St. Maarten, Dutch West Indies

Part of this small island is Dutch, the other part is French.  When you cross the "border" there's no passport check or anything.  Both my taxi drivers noted that the US dollar is the de facto currency, at least on the Dutch side; only government workers are still paid in (Netherlands Antilles) guilders.  In fact, no one I asked had any guilders on them that I could trade for!

I'd go back and visit any of the islands again, but St. Maarten will be the first on the list.  In addition to its just being beautiful, there's world-famous Maho Beach!  Sadly, when we got there we'd just missed a 747, but we did get a fantastic experience!


Jet over Maho Beach, St. Maarten from Darren Miller on Vimeo.



Me and jet take-off at Maho Beach, St. Maarten from Darren Miller on Vimeo.

Hanging out at Maho Beach is the most fun you can ever have for free :-)

Here are some other pictures from the Dutch side of the island:

Update, 7/14/17: Well, this is sad:

A 57-year-old woman vacationing in the Caribbean island of Saint Martin was killed after a blast from a nearby jet knocked her to the ground.

The incident occurred on Wednesday at Maho Beach — a popular tourist destination in Sint Maarten (the Dutch side of Saint Martin) — which is famous for its proximity to the Princess Juliana International Airport. Officials say the woman had been holding onto a fence that separates the beach from the airport when winds generated by the jet’s engines blasted her back. 

She died a short time later at a local hospital, reports the BBC.