This is the main shopping area of town. All the bars and restaurants along the beach boardwalk, actually more like a sidewalk.

Front Street in Philipsburg is lively and full of energy! There’s a vast variety of stores, from souvenirs to local treats, making it perfect for shopping and exploring. Great spot for a stroll to soak in the Caribbean vibes, though it can get busy during peak hours. Plenty of places to eat.

Lots of selection shopping and plenty of restaurants

3 streets - beach, Front and Back. Beach is just walking, other two are one-ways with shops bursting with products. Loved the old brick streets. Easy to walk - don't miss the alleys between the streets - more goodies.

Fun! Tons of options of stores, food, etc..

Great New Murals on Front Street Philipsburg, excellent photo ops!

It is essential empty now with Covid

Many dutyfree shops, souvenirs shops, jewelry shops, beach bars. Shop, eat, relax 😉

The area is much less crowded when there are no cruise ships around. We visited today (July 2025) and there were other tourists around, but not as many as there would be, had there been a cruise ship. There were a decent amount of taxis and buses around. There are a lot of gift shops, jewelry stores, places to eat, and clothing stores. You can rent chairs to sit on the beach. Cons: jewelry stores are fairly expensive and BEWARE: there are scammers on the boardwalk (non natives) - there are sketchy looking men giving you scratch off tickets and asking you to scratch them. After they’ve claimed you’ve “won” they claim to have to take you to their “managers” or “boss.” I’m not quite sure what happens next in their scam, as we began walking away when the “boss” came to meet us (he looked extremely suspicious). We exclaimed that we had limited time left and walked away. The man who gave us the scratch offs was angry that we were skeptical about whatever scheme they were plotting. Another tourist on Trip Advisor detailed a similar experience he had in December 2024, and I felt the need to make others more aware, as I hadn’t read about these losers before. Please be careful.

Spent the day here and it was gorgeous - no cruise ships. Not many stores open but clear water, soft sand, and enough space for the kids to swim safely. Chairs and umbrellas were easy to rent, and the vibe was really laid back."

Very nice boardwalk but get there early! Everything pretty much shuts down between 5-6pm, including bars. None of the bars really have TV'S except Marley's. The food at Dutch Blonde is outstanding. The beach itself is beautiful. Crystal clear water and very calm.

The shops are typical touristy shops. Lots of duty free shops and Cuban cigars are easy to find (if that is your thing). The jewel for us was the beach. We paid $20 for two chairs and an umbrella for the day. We enjoyed a day of beautiful sand and warm water.

Shops and restaurants. Not too busy when we came, but there was only one cruise ship. Good deals on drinks. Enjoyed the view. The bay is beautiful.

Great beach, and it's easy to get there from the cruiseport.

Loved this beach. Plenty to do in that main strip. Great water.cl3ar clean and calm. Paid 35$ for 2 beach chairs and umbrella and a bucket of beers. Wayne thw local guy helped set us up and was so attentive to what we needed. Theres even a free outdoor gym.on the beach and soccer and vollyeball. 15 minutes walk from the ship.

Very nice beach , but not the cleanest. I saw two dogs running wildly there and feces on the beach. However, it was still beautiful aside from that.

Love geat bay. The drop into the water is much less at the south end. Lots of great offers for umbrellas/chairs/drinks. Everyone has been nice and a pleasure to talk with.

took the water taxi $7 from the cruise port to the beach. Incredible. It feels as if I’ve stepped into a virtual paradise — a world designed to be impossibly perfect.

Beautiful beach near food. The umbrellas are rent only. Around 15.00 a chair. A 30 min walk from cruise port. We rented a scooter with 2 seater for 100 a day.

Huge beach. Lots of sand. Clear, calm water. Will get crowded if more than 2 ships in port. Only thing bad is the vendor parade. Constant selling of trinkets and massages. Some are pushy.

Beautiful beach and clear water

I finally got to tour the museum after my many trips to SXM and was very surprised and intrigued with all the works Nick has been a part of. He took time to chat and answer any questions we had. Definitely a unique collection and I'm proud to have met such a well rounded and talented individual. Enjoying the artwork he personalized for me as well. We had a blast and will be returning. See you next time we're on island Nick. 👍👍

Nick's one-of-a-kind collection of movie props, costumes, scripts, storyboards and stories from the Star Wars films and many other movie franchises is incredible. But even better than the museum is the chance to talk with Nick himself and hear stories about the making of a New Hope, the inspiration for yoda and other characters he worked in creating and his behind-the-scenes experiences - all were just delightful and he is just a great guy to talk with. So glad we included this in our day in St. Marteen!

