Philipsburg Travel Guides (Updated October 2026)

Raj was great!(Enough said, but need to hit 100 character limit to leave a review………………………………..…….)

Great pickup service arrived early no waiting very nice will use again when I’m in Sint Maarten

We have frequently rented this when at St Maarten. Convenient and easy way to see the island at your own pace. Map provided is a little hard to follow.

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

Make sure you specify the specific airport for pick up. We didn’t realize Saint Marteen has 2 aiirports. But the support staff and tour company helped greatly to fix the issue

He was very professional and gave great places to eat and enjoy my stay… The bus was clean and smelled nice.

Wonderful experience! I did the shared shuttle pickup and drop off with them. The young lady was a great tour guide along the way and highlighted some important places. Great value for your money and AMAZING customer service.

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.

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!

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!

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!

THE BEST!! We have been to St. Maarten many times for the day on cruises, but this was our first time staying for multiple days, and didn't want to worry about finding a taxi, renting a car, etc... D&A Taxi was recommended to us, and all I can say is WOW! They were absolutely incredible.This is a small, family-owned business, and they took care of us just like we were guests in their own home. Phenomenal service, excellent communication, flexibility and the pricing was spectacular. Other quotes I received for point-to-point service were 4-5x as much!We used them for several point-to-point pickups and drop-offs over four days, and they were always reliable. I cannot wait to return to St. Maarten, and we will absolutely be using them again!

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!