OnTheBall Travels
I don’t even need to say it but we’re not going to live here…
The island that many retired Americans and cruise-goers frequent during the Winter months. Here is our take on this split island.
Make sure you’ve followed us on Twitter and signed up for our Newsletter!
Middle Ground to Saba & Anguilla
The purpose of our trip was to mediate our travels to the other islands but we made sure to get a feel for the whole island as well–we spoke to many individuals in all sorts of places to get a sense of what the place is about.
Arriving
looked like you were heading into someone’s garage. The whole thing is outside with temporary walls. They grab a microphone to tell you to bring out your ticket out of the country, where you’re staying and your passport. Every 4th person or so seemed to be yelled at by the security agents (a bad day?). Following that you get your bags from a cheap conveyer belt and with complete chaos are expected to move into the next room to place you bag on an X-ray. This process is hindered by a Dutch fellow asking you questions and there being nothing that resembles the concept of a line. It’s mayhem.
The only bathroom after your flight is an out-house once you clear immigration/baggage or inside the airport entrance there’s a single toilet [with no toilet paper].
Initial Impressions
Saint Martin is often dubbed as the “Friendly Island”, which is a term that was formed back in the day. When Americans visited the island, it was not uncommon to strike up a conversation with a local who would invite you back into his/her home for lunch and coffee. This was unique feature in the Lesser Antilles that Americans’ noticed. However, it appeared these days are long gone and commercialization had taken over. The locals, while still friendly, are more apt to see dollar signs on your eyes rather than an interpersonal relationship. Everybody is virtually vying to get what they can out of you as quickly as possible. You’re not a person, you’re an expiry date once the boat leaves. More reason to stick with countries with smaller populations.
Despite this, Saint Martin did have an influx of tourists while we were there. There were 3 cruise ships which seemed stimulative and busy–however we were told that the numbers were far lower than the norm. The airport looked like more of a garage than an international airport–notwithstanding there were lots of repairs going on.
Repairs from what? Hurricane Irma of 2017. If you look beyond the beach hotels, there was immense damage from the hurricane where I suppose people couldn’t be bothered to fix their own country. Politically, they are organized and ruled by fools (hardly a difference from where you live).
Listening to their radio surrounding their upcoming election and other matters was honestly exhausting. I’m sure anyone reading this right now would have also lost brain cells or IQ points. I thought it was a comedy skit at first until I asked the driver. Needless to say, if that’s the “leadership” of Sint Maarten, they’re f*cked.
The island is about 90% black (Afro-Caribbean). Estimates often show a high Dutch, American and French population are largely inflated from what we could tell. Most of the longer staying tourists were white and older; black arrivals came back for the holidays to see family on the island or had short stays for some beach time. There is an election coming up and all of the candidates/party members were black (a noticeably large number of political parties exist on the island, I believe I counted 13?).
Little Note
On a couple of occasions, there were condescending, rude comments made throughout the island (by who you’d hope were serious and professional); nothing ill-intended was meant by it, but it spoke to a lack of professionalism that the island holds itself–especially for being mostly a services sector economy.
The airport personnel were quite bothersome as well. They were strict like TSA agents in the US (which made me think that the US have a great deal of influence over the island.
Upon doing some research you begin to see Saint Martin never really recovered from 2017 hurricane. Their numbers of tourism, economic strength, stability, infrastructure recovery never bounced back. Even if there are no global recessionary fears, economically, they are on the decline and there’s no ideas to change path
I feel bad for saying this but the Anguilla Ferry Port is nicer than the Airport here
Leaving
was no issue–but it was apparent how the airport was empty and shopping/services were largely inactive as well. Most of the departing flights were heading to St Barthelemy with a few heading back to the United States. For their bread and butter being tourism, it was very quiet and many employees were more occupied by texting rather than helping crowds. Airport workers behind the counter were moved to another check-in number and one said “Not again…”.
An Experience
We strongly recommend you avoid the Makana Ferry if you’re interested in going to Saba, Statia (St. Eustatius) or St Kitts. The service was truly terrible at best, with us being 2 hours late before boarding, the service being blunt and rude (after waiting for 2 hours she had a “last call” after 40 seconds of calling) and it being pricey for the speed & comfort the ferry offered.
It was so disorganized that the locals of St Kitts were yelling in their native tongue to anyone with a blue shirt (workers) and even people coming off the boat that just arrived–“Fucking” has no translation in Creole, so we understood that–it was quite nerving though as we thought there was going to be a brawl amongst 30 angry black folk as we waited. There was no effort to be punctual, efficient, professional or systematic by anyone on the Saint Martin side–As they say in Wales, “CBA” or “Cant be Arsed”. Once we got on the boat, one of our members got very ill from the excessive speed on the waters.
We did have a good chat with a cab driver while waiting in the endless traffic jams. He explained that the complaints and attempts to “Europeanize” the island have failed and it very much is a Caribbean country. He went on to say that generally, the French nor the Dutch populate the tourism figures due to the island culture being removed from their own back in Europe and that they do not speak their language. “It’s the only place where an island is shared between the Dutch and the French and the language used is English”. The bright blue waters & English bring more American tourists (dollars) further removing it from European origins. Currency wise, I hadn’t seen the Euro or the Antillean Guilder at all–all US Dollars. We found out that the French who do move to the island are thinking in economical terms–they’re looking for business opportunities to make some capital, sell it and return to the homeland.
