Taxis

Taxis are available at Princess Juliana International Airport, the cruise ship terminal, and most major hotels. There are no meters — drivers operate on official fixed rates, with surcharges of 25 percent after 10pm and 50 percent after midnight.

The rates are steep, and negotiating them down is largely pointless. The ride from the airport to Maho — a trip most healthy travellers can walk in ten minutes — costs $15. There is no Uber or rideshare service on Sint Maarten.

The underlying reason is structural. Taxi licenses on Sint Maarten have long been distributed as political currency — handed to family members and supporters around election time as a guaranteed income source. The result is a serious oversupply of drivers. A typical taxi operator may wait two hours at a rank for a single fare. At that economics, charging a reasonable rate is simply not viable. The visitor pays the price of a broken system.

Taxis are useful for an evening out when you do not want to drive. For anything beyond that, a rental car is the rational choice — a single standard taxi ride costs as much as a full day of car rental from a reputable local company.

The official rate from the airport to Maho is $15. It is a one-minute drive. And when you arrive, the driver will add: "Per person, of course." Clearly communicate with the driver the rate BEFORE you enter a taxi!

Observant visitors will also notice that taxis tend to crawl. Locals have a theory about why: on a 37-square-mile island, a slow taxi is a longer fare.