How do you get from St. Maarten to St. Barths?

Ferry or a short flight. Ferries run from Oyster Pond on the eastern side and from Philipsburg, taking roughly 45 to 90 minutes depending on the route and the boat. The flight from SXM takes about fifteen to twenty minutes.

Is the ferry to St. Barths rough?

It can be, genuinely. The channel is open water and the crossing is exposed. On a day with swell it is uncomfortable and people are regularly seasick. If you are prone to it, fly.

Is the landing at St. Barths as dramatic as they say?

Yes. The approach comes in steeply over a hill and drops onto a very short runway ending at a beach. It is genuinely one of the more memorable landings anywhere, flown by pilots specifically certified for it.

Can you do St. Barths as a day trip?

Yes, and it is a good one. Morning out, evening back. Bring your passport — it is a separate jurisdiction with real formalities, unlike the French side of St. Maarten.

St. Maarten to St. Barths

Twenty minutes by air or ninety by sea, and the sea route is rougher than anyone tells you.

Ferry or fly

The ferry leaves from Oyster Pond on the eastern side of St. Maarten, and from Philipsburg. Times vary by operator and route, roughly 45 to 90 minutes.

Oyster Pond is 35 to 40 minutes from the airport — the opposite side of the island from Simpson Bay, and confusing it with the other ferry departure points costs people their crossing.

The flight from SXM takes fifteen to twenty minutes and is operated by small aircraft several times a day. It costs considerably more and takes a fraction of the time.

The honest comparison

Take the ferry if the sea is calm, you are not prone to seasickness, and you would rather spend the money on lunch.

Fly if there is any swell running, if anyone in the party gets seasick, or if you are doing it as a day trip and want the hours on the island rather than in a boat.

The channel is open water and genuinely exposed. On a rough day the crossing is unpleasant and people are regularly ill. Nobody selling ferry tickets will lead with that.

The landing

Worth knowing about even if you take the boat.

St. Barths' runway is very short and begins immediately beyond a hill. Aircraft come in steeply over the ridge, drop sharply, and stop before the beach at the far end. Pilots need a specific certification to fly into it.

It is one of the more memorable landings in commercial aviation and it is entirely routine for the people doing it.

What is there

A harbour town — Gustavia — with expensive shops, very good restaurants, and a great many yachts. Beaches that are quieter and prettier than St. Maarten's, and considerably less development.

It is a wealthy island and the prices reflect it. Lunch costs what lunch costs in the south of France, because in most respects that is what it is.

As a day trip

It works. Out in the morning, back in the evening.

Two things to plan. The last sailing back is earlier than people expect, and missing it is expensive. And getting from the harbour to a beach means a taxi or a hire car on the other side — the good beaches are not walkable from Gustavia.

Documents

Bring your passport. St. Barths is a separate French overseas collectivity with real arrival formalities — quite unlike crossing between the two halves of St. Maarten, where there is none at all.

Getting to the departure point

We take you to whichever it is, and confirm which before you go. Oyster Pond and Philipsburg are on opposite sides of the island and forty minutes apart.

For the return, give us the sailing or the flight and we will be there — including when the ferry runs late, which it does. See ferry transfers.

Or Anguilla instead

The other day trip by sea from here, and a different proposition: beaches rather than a harbour town, and a shorter, calmer crossing. See the Anguilla ferry.

Getting to St. Barths