We have just returned from St. Maarten and were very impressed. We stayed on the Dutch side and enjoyed the French side also. The beaches were beautiful and white, the water was warm, plenty of snorkeling spots and tons of water sports. The island is loaded with restaurants, and most of all the people were great. I recommend you rent a car (approximately $150/ week) this will get you to all those beaches when you want without depending on a taxi.

For people that are planning to rent a car on St. Martin - be aware.
We spent 12 days on St. Martin in June 2009. Before going there we were reading some reviews on Trip Advisor regarding crime on St. Martin. We read a number of complaints about rental cars being broken into and vandalized, two main advices were: do not leave anything in the car and do not rent a car from a local company, but rather from a major rental car company. We rented our car from Avis. I am a preferred Avis member, but upon arrival I was advised that the car that I booked was not available. Instead of offering a car in the same class or better I was given a downgrade (really cheap, old, beaten up Toyota Yaris). The Avis manager said that Yaris was the only car available.
We were renting a villa and we had to drive to the beach (really nice beach Bay Long about 4 minutes from the villa. The very first day we went tp Bay Long public parking lot, we spent about 2 hours on the beach. The car was vandalized. All locks were damaged, there was no way to open the car. We had absolutely nothing in the car, so it was very clear that the only purpose was to damage the car. Avis has an insurance policy ($20 per day extra), but there is a $500 deductible. Typically, I declined the insurance. I had to hitch a ride back to the villa abd after a lot of trouble was able to get a "mechanic" from AVIS who came with a couple of screw drivers that he used to pry the door open. He damaged the car door, but the car was so old that it did not matter to him. Back at Avis they told me that to fix the locks on that old car is going to cost $500 - exacly the amount of the deductible. They gave me another car (another Yaris) and this time I decided to get the insurance because I felt extremely vulnerable and there was no doubt in my mind that it was an inside job. Avis also advised me that without the insurance I would be responsible for up to $15,000 if the car gets stolen, which was "possible" in their words. Two days later my second Yaris was vandalized again, they gave me another Yaris. One day driving to Avis (which I had to do at least 5 times during my stay) I saw a man on the side of the road and he asked me for a ride. Guess what - exactly the same thing happened to him. He needed to go to the airport to pick up his daughter, but the car was damaged exacly the same way on the parking lot of a different beach. You do not have to be a genious to figure out that it is all a big business. The worst is the feeling of total helplessness, you are totally at the mercy of those crooks.
We loved the villa, but I will never go to St. Martin again.

I went to St Martin for a week last summer with my family and it was really amazing. We normally rent villas, so this time we went with villa C WAR in Baie Rouge - and we were so glad that we did! It was unreal having our own huge pool, our own little stretch of beach and not having to deal with other random hotel guests. A lady named Cicely and a gentleman named Sylvester ran the house and helped us with whatever we needed. One time, Sylvester picked us all coconuts and broke them open so we could drink the milk. It was the coolest experience - totally how I pictured Caribbean living to be.

We did A LOT of hanging around our villa because we had our own private beach, but we ventured out a few times to Orient Beach when we wanted to be where the action was. There were a ton of people sunbathing and participating in all kinds of water sports. I think I walked up and down the beach half a dozen times just to people watch and check out the action.

My two favorite meals were at the Sunset Cafe in Grand Case and Chanteclair in Marigot. They are on 2 different ends of the spectrum - Sunset Cafe is a perfect little beach side restaurant and Chanteclair is a bit more upscale. Either way, they both had some of the best food I've ever had!

I recently arrived in St. Martin on a private catamaran along with eight other people (some of whom had visited the island before). We found the island run down, ghetto-like, neglected, filty, and the people unfriendly as well as rude (especially the customs agents and Princess Julianna Airport personnel). This strikes me odd as according to the CIA website on St. Martin 85% of the working population is employed in the service industry. You would think that they would treat their visitors well as their primary industry is tourism. I, as well as my sailing partners, will not be visiting this island again. My advice: avoid this island at all costs. There are better places to spend your hard earned money on a well deserved vacation.