Traveling to St. Barts

Nearly every person we talk to has heard of the island of St. Barts, but most are not quite sure where it is located, never mind how to get there. They have seen photographs of the “rich & famous” hanging out on the beaches during the holidays or on their yachts. When it comes time for them to get over the fact that normal people also go there, they struggle with how to get there.

The Charm of St. Barts

Part of the charm of St. Barts is the challenge of getting there. A majority of the guests arrive by flying into the island of St. Martin (SXM). From St. Martin, the options include commercial air on Winair or St. Barth Commuter. The flights are about 12 mins long and almost run like a shuttle service. The planes are not jet, but propeller planes as the landing strip is far too short to handle jets.

Taking a ferry from St. Martin to St. Barts

The other option from St. Martin is to take a ferry. You will need to take a taxi from the airport to the ferry dock. The challenge is the seas can be rough at times and quite uncomfortable. The ferry is about 45 mins long. It is important to know the ferries arrive in downtown Gustavia at the ferry dock and not at the airport. Your car rental company and “Meet & Greet” contact will need to know how you will be arriving so they can plan accordingly.

What are the planes like from St. Martin to St. Barts?

The planes flying from St. Martin to St. Barts do not have air-conditioning or restrooms. A recommendation is to handle that business prior to getting on the plane. Another option is to fly into San Juan and take Tradewind Aviation on their regular scheduled flights or private charter. The flight is about 1 hour and 10 mins long, has executive seating, restrooms, a/c, and eliminates going through customs and immigration twice.

The St. Barts airport does not accept night landings. If for some reason your flights into St. Martin or San Juan are late you could get stuck because there will not be service that can get you to St. Barts in time before the airport closes. Try to remember that from St. Martin even if you can not fly to St. Barts because the airport is closed the ferries do operate at night.

When you rent a villa the rental revenue goes to the owner. For whatever the reason you can not arrive on time and are delayed a night the owners will not provide you with a refund for the missed night. If you’re taking several connecting flights or worried about not making it we recommend for you to purchase travel insurance.