SXM BEACHES

Friars Bay | Happy Bay | Le Gallion | Mullet Bay | Simpson Bay | Wilderness Beach

Divi Little Bay Beach | Kim Sha Beach | Dawn Beach | Cupecoy Beach

Baie Rouge | Grand Case Beach | Maho Sunset Beach

St. Maarten/St. Martin is an idyllic tropical paradise with the rare distinction of being geographically situated at the top of the Northeast Caribbean island chain known as “the Leeward Islands”.  This location proves to be literally the perfect spot in regard to the island hosting a wide variety of incredibly beautiful and very different beaches.

The Northeast side of St. Maarten/St. Martin faces the great Atlantic Ocean and the super-deep Puerto Rico Trench.  The seas are a bit bigger, cooler and wave sets begin to break on the shallow reefs, rolling lazily into the shore.  Beaches like the famous Orient Bay, Le Galion and Dawn Beach face the Atlantic, and because of the ultimate power of the ocean, the sand there is ultra-white and powdery, a perfect mixture of  coral, shells and soft-stone sand.

As you round the top of the island, and head North-Northwest, things change.  The high mountainous and cliff region of St. Maarten/St.Martin act as a weather bloc and a funnel running into the Anguilla Channel.  The beaches in Grand Case and Marigot are much calmer, warmer and have bigger gold tinged sand, more like the South of France.   There’s a bit of a pocket after Marigot harbor and then you come to Bay Rouge.  Although Bay Rouge is across the channel from Anguilla, the currents have churned up some amazing red-gold hued coral sand.  The grains of coral sand are very large and feel wonderful to walk on, and the water can go from calm to rough at the drop of a hat.

The West tip of the island juts out into the Caribbean Sea.  On the Northwest side, the French beaches of  Plum Bay and Prune Bay sport fine white sand, deep blue seas and a beach break that is home to the occasional surfer.  On the South side of the tip beaches like Cupe Coy and Mullet Bay have great coral-sand and steep declines to the water from the palm fringed beaches.

The South side of St. Maarten/St.Martin offers the calmest waters with very long beaches.  Simpson Bay Beach runs all the way from the airport to the bridge, where it becomes Kim Sha beach – and strangely it’s one of the least visited beaches.   The beach sand is a mix of everything and is fed by the calm shallow area outside of the entrance to the Simpson Bay Lagoon.

If you keep traveling anti-clockwise, you will head to the Southeast side of the Island where you will find two big notches, one contains Little Bay and the other, Great Bay.  Both of these beaches are very very calm, great places to snorkel for shells and the sand is a perfect white-pink mixture.

People have traveled from across the globe to visit the beautiful beaches of St. Maarten, it’s our greatest natural resource. So, before you plan your beach outing agenda, we have done in-depth reviews for all the beaches.  Feel free to click through and find out a little more about your beach options and what is in store for you here on St. Maarten/St. Martin, “the friendly” island.