A Day trip To St. Eustatius from St. Martin
 

Can anyone suggest a tour operator to that island from St. Martin. I am looking for a day-long trip that would include round-trip transportation, a tour of St. Eustatius, free time. Thanks

You don't really need a "tour". Book a round-trip flight on Winair. If you book far enough ahead, you can do it for about $50 round-trip. Then when you get to Statia, hire a guide to take you to the Quill. We recommend some local guides in our Caribbean book.

Hi AV,

I live on Statia and would be happy to give you any advice that I can. I'd love to know where Doug is getting that $50 fare, too! ;) For those of us here on Statia it's now $150 R/T to St. Maarten. :( It is probably cheaper going the opposite direction, however, as Doug said.

I can recommend a guide or two if you want to tour The Quill (the volcano) or if you want to take a taxi tour around the island.

You can also rent a car for the day and easily see the island yourself. I can make recommendations on that, as well.

I'd be happy to answer any questions, so ask away. I'm an American expat who has lived here for 14 years.

I will also add that I'm not aware of any tour operators either here or or St. Maarten who offer an all-inclusive package for visiting Statia. Most of our tourists are either divers, eco-tourists, or history buffs, so there is just not really a market for it.

Statia, I would love to hear your recommendation for the best way to visit Statia. Would a day trip really do it justice? I would love to know what it's like on that island.

Islandgrl, you can honestly see the whole island in a day trip as it's very small. However, if you plan to hike the Quill or do any diving, then a couple days might be better so as not to be so rushed.

You can find a lot of info at our tourism website www.statiatourism.com

Let me know if you have any particular questions. I'd be happy to help. :)

About the $50 fare to Statia. I just plugged in a few dates in July and August and came up with several fares that were $20 or $26 each way, though I just did it again and found only $26 fares. (These were mostly on the 7am departures from St. Maarten and 9pm departures from Statia. Most of the fares, though, were $56 each way. I didn't consider departure taxes, which probably raise the fare.

Thanks for the info, Doug. I do know that specials can be had from SXM to here, but they never seem to transpire the opposite way for those of us needing to get TO SXM. :)

And, yes....the taxes alone on the fares with WinAir can sometimes be almost as much as a one way ticket.