You Will Love Experiencing St Maarten

By Claudine Hodges


Visiting a nice holiday destination always pays off. St Maarten is a place where one should try and escape too at least once in their lives. It is a tropical island in the Caribbean just a few miles east of Puerto Rico. One will find duty free shopping with vibrant nightlife and beautiful beaches.

This airport serves Dutch speaking parts of this island and on the French side, there is another called L'Esperance Airport. It is known for its very low height flyover landings as the end of the runway is very close to the Maho Beach. Many tourists make their way there just to see the airplanes land and take off. If standing behind the aircraft while it is revving its engines to take off, one has to really hold on to the fence as the force of the wind is tremendous.

Driving around to find ones accommodation can be tricky as the road markings and signs are not the best. It is better to stop and ask for directions as one can be told that the hotel is just behind the third tree on the left. Up to date road maps are however freely available from the Tourist Office and from a few different stores.

All boats entering do so by going through two moving bridges, one from the French side and the other from the Dutch. Once these bridges are moving all traffic will come to a stand still for about ten minutes. From Mondays to Saturdays they are raised three times a day at set intervals and on Sundays only twice a day.

The second part is the erection of a new control tower and radar facilities. The terminals will be modernized and the runway will have an end safety area added. This was completed in 2006. Phase three will happen if the traffic increases and the terminal buildings will be made larger and a full taxiway system will be put into play. They do have certain stops where one will need to wait and lift a hand to flag shuttles down while there.

If one is more into the sitting on the beach and soaking up the sun while people watching there are some fantastic beaches to visit. The Orient Beach has lots of different restaurants and vendors and if one wishes hiring umbrellas and chairs for the day is common. As it is one of the main beaches it can become a bit crowded at times.

In order to visit all passengers must have a completed an immigration form which is handed to each person while still in the air. They need to be filled out truthfully with an exact address where one will be staying. Each visitor will need to have a valid passport as well as a return ticket.

Happy Bay beach on the French side of the island is fairly empty. There are no restaurants but plenty of palm trees, sea and sand. This beach is for those that prefer to be where nature takes over but it is advisable to leave before dark as there is no help if an accident happens once the sun sets.




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