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F.A.Q.
ARTISTS
Because French Saint-Martin belongs to the European Community, as well as St Barth, many artists from the Dutch side are not allowed to perform on the French Side as easily and you’d think. The strict French social security rules make it an obligation to use the services of a third party and pay a substantial extra cost to declare the entertainers for their show. This explains the extra cost involved in certain cases. Certain nationalities need a visa to go to St Barth or Anguilla to perform.
Some artists leave the island from one season to the other. Please understand that changes might occur.
CATAMARANS CAPACITY
French Saint-Martin IS PART OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY. Dutch Sint Maarten IS NOT PART OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY. This means that there are two different sets of laws and regulations that manage the use of sailig vessels.
One exampleA French sailing catamaran can only carry a maximum of 30 paying guests (60 to 80’for instance) when the same catamaran will be allowed to carry 86 passengers on the Dutch side.
This explains why you might be quoted cheaper rates by certain companies. We simply refuse to put more than 50 passengers on the largest Dutch catamarans because we feel that it goes against the minimum comfort and safety that are needed to meet your standards.
DESERTED ISLANDS
Prickly Pear, Tintamarre, Pinel, Dog Island, Sandy Island, Scrub Island are all deserted islands because nobody leaves there. However, anybody can sail to those islands for the day and use any part of the island they wish to, except the beach restaurants reserved areas with chairs and umbrellas, of course.
Usually, when we prepare a ‘’deserted island’a group event, this is sufficient to keep visitors away because they look for quiet surroundings and do not want to be sitting next to a large number of people. Some of the deserted islands have facilities, restaurants, others no. Please make sure to ask her in order to avoid any misunderstanding.
FRENCH & DUTCH BOATS
Believe it or not, on this small confetti of ours, French catamarans are not allowed to depart from the Dutch side and vice-versa. This means that when we use 6 catamarans at a time for a large group, we need to beg for derogations, authorizations on both sides. At this stage both French and Dutch proved unable to meet and find a way to help tourism by allowing the mutual use of their shores. As you can see, the free port and border free paradise island has its own limits.
GRATUITIES
All crew members expect gratuities, as well as restaurants and other suppliers.
Some suppliers request a 10% gratuity (12-metre regatta – Sailing catamarans – caterer – Horseback riding) and others leave it to your own discretion (Captain f fishing boats and mate, drivers, etc).
HOSPITALS
The largest hospital (Hopital Louis Constant Fleming) is located on the French side in Marigot. It is 25 minutes away from the Radisson and 20 minutes away from La Samanna.
The Dutch side uses the Sint Maarten Medical Center, located 20 minutes away from Sonesta Maho and Westin Dawn Beach. For serious injuries, an evacuation to larger hospitals is possible by plane or helicopter.
HOTELS & TIME SHARE PROPERTIES
There are dozens of hotels of all sizes and standards on both sides of the island.
However, the majority of rooms consist of time share units that are not classic hotels.
In our accommodation page, we have listed hotels that meet the incentive business standards, have enough rooms to host groups and are not time share properties.
LIABILITY INSURANCE
The LAGOON GROUP will supply all needed documents upon request.
NUDE BEACH
Topless is forbidden on Dutch Sint-Maarten and Anguilla.
It is allowed on all French beaches and around swimming pools.
Club Orient is a nude resort that has a legal access to the part of Orient Beach facing its property. In theory, nudists have no right to trespass and walk along Orient Beach, crossing other sections. However, a couple of two do it from time to time and you need to know it. The same can happen on Tintamarre island for instance.
BEACHES
There are no private beaches on both sides of the island. All beaches are public in theory. Whenever a beach restaurant or a hotel has beach chairs installed, this turns the area into a “private” beach since visitors have to pay the use of chairs and umbrellas.
VILLA DINNER
The use of a private villa is a touchy matter. We feel better when he client can see villas during the site inspection and select directly the properties that please him.
Obviously, the budget for a private villa diner is much higher than the cost of a dine around. Therefore, we suggest you not to consider that item if your budget does not allow it. It is very difficult to lower costs with real estate agencies and caterers and still ensure a high end service.
SNORKLING
All guests swim and snorkel at their own risk. You can request the presence of a fully licensed instructor at an extra cost TBA.
FOR EXCURSIONS & SAFE BOOKING
1.5 million cruise ship passengers disembark in Philipsburg every year. This means that there can be up to 15000 visitors at the same time on a given day.
The cruise business needs more and more excursions and more and more space for its passengers.
This means that activities such as sailing catamarans, 12 metre challenge, zip line, horseback riding and others are very difficult to secure on certain days.
PLEASE block space on a firm basis ASAP in order to ensure the smoothes operations. If you wait, then we cannot guarantee any space. Suppliers are tougher than ever and work on a first come first served basis.
The sooner you block space with a deposit, the better it is. The number of boats, vehicles and activities is limited and there are requests for space from hotels, cruise ship companies, private persons and other groups on a daily basis.