What To Do and See

First timers to St Maarten in Sept. Port time 7 am to 5 pm. Have booked a private 5 hr tour for 3 adults. Not interested in swimming or sitting on the beach. Like local history and general sightseeing and some shopping. Moderate walking okay.

1. Was thinking of starting the tour at 8 am to get out ahead of the other tours. What do you guys think?

2. Ideas of how to spend these 5 hrs.

Thanks in advance.

If Maho Beach is on your agenda, an 8:00 start time with a 5-hour tour will not be long enough to see the big planes. Your tour will end just as the bigger planes are starting to arrive at SXM. If you do want to see big planes, then you will have to at Maho Beach ideally from about 1:00 - 3:00.

We did a little shopping and walking then took a cab tour of the island.

Had a great time talking to the driver about the island and her day to day life on the island.

Just got back on the 26th. Very disappointed. The shopping area on the Dutch side is getting 'seedy', and the obnoxious people from L'Core, and other skin crème stores are so aggressive! The French side is still devastated, the open market was sparse, and the restaurants there, I used to love, are not as good. Selection of food/drink is down, and quality, not as good either.

I'd recommend going to the beach!

First timers to St Maarten in Sept. Port time 7 am to 5 pm. Have booked a private 5 hr tour for 3 adults. Not interested in swimming or sitting on the beach. Like local history and general sightseeing and some shopping. Moderate walking okay.

 

1. Was thinking of starting the tour at 8 am to get out ahead of the other tours. What do you guys think?

 

2. Ideas of how to spend these 5 hrs.

 

Thanks in advance.

I wouldn't suggest a land tour but would certainly suggest a boat tour or a beach day. This island is still trying to recover from last falls hurricanes. We always try to get back to town early enough in the afternoon to do some shopping on Front St.