We are planning a vacation to St. Kitts end of March/April 2009; however, our flight cannot get us into St. Kitts on the day we wish to travel, but can get us into St. Maarten. Can anyone tell us the best way to get from St. Maarten to St. Kitts without costing an arm and a leg? The flight we checked into (1/2 hour flight) would cost us apx. $300 for both of us. Is there a ferry ride from St. Maarten to St. Kitts that we could take on Sat., March 28, that would be more feasible? Would appreciate any help - the cost per person - length of time from one island to the other, etc. Thanks so much (we will have luggage). If you know the times of departure, that would help, too -- as we would arrive in St. Maarten around 2:30 p.m. We do not need round trip as our flight out of St. Kitts takes us back to the U.S. Thanks!!

There are at least a couple of small airline services that fly out of St. Kitts. Have you checked all of the connections for all of the air services?

St. Kitts is close enough to St. Maarten to be like an air taxi hop between the islands. Last time I was there, there was a regular airline with 2 engine liners and a couple of smaller air taxi services with single-engine 4 or 5 passenger planes.

Thanks for your quick reply. I checked Liat airlines and they go from St. Maarten to St. Kitts in the afternoon and as I said in my first post, the cost with fees and taxes, etc., came to $299 for 2 of us! Outrageous, I thought, for a half hour flight! That's why I thought perhaps there is another route to go -- boat/ferry -- I'm still checking, though! Thanks!!

That's a typical fee (i.e., about $150 per person). It would be a lot cheaper without the taxes, but St. Maarten has a new airport, and taxes support it.

You might be able to check the cost from Barbados, but the taxes are high there as well, so I'm not sure it's going to help.

For what it's worth, Liat is headquartered in Antigua, so the number of connections there is generally more, though I can't tell you about the fares off-hand.

You might also check connections from San Juan, Puerto Rico. I did that once to St. Kitts.

Thanks, Doug...it looks as though I am going to have to pay that fare from the sounds of it. I was hoping there might have been a daily ferry service of some sort that could take you from St. Maarten to various islands...no? Anyway...appreciate your help.

Wayne...I did check San Juan, too -- the flights are just as expensive, if not more so...if only there were seats available on the flight directly to St. Kitts on the day I'm flying -- but they told me no...but could get me to St. Maarten. I'm using frequent flyer miles, so I'm rather limited with the airline I'm using.

Big Wink,

I see this is your first post. You posted this in the US forum. If you will post it in the Carribean Forum you will get a lot more responses.

Flying is your only viable option and LIAT (www.liatairline.com)and Winair (www.fly-winair.com) are the only two airlines that fly between St. Martin and St. Kitts.

The flight itself is about 30 to 35 minutes. Visit the respective websites for schedules and fares. Depending on dates and times you fly you can expect r/t fares to be in the range of $250US to $275US per person (half that for one-way).

There's no ferry service between St. Martin and St. Kitts.

Spirobulldog: Thank you for the tip. I am new to this and wasn't sure which was the best route to take...but thank you for suggesting I go on the Caribbean forum rather than the U.S. Makes sense.

RoamsAround: Thank YOU for your input. I had already looked into Liat and Winair, and that is when I found out it was going to cost $300 for the two of us to fly just one way to St. Kitts -- and that it was about a half hour flight. You answered the other question I had concerning a ferry -- which you said there is not. Guess I either cough up the $300 fare or continue to search for a flight that will take me directly to St. Kitts instead. Thanks for your help on this!!