St. Martin Travel Guide — Alyssa Hakanson

As soon as we had vaccines in our arms, we were ready for a trip. After considering that the vast majority of our restaurant visits in the last year have been takeout, I wanted good food. So when I read that St. Martin was known to have some of the best food in the Caribbean, I was in. Sun + sand + fabulous food? Sign me up.

Dubbed “The Friendly Island,” St. Martin/St Maarten - in the same neighborhood of the Caribbean as Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands - is the world’s smallest dual-nation island. Its 34 square miles are split between France (Saint Martin) and Netherlands (Sint Maarten). The border is porous, but locals insist that there are more differences between the two sides than their primary language and currency. That may be true: the Netherlands side has a big cruise port and the island’s largest airport, so it lends itself to a more touristy/party atmosphere; the French side insists it has better beaches and cuisine, and it’s the side known to host celebrities.

Summer 2021 Covid-19 note: the island is requiring all visitors to get tested before arrival. The Dutch side seems to be making the rules here since they have the bigger airport. See here for up-to-date travel requirements. You’ll need to fill out this form with your test results and flight info before you’re allowed in. We did rapid tests and submitted our form around noon the day before we travelled; they had us approved within hours. You’ll be better off if you print the approval form and bring it with you; they review it during customs.

You’ll get an automated email every morning reminding you to do a temperature check and asking if you have any symptoms; there doesn’t appear to be any consequence for not doing it (Joey forgot a few times), but it takes 30 seconds.

If you’re returning to a country that requires testing, you can get a free test at the French-run station behind this McDonald’s. They offer 120 free PCR tests every day, so get there early and do it several days before your flight. Otherwise, you can get a rapid test at many pharmacies. If you’re on the French side, go here. Tests are available for 75€ from 1pm-3pm each day, by appointment. (While you’re there, grab some French goodies. They have all the good brands!)

Both sides of the island have moved in and out of curfew during Covid. The French side tends to be stricter (when we visited, curfew was 8pm on the French side and 11pm on the Dutch side), and that’s the time when crossing the border isn’t quite as easy.

St. Martin Airbnb — Where to stay:

The first choice to make is whether you’d like to be on the French side or the Dutch. We wanted to be in a quieter area with easy access to the best restaurants, so we stayed in Grand Case on the French side. This is the Airbnb we booked, and my review is on there if you want to see my thoughts. Here’s the list of properties we considered.

Our travel style is a bit more off-the-beaten path than chilling-at-a-resort, but I think either of those styles is easily accommodated in St. Martin. There are a few pockets of resorts, but there are lots of condos and apartments for rent, and there are also plenty of smaller hotels (Le Petit Hotel was in our area and looked very cute).

The island is mountainous, and there are many amazing villas tucked into its hills. This one tempted us. This one makes me want to return with some friends. If we could find 6 other people to split the cost, maybe we’d stay here? I’m not sure there’s a bad area to stay; the island is small enough to get to any other point in less than half an hour by car, and beach-hopping is the best way to spend a week here.

We chose our Airbnb thinking we’d enjoy our little slice of the beach, but we ended up visiting a different beach club every day (more on that below). The benefit of staying in Grand Case was that once we were cleaned up after a long day in the sun, it was a quick walk to any number of truly remarkable restaurants. The west side of the island is also the best for sunset views:

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The Best Beaches and Beach Clubs

St. Martin famously has a beach for every day of the month, so we didn’t make it to all of them. I asked our host to direct us to some of his favorites, and he didn’t miss once. The beach club scene in St. Martin is excellent; for about 10€ for the day, you can rent a chair and umbrella to enjoy the beach. All beaches are public; it’s just the chairs and umbrellas that are private. The food at these clubs is not your typical beach fare; it’s fresh and elevated (it’s also not cheap).

Here are the ones we visited:

Rainbow Cafe (Grand Case): This beach club has the clearest water, cleanest sand, and amazing vibes. Their playlist was excellent, and their food was our favorite of the beach clubs. The Caribbean Salad with mahi-mahi ceviche was the best salad I’ve ever eaten, and Joey couldn’t stop talking about his poke bowl. Their “Ice Tea Baby” must be made with magic; it is so good. The only downside to this spot is that their chairs are the least comfortable of the clubs we visited; on the other hand, at 5€ each for the day, they were also the least expensive.
Kontiki Beach (Orient Bay): Try to get here on a weekend or a windy day, as the Atlantic side of the island is where the water sports are, and the locals are impressive. We spent a long day here watching kite surfers, wind surfers, and parasailers. This side of the island gets more seaweed, but the beaches are beautiful and Joey says it had the best sand for sand sculptures. Go with the Mahi Mahi burger here. (The curry shrimp was good, but not the right choice for a hot day at the beach.)
Grand Case Beach Club: This tiny resort was the quietest beach we visited, maybe because the guests tend to be a bit older, maybe because it’s tucked away in its own little bay. While we were there, I noticed that lots of locals came in through the public entrance to enjoy the beach. The beach club has a really remarkable dining area that sits above the water and has amazing sunset views. The water is very clear and calm.
Yellow Beach (Pinel Island): Pinel Island is only accessible via ferry or boat, so your options are limited, but the food at Yellow Beach was excellent, and the beach itself is beautiful. People tend to drop in via boat tour or kayak for a bucket of beer and some photos, but we passed a whole day here very pleasantly. This was also the spot where we saw the most animals - the island has a lot of iguanas, little bananaquit birds hop all over, and sea turtles and stingrays can be spotted. The restaurant is known for its whole grilled lobster, which they keep in a cage at the water’s edge for guests to choose from. They didn’t have any smaller ones when we were there, but we enjoyed the tuna tartare and crab salad very much!
Mullet Bay Beach: According to locals, this is one of the best beaches on the Dutch side. It’s quiet and there are only a few chair-providers and one lolo-style food spot. We stopped by to check it out and just sat on the sand. It was the clearest water but the dirtiest beach we visited; it wasn’t anything horrible, but not nearly as pristine as the other beaches. Lots of day-tour boats stop by to enjoy the water here. It’s worth a visit, but probably not a whole day.

