In our 19 visits to SXM, we have been to Philipsburg twice. It’s not on the top of our list and if I never returned I would be ok with it.

On the other hand we have a soft spot for Sunset. On our first few visits to the island we stayed at the Caravanserai. It was easy for us to walk over to SSBB and grab a cocktail and light meal. It became the bar we’d stop at before heading out for the evening and for a nightcap on the way back. In the early years of our visits we would “run” into folks that we had met on other parts of the island again and again. From those “run-ins” we developed friendships, would gather and party there. The music was good, the friends better. We even hosted a very well attended Halloween party there once and gathered for several more.

Our last 4 stays on the Dutch side have been at Beachside Villas so once again Sunset is in the immediate vicinity and where watching the planes land still excites us from that location.

We also go to Driftwood but Sunset is normally our “go-to” for plane and people watching.

Having said this it has been 2 years since we’ve been to the island so we have not experienced the cruise ship crowds which could possible change our minds about our "go to" plane watching location.