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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

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 Tea
    Home made iced-lemongrass tea
  • Snacks
    Home made banana bread
  • Bottled water
    Water 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

Pickup point

  • Parking Lot Dock Maarten close to Philipsburg Cruise Terminal

Pickup details

Staying at Oyster Pond or Philipsburg? Pick up is included if you chose pick up at your hotel, lodging address, residence address or company in, and areas between, Philipsburg and Oyster Pond (for example Divi, Belair, Oyster Bay, Holland House, Vicky’s Keys, Alicia’s Inn, Dawn Beach) We’ll meet you at your location at 8.30 am LOCAL TIME, no pick-up fee will be charged. Staying anywhere else on St Maarten or St Martin? For guests choosing pick-up at other hotels, lodging addresses, residence addresses or companies including cruise ship guests there are 2 options: 1. We can pick you up for an additional fee per person, depending on the location. Please check with your activities desk or contact us to see if your location is listed as a paid pick-up location. 2. We will pick you up at 8.30 am LOCAL TIME from the parking lot of Chesterfield’s Restaurant, Dock Maarten, in Philipsburg (See location on map below). Parking is available for the first hour at USD $2.00, each additional hour USD $1.00. No pick-up fee will be charged. No Uber or similar services have started on our island yet, so you’ll need to get there by taxi or rental car. WALKING ROUTE DIRECTIONS to MEETING POINT for CRUISE SHIP GUESTS from the cruise ship terminal (it'll take you 10 minutes when walking a regular pace):: Exit the cruise ship terminal through the main exit, onto the main public road and turn left following the road to Philipsburg. After a five minute straight walk you'll see Johnny's Scooter Rental on your left, it's a small shack with a big smiley sign on top. Go to the parking lot behind Johnny's Scooter Rental. We'll be on that parking lot in a silver van. If you prefer not to walk, you can ask one of the many taxis at the cruise ship terminal to drop you off at Chesterfield's Restaurant for a couple of dollars. Bear in mind they, maybe, will wait for their car/van to fill up before they depart.

or

Meeting point

  • Dock Maarten
    Juancho Yrausquin Blvd, Philipsburg, Sint Maarten

End point

This activity ends back at the meeting point.

Operating hours
.8:30 am

Itinerary

1

Great Salt Pond

30 minutesAdmission Ticket Free

2

Emilio Wilson Park

30 minutesAdmission Ticket Free

3

Fort Louis

30 minutesAdmission Ticket Free

4

Amuseum Naturalis

30 minutesAdmission 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

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

Traveler Photos

Gallery picture 1 (from a traveler's review)
Gallery picture 2 (from a traveler's review)
Gallery picture 3 (from a traveler's review)
Gallery picture 4 (from a traveler's review)
Gallery picture 5 (from a traveler's review)

Reviews

4.9
based on 94 reviews
Total reviews and rating from Viator & Tripadvisor

St Martin - Sint Maarten Small Group History TourTour.

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.

The Perfect Tour Guide made it the PERFECT TOUR!

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!

Amazing time

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!!

Not a lot to see, but the local tour guide did provide some interesting discussion

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

Great tour!

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.

Guide was knowledgable ,...

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

I didn’t get to go on the...

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.

Great trip full of nice surprises

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!

Our tour guide Jonathan...

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.

Great island tour

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.

Excellent

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!!

St Martin has an interesting history, be sure to go on a tour when you on vacation.

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.

Small group tour gives so much more!

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.

Very small group where...

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

Great Tour, knowledgeable and patient guide!

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

This history nerd loved it!

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!

Excellent tour by David

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.

Great History Tour of St Maarten

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!

Good intro to St. Maarten

Roger_W, Apr 2019
Knowledgeable and personable guide. Nice overview of the history of the island. Vehicle was a bit cramped.

The Cruise ship was late, But our...

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

The tour was fantastic. Our guide...

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.

Very informative, relaxed tour. Highly...

Chona A, Aug 2017
Very informative, relaxed tour. Highly recommended!

Picked up on time. We were the only...

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:)

The tour was very well done, very...

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.

excellent tour guide, small group in...

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.

got a good idea of what the island...

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.

We had a great experience on our...

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.

Ilja was our tour guide. She did a...

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.

This tour was great! Our guide was...

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.

We highly recommend this tour. It...

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 person

up to 24 hours before the experience starts (local time)

Book ahead!
On average, this is booked 22 days in advance.

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