Country: Sint Maarten is a constituent country of the Netherlands.
Language: Dutch and English
Currency: Caribbean guilder but when I visited everything I bought was charged in US dollar.
Things to know about Sint Maarten:
Sint Maarten is on the island of St Martin. The island is divided into two with Sint Maarten being the Dutch part of the island. St Martin is actually the smallest landmass in the world that is divided between two different countries.
Disembarking:
When I visited St Maarten I took a ship run excursion so disembarking may be different if you decide to explore on your own.
Leaving the ship was straight forward, I scanned my card on the ship and then disembarked. However, after getting off the ship everything felt a bit chaotic. There was a bit of a walk from the ship to the excursion coach and there weren’t many people there to point people in the right direction.
There were two ships docked and lots of excursions leaving at the same time, meaning there were big crowds and people were confused about where they needed to go. The queues for the coaches were long and this meant waiting outside in the hot sun. It didn’t feel very organised at all.
Public Transport:
I didn’t use the public transport as I took an excursion. Part of the reason I took an excursion was because I was told the public transport is not very predictable. From what I understand there are buses but they do not run to a specific schedule. I was also told bus stops are not always visible.
Things to do:
Although St Martin is a small island, there is a LOT to do. St Maarten’s economy is based around tourism so there are lots of tours you can take including open bus tours or boat tours.
If you are a beach type then you will be in your element as St Martin has beautiful beaches. If you like a bit of adventure there are zip lines, kayaking and snorkelling. There are nature reserves and historic buildings. This was one of my favourite ports during my Caribbean cruise because there is such a variety of things to see and do.
Embarking: As with disembarking, embarking may be different if you don’t take an excursion but for me it was very easy. I basically got off the bus and walked onto the ship and all security checks took place on the ship.
Autistic Friendly?
If you are an autistic person who struggles with heat and sunlight then any Caribbean port is going to be a struggle and this was the case for me but the great thing about St Maarten was there were things to do that didn’t involve being outside. I took a cable car up a mountain where it was cooler and a bit overcast which really helped. I also spent some time sitting at a lovely, shaded and cool outdoor cafe where the people were so helpful. What I found particularly autistic friendly was that because most people wanted to be outside, the museum I went to was practically empty.
However, I did struggle with how chaotic the disembarkation process was. By the time I got on the coach I was feeling very overwhelmed. Things did get better but it was a hard start to the day.
Travel Autistic 