VISITING ST MARTIN FOR THE DAY (w/Amigo Tours)

Some of the ports we visited while on our week long cruise was beautiful while some were just a working port.  St Martin was one of those ports you pulled into and the water was beautiful and the port was clean and well maintained.

AROUND THE PORT

St Martin / St Maarten is the world's smallest territory shared by two countries.  The northern part is French and called St Martin and the southern part is Dutch and called St Maarten.  Our cruise ship docked in Philipsburg which is the capital of Sint Maarten.

If you don't want to stray far from the cruise ship, the port is beautiful and will find many places to visit and photograph.

We were so surprised to find these baby chicks in port.  The mama hen was just walking around with a trail of little ones behind her.  It reminded me of home.

TOURING OUTSIDE OF THE PORT

We booked the "St Maarten Highlights" tour of the island through AMIGO TOURS for $42.00. It is one that I highly recommend. You will get to see a lot of the island on this tour but if you are looking for more beach time, I would choose another tour. We didn't get to go to Orient beach because it is closed because of Hurricane damage but we did have 45 minutes at Maho Beach.

If you decide to take a tour with AMIGO TOURS, you will need to head to the back of the port area. You go past the taxi area and look for a large white tent. We toured in a large comfortable van and were provided water, soda, beer, and "local punch."

We stopped at several scenic locations.  Sometimes we stayed in the van as our guide pointed out interesting facts and other times we unloaded and spent a few minutes photographing the view.

We stopped at one area were we able to feed the iguanas.   

Marigot

MARIGOT

We stopped in Marigot, the capital of the French St Martin, for a restroom break and a few minutes of shopping.  Before Hurricane Irma, the town was filled with designer boutiques and great restaurants. Though many of these businesses are closed, you can still shop the open-air market along the waterfront.  

Marigot

Marigot

Marigot

Some of the hurricane damage in Marigot

MAHO BEACH

Of course, our last stop was at Maho Beach.  Out of the eight countries we visited, Maho Beach was the one I was the most excited about.  I won't go into detail about the countless photos and videos I showed all of my friends, relatives, and coworkers of planes flying low over the beach.  

Let's just say they were glad to see me go and were not surprised that the first photo to show up on my Facebook cover was of a plane getting ready to land at Princess Juliana Airport.

You can read about my experience at Maho Beach HERE.  It is considered one of the most dangerous beaches in the world.

If you are interested in finding out more about the hurricane damage in St Martin & St Maarten, you can check out my post HERE.