, and they left us with a lovely memory Leave a Comment
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If you want a tattoo, but not a permanent one, the beach was a good place to get a henna painted tattoo. Here is my fiancé getting a nice arm band tattoo. This girl was sitting in front of a little restaurant close to where the water taxis dropped you off. She had good prices on henna tattoos and did good work. They last about 2 weeks. Leave a Comment
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At first glance Sint Maarten looks extremely busy. Have a second look and drive to the Oyster Pond area, about 5 miles from Philipsburg. Beside a very picturesque yacht harbour, splendid Dawn Beach next to it, and a few restaurants on the Dutch and French side, you may find surprising wildlife. Some escaped monkeys may cross your path. They are fed by residents, and live somewhere on the trees.
The sun and the continously blowing breeze with temperatures around 80 degrees (26 C.), plus the spectacular views onto the ocean. Leave a Comment
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On the French side, many places take Euros at an equal rate to dollars--so if you're coming with Euros, buy some dollars and you'll save some money Leave a Comment
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This location will give you as much information about the Island as you need.
Courteous folks are there to help you and it is always good to know where you are going.
You don't ask you might miss important stuff. Leave a Comment
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As soon as you come of your Schip on the walkway to the information center there is '' Scharky's a nice outdoor bar that will have your favorite drink. Leave a Comment
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All the wonderful immigrants from all over the Caribbean islands. Many come here for economic reasons. They are paid much higher on jobs here than their native islands. Everyone loves to have fun and the weather is warm and sunny 365 days a year-even during hurricane season.
The food on the French side is delicious as well as the nightlife. The shopping is more trendy and chic. I know, because I spent over $2,000 on unnecessary items and cash advances. The Dutch side has many eateries, a few clubs, and all the casinos. Many of the casinos are walk-in. I'd never known that until I visited SXM. Queen Juliana Airport is on the Dutch side. Departure tax is $30 USD each time you leave the island by airplane 9not fond of this at all). Leave a Comment
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Take a lot of photos, the scenerey is beautiful. Be sure to keep your finger out of the camera like me, who ruined nearly 50 beautiful cultural and arcitechtural photographs!!! There is a lot to do in Philipsburg. It's wonderful watching the rainbow colored people that populate this hot and sunny tropical isle. In this photograph, you can see Philipsburg's natural entry/departure site. This is where most of the cruise ships dock to let all of the timid voyagers off. Smaller boats, fishing boats, and 'ferries' dock here as well.
My brother has lived here for 9 years so all my trips are quite memorable. One very interesting and stunning memories is when you land, you are only a few feet above Maho beach where people are swimming and having fun!!! Leave a Comment
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