Trip Planning
The TakeYourBackpack guidebooks are your all-in-one travel companion, featuring the best cities, national parks, hikes, beaches, and unique sites, along with essential tips on when to go, how to get around, exchanging money, and even local phrases to get you started — everything you need for a smooth, unforgettable backpacking adventure.
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Planning a backpacking route through Saint Martin can be tricky — you need to balance must-see places, travel times, budget, and how long to stay in each destination. Our free personalized Saint Martin itinerary planner creates a route based on your travel style, trip duration, and interests, so you can spend less time researching and more time exploring.
Personal tip: I normally search on good rating for atmosphere (for meeting people) and location (for easy exploring). Cleanliness as a bonus.
Travel Essentials
There are no mandatory vaccinations for most travelers to Saint Martin. A yellow fever certificate is required only if you arrive from a country with yellow fever risk. Make sure your routine vaccines are up to date (MMR, tetanus-diphtheria, polio), and hepatitis A and B are commonly recommended. Dengue and chikungunya are spread by mosquitoes here, so use insect repellent, especially in the rainy season.
vaccination requirementsWhen I first started traveling, I often spent part of my first day in a new country hunting for a local SIM card. While this can still be slightly cheaper, it also takes time and planning.
These days, it's much simpler to install an eSIM before leaving home. Once you arrive in Saint Martin, you can activate it immediately and have mobile data from the moment you land — which is especially useful for ordering transport or navigating away from busy airports.
There are many providers nowadays, and price differences are usually small. I personally go with
Holafly, as it offers excellent network coverage throughout the country and strong global coverage, so you can manage multiple countries from a single app.
HolaFly eSimCulture & Customs
In Saint Martin, swimwear is for the beach. Cover up with a shirt and shorts or a sarong before walking into shops, supermarkets or restaurants in Marigot or Grand Case. Topless sunbathing is accepted on French-side beaches, but full nudity is limited to the clothing-optional section at the south end of Orient Bay. Ask before photographing people, especially vendors at markets and lolos, and dress modestly if you visit a church. Service runs at a relaxed pace, so stay patient in queues and with waiters. Don’t describe the island as just French or just Dutch, since locals identify strongly as St. Martiners. Women and LGBTQ+ travelers face no special dress rules beyond these, though being discreet with public affection in residential areas avoids unwanted attention.
Trying traditional food is always a great way to experience the culture. Here are some must-try dishes for Saint Martin.
- Saltfish and johnny cakes: Salted cod sautéed with onions, peppers and tomato, served with fried dough rounds. It is the classic island breakfast, sold early in the morning from roadside stands and small bakeries.
- Lolo barbecue ribs and chicken: Meat smoked on open grills at the lolos, the open-air food shacks in Grand Case and Marigot, served with rice and peas, plantains and macaroni pie. It is where locals actually eat, and plates cost far less than restaurant meals.
- Accras: Small fritters of salt cod or conch, seasoned with herbs and Scotch bonnet pepper. You will find them on nearly every French-side menu, showing the Guadeloupe and French Caribbean influence on the local kitchen.
- Conch and dumplings: Tender conch stewed in a spiced creole sauce with flour dumplings. It is a long-standing Sunday and celebration dish that ties the island to its fishing past.
- Guavaberry liqueur: A rum-based liqueur made with the small wild guavaberry fruit that grows in the hills. It is the island’s signature drink and traditionally poured around Christmas.
Tap water in Saint Martin is desalinated seawater that is treated to French standards, so it is technically safe, though many locals still prefer bottled water for drinking because older pipes and cisterns can affect the taste and quality. Brushing your teeth with tap water is fine, but bottled or filtered water is the safer choice for drinking, especially after storms or water outages. A filter bottle saves money and plastic, and large jugs from the supermarket cost far less than single bottles.
The main language in Saint Martin is
French. Backpacking is way more rewarding if you know a bit of the local language, so I'd suggest brushing up on the basics just in case your French skills have become a bit rusty.
Want to understand locals better?The complete Travel Guide for Saint Martin includes 52 essential words and phrases — greetings, thank-yous, ordering food, transport, numbers, and common local expressions you'll actually hear.
Get your local basic phrases 👉
Get the Travel Guide - is widely understood across Saint Martin. In Marigot, Grand Case and Orient Bay, restaurant, shop and guesthouse staff switch to it easily, and younger people and anyone working in tourism are usually fluent. In the residential and rural parts of the French side, many locals speak an English-based Creole at home, alongside French. French is the language that helps most, especially at the pharmacy, the gendarmerie and in government offices. Before you go, download French in Google Translate for offline use and learn to say bonjour when you walk into a shop.
Money & Payments
The local currency of Saint Martin is EUR (€).
The euro is the official currency on the French side of Saint Martin, but US dollars are accepted almost everywhere, and many businesses list prices in both, sometimes at a flat 1 to 1 rate that favors paying in dollars. ATMs are easy to find in Marigot, Grand Case, Hope Estate and near Orient Bay. Machines on the French side dispense euros, while many on the Dutch side give US dollars. Local ATM fees are usually low or zero, but your home bank may charge US$3 to 5 per withdrawal plus a foreign transaction fee. Cards work at supermarkets, most restaurants, car rental agencies and hotels, but bring cash for minibuses, lolos, market stalls, beach chair rentals and small guesthouses. Bring some small US dollar bills, withdraw euros or dollars from bank ATMs as needed, and if you must exchange cash, use a bank or one of the established exchange offices in Marigot instead of street changers.
On the French side of Saint Martin, many restaurants already add a 10 to 15% service charge, often shown as “service compris” on the bill, so check before adding more. If service is not included, leaving 10 to 15% is standard, and rounding up or adding €1 to 2 (US$1 to 2) is plenty at lolos and casual beach bars. Taxi drivers are usually tipped by rounding up the fare, while porters and housekeeping staff get about US$1 to 2 per bag or per night.
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Over the years, I've learned the importance of packing minimally. It's so much easier to jump on the back of a truck or squeeze yourself into the last spot of a minibus without that supersized backpack. If you're headed to a warm destination, leave your winter jacket at home; for colder regions, opt for thin thermal underlayers. Instead of packing your entire wardrobe, bring just three sets of clothes, as laundry facilities are available everywhere.
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Hi, I’m Johan (Netherlands 🇳🇱), the creator of TakeYourBackpack. Over the past 3 decades, I’ve backpacked through 90+ countries across six continents, gaining extensive experience with independent travel, long-term trips, and overland routes.