Amazing experience all around. So cool to see everything he has in his collection. From the original movie scripts and story boards to the amazing sculpted pieces and props. Nick and his lovely wife were so nice and down to earth. Answered any questions you had and took time to talk to you. So worth it to check out.

Nick Maley is a lovely and passionate young man who is a wealth of knowledge about many of your favorite cult classic movies. The Yoda Guy Movie exhibit is much more than just a tribute to Star Wars. There are a plethora of niche movie finds from Krill, Planet of the Apes, Robo Cop and more. The place is air conditioned so it is a great way to wait out passing Caribbean rainstorms. FYI it is not wheelchair accessible as it is on the second floor and many of the walkways are narrow. The cost is also $20 per person and the money is used to support charity.

Excellent time at yoda guy movie exhibit! We got to meet Nick Maley. My husband is a big Star Wars fan and even though I am newer to the movies, I thoroughly enjoyed the museum. We also got some marriage advice from Nick’s wife of 47 years as we are newlyweds. Would highly recommend!!!

If you are a Star Wars fans, this is a must visit. You will see original Star Wars scripts and quite a few exhibits for a lot of movies that really brought back our childhood “screen time” memories. Please don’t expect as commercialized fancy exhibits; it is more like personal hobby with original art. This is also a great opportunity to meet the world’s best make-up artist, Nick Manley, who created Yoda. And omg, we really really met him in-person, face to face and took pictures with him at the end of tour.

This is an absolute must when coming to this paradise, not only do you get to see the amazing artifacts from starwars and other amazing movies that nick maley was apart of but we actually got to meet him in person! He is such a terrific guy and really wants to chat to you and tell you about all the amazing things the showroom has in store. I couldn’t recommend a place more (even if you’re not a starwars fan) just an awesome experience!

Family Fun day at the beach - it is publicly accessible, you do not have to stay at Divi, but the hotel offers restaurant options on the beach. $15 umbrella and 2 chairs, we had some surf when we went, current is pretty strong nut kids enjoyed the sand and water, plenty of room to run around. Gorgeous gorgeous setting.

While staying at the Divi Little Bay Resort, I found the snorkeling to be wonderful. At the left end of the beach (which all beaches in St. Maarten are open to the public), I observed and photographed green turtles, caribbean whiptail stingray, cushion sea stars, spotted eagle ray and many fish species. Sometimes the turtles were feeding only within 10 feet deep water. Further out along the rocks, you will see a sunken helicopter, cannons, ship bell, sunken submarine and the cone and fuselage of a jet that had been staged for divers. I used my own snorkeling gear, however it can be rented from a vendor at the Divi Resort. You can also rent chairs and umbrella if you are not staying at the resort. UPDATE: We have been to this bay three more times since my initial review, we were not staying at the resort any of these times, and were able to park within the Divi Little Bay Resort parking lot once we explained to the gate security guard we wanted to go to the beach, we would be renting chairs and getting drinks at the bars. You should only turn into the Divi Resort entrance off of Octavius L. Richardson Road coming from the Philipsburg direction, as the turn is too sharp from the other direction. In the October 2023, I also observed and photograph hundreds of moon jellyfish floating in the current on my morning swim. These jellyfish have very short tentacles and rarely do they sting humans! By the afternoon of that trip, the moon jellyfish were gone. The water is clear and calm. Two chairs and umbrella were rented for $25 from the vendor at the resort.

Beautiful beach that we visited multiple times while staying nearby in an Airbnb. The beach is not owned by the Divi resort, so if asked at the entrance, you can mention that you’re heading to one of the restaurants on the beach, and the guard will let you in. A perfect spot to relax and enjoy the ocean!

This is tiny beach with fine sand but rocks under water. You can’t walk in water without water shoes. Beach is otherwise clean. There are no facilities including no place to wash feet. Water was bit cold in July, not as transparent and had small size waves.

This is an incredibly beautiful beach! Calm and warm waters surrounded by various shopping options. The urban part is not as charming (nor expensive) as Marigot, but it's totally worth it. Sint Maarten is a fantastic place that deserves to be visited and appreciated by everyone.

Staying at Belair Beach Hotel and this beach is wonderful. Soft powdery sand, not drops in footing as you go out in the water and the staff here maintains the beach beautifully! The beach at night is also amazing to watch

We rented umbrella and lounges at the Belair Beach Hotel after a super friendly warm welcome. This little stretch of beach was perfect for the day. So quiet and beautiful water. We visited the Gingerbread Cafe where the food is excellent. Both beach and Cafe are a must-do while visiting St Martin.

