Sint Maarten - Two Countries on a Small Island

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In January 2018 I went on a sailing ship cruise through the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean with Sail Windjammer on the S/V Mandalay. Sint Maarten was the final stop of the cruise, coming from Saint Barthélemy. I spent a night in Philipsburg. Philipsburg is the main town of Sint Maarten. I rented a car in Philipsburg to drive around the island. It is easy to see most of the island in a day.

Sint Maarten occupies the southern part of the Sint Maarten/Saint Martin island. This island is the smallest island that is divided between two countries. Sint Maarten is an overseas possession of the Netherlands, Saint Martin is an overseas possession of France.

The island was hit pretty hard by Hurricane Irma in September 2017. When I visited the island in January 2018, there was still lots of damage visible. The Princess Juliane Airport was severely damaged, the airport building will have to be completely rebuilt.

Pictures of birds are on a separate page, combined for all the islands in the Caribbean:

Lesser Antilles Birds

Following are a few pictures from Sint Maarten.

All pictures are © Dr. Günther Eichhorn, unless otherwise noted.

Approaching Sint Maarten (667k)

Approaching Sint Maarten (746k)

Sint Maarten coast. (769k)

Sint Maarten coast. (861k)

View over Philipsburg. (816k)

View of Philipsburg Harbor with one of the huge cruise ships. In front of the cruise ship is the private yacht of one of the Russian oligarchs. To the right is the S/V Mandalay. (537k)