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St Maarten Makes For A Nice Place To Go Vacationing

By Claudine Hodges


Everyone enjoys going somewhere interesting on holiday. St Maarten is a beautiful island in the northeast Caribbean which lies about three hundred kilometers east of Puerto Rico. The main airport, known as Princess Juliana Airport is often used to refer to the island. In 2007 this airport handled over one hundred and three thousand aircrafts and over one and a half million people.

This airport serves Dutch speaking parts of this island and on the French side, there is another called L'Esperance Airport. It is known for its very low height flyover landings as the end of the runway is very close to the Maho Beach. Many tourists make their way there just to see the airplanes land and take off. If standing behind the aircraft while it is revving its engines to take off, one has to really hold on to the fence as the force of the wind is tremendous.

Driving around to find ones accommodation can be tricky as the road markings and signs are not the best. It is better to stop and ask for directions as one can be told that the hotel is just behind the third tree on the left. Up to date road maps are however freely available from the Tourist Office and from a few different stores.

Another attraction is taking a pirate day cruise. One will get to sail a tall ship on the clear waters while being told about swashbuckling tales just like a real pirate. A lunch with unlimited drinks will be provided and there will be time to go swimming to enjoy the cool waters. Just like a real pirate ship there will be a plank where one can walk, jump or even flip off. There are only twenty five people at a time allowed so the group is small and many friendships can be made.

The second part is the erection of a new control tower and radar facilities. The terminals will be modernized and the runway will have an end safety area added. This was completed in 2006. Phase three will happen if the traffic increases and the terminal buildings will be made larger and a full taxiway system will be put into play. They do have certain stops where one will need to wait and lift a hand to flag shuttles down while there.

This island is of a tropical monsoon climate that tends to have a dry season from January through to April. The rainy seasons are from August to December. The temperature does remain fairly consistent during the year ranging from 20 degrees Celsius to 34 degrees Celsius. They do have the occasional thunder storms but these rarely exceed eighteen days throughout the year.

Great Bay is one of the widest and longest beaches. There are many different places where one can get something to eat as well many different shops that sell jewellery, electronics and of course clothing. There are also a variety of different water sports to try which include jet skiing, para-sailing as well as diving and different boat tours.

The Dutch side of the island is well known for the beaches, nightlife and jewellery. The drinks are made from rum based guava-berries and their casinos are always thriving. On the French side it is known for the nude beaches, the shopping which includes the outside markets as well as the different styles of clothing.




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