Very colorful street. Lots of jewelry stores and clothing stores.

Overrated. The street is small and Lind with beautiful small buildings that seem like old houses. Mostly expensive stores visited by cruise tourists. Without them, the street looks dead.

Such a nice street, very colorful !

There seems to be only 2 stores still open here and they were both tourist traps with cheap quality goods.

Bought a ring for the wife and had a nice meal at the French restaurant. Off the beaten path in philipsburg

So beautiful nice

(Translated by Google) Street with colorful houses, nothing special. (Original) Rua com casas coloridas , nada de demais .

This is a free and beautiful place to visit. Fort Amsterdam is one of those places with history. Always nice to learn something! It is a short walk to Fort Amsterdam once you park your car. There is parking! Fantastic views like everywhere else on the island. By the way you will see a lot of iguanas along the walk which is cool. Stop by! Enjoy!

This is located on the outside edge of the property for the Divi resort. That means you need to park outside the guardhouse and walk in. The walk is downhill to the resort, then uphill through the resort's room buildings. When you reach the edge of the property it is up a steeper part for about .1 miles to the ruins. There is a wall on the west side with cannon replicas. They are very good. Pretty much everything else has been destroyed by the hurricane that came through in 2017. There are signs that show a layout of how the fort looked. There are 2 building shells that you can look at. The views from the fort are beautiful and there is a pelican nesting area adjacent to the fort property. We didn't see any when we were there. Even with the steep walk, and warm temperatures, the breeze was nice, which helped. Overall, it was nice to see.

A beautiful vantage point of view. Understandable why the for is located where it is. Pelicans are abundant here, as well as iguana and geko. Can be a bit windy. Early morning sunrises are beautiful here

Historic fort with several rusting 19th century cannons in place. A lovely hike which I did every morning during my stay in Divi. Also, it's near the large brown pelican breeding colony

To get here you have to park outside DIVI Little Bay resort but the gate lady let us in to park closer because of the kids. There are signs guiding you as you walk through the resort area. The path is mostly rocks and gravel but easy hike up. They have chairs in different spots fun to sit or take pictures. There are a lot of signs around so you can get feel for the fort as mostly rubble little structure areas left with cannons. One awesome finding here is the pelican nesting area … kids enjoyed walking around and seeing the pelicans nests. You can also see a variety of other birds here as well plus the iguanas. The views from the fort are breathtaking and can see this side of the island ( we had also visited Fort Louis). This was a fun break from the beach we did while exploring the capital city on Dutch side Philipsburg.

Walked through Divi Resort and up the slightly rocky hill, family was in flip flops. Very easy “hike”. We initially planned to go early morning and ended up going at sunset, very happy we did. We got some amazing family photos with little bay in the background. Sunsets chairs were perfect, and the forts made for some really cool Unique shots.

Tickets were not necessary. You check in @ the gate for the Divi Resort and park @ the bottom of the hill. You walk through the resort (they've posted signs) and walk up the hill. The views out onto the bay are spectacular and the remains of the fort are fascinating.

I am visiting St. Maarten from New York State USA and I fell in love with this wonderful little church with an amazing concreting God loving people. The music was outstanding and the sermon was spot on. I’m blessed that I will be able to attend Mass on Ash Wednesday to begin my Lenten journey

Nice little church dedicated to St Martin of Turin. Very clear to the port.

This lovely church is situated right on the boardwalk by the ocean. English Mass on Sundays is 8:30a.m. The parishioners were very welcoming and the music ministry had an island flavor. Come a bit early as the church was full. So glad we went to thank God for all the beauty of the island.

Would appreciate if the church was quiet when people are trying to sleep at the hotel next door at night. Instead I hear war cries at 9pm at night ? Unsure why there is so much yelling at night from the attendees. Very inconsiderate to guests.

The community is very Catholic and welcoming. The Sunday mass in English is at 8:30am and in Spanish at 7:00pm. Although great, the church has no A/C, I recommend sitting next to a fan!

Went on vacations for the Sunday mass in spanish. I just felt like home. The brothers and sisters greet you and make you feel like you belong there. I had an excellent time of mass and prayer. Love it and will return if I ever return to St. Maarten on a Sunday. Thank you!

