Getting to St Barts Island: The Journey to Paradise

There are so many Caribbean islands you can easily access with a short flight from most any gateway in the US. St Barthélemy is not one of those islands. If you are lucky enough to have planned a holiday on this luxurious French island in the Caribbean, you will need to put in some work to get there. Just getting to St Barts is a adventure but you have options.

Let’s first get the basics out of the way. Saint Barthélemy also also known as St. Barts (English) or St. Barth (French) is an overseas collectivity of France. While it is in the Caribbean, the language, cuisine, and culture are distinctly French. The island itself is quite small but mountainous making navigation a little tricky. Drivers are incredibly polite and are sure to give way for oncoming vehicles on some very narrow roads.

Connection Options

First, there are no commercially operated direct flights from anywhere in the US (except Puerto Rico) to St Barts. To get to the St Barts island, you will have to first fly to Puerto Rico or Sint Maarten(SXM). Lets start with Puerto Rico.

Transferring through Puerto Rico

The good news is since this is US territory, you don’t have to clear immigration before heading to St Barts. The bad news, flights from here are incredibly expensive. The 1 hour flight will cost upwards of $900USD. If this fits your budget, Tradewinds operates multiple daily chartered flights from Puerto Rico to St Barts. This option may save you a bit of time overall.

Transferring through St Martin/Sint Maarten

If St Barts wasn’t confusing enough, St Martin/Sint Maarten is one island divided in two parts: French side St Martin and the Dutch side Sint Maarten. The main international airport is on the Dutch side of the island. To get to St Barts, you have a couple of options from here: commuter flight or ferry. Unless you have a few extra euro to spend and want to book a private transfer (boat of plane). If so, I’m not mad at you.

No matter the option you chose, you will still need to account for the time it will take you to get through immigration. Since you are not technically staying in Sint Martin, you sort of get a fast track through immigration in SXM. Take the transfer line to skip ahead of the crowds. Ultimately, the lines merge into one (those staying and those transferring) and if you checked bags, you still have to wait at baggage claim with everyone else. During my last visit, the airport was going through a significant upgrade. Hopefully, this will include creating a more efficient immigration process.

Option 1: Commuter Flight

If you are afraid of small planes and short runways, skip this option. St Barts Commuter and WinAir both offer several daily transfers from SXM to St Barts Island. The flight is only about 15 minutes which makes it a really quick and convenient way to make it over to the island. But plan carefully. It can sometimes take extraordinary amounts of time to clear immigration in SXM which could cause you to miss your connection.

A few things to note. Landing in Sint Marteen and St Barts is very tricky. High winds are common and has been known to prevent safe landings. In these cases, the flights are diverted to the nearest island to await a safer time to land. For the smaller commuter flights between Sint Marteen and St Barts that could mean a full cancellation of all services. This happened to me and it was not fun. If you’ve successfully landed in Sint Marteen but your commuter flight has been canceled, you can go for the ferry. More on that below.

Option 2: Ferry

If flying feels like a bit too much there is always the ferry. The first part of the trip is the same as above. Arrivals and immigration in SXM can be tricky, so give yourself time. There are two ferry services to get you there: Voyager and Great Bay Express. Both have equally inconvenient schedules so it is very likely that you will spend a few hours in Sint Maarten/St Martin before your scheduled ferry service. Voyager leaves from the French side of the island. The departure point is in Marigot about 20-30 minutes from SXM. Great Bay Express leaves from Philipsburg on the Dutch side of the island and is also about 30 minutes away. Read my blog on Making the Most of a Layover in St Martin/Sint Marteen for some recommendations on what you can do while you wait.

The ferry requires an iron stomach. If you get sea sick at all, I would not recommend this option. The ride can be very rough. The air conditioner is laughable and good luck getting your bag from underneath all the other bags that are sure to be stacked on top of them. On Voyager, there is an option for business class service but don’t expect early boarding, some posh seating with passed wine. It’s not really like that. While there is a waiting area at the port, all boarding happens at the same time. If you stick closer to the back of the boat, you can get off early and be first in line for immigration. Yes, you have to clear immigration again.

A couple of useful tips: You need to arrive to the ferry about 30 minutes ahead of your departure to check in. Traffic on the island can be unpredictable so plan accordingly. There is no place to wait at the dock, so you will likely need to look for a nearby restaurant/bar and hang out there. But be there ahead of your departure time because the ferry doesn’t sit around for long.

You’ve Arrived

No matter the option, you will ultimately arrive in paradise ready to bump elbows with some very wealthy folks (and a lot of wanna be’s). There are no Uber options here, so arrange your transfer to your accommodations ahead of time. If you are nervous about driving, you might not want to make this the island you start driving on. Each time I’ve visited, my villa was up a hill with a very sharp turn making it inevitable that you will get a few scrapes along the way.

If you’ve made it this far, you are ready for the time of your life. Dress light, carry lots of swim wear/cover ups and get ready for sunburn, day drinking and indulgent dining. Before you know it, you will be packing up and doing the same journey in reverse. On your return, give yourself enough time ahead of your flight to check in (and check bags if that’s how you roll) because the lines in SXM can be brutal….but let’s not think about that just yet.