I learned the hard way about 'respecting' the sun on St. Martin. First time we were on Orient Beach my wife applied 15 spf sunscreen to my back. Clouds were off and on that day, and a nice breeze made it very deceiving regarding the ultra violet rays we were absorbing. Got a serious sun burn that blistered up a few days later. What really cooked my grits is that I'm 95% Italian and still burned, but my wife (who is a mixture of many northern European cultures) tanned nicely without incident! Never made that mistake again. If you are that fair-skinned then don't take chances here. If you plan to walk the beach stay covered as best you can because your shoulders and upper torso really get pounded by the sun when upright. You can always discard this if and when you lay out under a beach umbrella. Visiting and experiencing SXM with a bad sun burn just isn't any fun.