My Business Meeting
Saint Martin on the French side has advertised their tax benefits that are similar to the Dutch side–but even better. There are many benefits (it would seem) for Saint Martin (French) companies to serve as holding companies and/or companies in a subsidiary network given the array of benefits. I had studied them inside and out and I scheduled a meeting with someone on the island.
The service was on par with any other Caribbean islands: slow, unprofessional & at times unpleasant (cutting me off to tell me to STOP asking questions because those answers require payment). At one point, I caught the lady in the middle of a lie (when asked how much incorporation costs). Even the meeting was rescheduled twice which could have been results of another lie but I’m not sure. I am only talking about one corporate service provider I realize, but I found:
- There’s unclear procedures with respect to requirements necessary to operate [remotely]; even the spoken tax benefits I described were unknown by the service providers
- There’s unnecessary French fees
- There’s better tax regimes elsewhere
- There’s better banking elsewhere (which is a requirement for local companies)
- It’s expensive
- Getting information is rather difficult and nuanced situations will leave you hanging without answers.
- You must be a European citizen/resident on the island
- It’s totally unfit to be an offshore or financialized country–it’s main use is to hold real estate on the island.
Contact Open Door Consultancy for the stated tax rates
Crime
I’ll spare this article being about crime but you’ll have to believe me that I have spent countless hours overlooking reports, charts, forums, chats and data getting a feel for crime on the island–it’s a real problem. Particularly when it comes to stealing from cars, or stealing the cars themselves–rental car services are going out of business. Our driver attested that this was the main problem on the island.
However, shootings, aggravated assault, burglary, battery and a number of robberies are consistent over the last 20 years on the island with an uptick since the Hurricane in 2017. Crime rates have only worsened since Irma, with many resorting to join gangs or steal to supplement their lost employment.
Our driver also went on to say that French Law tends to protect the perpetrator whereby any action taken against them can land ‘you’ in some trouble. We heard of some amazing stories where the man protecting his belongings and wife was the one who was arrested and fined after putting a beating on the robbers. Similar stories and caution tales were reitterated while we were on the other islands about “crime being an issue”, “theft and homicide happening often”, “not walking anywhere at night”, “not being on the beach or driving on the island”, etc. etc.
In one of our meetings with a wealthy real estate agent, he explained the ridiculous prospects of building or buying big in Saint Martin given the fact that you’ll have a beautiful house close to a shack and that its only a matter of time until the poor head up the hill to cause you trouble. Needless to say, I would not buy real estate nor strive to live in Saint Martin.
Closing
Saint Martin does have an interesting history being split in the middle; it’s quite packed in with real estate, ports, airports, casinos, cruise docks, hotels and all the rest of it. It has great sand, many tasty restaurants, some luxury experiences and bright blue waters. Yet there’s fundamental troubles.
Saint Martin’s economy hadn’t recovered from Hurricane Irma in 2017. The cruises showing up, the turnover of dollars, the hotel revenues, the airport visitors, the number of businesses, the tax revenues, all hadn’t fully recovered nor had the infrastructure/boats that was lost (albeit there is construction as you read this). Luxury is still on the island, but its very expensive & not worth it relative to other locations. It’s sad to say, but I think Saint Martin had it’s day.
What I mean by this is that they are never going to hit this peak again–as soon as the airlines industry go and the cruise ships’ debts role over (& personal debts kill the travel/leisure industry for some time), this service based economy is going to contract like never before. This is of course factoring in no Covid-hysteria-level events, no warfare, no famines, no drastic weather events, no financial crises or anything else. This, like the times before, will lead to spikes in crime and an exodus of capital which will cause the problems to worsen.
The work-ethic is simply not there–people would rather complain that things aren’t very good rather than doing something productive about the issues–and you’re seeing it already. You can see the reviews of hotels all over the island. Over the last 5 years, there’s been a constant complaint about the rudeness, the unpunctuality, the low quality [for the price] and the disorganization–all of which we were able to see.
The crime is an issue that is showing no resolve–as long as the locals accept a subpar standard of living, the French law persists and poverty remains throughout the island, it will not abate. There are no serious leadership proposals on diversifying the economy or manage crime. While not known for being a “dangerous” island like Bahamas, Jamaica or St. Lucia, crime can be considered to be common.
Saint Martin sounds like it was best way back when there was less than 20,000 people on the island–but now it feels like it had its day in the sunshine, pardon the pun, the money has been made, the experience has been remembered and it’ll be on-to-the-next place for tourists and businessman.
Nevertheless, Saint Martin is best for:
- Those stopping by on a cruise ship for some Caribbean flavours and great cuisine (although at a price).
- Those who are transiting on to Anguilla, St Barths, Saba or back to the United States (from other Caribbean islands).
- Those already in the region who want to get away to the isolated villas in the French side for peace and quiet without the price tag of St Barths. [Our driver was adamant about the fact that cabs are very reluctant to head up to the French hills given it’s distance, the steepness and isolation… it sounds spooky but it means more privacy for you].
- Real Estate speculations given their no property tax nor individual capital gains tax (Dutch side only; Contact Open Door Consultancy for more!). However, given the aforementioned risks, I believe it’s only sensible if you’re already well-diversified and this is not putting your eggs in one basket.
Thank you for reading! I hope it was informative and interesting for you. Please check out our other articles and travels while you’re at it–and we’d really appreciate it if you could share anything you find interesting on social media! (Did you follow us on Twitter yet?)
#StayOnTheBall
