Philipsburg, St. Maarten Port Reviews

Dutch side Port area is very busy and crowded - I’d say wait until you are making your way back to buy souvenirs here. Friendly locals. Gorgeous beaches and great burger place called Burger Madness. Loved walking around the streets behind the beach. Reasonably priced jewelry from some very reputable names. I brought back an amalite set with blue coloring which is rare. The jewelry store employees are very competitive - word of advice talk to the same salesperson if you wish to buy. We accidentally caused a tiff between two employees as we left and then went back. On our cruise they had experts give a port shopping talk and they were in the shops to help - if this is offered use them to help you. We did the sea trek helmet walk - booked through the ship. You wear a pressurized helmet and go down a ladder to the floor of the ocean (20 feet down). Walk along the ocean floor on a marked path and feed fish and see the sunken treasures. If you have ear problems this may be a problem especially for little ones. I have problems and was able to pop my ears by going back up the ladder a couple of rungs and then continuing down. My son who was about 10 at the time wasn’t able to do so and couldn’t make it down. They also offer snorkeling off the platform in a different area while you are not doing the trek and waiting for the other groups. This was fantastic and my son was able to participate in this. We would love to go back and see the other side of the island and spend some time on Maho beach to see the planes come in. On your way back try some guava rum and maybe buy a bottle to bring back.

Im ready to go back! The island is breathtaking!

Visited: Mar 23, 2019

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This port is great to walk into downtown, which takes about 10 minutes or you can take the water taxi! Real friendly island! Need to check out the best jewellery shop on the island. House of Jewels!

Took a cab over to Orient Bay (not through the ship). Cost $16 round trip a person cause we went with a family (they arranged a pickup time to get us so it made it simple). Beach was amazingly beautiful. There is a nude side but we stayed on the other side. We got a beach chair and umbrella for $8 a person at Orange Fever and ended up eating there. Had the whole snapper and it was delicious. Had a few of the Guava berry Frozen drinks and those were great. Only thing I didnt like about this beach day was the people walking around asking if I wanted a foot massage ever 20 minutes. They werent pushy though and would move on.

Visited: Jun 10, 2017

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Visited the beach at port. Locals kept trying to get you to buy something. Overall beautiful beach

Visited: Jun 16, 2018

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We took a taxi to Kim Sha beach where we rented beach chairs and an umbrella. Cheaper than the ship excursion plus we got to spent the whole day there. Water is a little murky for snorkeling. Beach was nice. There is still a lot of destruction on the island and we were the first Celebrity ship to return to this port. People were very nice and happy to see tourists coming back so go!

Visited: Feb 03, 2018

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Absolutely loved this island... The beaches, the views were amazing.

Visited: Apr 07, 2019

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Did a separate review

Visited: Dec 08, 2019

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Maho beach! Wow those planes are amazing coming in over your head!!!!!

Visited: May 04, 2019

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Got to visit the beach and airport known for approaching planes. Tasted rhum at a distillery. We had great weather.

Visited: Mar 15, 2019

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