STOP PRESS:
We spent Days 7 & 8 totally at sea, sailing from Miami to our first port of call featured in this post, some 2,000km apart. In the last post, many of you enjoyed the cruise ship stats but have also asked what it cost to build the Zuiderdam cruise ship given it makes $USE2-4million per year. The ship was built in Italy for around $USD400milliom in 2002 Dollars. Here is the view of our ship from “my little friend”, my new DJI Mini 4 Pro on his first assignment being this post !!!
THIS POST:
Welcome to Sint Maarten, my 12TH Territory out of a global total of 71. After my blog photos below are the key statistics, brief history and interesting facts about this destination.
Today was “land day” !!! Our first encounter with a bona-fide Caribbean Island. The first of 19 on this cruise and 23 for me in total !!! Bundy and I were the first passengers off the ship !!! Set foot on the cruise port of the Capital Philipsburg at 720am. Our morning routine sees me rise at 6am to exercise my groan injury followed by Bundy at 630am to enable us to leave our cabin at 715am to be off the ship at the advertised 8am – we allowed for queues but there were none – probably because everyone was at breakfast at 7am. One advantage of skipping it. We walked 900m to the car rental office and met locally born Steven and Elaine who set us on our way by 830am. Our first impressions of the Dutch side of the island were mixed. Lots of green covered ridges spotted with colourful well-built homes looking like a mix of Europe and the Pacific Islands. Has definitely a tropical look and feel but with a strong European influence. The roads are not great probably because of the heavy rain and frequent hurricanes in summer. Noticed many gambling places and liquor stores. There seems to be a rising middle class with lots of black African descendants. We visited the following: Philipsburg Viewpoint (Drone), Rainforest Adventure Flying Dutchman Zipline (Steepest in the World), Mullet Bay Beach (AI BEST, snorkel, swim), Maho Beach (Low Aircraft Landings). I was very lucky to find a great spot for my drone after picking up the car and surprised that I was not blocked as I flew it right over the port which is usually an exclusion zone. The highlight of our visit was definitely the Flying Dutchman Zipline, which was not only the steepest and fastest on the planet but afforded incredible views of both sides of the island which is very small. So small that my drone captured it in one pan. Mullet Beach was the go-to beach with stand-out turquoise water but a little overcrowded. Did not stop me making my debut 1.7km swim in the warm Caribbean waters. The other sheer delight was the famous Maho Beach which is positioned next to the end of the only runway of Princes Juliana International Airport. This place is packed with people. Not only did we marvel at the landing jets just 5m above our heads but got blasted by three jets taking off. What a surprise. The first one, an American Airline 737 literally blew us off our feet with its exhaust only 20m away !!! The sand hit our bodies like sand paper – it REALLY hurt !!! This is why the place is so crowded – everyone wants to get blasted. From here we headed home, picking up wine and fuelling our car along the way. Managed to enter the ship at 4pm with cast off at 430pm given a 230pm departure for blast beach !!!
SINT MAARTEN IN A NUTSHELL:
Sint Maarten is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands known for its many ethnic groups over a very small land mass.
• Capital: Philipsburg
• Area: 34 sq km
• Population (2024 estimate): 43,350
• Population Density: 1,221 people per sq km
• Official Languages: English and Dutch (Spanish, French, and local dialects are also common)
• Life Expectancy (2024): 76.5 years
• Ethnic Diversity: The island hosts over 100 nationalities (Most from the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica)
• Currency: Caribbean Guilder (XCG) but US dollar (USD) and Euro (EUR) also used
• GDP per capita (2024): $USD40,027.92
• Main Industry: Tourism (45% of GDP)
• Unemployment Rate (2022): 6.5%
BRIEF HISTORY OF SINT MAARTEN:
The history of Sint Maarten features indigenous settlement, colonial rivalries, a plantation economy, and a modern shift to tourism and autonomy.
• 2000 BC - 1490s AD: Initially inhabited by Amerindian peoples, then the Arawaks and later the Caribs.
• 1493: Christopher Columbus first European to see and name the island "Isla de San MartÃn" (Saint Martin's Island).
• 1631: The Dutch established a fort and a settlement at Great Bay (Philipsburg) to exploit the island's valuable salt deposits.
• 1633: Spanish forces captured the island from the Dutch during the Eighty Years' War, building their own fort at Point Blanche.
• 1648: The Spanish abandoned the island after the war ended, as it was no longer strategically important to them.
• 1648: French and Dutch settlers returned and signed the Treaty of Concordia, amicably dividing the island into French (Saint Martin) and Dutch (Sint Maarten) territories.
• 18th - 19th Centuries: A plantation economy (producing sugar, cotton, and tobacco) developed, relying heavily on the labour of enslaved Africans, who soon outnumbered the European settlers.
• 1848 & 1863: France abolished slavery in its colonies in 1848 and the Dutch in 1863.
• Post-Abolition: The plantation economy collapsed, leading to a period of economic decline and population decrease.
• 1939: The island was declared a duty-free port, providing a major economic boost.
• 1950s onwards: Tourism emerged as the dominant industry, transforming the island's economy and leading to significant population growth through immigration.
• 1954: Sint Maarten became part of the Netherlands Antilles, a constituent country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, with autonomy in internal affairs.
• 2010: The Netherlands Antilles was dissolved, and Sint Maarten became a fully autonomous constituent country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, with its own government.
• 2017: Hurricane Irma caused extensive, catastrophic damage across the entire island, though a strong recovery effort followed.
INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT SINT MAARTEN:
1. Smallest landmass shared by two nations: Saint Martin by France & Sint Maarten by Holland.
2. No physical border between two territories.
3. World's steepest zip line: "The Flying Dutchman," located at Rainforest Adventures.
4. Maho Beach is the closest public place to a jet runway giving the lowest height (5m) between landing jets & human heads !!!.
5. "Culinary Capital of the Caribbean": the most restaurants (basic to fancy) per area.
6. Only island with two Carnivals: French & Dutch.
7. Most nationalities (100+) per area.
8. Only Caribbean Capital with ocean on one side & lake on the other.
9. Only Caribbean Island that is entirely Duty-free.
10. Part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
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