St Maarten Travel Guides (Updated September 2026)

Raj is great very informative about the island and the history we enjoyed our day We had a great group to travel with

Pinel Island was truly the highlight of our trip. Nick was an exceptional guide very knowledgeable, friendly, and incredibly patient! He took us on a wonderful hike, introduced us to the local wildlife, and made our snorkeling experience enjoyable with the turtles. His patience and attention to detail made the entire experience even more memorable. We had an amazing time and would highly recommend this experience to anyone visiting the island!!

Our excursion was amazing and Nick the best, thank you 🫶🥰

We had a great experience on the island tour. Very informative and also answered all our questions without hesitation. Don't forget your towel and change of clothes. You will have a wonderful time.

Thank you so much Anthony for an amazing day. He was experienced and knowledgeable of everywhere we went. The fee was definitely reasonable and worth it. We had a great time driving around the Dutch and French side of the island. Thank you again Anthony it was a great Birthday celebration

We toured the entire island on our own in a side by side. The interactive map they provided was extremely helpful! I highly recommend using this company and exploring on your own so you can stop, eat, shop, swim or grab a drink wherever you would like. We started at 10 AM and come back around 3:00 but could have stayed out until 5:00. Best way to explore the island. Friendly and extremely communicative business.

It was a great experience, I give it a 10 out of 10. My family and I will be back soon, everything was very good.

Excellent service via email; they always answered all our questions. The buggy we got was a 10 out of 10. We loved being able to explore the island on our own.

We had an amazing experience touring Saint Maarten with Flamboyant Tours through Cool Destinations! Our tour guide, Alex, was outstanding—friendly, personable, and incredibly knowledgeable about the island's history and culture. He made the tour fun, engaging, and informative from start to finish.We visited Sunset Beach to watch the planes fly overhead, explored the Fort, enjoyed the Bird Park (with admission included by the tour company), and even experienced the beautiful Moses Walk. Every stop was well planned, and we never felt rushed.Alex's passion for the island really shined through, and he made sure everyone was comfortable and had a great time. If you're looking for a memorable way to experience Saint Maarten, I highly recommend Flamboyant Tours. Thank you, Alex, for helping make our family vacation even more special!

We Culture: The Carnival Experience" tells the story of Carnival in the Caribbean. It is just past the airport. The owner is from Trinidad. He made most of the costumes in the collection! Carnival in most Caribbean countries is not the traditional European Carnival. That carnival is celebrated before Ash Wednesday and comes from the Latin "carne levare" (to remove meat). Caribbean carnivals are celebrated at various times of the year and derive from slave rebellions. (Sint-Maarten's carnival is on from April through the beginning of May.) The museum includes a bar, designed by the owner's wife, where you can get complimentary drinks. The figures on the bar are three-dimensional and you can pat their patooties!When you walk into the first room, you see many costumes on display. A guide gave me a 45-minute tour of the exhibits. (I was the only one on the tour. Peak season ends at Easter and the day I visited there were no cruise ships in Philipsburg, so it was very quiet.) My guide wore two of the costumes in the display. An unusual costume is called "Burrokeet" and is a woman riding a donkey. This type of costume was brought by Venezuelan immigrants.Many of the costumes were designed to scare people. "Jab Molassie" dates from the mid-1800s. Ex-slaves daubed themselves with black molasses to conceal their identities when they played the devil. "Jab Molassie" is a mispronunciation of the French words for devil and molasses. One of the traditional characters is the "Bookman" . His book contains a list of naughty people. If you pay the Bookman, he will erase your name. At a meeting of Amoco oil representatives and international leaders, the owner's father played the "Bookman". When the oil executives did not pay (they thought it was a joke), he told how they damaged the environment and mistreated their workers.Prior to the mid-1960s, Carnival was a man's world. The owner's mother wanted to get women involved. She made sketches of carnival costumes in 1965-71. Today most of the participants are women. Their costumes may contain less material, but they cost a lot more! One room shows a timeline of carnival, so you can see how it evolved over the years. After my tour was over, I was able to browse through the exhibits on my own. Then my guide walked me to a large hotel and put me in a taxi back to my hotel.I highly recommend a visit to this museum to learn more about Carnival and experience this tradition.

Ms.Karen was a wonderful driver. She is attentive, knowledgeable and safe! My family and I were so blessed to have found her for our beautiful stay in St.Maarten. We will certainly be back and will book her again! 10/10 we recommend!

