Driving on the island

My friend spend several weeks on St. maartin each year in time shares. She said if you are going to rent a car be very careful. People drive crazy and there are many accidents. She rents somewhere where you can "rent-a wreck" but I don't recall the name.

Myself and many others have posted here about being ripped off by this local business, so I would suggest avoiding Reynolds at all costs. Fortunately, I disputed the double-charge with my cc company and they took care of it. Others have not been as lucky.

As far as driving on the island, once you get outside of Phillipsburg, the majority of country-side driving in St. Maartin is pretty leisurely. The road signs are a little confusing at times but if you take your time and pay attention, you shouldn't have a problem. Yes, gasoline is pretty expensive, but you shouldn't need more than a couple of gallons for a day trip if you rent a small car. I would also recommend allowing at least 90 minutes to return your car and make it back to the ship, as traffic in the late afternoon in Phillipsburg is pretty brutal. It also takes a while to get through traffic in Marigot, even if just passing through on the main highway.

Sure, there are risks and added stress to renting a car, but the freedom it gives you more than makes up for it, imo.

Following...excellent information, thank you!

Following...excellent information, thank you!

The good news is that this "excellent information" is only 11 years old.

The good news is that this "excellent information" is only 11 years old.

Thanks for bringing it to my attention on both this and my other post as well. Yes, I’m aware. Was there something current you’d like to add? (I appreciate your response may be an attempt at humor, but it’s hard to perceived it that way). :confused:

Thanks for bringing it to my attention on both this and my other post as well. Yes, I’m aware. Was there something current you’d like to add? (I appreciate your response may be an attempt at humor, but it’s hard to perceived it that way). [emoji782]

I maybe can help shed some light. St. Martin/Maarten has suffered terribly from the hurricane last year. There was significant damage to the entire island and Orient beach is just now open to tourists in a very limited fashion. With infrastructure issues so widespread, it may or may not be a good idea to rent a car. Some or all of the information in this thread is probably not current or useful due to recent events. I suspect that is where the “attempt at humor” came from.