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

HURRICANE: SXM made an astounding recovery from Hurricane Irma which struck in September, 2017. The island is new everywhere, 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 update our Weather Center on this site every year both before and during hurricane season. Click "Weather" (below the masthead) 24/7/365 for 2024 tropical weather forecasts, watches, and warnings, as well as current satellite images and radar loops. That page contains a great deal of valuable information.

Get our free weekly St. Maarten / St. Martin / SXM Weekly News newsletter -- loaded with tourist-oriented info every week. Now more than 380,000 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 "2024 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 confirming 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 recent issues of SXM Weekly News, visit our SXM Weekly News PDF Archives (being updated soon). We generally update the Archives with the latest issues within a few weeks after their cover date -- so the best way to see the news when it happens is to subscribe directly as noted above.

Real Estate:

• Many of you are interested in SXM real estate -- residential or commercial. Our JMB SXM Web Media Sponsors are the best SXM Realtors; you'll find them listed in every edition of SXM Weekly News, and you'll see information about them in our Everything SXM Facebook Group, which now has almost 40,000 active members.

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Protection for Suddenly Needed Emergency Medical Evacuations When You Travel (not just SXM):

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Go here for Facebook. Post your SXM pictures & trip reports, ask/answer SXM questions, and lots more on our Everything SXM Facebook Group. Nearly 40,000 members!


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

Our Key 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 info about St. Maarten / St. Martin / SXM (Also use the links to the lift for much more island info):

• 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 Toppers Rhum Distillery / Gelateria (being updated now) to sunset cruises, trips to neighboring islands, lagoon Pub Crawls, the extraordinary Tijon parfumerie on the French Side where you can create your own perfume, our beaches, and lots more.
   
• Getting Here: 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. The airport's rebuilding process is expected to be fully completed by Q2 '24.
   
• Cruises: 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 a 110 volt system, 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 RIGHT) 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 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 or close to par with dollars; they'll usually have signage that says $1=€1. That happens quite widely now since the currencies for the moment are reasonably close to parity. See the current Euro / Dollar relationship here.

• 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 has a US/Canada-style area code, 721. 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 from your cell phone, laptop, or tablet.
   
• Megayachts: During high season, December through March, hundreds of megayachts and super-megayachts moor in St. Maarten's Simpson Bay lagoon, while the largest superyachts, hundreds of feet in length, moor at the cruise ship terminal or in Simpson Bay on the Dutch Side. Some other large yachts anchor in the harbor at Marigot, on the French Side. In season you'll find pictures of these huge yachts in our main Everything SXM Facebook Group.
   
• 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 that 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.