St Martin

Shared between the French and the Dutch since the mid-seventeenth century, the tiny island of St Martin/St Maarten is one of the most touristed islands in this part of the Caribbean and a huge duty-free shopping area. Opinions about the island are as divided as the island itself. Ask the streams of repeat visitors, and they'll tell you that this tiny island is paradise on earth, with fabulous beaches and every type of tourist facility imaginable.

Ask others, and you may hear how rapid and barely controlled development has turned a once-beautiful place into "a graceless monument to vulgarian greed", as one disgruntled writer put it.

The truth lies somewhere in between. The island does boast some of the finest beaches in the Eastern Caribbean, particularly at Orient Beach on the French side, as well as some stunning scenery, most notably in the interior around Pic Paradis , and many excellent restaurants and hotels on both sides of the border. On the other hand, the hunt for the tourist dollar can feel unrelenting and, at times, it is hard to discern the real country under the veneer of concrete development, souvenir shops and the waves of tourists (all particularly acute on the Dutch side in the capital Philipsburg).

Getting there
Visitors pour onto the island by plane , with virtually all of the international flights landing at Juliana Airport on the Dutch side of the island. American Airlines offers daily flights from New York and Miami in the US as well as from Puerto Rico, while Air France provides several flights a week from Paris. Within the wider Caribbean, LIAT is the main service provider, with connections to and from almost all of the islands.

St Martin is also a convenient base for visitors to other islands. Windward Islands Airways (known as Winair; tel 599/545-4237) flies frequently to Saba (US$120 round-trip), St Eustatius (US$120 round-trip) and Anguilla (US$60 round-trip), while Air Caraibes flies to St Barts (US$100 round-trip). Special deals are regularly offered on all of these flights (day return trips, for example, can be dramatically lower than the advertised price) and it's worth calling to enquire.

Getting around
The local bus service is efficient and cheap. Buses run frequently from 7am to midnight between Philipsburg and Marigot and usually continue up to Grand Case. The flat fare is US$1.50 and drivers will accept dollars or euros (though not always florins if you're on the French side). Minibuses run all over the island, depending on the driver's whim, and charge between US$1.50 and US$3 depending on distance. Both buses and minibuses can be taken from bus stops in Philipsburg and Marigot; elsewhere, flag them down as they pass.

If you want to explore the island (and you should certainly do some touring) consider hiring a car for a few days. Driving is easy (on the right-hand side of the road), and there are plenty of car rental outlets at the airport; competition keeps prices reasonable, starting at around US$40 per day. Try Paradise (tel 599/545-3737), Safari (tel 599/545-3186), St Louis (tel 599/545-3244), or Budget (tel 599/545-4030). Most will deliver to your hotel. Scooters can also be rented for around US$30 per day; try Rent a Scoot (tel 590/87 20 59) in Nettle Bay.

Finally, taxis are easy to come by in Philipsburg and Marigot, less so elsewhere. Rates are fixed both from the airport and from the ferry dock in Marigot; ask before you hop in. Guided taxi tours cost around US$35 for one to two people for a two- to three-hour tour. In Marigot, try 590/87 56 54, in Grand Case 590/87 75 79 and in Philipsburg 599/542-2359.

Things to do
Watersports are excellent across the island. Orient Beach in the northeast is the watersports centre of the island, with a host of outlets along the bay renting jet skis, windsurfers, hobie cats and snorkelling gear as well as parasailing and boat trips out to nearby Green Cay and Ilet Pinel. On the Dutch side of the island, Simpson Bay also has plenty of operators hiring out the same equipment. Diving on the island is good, though not in the top league, with four main schools. The Scuba Shop (tel 590/87 48 01 or 599/545-3213, ) has outlets on both sides of the island, Dive Safaris (tel 599/542-9001) and Ocean Explorers (tel 599/544-5252) are on the Dutch side while Scuba Fun Caraibes (tel 590/87 36 13) is on the French side. Among the highlights are the dive to HMS Proselyte , a shipwreck from 1801 now home to an artificial reef teeming with marine life, including nurse sharks and schools of fish, and a series of fabulous coral reefs at The Maze. There are some fine windsurfing spots on the island, with the calm waters of Coconut Grove on the northeast coast providing the main centre for beginners. You can rent boards there at Le Galion Watersports (tel 590/87 37 09) and at Windy Reef (tel 590/87 08 37). Orient Beach is also good for windsurfing, and you'll see operators renting boards along the beach. Sailing trips are offered by a number of operators. The 75ft Scoobidoo catamaran (tel 590/87 20 28) takes daily sailing, snorkelling and beach tours from Anse Marcel, charging US$30 for a sunset cruise, US$45 for a half-day cruise and US$75-85 for a whole day, which might be to Anguilla or the deserted Prickly Pear island. The huge catamaran Golden Eagle (tel 599/530-0068) takes daily trips from Philipsburg to St Barts and various offshore islands, stopping for snorkelling and shelling en route. Tahuna Charters (tel 590/27 33 43 or 599/544-4354) offers private charters by catamaran from Marigot to Anguilla, St Barts and offshore islands.