TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin COVID regulations

I may have missed it but what exactly is SXM doing to prevent/lessen the spread of the virus. In a couple of trip reports today I saw " the restaurant was busy but we sat at the bar" and "a group of 13 people were having dinner at the Palms. That's nice"

I do NOT want to go through the hoops to get to the Island and not feel safe in public places. What are the mandates right now for dining..inside and outside...for markets, bars and hotel check in.

I have been impressed with how STT is managing exposure risk with a STRICT "No mask, no service" policy. Masks off when sitting a a table but anytime anywhere else it is required AND you WILL be reminded of that. Bars are "closed" but you can order at the bar and drinks will be brought to your table or any flat surface...no hanging out. Tables are decently apart. Max persons enforced in every store.

Distancing is universal....in the resort ...walking to the beach or pool...mask.....at the beach or pool....no mask and groups are appropriately apart

I feel safe here. I feel safe at home in MA....I want to feel safe in SXM but from what I am reading it might be more like a no mask anything goes US state.

Please dispel my concerns....

.BTW Oct 1-14 SXM had 62 positive cases which isn't bad at all....The 3 Islands in the USVI combined had 1 positive in the same period which is better

In a nutshell, albeit others may not agree, if you feel safe at home, stay at home until the situation changes.

Well that doesn't answer my inquiry....I feel safe in STT and would like to know if it is the same in SXM. Not a complex question.

There are many places I would travel ( and have) and feel safe. I do NOT have to stay at home to feel safe.

Interesting but after I read the trip reorgs

Sorry, I hit the wrong key. As I was saying, after I read the trip reports that were posted especially the one about Dinghy Dock, I had the same feelings as you did. Almost sounds like nobody cares. If we are going to go through all the steps necessary to enter SXM, the least the government should do is have some rules & regs to make an attempt to keep tourists & locals corona free. Staying at home doesn’t help the economy of SXM & wearing a mask & social distancing is no big deal.

All I wanted was SOMEONE to inform me of what they are doing to protect the visitor ..or not. If they do not require masks it won't cancel my trip but it WILL change where I will spend my money on Island. It will be a total beach/pool experience....which won't suck but it will not help the economy much at all.

We have a few here that are or have been on Island recently, we have residents who live there. We have sponsors of this board who work there. No one seems to want to explain what is S.O.P for the people on SXM.

boucharda--I would be interested in the answer to your question also. It does appear that either the Dutch side does not have specific rules about mask wearing in restaurants by servers, etc., or they are not followed, as so many other rules are not. On the other hand it seems that the French side is requiring social distancing and masks, etc., or at least they were, as of a Daily Herald story I saw maybe a week ago, about gendarmes doing enforcement actions.

Boucharda, I wasn't being flip in my reply but how can anyone answer your question with confidence? I feel safe where I am at present but try to take all the precautions possible whereas I clearly see others couldn't care less. I was in Publix yesterday where they state it's mandatory for everyone to wear masks. There were two people not wearing, so I asked them why not. One said she had a Doctors note due to difficulty breathing(fair enough) and the other told me to f off!

I was about to order some cheese at the deli counter when I saw an employee wearing a mask and cutting her customers meat or whatever, coughing directly over the product at least 3 times. I got out quick, customer didn't seem to notice? Horses for courses. Would love to visit SXM and Anguilla again but wont do until certain restrictions are lifted and the overall infection rate is well under control and if the dutch side will not enforce fines for people not wearing masks particularly the servers, there is no way I am going. If I was younger, might see it differently.

I was not asking for your opinion of the effectiveness of masks and distancing....I was (am) looking for boots on the ground to say what the present requirements are...if there are any at all. Not a complex question....no opinion needed

Ok...found it....here what the SXM Government requires....at least they put it in writing. Enforcement is another issue..



https://stmaartenehas.com/general-information/

It would be nice to know what the actual practice is though.......

I know quite a few people who live or are staying on the island long term. I believe that masks are required when inside any restaurant, shop, groceries, markets etc. and the same social distancing we are supposed to follow here in the States. I can only speak for myself, but not everyone adheres to the instructions here in the States, so the same types of people probably aren't going to follow the instructions there. I also do not see anybody enforcing mask wearing even though many establishments have signs before you enter saying "masks ae required".

We live in Florida--we don't go out every night to dinner--maybe once or twice a week at most. My friends on the island are doing the same. That will be a problem for those coming on a short vacation who want to go out a lot. That is the difference between living somewhere and vacationing. People on vacation want to have a good time--and I don't blame them one bit, but it is what it is.

I suppose you just have to walk out of a place that is not following what they are supposed to be doing. The island cannot have a police guard stationed at every restaurant or bar. It is up to the owners/managers to do it. And in the end, we are the ones who are responsible for taking care of ourselves--nobody else.

I really cannot answer your question, but since your quotes were from my reports, here's my two cents.

