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

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GET ABOUT 300 SXM DISCOUNTS & OTHER BENEFITS WHEN YOU
JOIN OUR SXM ISLAND DISCOUNT PROGRAM!

CLICK THE PAGE CURL (TOP RIGHT OF THIS PAGE) FOR INFO ON THE
"JMB WEBSITE SUPPORTERS" ISLAND DISCOUNT PROGRAM. WE
ALSO THROW MEMBERS-ONLY SXM ISLAND PARTIES AND
MEMBERS-ONLY GIVEAWAYS. CHECK US OUT TODAY.

Click for the SXM weather forecast
Current Cole Bay live (real-time) weather observation:

Click either of the above for more detailed info on SXM weather.

These compare to the current weather at JMB's main US office in Plymouth, Massachusetts:

Click for Plymouth's forecast

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

HURRICANE: SXM has made an astounding recovery from Hurricane Irma. The island is clean, green, and welcoming, with plenty of accommodations,
gorgeous beaches (including clothing-optional), amazing restaurants of all kinds, and great jewelry bargains on Front Street, Philipsburg. Lots to see and
do everywhere. Come!

WEATHER: We've hugely updated our Weather page. Click "Weather" (below the masthead) 24/7/365 for 2019 tropical weather forecasts, watches,
and warnings, as well as for current satellite images and satellite loops. The page contains a great deal of valuable information.

First: Check out our JMB Website Supporters ISLAND DISCOUNT PROGRAM. About 300 discounts and other benefits across St. Maarten &
St. Martin at very low prices! Go here for more info, or scroll down to "Fourth" to see membership highlights.

Second:
Get our free weekly St. Maarten / St. Martin / SXM Weekly News newsletter -- loaded with tourist-oriented info every week. Now more than 332,000 readers around the world.

• Includes info on airlines serving SXM, weather, cruises, up-to-the minute accommodations news (hotels, timeshares, villas), restaurants, beach updates, shopping, and tons more.
• Go here to sign up. The "2018 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 devices -- that usually works. Or, 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 generally 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.

Third:

• Many of you are interested in SXM real estate -- residential or commercial. We have a page with lots of selections from the best real estate people on SXM. You'll find it here.

Fourth:

Get About 300 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: Look here. Low prices!
  
  
  Protect your family with peace-of-mind medical evacuation membership from SkyMed:
  

  
  Post your SXM pictures & trip reports, ask/answer SXM questions, and lots more on our Everything SXM Facebook Site. Lots of info here!

Fifth: Check out our newest page, SXM's top timeshares and smaller hotels.

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. 

On our site -- first launched in 1993 -- 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 Airfare Guidelines to "SXM": This link, both above and to the left, is your source for low fare info 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 large and ultramodern Princess Juliana International Airport -- "SXM" -- also welcomes flights from Paris, Amsterdam, Panama, and locations in South America, as well as air charters. In season, many private jets are parked on airport property, including occasional private 737 and widebody 767 & 777 jets. SXM Airport is the second largest Caribbean hub behind San Juan.
   
• 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. Using plug adapters on the French system, you will 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 still the official Dutch Side currency, despite the fact that the Netherlands Antilles ceased to exist as such in October, 2010. 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.  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 quite widely now since the currencies for the moment are close to parity. See the current Euro / Dollar relationship here. (Updated 2/2016.)

• 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. Watch for island news of interest to tourists, and phone news, in our free SXM Weekly News; subscribe free here. To dial the French Side from the Dutch, you must dial 011 first -- the access code for international calls. You may also need to input a + sign on your phone before the 011 -- that tells your phone you're calling internationally. To call US numbers, dial + plus the number as you would dial it in the US. You cannot dial 800 numbers from local cell phones in SXM; do that using Skype.
   
• Megayachts: During high season, December through March, scores 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. In season you'll find pictures of these huge yachts on our main Everything St. Maarten Facebook page.
   
• Political System / History of St. Maarten and St. Martin: This island accommodates two nations which have existed peacefully without borders for hundreds of years. To learn the island's History, search History in the Search window, top right, or just go here. 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.