St.Martin-St.Maarten: Small Group, History Tour
Recommended by 98% of travelers
Badge of Excellence
St Maarten
- 4 hours (approx.)
- Pickup offered
- Mobile ticket
- Offered in: English
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Overview
Get to know the twin Dutch and French spirits of the island of St Maarten/St Martin during this 4-hour history tour from Philipsburg. Circumnavigate the island while learning about the natural history, geology, culture and traditions of this unusual place through your guide's engaging commentary. Stop by important landmarks and highlights that help paint the total picture of the island's past. Round-trip transportation from the cruise port is included.
- 4-hour guided history tour of St Maarten/St Martin
- Circle the island on this comprehensive tour
- Learn about the history, geology, culture and traditions of this half-Dutch, half-French island
- Visit a plantation, a fort and a salt pond
- Stop for iced coffee, tea and a Caribbean cake
What's Included
- Coffee and/or TeaHome made iced-lemongrass tea
- SnacksHome made banana bread
- Bottled waterWater Cooler
- Local guide
- Gratuities
- Souveniers
- Personal Expenses
- Dock Maarten: Parking is available for the first hour at USD $2.00, each additional hour USD $1.00
Meeting and Pickup
You can head directly to the meeting point, or request pickup
Operating hours.8:30 am
Itinerary
1
Great Salt Pond
30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
2
Emilio Wilson Park
30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
3
Fort Louis
30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
4
Amuseum Naturalis
30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received within 48 hours of booking, subject to availability
- Not wheelchair accessible
- One 5-minute uphill walk on steps to get to the Fort
- Service animals allowed
- Infant seats available
- Most travelers can participate
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 6 travelers
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Cancellation Policy
You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.
Traveler Photos





Reviews
4.9
based on 94 reviews
Diane_P, Oct 2024
Gert drove us around both sides of the island providing lots of interesting information all along the way. He also added stops he thought we would enjoy. He was very knowledgeable and always happy to answer our questions. It was a great tour and we recommend it wholeheartedly.
DAVID_S, Oct 2024
Our tour guide was John, a Dutch national who has lived in St. Maarten for approx. 30 years, spending most of his time as a reporter for regional publications. Then in retirement, he started working part-time as a tour guide. His love for this tiny island was as effervescent as it was palpable and infectious. We spent a little over five hours with him - all by car, with frequent stops for walking to historical monuments, museums, shorelines, lookout points at high elevations and parks. He even brought lemongrass tea and the BEST Banana Bread ever for a mid-tour snack! His historical narrative started back around 400 - 500 AD, through the discovery of the Americas in the late 1400s, through the era of the slave trade, wars and political shifts of fortune between the Dutch, French and English, then finally into the current era of peace between the Dutch and French sides of the island, including the island's celebration of independence - all with its current ups and downs, economically. We asked lots of questions and conversed at great length with John in great and wonderful conversation. He is truly a gem amongst the island dwellers of St. Maarten! Whenever we travel, we always book a history tour and we have learned over the years that the tour is only as good as the guide. John was absolutely the best guide (and driver) that we've ever had the pleasure of spending time with! He certainly was one of many people that we met there who made our first St. Maarten experience so rich! One quick note about the roads in St. Maarten - there is one traffic signal on the entire island, very few road signs (at least on the Dutch side) and very few traffic signs so I am so glad that we opted to use taxi services for all our transportation needs! John made very easy work of negotiating the transit system of roads on the island and provided informative and fascinating commentary on a host of subjects pertaining to art, faith, culture, history and politics! It was an amazing tour, at incredible value and lots of fun!
Tania_S, Aug 2024
Highly recommended!!! Amazing service… detailed information on the history of the whole island!!!. Tour guide was so polite and very knowledgeable. Fun fun all the way!!
Patricia_M, Jul 2024
Started off very interesting but seemed to wane as there is not a lot to see in St. Maarten. Only got a glass of water as beverage even though it was super hot. The banana cake as promised was very very good - one of the highlights of the tour. The Natural Museum is a waste and should be removed from the tour.
Response from Host, Jul 2024
Thank you for sharing your feedback on your St. Maarten tour! We're delighted to hear that you enjoyed the engaging discussions with our knowledgeable local tour guide and that the banana cake was a highlight for you.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us. We’ll be using your insights to further enhance the experience for all our guests.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. We’re happy to hear you had some great experiences.
Warm, sunny, and creative greetings from Seagrape Tours
Michelle_M, Apr 2024
Gert was a great guide, very informative.It was a very personalised tour with just 2 couples and we very much enjoyed it.
Susan_K, Dec 2023
Guide was knowledgable , courtesy and answered all questions. Only advice put in meeting info distance from port to meeting parking lot in km...not just walking time
Azalee_B, Dec 2023
I didn’t get to go on the tour, because of miss communication and no one came to the designated place to pick me up.
Jim_T, Aug 2023
We met at Dock Martens marina as planned. Our guide Gert was a fantastic guide, a local resident knowledgeable and a retired teacher he was a pleasure to spend the trip with. Shared much more than just the history of St Martin but also thoughts on things to do and sites too see. We shared a coffee and pastries at a small bakery, which was wonderful . Saw the sights from various heights around the island. Learned some more backroads and more about some out of the way places. Places we had passed before without taking note where pointed out and we learned so much! Thanks again Gert for a wonderful day!
George_S, May 2023
Our tour guide Jonathan did a fantastic job sharing the history of both the Dutch and French side of the islands. He went above and beyond his task and we highly recommend this tour to anyone wanting a real experience of St Marteen.
