ktsharon

We would like to get from Barbados to St. Martin, but could only find a 3 hour plane ride with 3 stops along the way! Ugh... Does anyone know of a better way to travel between islands -- catamaran? sail? How much and how long???

Sunnyboy

St. Martin to Barbados is a long distance (about 450+ miles)and covers a lot of "blue water" so going by sail boat or catamaran would be tantamount to doing an ocean yacht race and take about 50+ hours of non-stop sailing (not something you would not want to do unless you are an experienced yachtsman). If you did charter a boat on St. Martin to make the trip you'd have the added cost of getting the boat and crew back to SXM - I'd guess you'd be talking about $3,000 to $5,000 for such a trip. If a 3 hour trip by air is too long for you imagine what it would be like going by boat. A power boat might be a little faster but just as rough and much more expensive. Really, the best and most economical way is to fly. One of the great misconceptions some people have is that the islands of the Caribbean are close together and you can easily sail between them. Unfortunately, that's not the case and it is often a case of "you can't get there from here".

ejcrowe

Even a flight with multi stops will get you from BGI to SXM much, much faster than a boat. There might be other local airline flights better than the one you found, but flying will be much better for this particular island combo. Hope you enjoy your trip!

ktsharon

thanks for your input. As I suspected, but thought it was worth a shot....

OT

Look at the 3 hr island hop as an adventure and be prepared for delays.

I always get into "island mode" during the island hopping flights, seeing the local and tourist get on and off, the time passes very quickly.

just be patient..