My wife and I renewed our wedding vows at Saint Martin of Tours in October 2018 while on a cruise. Fr. Adam was so easy to work with in getting the renewal set up for after the noon mass of the day we were in port. Many of the parishioners stayed for the ceremony and gave us their blessings afterwards. Such a beautiful church and wonderful community.

Nice, little museum. One of the few places to go in the island to learn about its history of both dutch and french occupation. The entrance is free with the option to leave a donation.

Lovely little museum with historical and cultural artifacts spanning centuries. Entry is free, donations are welcome. Definitely worth stopping to learn about the expansive and multicultural history of the island starting with the settlement of the Arawak, to the Dutch colonialism in response to the war with Spain, the slave trade, salt mining and sugar plantations, resilience in the face of hurricanes, entrepreneurship, artisan ship, and the current ecology. Take your time, talk with the docents, and enjoy!

It was interesting, it's just a little museum and is free. Just the courtesy donation to help expenses.

Beautiful area. Excellent overlook. 360 views

Well worth seeking out in an otherwise shopping obsessed town. If you are of British origin it is interesting to see another colonising country's (Dutch) view on colonisation/ slavery issues. Lots of interesting stuff here but the information about the Arawaks was particularly good.

The musuem had so much to see and the patron was so kind to share so much info about st maarten with us. Definitely recommend

Love history and since we'd never been here before, liked the presentation and historical pieces. No charge to enter but a donation bin. We gladly did a nice donation. Ladies we're very courteous and gave us directions to a local eatery.

We visited here during our stay on the island, it was recommended by a local store owner. They have just opened relatively recently (February 2019) so they aren’t yet well known. Off season I am told they operate by request, so make sure to call ahead and schedule before you stop by. We had some difficulty finding it by car, google directed us to Bobby’s Marina ( wrong place). The best way to find this is to go to Chesterfields restaurant, they share a parking lot — “Reef It” is straight ahead when you pull in, near the pelican peak zip line building. The premise of this business is that they are helping to rebuild the reefs which were damaged during the Hurricane, and they offer guided snorkel tours as a by-product of these rebuilding efforts, which attract the various tropical fish to the area. The price was also reasonable and included snorkel gear and fins. Overall, definitely recommend this especially for thise who don’t have their own snorkeling equipment.

very easy and accessible snorkeling. fish variety impressive. highly recommend

(Translated by Google) Unfortunately it has been closed down and you are no longer allowed to swim or snorkel there. (Original) Es ist leider still gelegt und man darf dort nicht mehr schwimmen oder schnorcheln .

It was really nice to ride a bicycle on St. Maarten island. Plenty of beaches, beautiful weather, friendly people…

Not very busy for the time of day we visited.

After a devastating hurricane. The Square come alive during the Christmas holiday. Thanks to the Philipsburg board.

Nothing impressive for a place like St. Maarten . There is nothing interesting there apart from the nice beach view and a view of the cruise ships that you can get from every single bar or restaurant on the beach. St. Maarten is one of my favorite islands in the Caribbean but if you want the best views and restaurants you should take a 30-40 min trip away from Philipsburgh.

Beautifully decorated for NYE 2018/19

OK beach. Not very big. Will have people trying to sell you things. You can rent chairs and umbrellas but you should haggle for the best price.

Nice open area with a fountain (not always on) and they sometimes have food and drink stand there and reggae. music playing quite loudly. Lacks seating.

Customer service so poor you need to experience it to believe it. Asked three employees for help to buy a sink and was told " It's not my department twice. " Asked them to send someone from the kitchen department. Crickets. Should have just left but the sink fit some very specific dimensions we needed. Ended up getting it out of the storage unit myself.

Everything you need to build, repair and/or DIY projects this place has it. They even have landscaping stuff to fix up your garden or create one. Prices are reasonable.

Super friendly staff and very helpful. All the hardware we needed. Sunday, they are open. Big plus when your water pipe brakes.

I stop by Kooyman to pick up some quick needed tools. It was a nice big place everything was well organized and in place. It's my first time getting there, do I had to ask for help in finding the things I needed. The floor personal were so helpful and knowledge of where things was help me to be in and out in a minute. The service were so much better than the home Depot i go to here in NYC. Keep the good work up.

They have a lot to offer. Bought a shelve, I had to ask for help

A Nice place to buy garden furniture

One of the largest stores on the Island carrying a large variety of building products; tools, accessories and equipment. Large warehouse with good quantities of steel, lumber, sheetrock etc in stock. Some departments have kind and helpful staff, others like the fasteners department not so much. The security guard is more helpful there compared to the appointed screw guy. Overall good store.