How to Get Around in St. Maarten

After arriving by boat and anchoring in or near the Lagoon, getting around in St. Maarten can quickly become confusing. 

St. Maarten and St. Martin (collectively known as SXM) are two countries on a single island, and getting between both sides is seamless, even though there’s no Uber and a mix of languages and currencies.

When we first cruised here, we weren’t sure if we needed to rent a car, flag down a bus, or just hoof it in the heat with our dog, Mangaux.

After 4 visits now to SXM since 2024, we have spent over 3 months here staying on both the French and Dutch sides, mostly in or near the Lagoon. 

We have learned that the best way to get around St. Maarten from its many dinghy docks is by walking to the many restaurants and bars, taking the cruiser shuttles on Fridays for major grocery provisions, and renting a car or taking an island tour to explore the island. 

Taxis are best for getting to and from the airport with lots of luggage.

We take the buses when we want to reach specific spots like Orient Beach, and they add a fun local flair.

To get the real Caribbean experience, you need to hop on a bus!

Just like getting around in Grenada, buses in St. Maarten are actually passenger vans or  minibuses that hold approximately 15 people. They are easy to identify with signs, often white in red lettering, in the windshield that say where they are headed, such as “Marigot”, “Philipsburg”, “Maho”, or “Orient”.

There are not always dedicated bus stops. There is a bus station in Marigot (indicated on the map above), and you can find “bushalte”, or bus stop huts, on the Dutch side. However, there is no map or app to find the location of them, and not all of them are labeled as “bushalte”. 

The best advice to catch a bus is to look for the bus stops, and if you don’t see any, simply hail a bus as you would a taxi on the main roads. Be sure to be on the side of the road in the direction you wish to go.

Last season, we took a bus to a doctor’s appointment near the Dutch hospital from Cole Bay. We left our dinghy at Budget Marine and walked along the main road until we caught a bus going in the direction we wanted to go. The bus driver was very friendly and told us when to get off and where to go to get to our destination.

For our return bus trip, we found a “bushalte” near where we got dropped off, and waited there for approximately 5 minutes before a bus came by to take us back to Cole Bay.  This trip cost us $1.50 USD per person each way.

The buses are independently owned, so some may have air conditioning, but some may not. They are typically crowded during peak morning and afternoon hours, roughly around 8 am and 4 pm when locals are heading to and from work.

All buses, however, do not allow dogs, so plan accordingly if you need to travel with your pup.

Pros and Cons

From the dinghy docks, you can walk to restaurants, grocery stores, marine chandleries, and even Kim Sha beach.

Most dinghy docks are actually owned by restaurants and marine chandleries (Lagoonies, Island Water World and Budget Marine to name a few of them) and allow you to use their dinghy dock whether you visit their restaurant / store that day or not. 

We always try to visit them at least a couple of times during our stay on the island (we often visit the marine chandleries more than we care to, so that is not an issue!), but we have never had any issues with any of the dinghy docks listed on the map above.

⚓Note: Dinghy Dock Sailors Bar does require you to visit their establishment to use their dinghy dock. This is important to note because they are the closest dinghy dock to dropping off and picking up family and friends from the airport.

Marigot has some grassy areas you can use to walk your dog, and both Budget Marine and Island Water World allow dogs in the stores. We have also found that most restaurants are dog friendly as well, which makes it one of our favorite stops when sailing with a dog in the Caribbean.

On Sunday Funday, we often dock our dinghy at the Sint Maarten Yacht Club dinghy dock and walk over to the Buccaneer Beach Bar on Kim Sha Beach. 

⚓ Local tip: If you order lunch at the Buccaneer Beach Bar, you can use the beach chairs and umbrellas at no extra cost, and they have “kids night” on Friday evenings when a lot of the boat kids get together to hang out.

There are some challenges to walking, however, as many places don’t have sidewalks. And as with any town on any island, it’s best to stay vigilant and safer to walk around during daylight hours.

Pros and Cons

Get Around St. Maarten with Cruiser Shuttles

While there are several grocery stores walking distance to the dinghy docks, sometimes you really need to stock up. Whether you ran out of groceries after sailing the Thorny Path, or you are provisioning for sailing down to the Leeward Islands, carrying a large amount of groceries becomes a bit of a challenge.

This is when it is best to hop on the Cruiser Shuttle. During our first sail to St. Martin, we heard about it on the cruiser net and have used it at least twice.

It runs every Friday morning at 9:30 am from Island Water World (get there by 9:00 am to save your seat on the shuttle), and it will take you to a large Carrefour grocery store and Cost U Less store (it’s very much like Costco without the membership requirement, and located across the street from Carrefour). 

You can expect to typically return back to the dinghy dock at Island Water World no later than 12:00 noon.

The cost is $6 USD per person round trip.

Don’t forget to bring your shopping bags.

What I loved the best about taking the cruiser shuttle was meeting new cruisers each time we went, and not having to carry all of our groceries from the store back to the dinghy dock.

We really like to stock up well on our groceries in St. Maarten as we find the groceries to be less expensive than grocery shopping in Grenada, Antigua, or other Eastern Caribbean islands.

Pros and Cons

If you want to explore more parts of the island, renting a car is the way to go.

When our friends came to St. Maarten to visit us, we rented a car from Tropicana Car Rental on the Dutch side. We were able to pick them all up and drop them off at the airport, and had full access to the island while they were here.

Renting from Tropicana Car Rental was easy too because they picked us up at Lagoon Marina where we had our boat and dropped us off there at the end of our rental. We paid just over $700 USD for a van (there were 8 of us!) for 1 week.

Driving on the island was pretty easy (for us Americans), as they drive on the right side of the road. However, traffic gets a bit heavy around the airport and Cole Bay in the afternoons/evenings. It can also be challenging to find a parking spot in some areas.

The good news is you can drive freely across the French and Dutch border. There are no border checks or requirements to check into the other country.

Pros and Cons

Taxis in St. Maarten

If you just need a quick lift, for example to or from the airport, taxis are a great option.

⚓Note: There is no Uber, Lyft, or other ride sharing service in SXM. Taxis are your only option for this type of service.

Taxis don’t use meters or have a fixed rate, so ask what the cost will be before you start your ride. 

We have not used a taxi yet, but other cruisers have informed me that the cost from the airport 1.5 miles (2.5 km) to the Dinghy Dock Sailors Bar cost them $10 USD.

Pros and Cons

Island Tours on St. Martin

Once you’ve cleared into St. Maarten and settled in, getting around the island becomes part of the adventure.

As cruisers, we treat getting around St. Martin and St. Maarten as part of the adventure. We run errands, explore ashore, and make memories with visiting family and fellow cruisers.

Need to stock up? The cruiser shuttle handles provisioning without requiring a rental car. Shopping for boat parts? Take the dinghy. Want time off the boat? Walk to the beach or grab a drink at a local bar.

When friends or family visit, we book tours to show them the highlights without playing taxi.

Two nations share this island, and SXM delivers an endless variety of French pastries in the morning, Dutch grocery runs in the afternoon, and turquoise anchorages all around.

Whether you anchor for a week or stop for a day, you can navigate SXM with confidence and choose the option that fits your plans.