Jeff Berger's Original St. Maarten / St. Martin Information Center - The Largest, Most Complete Guide to "Everything St. Maarten / St. Martin"

Visits to our St. Maarten & St. Martin Website:

Our site begins below. But first, four quick items of interest:

First: We offer you about 215 discounts across St. Maarten & St. Martin. Check it out; go here for more info, or scroll down to see membership highlights.

Second:
Get our free weekly St. Maarten / St. Martin / SXM Weekly News newsletter -- loaded with tourist-oriented info every week. More than 220,000 readers around the world.

• Includes info on new airlines serving SXM, weather, cruises, up-to-the minute accommodations news (hotels, timeshares, villas), new restaurants, beach updates, shopping, and tons more.
• Go here to sign up. The "2014 St. Maarten" Weekly News free subscription list has been preselected for you. Enter your email address on the second line, then click Submit Your Information. You'll quickly receive a confirmation email; click the link and you're good to go. [Note: Hotmail users must set us up as "trusted senders" to see the content of SXM Weekly News (they're trying to protect you from spam). We've asked Hotmail to send instructions for doing that; so far, no response. Suggestion: switch to Gmail. It's also free and has no such issues.]
• To see all recent issues of SXM Weekly News, visit our new SXM Weekly News PDF Archives. We add the latest issues within a few days after their cover date -- so the best way to see the news when it happens is to subscribe as noted above. (Being updated now.)

Third:

• Our Nine-Vacation "Thanks Four Million" Giveaway Ended January 12, Celebrating This Site Reaching Four Million Visits. We'll post the winners here shortly - they were picked live on the air on Island 92 radio in SXM.

• Another giveaway occurs in July, 2015. To enter it you *MUST* subscribe (free) to SXM Weekly News; see "Second," above to subscribe.

Fourth:

Get 215+ Discounts Across St. Maarten / St. Martin Through JMB Website Supporters Membership

• What you get: dozens and dozens of restaurant discounts; free ads to rent out or sell timeshares you own not only in SXM but worldwide; discount car rentals; hotel discounts; heavily discounted sunset cruises; many unique short-term special offers (like $149 jewelry for $39 from top-tier, highly reputable jewelers); jewelry gift cards; shopping discounts; dozens of activities discounts; low airfares; day cruise discounts; art discounts; and many, many more.

• What it costs: New memberships are just $59 for one year or four years for $99 total. See all the pricing here.
  
  
  Here from Travel Talk Online or SXM Or Bust or Pirates of SXM? There's something for you here.
  
  Protect your family with peace-of-mind medical evacuation membership from SkyMed:
  

   

Here Is Everything St. Maarten / St. Martin / SXM:

Our Newest Pages (List and Links)
  
Caressed by warm tradewinds year-round, St. Maarten, Dutch West Indies, and St. Martin, French West Indies, share a borderless 37 square-mile Northeast Caribbean paradise with palm-tree fringed pristine beaches (many topless and several clothing-optional), hundreds of restaurants, nonstop nightlife, casinos, world-renowned shopping, fine hotels, convenient timeshare rentals, cozy Inns, and villas with breathtaking views and all the amenities. 

Here you'll find everything about "SXM" (the island's nickname): from what to expect when you arrive by plane, cruise ship, or megayacht, to accommodations, sightseeing, restaurants, shopping, bars, activities, and "everything" else.

Everything SXM: Our most popular pages are listed below the masthead, and our complete Table of Contents is stacked to the left. See our Site Map (link, bottom left) for recent site additions, and use the Search window (top right, below masthead) for "everything" SXM.

Key items about St. Maarten / St. Martin / SXM:

• Low Airfares to "SXM": This link, both above and to the left, is your source for low fares to SXM plus free ads to sell or rent out timeshares you own in SXM or anywhere else, and unique SXM-focused travel benefits that deliver a more enjoyable vacation at lower cost.
   
• About St. Maarten / St. Martin:  This link, also both above and to the left, tells you in detail about many topics of interest . . . from currency to phone systems to lagoon drawbridge schedules and much more.
   
• Sightseeing: This link takes you to information on everything from the Butterfly Farm to sunset cruises, trips to neighboring islands, lagoon Pub Crawls, "Da Party Bus," the parfumerie on the French Side where you can create your own perfume, our beaches, and lots more.
   
• Air: Served by all major airlines from the USA and Canada, St. Maarten's new Princess Juliana International Airport -- "SXM" -- also welcomes flights from Paris, Amsterdam, and locations in South America, as well as air charters. In season, many private jets are parked all around the airport property, including occasional private 737 and widebody 767 jets.
   
• Cruise: All major cruise lines serve St. Maarten through the Dr. A. C. Wathey Cruise and Cargo Facilities on the Dutch Side, whose deep-water port accommodates the largest cruise ships in the world. The Port of St. Maarten is one of the busiest in the Caribbean.
   
• Electricity: The Dutch Side uses 110 volt systems, the North American standard.  The French Side uses 220 volts. Plug adapters in and you can quickly fry any American appliance - hair dryer, shaver, computer, cell phone, etc. Use converters made specifically to enable 110v appliances to be used on 220v systems.
   
• Currency: Search "Currency" in the search window (above left) for details. In  short, U. S. dollars are accepted everywhere. Antillean Guilders are the official Dutch Side currency. In markets, you'll see "fls" (Guilder pricing); one dollar is worth about 1.8 guilders. The value of guilders versus dollars does not vary.  Since the Antilles were dissolved officially 10/10/10, that currency will eventually disappear. The Euro is the official French Side currency. Its value varies widely; watch for businesses that accept Euros at par with dollars; they'll usually have signage that says $1=€1. That happens mostly in restaurants.

• St. Maarten / St. Martin Phone System: The Dutch and French Sides have two entirely different systems; there is no such thing as simple phone calls across the island (Dutch to French or vice-versa). The Dutch Side got a US/Canada-style area code 721 effective 9/30/11, but a grace period enables using old calling methods for a year or so. Watch for island news of interest to tourists, and phone news, in our free SXM Weekly News; subscribe free here.
   
• Megayachts: During high season, December through March, dozens of megayachts and super-megayachts moor in St. Maarten's Simpson Bay lagoon, while the largest super megayachts, hundreds of feet long, moor at the cruise ship terminal or in Simpson Bay on the Dutch Side. Many other large yachts anchor in the harbor at Marigot, on the French Side, and others (like those owned by Russian billionaires) are often moored in Simpson Bay.
   
• Political System: This island accommodates two nations which have existed peacefully for hundreds of years. To learn the island's History, search History in the Search window, top right. Borders between the nations are open, marked only by monuments which are a popular spot for pictures. The Dutch Side, "County St. Maarten," is a semi-autonomous nation within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The French Side is affiliated with France.