SXM Airport to Orient Bay

Getting there

About 40 to 45 minutes from the terminal, across to the French side and up the east coast. It is the longest transfer from the airport, and the honest number rather than the optimistic one. There is no shorter way and no hour of the day that makes it thirty.

If the Simpson Bay bridge is open on your route, allow another fifteen to twenty minutes. We plan the transfer around the published openings.

How this trip is priced

Transfers are quoted per trip, based on the official St. Maarten taxi zone rates, which depend on how many of you there are. The full official table is on the taxi rates page. Send your flight number, the date, the pickup and drop-off, the number of guests and the number of suitcases, and the quote comes back after that. Payment is in cash, in US dollars only.

Is it worth it?

If Orient Bay is where you are staying, it is the only way to get there, so the question is how, not whether. With a larger group, say so when you book: the van takes up to eleven passengers, and up to six with full luggage.

If you are thinking of Orient Bay as a day out from the Dutch side, the drive is the cost to weigh: forty-five minutes each way means it wants to be the destination rather than a stop on the way to something else. The island day is the version that makes that trade properly.

What is there

A long, wide beach on the Atlantic side with beach clubs along its length, loungers and umbrellas for hire, restaurants, toilets and showers. The clubs differ more than people expect, some loud and social and others quiet and family-oriented, and the far southern end is a separate, signposted naturist section. The Orient Bay guide says which end suits which group.

Child seats and luggage

Child seats are available, and you request them when you book. Luggage depends on the seating: with every seat in place the van takes carry-on and light luggage only. For full luggage we take up to six guests, with the back row removed to make room for 10 to 15 large suitcases, so give us the number of guests and the number of suitcases when you book and the van is set up in advance. Seven to eleven guests with full luggage does not fit one van, and is quoted on request.

Booking this transfer

Each transfer is quoted per trip and agreed before you book. Send your flight number, the number of guests, the number of suitcases and where you are staying through the booking form, or on WhatsApp, and we will come back with the quote.

For the other airport routes, see airport transfers.