Overview
Here it is - the new edition of a proven top-seller, with color photos and maps throughout. Half-French, half-Dutch, St. Martin is considered the most interesting island in the Caribbean. 475,000 tourists visit by air each year, plus 1.3 million cruise ship passengers, more than all except Cozumel, the Bahamas and the Virgin Islands. Few other guides of substance to these extremely popular islands exist. Complete detail on what to do indoors (dining, shopping, where to stay, nightlife) and outdoors (boating, walking, biking, eco-tours, sailing, wildlife spotting, horseback riding, golf, tennis, diving, fishing). On the Dutch side of St. Martin, everything runs on time, there are big casinos, and great duty-free shopping; on the French side are innumerable world-class restaurants, beautiful girls, nude beaches, and nothing runs on time. St. Barts, next door, is chic and special -- the St. Tropez of the Caribbean -- with few buildings over one story, no large hotels, and 22 stunning beaches. Both islands are prosperous and upscale. Tourists are not pursued and pestered by sellers of knickknacks and tee-shirts, as they are elsewhere in the Caribbean.
