Sint Maarten was discovered by Christopher Columbus during his second voyage to the new world. However, it wasn’t until 1624 that the first European settlers, the Dutch, settled on the island attracted by the salt and tobacco. Sint Maarten has a rich history and a diverse culture.The island's tourism is influenced by its historical divisions, with the northern part being French and the southern part being Dutch. This division has led to a unique blend of cultures, reflected in the island's architecture, cuisine, and festivals.
Sint Maarten is another favorite place to be – we have probably been there around 16 times 😊. We used to go to our favorite beach, Orient Beach, in the early years, but after Hurricane Maria hit in 2017 and wiped out most of the beaches, we haven’t returned there and usually spend our time wandering around Phillipsburg’s jewelry stores and bars☹. This time, however, we wanted more beach time on our last port day before returning home, so we decided to find a place on Phillipsburg’s main street alongside the bay. We walked from the ship through the cruise terminal (it’s gigantic) and bought return tickets for the water taxi that goes to the two terminals in town. The tickets were $5 a person return, which is a pretty good deal 😊. It takes about 20 minutes each way but it’s a pleasant trip as you travel across the bay and see the whole waterfront of Phillipsburg. We found a nice area to sit where we were able to rent 3 chairs and 2 umbrellas for $25 on the beach about 10 feet from the water 😊. It had a great view of the whole of the harbour, you could see over to the cruise terminal where about 6 cruise ships were docked, you could see the resorts on the other side of the harbour, and watch the sea doos and watercraft scurrying back and forth 😊. After about 2 hours we went to our favorite jewelry store where we know the owners and have bought tons of jewelry, but this time just to say hello 😊. We had told a couple of people onboard the ship about the store and they had already been and bought some necklaces – it always pays to advertise 😊. We talked with the owners for a while, and of course they provided us with free drinks 😊. We then checked out a couple of stores before heading over to a bar we liked, ‘Dirty Sanchos’, were we sat, had drinks, and watched people go by. We took the water taxi back to the ship having had again, a wonderful time in Sint Maarten 😊.