Kelvin was amazing. He showed us all around the island. Before the trip we were contacted and asked about our preferences and what we would and wouldn’t like to do. We had a general idea and wanted to focus on the history and see the highlights and scenic parts of the island. He delivered! So many amazing things to see and experience - from the bird sanctuary, the fort, the monuments, and of course the airplane beach. Plenty of drinks on board and true island hospitality. Recommending to our family who plans to visit in Feb. thank you again!

I would like to take this opportunity to give a huge shout-out to CELEB Tours SXM and especially Ms. Careen, who was simply amazing from start to finish!Upon arrival, our group was greeted with a beautiful birthday welcome sign. When we reached the van, we were pleasantly surprised to find it decorated with balloons, a delicious cake, and personalized cookies. It was such a thoughtful touch that immediately made our celebration feel special.Ms. Careen maintained constant communication throughout our stay, ensuring that everyone in our group was picked up and transported safely and on time. She coordinated multiple airport transfers, picking up part of our group on the first day and returning the next day to pick up the remaining guests.My sister and I also had the opportunity to take a tour of Saint Martin, exploring both the French and Dutch sides of the island. The experience was incredible! We learned so much about the island’s history, culture, and unique way of life. It was both educational and enjoyable.This was one of the best trips I have ever taken, and having someone as caring, professional, and attentive as Ms. Careen made all the difference. Knowing that we had someone genuinely concerned about our arrivals, departures, and overall experience gave us tremendous peace of mind.If you are ever in need of transportation or tours while visiting Saint Martin, I highly recommend CELEB Tours SXM. You will not be disappointed.On behalf of Dream It Travel and all of my guests, thank you immensely for helping make this celebration unforgettable!

Our tour guide, David, was awesome. The first thing he asked after he shared the main attractions, was 'What would you like to do? This is your experience and I'm here to make it the best for you '. That itself was the perfect opener for us.King and Queen private doors had us in a new vehicle and, David times everything so well that we saw all the sites (and ate at an amazing restaurant) with excellent time management so we were back to the port with ample time to spare.The rate was far better than that offered through the cruise line and the experience was amazing. Safe, cordial, and professional.I highly recommend Davis and King and Queen private tours.Cheers, DG

One of a kind experience getting deeper knowledge into the carnival roots, making my carnival experience more enjoyable! The rum punch was good too! The effort put into the HANDMADE costumes & the setting up of the museum is amazing - the bar is also handmade!

Careen picked us up at the St Martin Cruise terminal for a private island tour. We had an afternoon flight home and wanted to see as much as possible of the beautiful Island which the Dutch and French share amicably. The scenic tour began on the Dutch side, where we had the opportunity to catch a glimpse of the cruise ships at port. Careen then drove us through St Phillipsburg, pointing out government buildings, schools, churches and shopping along the way. After seeing and hearing about the town, we were off to the beaches on the French side. Our first stop was Orient Beach, which as she mentioned, is a village with everything one might need! The beach, is a 1.5-mile stretch of white sand known for its vibrant atmosphere, crystal-clear turquoise waters, and clothing-optional section. It offers a mix of lively beach bars, water sports, and fine dining. We had a bathroom break here and short look around at one of the shopping areas. Next, we headed to Marigot, with a few very unique stops along the way! Careen pointed out, as we passed through Grand Case, some of the fine dining restaurants for which the small town is known. Entering Marigot, a charming capital that reflects the French influence on Caribbean lifestyle, we saw colorful streets with small shops, an outdoor vendors market and inviting sidewalk bistros. The typical traditional restaurants are known as “lolos”. These beloved eateries are the heart and soul of St. Martin serving up all the local specialties. We stopped at a corner where there was a French bakery, many lolos and a public bathroom. Perfect! Our lunch at the lolo, Strictly Lokal, was so very yummy and then headed over to Chez Fernand French Bakery for desert. A memorable and wonderful lunch break! Before heading to the airport, Careen took us to the Maho Beach area. We didn't take any photos, but it can best be described as a small, bustling beach packed with people waiting to watch airplanes arrive and depart at an incredibly close range. We said our goodbyes at Princess Juliana International Airport. We had such a wonderful tour with Careen. As a native of St. Martin, her love of country was evident throughout the entire experience. It was an exceptional tour, and we would highly recommend her to anyone exploring the Island of St. Martin!