We just spent four days in St. Barts, and we're now back in St. Maarten. For anyone interested in taking the ferry from Philipsburg to Gustavia, here's the story on required paperwork: All you need is proof of vaccination. No Covid tests are required in either direction.

We bought our ferry tickets online. At the Great Bay Express office, we checked in for the ferry, showing our passports. The employee glanced at our U.S. vaccination cards, but hardly read them. The other formalities were as usual -- the St. Maarten immigration officials stamped our passport as we got on the ferry, and the French immigration officials stamped our passports on arrival in Gustavia.

When we checked in at the ferry office in Gustavia for our return boat trip, the employee at the ferry office said, "I don't need to see your vaccination card." He just scanned our passports and looked at our boat tickets.