St. Maarten Ferries
St. Maarten is a hub for visitors of the Northeastern Caribbean. This counts both for transit passengers via Princess Juliana International Airport staying at Anguilla, Saba, Statia (St. Eustatius), St. Barths and St. Kitts and Nevis, as well as the day trip connections the island provides to uninhabited islands Pinel, Tintamarre, Prickly Pear and Dog Island.
All above islands can be reached by ferry, motorboat day trip or catamaran excursion from St. Maarten or St. Martin.
For all ferry trips (except for Pinel and Tintamarre), bring a passport. Next to autonomous country St. Maarten, the destinations ferries go to are either part of the European Netherlands (Saba and Statia), France (French side St. Martin and St. Barths), Great Britain (Anguilla) and independent country St. Kitts & Nevis. In case of Saba, Statia, St. Martin and St. Barths, you are also entering the European Union (Dutch side St. Maarten is not part of the EU). Only when traveling from St. Martin to St. Barths and vice versa, an ID card suffices.
Ferries from St. Maarten / St. Martin form a closed loop island hopping system over water. Apart from ferry boats from St. Maarten / St. Martin to Anguilla, St. Barths, Saba, Statia and St. Kitts, connections with other Caribbean islands are only available via Princess Juliana International Airport (SXM) and for French islands also via L’Esperance airport in Grand Case. There is currently no ferry running westward from St. Maarten to the Virgin Islands, nor do scheduled ferry connections operate southbound from St. Kitts and Nevis to the middle and southern Caribbean. Local airliner Winair however operates frequent connections to many neighboring islands in these directions.
Please see below guide of ferries per destination to both inhabited and uninhabited islands surrounding St. Maarten / St. Martin.
Ferries to Neighboring Islands: Anguilla, Saba, St. Barths, Statia and St. Kitts
Ferry from St. Martin to Anguilla
Voyager Ferries to Anguilla, depart from Marigot on French side St. Martin. Reservations can not be made; tickets need to be purchased at the port itself. The duration of the trip is about 20 minutes. Ships leave at 8.30am, 9.30 am, 10.30am, 12pm, 1.30pm, 3pm, 4.30pm, 5.15pm and 6pm. Departures from Anguillas Blowing Point harbor are 7.30am, 8.30am, 9.30am, 11am, 12.30pm, 2pm, 3.30pm, 4.30pm and 5.15pm
If you consider a day trip to Anguilla to visit its famous beaches, using a catamaran excursion with Aqua Mania from Simpson Bay or Eagle Tours from Philipsburg can be more cost and time effective. These journeys will halt at some of the most famous beaches of the island.
Aqua Mania Adventures offers the Lambada to Prickly Pear Cays & Anguilla:
Not only the Lambada is a possibility but also the Mambo to Rendezvous Bay, Anguilla:
For the Ultimate Prickly Pear and Anguilla experience, book with Eagle Tours:
Ferries from St. Maarten & St. Martin to St. Barths
Aqua Mania operates ferries at 8.00 AM from Simpson Bay, St. Maarten to St. Barths. The ferry leaves at Simpson Bay Marina & Resort.
From Philipsburgs Bobby’s Marina, Voyager runs ferries multiple times per day to St Barths’ capital Gustavia. The trip takes about 45 minutes. See the timetable for its availability per day.
Ferries from St. Maarten to Saba
Aqua Mania runs its Edge fast ferry to Saba at Tuesday and Friday starting at 9.00 AM. The trip takes about 1 hour and a half. Ships depart from Simpson Bay Marina & Resort.
Makana Ferry has ferries leaving from Bobby’s Marina in Philipsburg to Saba every day. It takes 1.40 hours to get to Saba with Makana ferry.
Ferries to Statia (St. Eustatius) and St. Kitts & Nevis
On the same route as Saba, Statia and St. Kitts are connected with St. Maarten from Bobby’s Marina (Philipsburg) with Makana ferries. Boats leave every day except Wednesday. The trip takes 1.45 hours to Statia, and 1.10 hours from Statia to St. Kitts. Nevis can be reached via St. Kitts with a short roll-on roll-off ship trip.
Ferries to uninhabited Pinel, Tintamarre, Prickly Pear and Dog Island
Ferries to nature reserve island Pinel run as of 9.30 until 5pm roughly every 30 minutes. You do not need to make reservations for this 10 minute boat trip. Return trips can be bought at the port in Cul de Sac, in cash only.
Tintamarre can be reached by private transport. Many local water taxis can take you to the island and back. Note that contrary to Pinel island, Tintamarre has no restaurants. This means you have to bring water and snacks yourself.
Scenic Dog Island and Prickly Pear are part of many sailing excursions to Anguilla.
Ferries from and to the St. Maarten cruise port
Ferries also connect the St. Maarten cruise port and three piers in Philipsburg. See our dedicated page on how to spend a day in Philipsburg for more details on these ships.
Getting to the ferries
Depending where you stay, the ferries are relatively well connected to the St. Maarten bus system of public – private minivans. All Dutch side St. Maarten bus lines end a one minute walk to Bobby’s Marina, where the ferries leave from. Simpson Bay Marina (Aqua Mania and Eagle Tours) is a 5 minute walk from the Pelican stop on the Philipsburg to Maho / Cupecoy bus line. Marigots port is a 2 minute walk from the main bus station, connected with a bus line from Philipsburg too.
The airport is on the Philipsburg to Maho / Cupecoy line. This means that any bus you take in the Philipsburg direction passes close by both the Simpson Bay Marina and Philipsburg Bobby’s Marina. If you need to get to the Marigot port, switch buses to the latter at the Osborne Kruythoff Monument Roundabout.
Taxis are an often used means of transportation to get to the ferries too. See our St. Maarten Taxis and Tariffs page for more information.
Maps of Philipsburg, Simpson Bay and Marigot passenger ports
Philipsburg (Bobby’s Marina) is departure point for Voyager, Makana and Great Bay Express ferries to Saba, Statia, St. Barths and St. Kitts. It is also the Philipsburg station for Eagle Tours Anguilla trips.
Marigots port connects with St. Barths (Voyager) and Anguilla.
Simpson Bay Marina is the departure place for catamaran excursions to Anguilla with Eagle Tours and Aqua Mania.
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