Most of the Dutch side establishments had Covid-19 signs regarding masks and hand washing. Almost all of the places we went to had hand sanitizing stations when you walked in. I brought Clorox wipes with me and would wipe down the table and chairs before we sat down. I was a germaphobe before the coronavirus and I'm even more so now.

Masks are being worn in the supermarkets and in the airport. Mask compliance by workers in the restaurants and bars was dependent on the place you went to. No consistency at all. If we weren't comfortable with the compliance situation, we left. We do the same here at home.

Someone told us that if you are outdoors, a mask does not need to be worn. In some restaurants, if we walked in with masks, the employees would scurry to put masks on also. Not sure if they were afraid of catching something from us, or not. Most people walking into outdoor restaurants did not wear masks. I really didn't care, as long as they were six feet away from us.

As for the beach, Club Orient chairs are at least six feet apart. Chairs on the northern part of Orient were not six feet apart. Mullet Beach on a Sunday was busy, with no social distancing. There's hardly anyone on the beaches now, so it wasn't an issue for us.

Social distancing in the three airports we went through is non-existent, unfortunately, but mask wearing is probably 100%.

So, in a nutshell, it's up to you to decide what you're comfortable with. We have no regrets.

When I was there at the beginning of September, I felt like on the street there were too many people NOT wearing masks for my liking (this is on the French side and before they put in the rule that you had to wear a mask outside). But INSIDE? Everywhere I went inside, people were masked. Now granted, I only went to - the hospital, the pharmacy, l'express (both locations), and Super U. And all those locations had clear signs saying no entry without a mask. When Michael from unity picked me up from the airport, he and his team all were wearing masks. I ate at two restaurants that had outdoor seating and all the servers were wearing masks. (so you understand my comfort level, I won't eat out at home yet - I get take out to support our restaurants)

Just my experience, but thought I'd share. I never ventured to the Dutch side (this was when the border was closed so I wasn't allowed to go back and forth), so can't speak to what's happening there.

Thanks for the last three comments. That's exactly what I was looking for. I was just trying to get a picture of what the real world was like on SXM

Thanks again

Angelface, would you please explain the French side rule about wearing a mask outside? Nowhere that I'm aware of is requiring masks outdoors when you can safely social distance. Is it different on the French side of St. Martin? We are coming next month, and I do understand that new restrictions about the size of crowds have been placed, but I'm not prepared to wear a mask when I'm outdoors and safely distanced from others. Thank you.

Georgia, not sure if you have seen this yet but it goes into effect today on the French side. Masks are mentioned but I read it as they are required inside.

DAILY HERALD LINK

Another article from August pretty much makes it sound like mask wearing outdoors in many areas of France, Paris in particular, is mandatory. I am not sure if this applies to French St. Martin or not.

BBC NEWS

JD, I had seen the DH article, but not the older one from BBC. Considering how crowded the streets of Paris can be, I guess I understand that. Our rules here in NC say masks are required outdoors only if social distancing isn't possible. I hope that continues to be the norm on both sides of the island.

I am with you on that. Pretty much the same here in OH, although some cities/towns/events set their own rules/guidelines.

That makes perfect sense....and is the new normal for sensible areas trying to slow the spread of the virus.

Kind of weird that the DH article said distancing of 4 meters is mandated when I believe it previously was one meter for France

It's 4 square metres, so 1 metre in each direction gives you the 4 square metres

We just got back home last Sunday, after spending 9 nights on the French side. These are our just our observations, limited by the places we frequented. We live in Florida, and found the French side to be just about the same as at home. People only wear masks where they must. That would be in the airport, on the plane, and in most grocery stores. We are not big fans of masks, but always had one handy in case it was needed. We asked the girl that met us at our villa if she would like us to wear a mask. She said no, and promptly took hers off. We asked at a couple of restaurants, if they would like us to "mask-up" while being seated. They laughed, and said they only wear theirs out of fear of being shut down. All servers had masks, but ofter they were often pulled down below their nose or below both their nose and mouth. Things are pretty lax along the beach establishments and in Orient Village. We went to the bakery in the village 7 mornings during our trip. Nobody, not even the employees, ever had a mask on. We felt right at home! Nobody seemed to be concerned, even after we would confess that we were from FlorDuh. I'm not judging anyone, nor am I giving anyone the right to judge me. I'm just reporting our observations. If you are uncomfortable with lax mask use, I would suggest staying home for now. As for us, we are off to Aruba next week!!!

I don't see the square concept thing...looks like, as stated, 4 meters between people which is a bit aggressive and not what they meant.... saying one meter would mean distance from another person...direction not a factor

No issue with no masks in indoor establishments....we just won't go to them. No biggie...outdoor eating not an issue at all....I just hope the non-compliance doesn't end up with another shutdown before January

Edit: We were considering a trip to Aruba in November but checked the requirements yesterday and the testing timeline is down to 72 hours before departure. Not worth the worry again....

Yes, we are getting tested on Wenesday, then again at the airport in Aruba on Saturday.

Thanks for the update. A lot of the mask requirements make little sense to me.

Wow