Our first port of call aboard the Royal Caribbean Allure of the Seas was upon us. Despite the first half of our COVID-time cruise behind us and another port day in Nassauahead of us, we were without a doubt most excited for our day in port at Saint Martin / Sint Maarten.

The 87 square kilometers of this northeast Caribbean island is split about 60/40 between the French Republic’s side of Saint Martin and the Netherlands’ side of Sint Maarten. The division occurred in 1648 and makes for a very culturally interesting island experience!

Here is our 1-day itinerary of what to do in Saint Martin on a port day aboard a cruise!

Our Royal Caribbean Allure of the Seas cruise ship docked at the cruise port in Philipsburg on the Dutch Sint Maarten side of the island. After disembarking the ship and walking into the commercial cruise port area, you will see a “Taxi Dispatch” area to your right. They offered round trip transportation to Maho Beach for $16.00 per person, but we were looking for a one-way trip as we planned to explore around more of the island afterward before returning to the ship. We were advised to go to our furthest destination first, so off we went to Marigot (on the French side Saint Martin)! This one-way trip to Marigot cost $9.00 per person.

Marigot

Welcome to France! What do you think was the first thing we did upon arrival to the wonderfully quaint town of Marigot? If you guessed “eat something,” you get a gold star and you are correct.

Croissant Royal

Marina Port Royal, Rue Low Town, Marigot 97150, St. Martin

Our first stop in Marigot was Croissant Royal, an adorable ocean-front French cafe serving up espressos, crepes, and croissants with a view of ships bobbing in their docks. Croissant Royal is located on the western side of Saint Martin and is a short walk away from downtown Marigot, so it’s easy to catch a ride to and from here by standing along one of the main roads in downtown and waiting for a van to drive by. Don’t be shy! Just wave one down and they will let you know (in a friendly manner) if they are a taxi service that can take you.

Croissant Royal’s order of the Croissant Monsieur came with two nicely sized ham and cheese croissants that were perfectly crispy. We also ordered a plain sugar crepe (I highly recommend trying the OG sugar crepe to experience the original before it gets smothered in chocolate or jam!) which was beyond fresh, elastic, crispy at the edges, and never (ever) soggy even at the end of our very leisurely paced breakfast. Total cost for the meal, including espresso, came to $14.50 (the restaurant accepted USD). The meal was eaten on a sheltered deck overlooking the water and small green mountains in the distance. It was so peaceful.

Marigot Market

3W97+4JM, Marigot 97150, St. Martin

Next stop in Marigot was the Marigot Market: honestly felt quite touristy but what isn’t?

Marigot Market serves up fresh local fruits, vegetables, and fish alongside stalls of the usual array of T-shirts, Christmas ornaments, and magnets. I purchased a lapel pin for my collection.

Once finished with our shopping, we hopped aboard a taxi van (pro tip: look for the “taxi” designation right on the license plate to make sure you’re flagging down the proper (otherwise unmarked) vehicle) for a trip to Maho Beach costing $10.00 per person. This trip was haggle-able so try your luck!

Sint Maarten

Off we were to the other side of the island: the Dutch side! The Royal Caribbean cruise port is on the Sint Maarten side, and so is…

Maho Beach

Maho Beach! Oh, Maho Beach…how do I describe you? “Violent” and “exfoliating” come immediately to mind. Maho Beach is an experience. A short 25 minute drive away from the cruise port, Maho Beach is one of the most popular destinations for both cruising and non-cruising travelers to Sint Maarten. This stretch of white sandy beach is located only around 50 feet away from the runway to the SXM Princess Juliana International Airport. This means that arriving flights zoom right over the heads of beachgoers, making for very Instagram-worthy pictures.

I was looking forward to seeing the arriving flights, but we were caught completely off guard when it came to the departing flights. We saw a few small planes take off and they were relatively underwhelming, especially because most flights took off away from the beach so they didn’t fly directly over us. However, the atmosphere changed completely when a big-belly jet plane pulled up to the runway, ready to take off. “You guys better hold onto your stuff,” a well-meaning couple warned us as the plane took its position on the runway. We didn’t understand what they meant until they explained that these larger planes created a lot of wind as they literally blasted off to take flight.

Even with the forewarning, we were unprepared for the sheer power of the sandblaster air current created by the big plane as it started up its engines. Everything went literally flying, and even as we clung to our bags and towels, the sand spraying at high speed ripped sunglasses off of faces, whipped towels out of hold-on-for-dear-life grips, and blew shoes of all kinds into the ocean. Every (and I mean, every) single inch of exposed skin was exfoliated by high velocity airborne sandpaper. In the aftermath, people went swimming around with metal detectors scavenging for lost treasures in the water. It was a really fun and different experience, but I wouldn’t be excited to do it again.

How do you know when to expect to see a flight, particularly when a big belly jet plane is coming? Pro tip: check SXM Flight Info website to see the scheduled arriving and departing flights.

Another pro-tip: I would leave your nice camera at home, or at least nestled inside your camera bag for the duration of your time at Maho Beach. The jets of sand sent spraying by flights taking off are something I would not want to expose my camera lens to.

A couple of sandblasting events was more than enough for us and we decided it was time to head to our next stop.

Given the popularity of Maho Beach, it’s no surprise that lots of taxi drivers hang around Maho Beach and offer rides back to Philipsburg and the cruise port. However, we did our research (and you’re doing yours now!) and knew that a better option was the local bus which cost only $2.00 per person to go back to Philipsburg. The bus vehicles are often the same large passenger vans as taxis, but just ask the driver if this is “the bus” and they’ll be happy to help.

Toppers Rhum Distillery

60 Welfare Rd, Cole Bay, Sint Maarten

+1 721-520-0008

Toppers Rhum Distillery is located on the way between Maho Beach and Philipsburg. Known for their infused and flavored rums, Toppers Rhum Distillery offers tours, bottles of rum for purchase, and ice cream. The big tour is a $25.00 per person 90-minute tour that provides information on the history of Caribbean rum as well as an inside look at how Topper’s makes and flavors its rum. They also offer a $5.00 and $10.00 rum tasting. We chose the $10.00 tasting, which gets you pretty tipsy and turned out to be an even more private experience than the tour. We enjoyed a scoop of the banana cinnamon vanilla rum ice cream and purchased a bottle of white rum for home.

SXM Beer

Jobco Building #5, Locas Tree Dr, Cole Bay, Sint Maarten

+1 721-527-6186

Next stop was for some beer at SXM Beer. This brewery was slightly difficult to find and we first ended up at the back entrance. Google Maps instructs you to enter at Locas Tree Drive, but the correct entrance is actually on Orange Grove Road. SXM beers were very crushable, but not hugely remarkable.

Philipsburg Boardwalk

We hopped aboard a bus ($2.00 per person) from SXM Brewery in Cole Bay to the Boardwalk in Philipsburg. The Boardwalk is a cute widespread area with public access beaches, restaurants, bars, and souvenir shops. It stretches east from Great Bay Beach. The water here was significantly calmer than at Maho Beach.

We enjoyed a leisurely walk back to the ship port along the Philipsburg Boardwalk, but you can also take a water taxi back to the cruise port.