Where to Eat

St. Martin truly is a foodie island, and there are more wonderful restaurants than we could visit in a week. But in addition to the beach clubs above, here are the restaurants we visited (roughly in order of how much we liked them):

Barranco (Grand Case): incredibly chic interiors and unforgettably delicious food. This one is a must-visit. I got the scallops (I always get the scallops), and Joey had the fish on ratatouille. Their gelato rivals the best I had in Italy, and I think maybe we should have visited here more than once. Get there in time to catch the sunset.
La Villa (Grand Case): a more old-school dining experience with fabulous French food. The standout dishes were the roasted sea scallops, rack of lamb, lobster ravioli, café liégeois, and pistacchio crème brûlée. Definitely go here if you’d like a break from seafood for more traditional French fare.
Sky’s the Limit (Grand Case): Lolos are the island name for roadside barbecue stands, and Grand Case has a set of them housed together. It looks like they’re connected, but it’s actually several different restaurants. Sky’s the Limit is the best of them. Get the garlic shrimp, potato salad, rice with red beans, and friend plantains. If you’re feeling brave, get the fried whole snapper; Joey loved it. And always order a johnny cake or two (fried dough) to sop up the juices. Wash it all down with some rum punch. I’d say skip the macaroni and the stuffed conch.
Island Flavor (Philipsburg): In a moment of hangry desperation, we smelled curry powder and landed at this dive for lunch. After half an hour of waiting in an empty restaurant for our food, we feared we made a mistake. But then plates of homemade Jamaican food were placed in front of us and we forgot about it all. The jerk chicken was spicy and remarkable; the breading on the fried chicken was spiced with curry powder, and the rice and red beans were the best I could imagine.
Chez Fernand (Marigot): this adorable French bakery would have been an every-morning occurrence had it been closer to our apartment. Their pastry case is overflowing with beautiful classics as well as fun twists on them.
Ocean 82 (Grand Case): This restaurant lands on all the must-visit lists, but I say skip it. While the sunset views are lovely, the service was just okay and the food didn’t live up to the hype. But if you do visit, get the lobster ravioli. It’s amazing.

A few restaurants that made my short list but we weren’t able to visit:

L'Auberge Gourmande (Grand Case): highly recommended by our host, but we couldn’t fit it in. French chef, French-Caribbean cuisine
Ocean Lounge (Philipsburg): This lovely seafood-forward restaurant is part of a beach club. If we’d spent an evening in Philipsburg, it likely would have been here.
Orange Fever (Orient Bay) : I heard nothing but good things about this beach club and its food, including from a few fellow travelers
Good Morning Cafe (Orient Bay): If you happen to stay in the Orient Bay area, stop by here for a simple breakfast.

Where to get groceries:

I love shopping in other countries, because it’s a peek into their priorities and food culture aside from what you can see in restaurants. (Example: in St. Martin, there is a whole freezer section for escargot!) If we stay somewhere for more than a few days, I always like to pick up a few items for breakfast and snacks to help save some money. The beach clubs don’t seem to care if you b.y.o., so we brought a small soft cooler with drinks most days. (My favorite drink in the world is this San Pellegrino, and I was so pleased to find it in St. Martin.)

On the French side, Super U is your best bet. It’s the nicest grocery store I’ve ever been in, and it’s about mile from Grand Case. It’s like Whole Foods with Aldi prices. They have fresh pastries and breads and anything you might need from a razor to liquor. If you need pharmacy items, there is one in that same parking lot, and it puts American pharmacies to shame! It has all the prestige French hair- and skincare brands I know and love, and you can also get a Covid test there.

There are small convenience stores throughout the island, but they are much more expensive and tend to have a small selection and feature highly processed foods. Skip them.

What to Do

It’s very easy to spend a week in St. Martin beach-hopping, and it’s how we spent most of our days. But should you get the urge to have a little adventure, there are other options:

Get on a boat: we spent a truly perfect day on a Random Winds day sail, and I can’t say enough good things about it. It was a top-5-days-of-my-life kind of day. Open bar, super friendly staff, and we were lucky to spend the day with a great group of fellow travelers. The price includes lunch and drinks, and the five hours on that boat will go faster than you can imagine.
Learn a water sport: if we’d had a longer stay, I think Joey would have learned kite surfing here. We watched them teach lessons the day we spent at Kontiki, and it looked like a great operation.
Check out Philipsburg: the capital of the Dutch side is also a big cruise ship port. It’s worth spending a few hours walking the boardwalk and checking out the duty-free jewelry stores. It was very quiet when we were there, as cruise ships aren’t currently allowed to stop in St. Maarten, but I imagine it’s normally quite lively.
Loterie Farm: if you get the urge to explore, head to this nature reserve for hiking and zip-lines in the mountains. They have a pool with cabanas for rent, and you’re likely to see some wildlife.

In Conclusion!

While it was planned as a spontaneous “It’s been so long! We need to go somewhere!” trip, the week we spent in St. Martin ended up being a time of true rest, relaxation, and simple luxury. We don’t tend to revisit places, but St. Martin might be able to tempt me back.

Even if we don’t return, I’ll never forget the sunsets, the perfect water, or the joy of dunking fresh French bread into various butter-and-wine based sauces. Is there anything better than that?

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