A Cruise Call in St Martin

Viking Sea docked in Philipsburg, St. Martin. It was a perfect sunny morning with a cool breeze from the Caribbean Sea. Our guide/driver and a small group of cruisers boarded a small van to explore the island’s villages and natural beauty.

Just as I like it, our guide began by explaining the island’s history, which is divided between two countries. France and the Netherlands share St. Martin, the world’s smallest inhabited island with two sovereigns.

When Christopher Columbus sighted it in 1493, Indigenous people occupied it. He named it in honor of St. Martin of Tours, whose feast day it was.

Valued for its natural lakes of salt, a scarce commodity in Europe, the island changed hands several times between the Dutch and Spanish. In 1648, the Dutch returned to the island to find it occupied by the French, with whom they signed a partition treaty.

In addition to mining salt, the island supported sugarcane plantations worked by enslaved Black people who are the ancestors of most of the present inhabitants.

We started our tour in the Dutch (southern) part of the island, Sint Maarten, which has coastal lagoons, salt pans, and sand spits. It became part of the Dutch West Indies in 1828 and was one of the original territories of the Netherlands Antilles Federation. It is now an autonomous state within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The capital is Philipsburg.

The French (northern) part of the island, Saint-Martin, has beaches and forest-covered hills. It formerly belonged to the French overseas Department of Guadeloupe but attained separate status as an overseas collectivity of France in 2007. The capital is Marigot. Most of the people are of African or mixed African-European heritage.

We traveled to Marigot, which is just four streets wide. We had free time to visit the outdoor market and look for tokens to remember our visit. The merchants were friendly and helpful as I perused the jewelry, t-shirts, and magnets.

Our tour also included visiting Lucas Bay and viewing the beach, a favorite spot for free divers, and Grand Case, a quiet fishing village with views of the glimmering sea and neighboring islands.

The included tour lasts about two hours and provides a glimpse of the island’s beauty. Other optional tours are also available, including snorkeling, a rum distillery tour, a visit to a nature preserve, and many more.

Viking Ocean Cruises offers cruises worldwide. This 11-day “West Indies Explorer” voyage begins and ends in Puerto Rico. Click here for more information.

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Admin
23 days ago

A beautiful destination!

23 days ago

Loved St Martin. Your photos brought back happy memories, thank you.

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