St Maarten guidance & restaurants
 

In search of restaurant recommendations in Philipsburg, airport transportation & activities. We leave in a month.

We are staying in Holland House which is evidently right next to Philipsburg. Because we're staying only a few days we don't want to rent a car, so which restaurants in town should we be sure to visit? We're not foodies but do appreciate a good, reasonably priced meal. Is it true that the town shuts down at 5 PM?

How best to get from SXM to the hotel? Do we need to be wary of taxis?

I've read here that snorkeling on hotel beaches isn't very good. Is the snorkeling good enough to bother with a 1/2 day boat trip somewhere? Any recommendations?

It looks like the ferry to Anguilla leaves from Marigot only - is it possible to get to another island from Philipsburg without spending an arm & a leg?

Anything else we should keep in mind? Thanks!

I think you're making a huge mistake in not renting a car. While there are a lot of great restaurants in Phillipsburg, the best on the island are on the French side and reachable only by car. And cars in St. Maarten are among the cheapest in the Caribbean. Taxis are difficult, however. And the best beaches on the island can only be reached by car.

There is a ferry from the St. Maarten airport to Anguilla, but I'd still recommend driving to Marigot and then taking the ferry.

I'm not sure who warned you off taxis to your hotel, but there's no need to worry about that, though I still recommend a car.

Thanks so much for the response, though I've spent the day trying to find another option as the Holland House is evidently booked solid (why on earth it's still posted as a vacancy on this consolidator's website is beyond me). Just switched to Cheapcaribbean.com to Grenada so hopefully that will work out instead.

Have you changed your travel plans to St. Maarten then? Holland House is a nice hotel and I cna give you some suggestions for philipsburg dining, etc., if you are still coming to St. Maarten.
FYI, town does not close down at 5 PM and the ferry to Anguilla runs all day, and you do not need to be wary of taxis.

Yes, unfortunately we really wanted to stay within walking distance of restaurants & beach, and since nothing else reasonable was available we're shelving our SXM plans for a future trip. We have a pretty strict budget this time so car rental would have put us over the top.

I'll probably be posting some questions about Grenada once I've researched a bit more and figured out what those questions might be!

You'll love Grenada but FYI the Holland House is right on the beach. There is a lovely boardwalk lining the beach which is full of beach bars and restaurants....all withing easy walking distance.
it's always nice to rent a car to see the whole island but you certainly would not have had to do that if you were only staying a few days.