We are staying at Beachside Villas and plan to rent a car. Do we need a GPS from the car rental company

Thanks

No. Pick up a free map and you are set.

In a word - NO! Or at least, not in my opinion.

It's a small and easy island to navigate and half the pleasure of St. Maarten/st. Martin is in finding those wonderful little spots well off the beaten path that you stumble upon in the course of traveling the island. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" />

There's basically one road.

If you want to get from point A to point B in the shortest amount of time in a direct route get the GPS. This will be our 16th trip and we still don't know where we are going. I think our problem is we spend too much time sitting on the beach. In February the traffic is awful and if you slow down to figure out where you are going people are on your rear honking. I guess that is why we sit on the beach so much, less stressful.

No!!!

I would initially say NO!

Look around, pay attention, get a map.....there really is ONE FREAKING ROAD...and it goes around the island. I'm not terribly old, but I am an old timer to da island....I recall going to a stand up comic show in Maho. Sometime in the 90's...he was hilarious in his observations of the island. Called it The Road, with white rental Corollas. Traffic created a strand of Pearls!

"Strand of Pearls" I like that!!

I use my portable GPS everywhere I go. It is my best friend in Europe but I would never consider it in SXM and I DEFINITELY would not pay a daily fee for it.

As was mentioned, with very few main roads, just get a map and you will be fine. If you are unsure about a location is just ask here....

I bring a GPS everywhere I go, and buy chips that have maps of the countries that I visit. Was there for 3 weeks, and never bothered to turn it on. As others mentioned, a good map and you can get just about anywhere with no worries.

You can't get lost on the island. Have fun driving around and get off the main road to discover coves, beaches, views, etc. We've been going to SXM since 1979 and I thought we'd discovered every inch until 2 years ago we drove up into the middle from the Dutch Side and discovered a large road with a median going to the town of St Peters. Had a panoramic view of the entire island Dutch & French sides, all the bays. Great place to watch sunrise.

hey rondon, we use that road constantly. dont tell anyone but you save a ton of time getting across the island!

If you have an unlocked smart phone, download maps.me and pick the country that you are looking to drive in....

Some people are east, west, north, south challenged like the track stars in the Monty Python skit about a 100 yard dash for people with no sense of direction. You can imagine what that looked like.

The road I'm talking about dead ends---or it did because Pic Parise is beyond it. And the Columbier Rd goes into a dirt track so it doesnt join it unless you use 4x.

Are you talking about the steep road that shortcuts from P'burg to Cole Bay or the Middle Road?

If you rent a car from Hertz they have a GPS they give you to use for free. I have always not taken one as the island is so easy to navigate.

Thank you for the very helpful info!! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Clapping.gif" alt="" />

Dansc.... about that road---I sent you a PM

The maps the rental company are better than nothing, but I recommend getting a Kasprowski map of the island. http://www.midok.com/aboutus.html Every road is listed on it. I LOVE having a detailed map like this. It's absolutely worth the price.