The Best Beaches of St. Maarten / St. Martin

The best beaches on St. Maarten / St. Martin are spread across both sides of the island, and the right one for you depends on the mood you're after, lively and social, long and open, quiet and out of the way. Below is an honest round-up of the well-known, stable names, with a sense of each beach's character rather than a ranking. There's no hard border, so you can sample both sides in a single day.

Which side has the best beaches?

Both do, and they feel different. The Dutch side, Sint Maarten, has the famous plane-watching beach and several easy, popular stretches near the airport. The French side, Saint-Martin, is known for longer, more open beaches and a relaxed, sometimes clothing-optional tradition at certain spots. We'd say don't pick a side, pick a vibe, and drive between them.

Dutch-side beaches

Maho Beach is the one everyone has seen in videos, where aircraft pass low over the sand on their approach to the nearby airport. It's a spectacle as much as a beach, social, busy, and unlike anywhere else. Come for the planes and the energy rather than for solitude.

Mullet Bay is often the local favorite on the Dutch side, a broad, sandy beach that many consider the prettiest in the area. It tends to be easygoing and popular without being a circus, a solid all-rounder for a swim and a long afternoon.

Cupecoy sits at the western end, known for its sandstone cliffs and coves, with a different, more dramatic character than the open sweeps elsewhere. The shoreline here can shift with the conditions, so it rewards a little flexibility about exactly where you settle.

French-side beaches

Orient Bay, or Baie Orientale, is the long, well-known beach on the French side, a wide sweep of sand with a lively reputation and plenty of room to spread out. It's the French side's headline beach and carries a social, see-and-be-seen energy along parts of its length.

Friar's Bay and Happy Bay sit closer together on the northwest, quieter and more laid-back than Orient Bay. Happy Bay in particular is the kind of place you reach with a little effort and find calmer for it. These are the ones we'd suggest when you want the French side without the crowds.

What about the smaller and offshore beaches?

Beyond the main stretches, a few smaller and offshore spots round out the picture. Pinel Island and Tintamarre are small islands off the French side, reachable by short boat trips, the sort of low-key, away-from-it-all outing that makes a good half-day. They trade amenities for quiet and clear water.

If you have time, the island is also a launching point for day trips to Anguilla and St. Barth, neighboring islands with beaches of their own and a different feel again. They're separate destinations, so treat them as a dedicated outing rather than a quick detour.

Practical notes for any beach day

A few things hold true across the island. You drive on the right, and crossing between the French and Dutch sides is free, marked only by a roadside monument. The US dollar is accepted almost everywhere on the Dutch side; the French side uses the euro. The dry high season runs roughly December through April; hurricane season is June 1 to November 30, peaking in August and September. Sun is strong year-round, so shade, water, and sunscreen matter more than the season.

However you map your beach days, a packed-along breakfast turns a good morning into a better one. We like picking up a few pastries and something to drink on the way out the door, the kind of small picnic that travels easily to whichever stretch of sand you've chosen. A French-style bakery and pâtisserie in Simpson Bay is a natural first stop before you point the car toward the coast.