Taking the ferry from St. Maarten to St. Barts

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.

Thank you for the information.

How long is the trip ?

post deleted by Carol Hill

Kenny,
The ferry trip is advertised as taking 45 minutes, but the actual time, from dock to dock, is 50 minutes. Of course you have to be at the dock ahead of time -- 30 minutes is enough in Philipsburg, and 15 or 20 minutes should be plenty in Gustavia.

Could you please post a link to the ferry operator? Thanks.

Aloha,
Here is the link: https://www.greatbayexpress.com/

Thanks .

Thanks for this information. We are going to St Barths for a few days in December from St Maarten and we are concerned about the 72 hours covid test requirements for entry into St Barths.

Are there still entry/exit fees? I'm guessing "yes".

Beach Kitten,
I've been to St. Barts seven times, and I've never paid an entry fee or an exit fee. Just buy a ferry ticket and go.

Trinigerl,
I'm not sure why you are worried about the 72-hour Covid test requirement -- unless you are planning to fly to St. Barts. If you fly, you still need a Covid test, as far as I know. But if you take the ferry, no Covid test is required.

To prepare you for your trip to St Barts, I recommend that you read this:

https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1763826/posts

lol yes thanks... we know we have been spending NYE on St Barths for the past 6 years...we usually fly to St Maarten for Christmas week, then we go over to St Barths for New Year’s 4-5 nights then back to St Maarten for a week or so then we fly home. We usually split our time between SXM and SBH for the past 18 years or so. We've been for Regatta, summer time with our kids, early November, early December, but we like late Dec- Jan

Was the trip over to St. Barts smooth sailing?

Moontide,
Smooth sailing -- like the other six trips were. I don't know why people say it's rough.

AUC--I guess you need to play the lottery, as the trip to St. Barts is OFTEN barf city..

For sure. Ride over is most always rough but back usually calm.

Scuba--yup. Over--very rough; back--much better.

freedomfighter--that was funny as h*ll!!! Thanks for posting!!!!!

Yeah, after reading that, we flew over!

Last time I did it was March of maybe 2016 or 2017. Waves were so bad water was coming in the roof!!!!! I was a on sick, ruined the day. We left out of Captain Oliver’s. Will never take the boat again! Only fly! Been back 3-4 times. Do enjoy it as a day trip!

Yes. Going with the following seas on the return is much nicer.

Years ago we used to make the day-trip in small sailing cats - some days it was rough and some days, not too rough at all going out to StB snd somedays it was truly HORRIBLE, but the sail back, usually under full sail, was always lovely. A cold drink in hand snd some easy Buffet or music of that ilk playing in the background. It didn’t get any better back in the day. Wait a minute, yes it did. You used to be able to fly over and sail at back. The very best if the best, IMHO.

Last few trips we flew over and back - much more expendive - but if you were even remotely inclined to the dreaded ‘mal de mer’ it was the far better way to do it. We always flew from PJIA but I understand it’s much easier to fly from L’Esperance on the French side.

Flying is better. The trip over can be quite rocky.

Laughed 'til I cried over the description of St. Barts. Some years ago we did the ferry trip to and from St. Barts. It is indeed very French.

However, the highlight of our trip was the very, very rough ride back. My husband and I and another couple that we travelled with sat at the back of the ferry, thinking we could avoid the salt spray. Wrong. The water came right over the top of the boat and drenched us. Somehow, the boat managed to rock from front to back and from side to side at the same time.

We watched with interest as a young man struggled to stay on his feet as he made his way to the small men's room that was very close to where we sat. He finally made it, opened the door and went in. We assumed that he had not taken the time to lock the door. With the next big side- to- side shift of the boat, the door flew open, the kid fell out backwards with his willie in his hand. The boat then rocked back in the opposite direction, throwing him back into the washroom and slamming the door behind him.

The lady beside me quipped: " Do you think he'll do that again? It happened too fast to get a good look at it".

We took the ferry over several years ago and my wife took some no drowsy Dramamine as she gets seasick. .long story short she didn't feel sick and wondered why everyone that passed by her asked if she was ok. I was out on the deck for the sea breeze and she was inside, when I went to see her she was white as a ghost and dripping from sweat but felt OK. It was more than choppy going over but much calmer coming back.

I had to read this twice, as I fell out of my desk chair laughing to death! Thanks for sharing!!

For someone reading quickly, David is talking about this link from a previous post in this thread, which is a piece by Dave Barry. I don't know if Dave Barry is retired now, probably is, but he surely is an entertaining writer.

Link

Anyone who hasn't read that link should do so, if you want a laugh. ...or even if you have read it, read it again. Funny stuff!!