Erika_R, May 2023
This was a great tour. Charles was outstanding- he was able to share so much about the history of the island. The homemade banana bread and lemongrass tea were a nice break during the tour. I would highly recommend.
Suzanne_K, May 2023
Excellent! Knows all the historical details of the island!! Amazing!
Guide was friendly and thoughtful .
And had banana bread and water to share!!
Gavin_G, Mar 2023
The guide was friendly and knowledgeable. The history is rich and interesting.
Some suggestions for improvement: To shorten the tour by an hour or so. Perhaps I was tired or have a short attention span but a shorter tour would have been appreciated. Also during the drive, more historical facts and stories would have been nice. Including more history regarding the pirates in the region.
Valerie_L, Dec 2022
Our tour guide Charles was excellent! He had excellent knowledge of the history and tool us to some amazing locations for us to explore and learn more about a place we have come to love visiting.
Steve_B, Dec 2022
Very small group where were able see and learn about the island, not jut the tourist spots. Very interesting and informative. So much better than the bid tour buses
Patrick_J, Aug 2022
This was an excellent tour! Our guide Jonathon was extremely knowledgeable of the island. Gave us plenty of options to see and do. He Provided a great snack and beverages about halfway throughout the day. Most importantly he was very patient with our young children and included them in all of our stops during the day. Absolutely would recommend this for everyone looking for a history tour. Thank you!
Response from Host, Nov 2022
So nice to hear that everybody, including your young children have enjoyed the history tour, Thank you, Werner & Nascha
Carol_H, Apr 2021
Our tour guide was so knowledgeable and so very friendly. She showed us the important aspects of Sint Maarten that we otherwise would never have know about! And homemade trays to boot!
Barbara_G, Jul 2019
We very much enjoyed our historical tour of St. Maartin. David was very engaging and informative regarding many aspects of this interesting island. We appreciated his willingness to share some personal insights regarding his life on St. Martin, particularly with regards to his experiences during and after the hurricane in 2017. We were impressed with his ability to circumnavigate the island in what seemed to us visitors, very chaotic traffic. His home-made snacks were delicious and very much appreciated. Any traveller not interested in spending time on the beach or engaging in watersports might do well to consider booking this tour. We were very well-satisfied with our day.
Kim_S, May 2019
We loved learning all about the history of St Maarten and St Martin. Our guide was timely, well informed and shared great insight about living on the island. The best part is this is NOT a large touring company, it's small, privately owned and provides you the level of service beyond your expectations. It's a MUST if visiting the island!
Roger_W, Apr 2019
Knowledgeable and personable guide. Nice overview of the history of the island. Vehicle was a bit cramped.
William B, Feb 2018
The Cruise ship was late, But our tour guide waited for us. He was very nice and polite. Took us around the whole island telling us about the history. I do recommend this tour
marilyn_b, Feb 2018
The tour was fantastic. Our guide , David Botha, was so knowledgeable and very pleasant. He even brought us a snack that was home made. He was seagrape tours through Viator Tours. It could not have been better. We highly recommended it.
Chona A, Aug 2017
Very informative, relaxed tour. Highly recommended!
Kathryn R, May 2017
Picked up on time. We were the only ones, 4 of us, so felt like a private tour. Got taken to interesting spots and was given lots of interesting facts. Tea/coffee and cake were included and toilet stop along the way. It did rain at one stage and we were given rain ponchos. Really enjoyed this tour:)
RobertL_G, May 2017
The tour was very well done, very informative, and Iliya was very knowledgeable. All passengers were picked up at their respective locations, yet no time was lost or wasted. Not only was this tour a good historical overview of St Maarten/St Martin, it was also a good orientation of the island. For those individuals spending several days on the island, recommend taking this tour as soon as possible after your arrival. It will help tremendously.
Kirk_Z, Apr 2017
excellent tour guide, small group in minivan. Nice touch of snack in park during tour. See whole island and enjoyed the history.
Krystal H, Jan 2017
got a good idea of what the island looked like as a whole. good to know the history of it as well. recommend for 1st timers.
Yvonne_H, Jan 2017
We had a great experience on our tour. We were picked up on time, and our guide provided a lot of interesting information about the history of the island. We never felt rushed and she allowed us to take as many photos as we wanted. She also provided a snack and regularly offered us water if we needed it. One regret is that we did not get to take a photo of the statues depicting the salt trade that were in the center of town. I am thinking it may have been because the statues are in the middle of a traffic circle which would make it tricky to stop and take a photo. We would definitely recommend this tour. It may be best to plan it for the beginning of the week because there were less cruise boats so that our stops were not as crowded.
Brenda_J, Jul 2016
Ilja was our tour guide. She did a fantastic job of delivering the history of St. Maarten( The Dutch and French) side. The lunch in the park was good also.
Donna C, Mar 2016
This tour was great! Our guide was very informative and engaging. He took us to the forts on each side of the island and we had a nice break with tea and cake at a park created from an old sugar plantation site as well as making other stops to take pictures. Good for those interested in history.
Michael T, Nov 2015
We highly recommend this tour. It is a small group, very personal with easy customization to suit our interests and lots of time for interaction during the tour. We enjoyed the tour of the island and the well informed history background. A wonderful touch was the homemade iced coffee and cake served during the tour. WELL DONE!
From $89.00
per personup to 24 hours before the experience starts (local time)
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St.Martin-St.Maarten: Small Group, History Tour
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