mcemailloux

I will be on a cruise in February which stops at St. Maarten. How long would it take to walk from the pier to the town of Philipsburg? 10/15 minutes? Or is it too far and taking a taxi would be necessary?

A_Traveller

The pier is in Phillipsburg.

A_Traveller

Just to clarify, when you get off the boat you'll be right in the middle of the main shopping area.

mcemailloux

The reading I've done says that the ship docks at the Wathey Pier which is 1 mile from Philipsburg and that you might want to take a taxi to get to the town, or walk. One of the shore excursions says to first take a taxi from the ship to Front Street (which I assume is considered downtown) because the excursion starts there. So that's why I'm assuming that it's a bit of a distance from where the ship docks to downtown Philipsburg.

A_Traveller

Most ships actually drop anchor in Great Bay and you take a launch to Wathey Pier which is on Front Street. There are shops, restaurants, etc. all along Front Street, 2/3's of which will be west of the pier and 1/3 will be will be east of the pier. I can't make it any plainer, if you disembark at Wathey Pier you will be right in the midst of downtown Phillipsburg.

Statia

A Traveller, you might be thinking of Captain Hodge Pier, which is smack in the middle of town. The ships that anchor tender their passengers to that peir.

Wathey Pier is the fairly new cruise terminal and is a bit outside of town. It's about a mile off Front Street and you can either walk or take a taxi to get to Front Street.

A_Traveller

OK I stand corrected. I thought the area I was talking about was was known as Wathey Square (at least that is what it said on my map).

Statia

A Traveller, you are correct in that the square at Captain Hodge Wharf or Pier is called Cyrus Wathey Square, but the new cruise terminal just outside of town is also named after Mr. Wathey. So, I can easily see your confusion.

BTW - When many ships are in port, only two can berth the big pier and the rest go to anchorage in Great Bay, so you might end up going to Captain Hodge Wharf in town anyhow, mcemailloux.

mcemailloux

Thanks Statia for that clarification. It's very helpful.

Mochi

We love St. Martin and my husband and I visit St. Martin 1-2 times a year. I do not mean to offend anybody, but frankly speaking, we both dislike Philipsburg. It has very seedy feel.

There are lots of electronic and Jewelry shops there because it is duty free island. We looked at the price of some items but I was not impressed – yes, you do not have to pay tax, but if the item is priced high, there are a little or no savings to consumers. So, do your homework before doing any shopping in the island. Don’t assume that product is less expensive because it is duty free. Cruise ship day is extremly crowded and unpleasant - we even check cruise ship schedule calendar to avoid going to the town those days.

If you are visiting the island and have a short time to explore the island, do visit great beaches, such as Orient Beach, Baie Rouge. Town of Marigot, located in French side is charming. It is like spending time in small tropical French beach town.

Barbara1

most of the cruise ships come in to the cruise ship dock or pier. Many passengers do walk from there to the center of town.
It spends on how energetic you feel. you can also take water taxis which deliver you to the center of town.
some cruise ships... very few...anchor out and tender you in to the Captain Hodge Pier which is directly in the center of town.
Philipsburg has a boardwalk which extends from the Greenhouse Restaurant (near Bobby's Marina and not far from the cruise ship dock} down to the Sea Palace Hotel.
The boardwlak and beach are lined with restaurants and beach activities.
Just off the Boardwlak is Front Street with its many colorful duty free shops.

Statia

Mochi, I would normally agree with you on preferring Marigot over Phillipsburg, but the boardwalk of Phillipsburg and Front Street have recently been revamped and it's actually nicer than Marigot now, IMO.

We live on a nearby island and go to SXM several times a year, and our last two trips to Marigot were quite dissapointing. The area was full of trash, bums and reeked something awful. We were quite disheartened because we have always preferred Marigot, but we opted to spend more time in Phillipsburg our past two trips.

Barbara1

Mochi
Statia is right.
the new boardwalk in Philipsburg is delightful.
and Front Street has been beautified. the town has a whole different feel to it now.

Mochi

Statia and Barbara 1,

Yes, I admit – my husband and I dislike Philipsburg so much that we did not even go into the town on our last visit to SXM (12/30/05 to 1/4/06). Perhaps, we’ll give it a try and see the new boardwalk. But we still do not like those seedy electronic and jewelry stores though.

doccus

Statia,
We are heading to Statia this June. I would appreciate any advice you would have to offer. We are staying at the old gin house and diving with Golden
Rock. Thanks.
doccus

Statia

doccus, I can tell you that the Gin House is the nicest hotel on the island (I actually had dinner there last night) and Glen & Michelle at Golden Rock Dive Center are dear friends of mine.

Have you checked out the Statia Tourism website for further info?

www.statiatourism.com

Otherwise, I'd be glad to answer any specific questions you might have.

If you are into hiking or ecotourism, be sure to plan a trip up and into the Quill, and see the Botanical Garden. As for restaurants other than Gin House, don't miss The Blue Bead.

What dates are you arriving?

doccus

We will be on statia june 10-17th. The statia tourism website was very helpful but it is always nice to talk with someone from the location for recs on where to eat, what to see, etc. It sounds like our kind of place....great diving, with a slow pace topside. We hope to spend a day going into the Quill...and back out.
John

Statia

Feel free to email me if you have any further questions, John. I can also recommend Smoke Alley for casual dining and nightlife. It's just down the road from Gin House.

[email protected].