Last year, over 1.3 million people visited the island by cruise ship, landing mostly in Philipsburg on what used to be the "Dutch side".
Since 2005 they've used an extended pier built by a 3-year project. Four cruise ships can visit at once.
As of July 2010, they finished construction of a second nearby pier catering to next-generation mega-cruise ships.
Dredging continues next to the piers, to assure enough depth for those ships. This generates huge piles of sand on shore, being used to build Philipsburg's infrastructure.
Very-occasionally, ships moor or anchor off-shore.
Those ships make the city of Philipsburg the busiest city on the island. In "high season", you may see 6 or so ships, offloading perhaps 18,000 or more passengers. In low season, one occasional ship is more common. You can find usually-accurate schedules for this and many ports and dates at .
The main cruise docks for Philipsburg are approximately a one mile walk to the east end of Front Street leading into the main shopping area. However, a short walk from the cruise ship docks you'll find:
A fleet of taxis (and cars/guides) for hire as noted under "Get Around" below.
A water taxi service....continuously running boats in a round-robin route to Philipsburg...in either order, to a dock near the east end of Front Street and another opposite the courthouse on Front Street center, before returning to the cruise ship area.
Both stops offer ready access to a large beach and Front Street shopping. Several boats run while multiple cruise ships are there.
You can buy single-trip wristbands at modest cost, or wrist-bands for unlimited travel all day for slightly more.
You'll see long lines when many cruise ships are docked, but the number of water taxis employed rises to meet demand, so you'll rarely have a long wait.
Marigot port on the "French side" is limited to hosting one small-sized cruise ship at a time, but is also served by attractive marinas supporting many yachts of all sizes. Most inter-island ferry service also arrives/departs at Marigot.
The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about Saint Martin
Where To Stay & Best Hotels in Saint Martin - updated Apr 2024
SAVE up to 75% on Last Minute deals! Search for discount Saint Martin hotels, motels, apartments, hostels, guest accommodations and vacation resorts. Book now and pay at the hotel. Instant email confirmation!
Saint Martin Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.
