Sint Maarten

This is a beach island in the full sense: the water is warm enough to swim all year, around 26°C in the cooler months and close to 29°C in late summer, and it is clear, sheltered and usually calm on the leeward side. On the Dutch side, Mullet Bay and Cupecoy are the best sand on the west, Dawn Beach faces the sunrise on the east, Simpson Bay is a long, easy stretch near the hotels, and Great Bay runs along the Philipsburg waterfront. Maho Beach is famous for jets landing just over the heads of swimmers, more spectacle than a place to spend the day.

Because the border with the French half is open, a visitor also has Orient Bay, the island's liveliest beach, the calm reef-sheltered water off Pinel Island and the red cliffs of Baie Rouge within half an hour. The Atlantic-facing east coast can be rougher, the west and the bays calmer. Cruise days crowd Great Bay and Maho, so the quieter coves reward an early start.

Eating here splits along the island's two halves. The Dutch side, around Simpson Bay and Philipsburg, has a long strip of casual restaurants, steakhouses, seafood grills and beach bars serving visitors. The more interesting food is a short drive away in Grand Case on the French side, a small seafront village lined with French and Creole restaurants and, at its centre, the lolos, open-air barbecue stalls grilling ribs, lobster and chicken with rice and peas.

Local flavours to look for are johnnycakes, saltfish, conch, curried goat and guavaberry liqueur, the island's own spirit. French bakeries in Marigot are good for breakfast. Range is narrow beyond the restaurant strips, and most ingredients are imported, which shows in the bill.

Heritage is thin. Philipsburg's Front Street has the white wooden Courthouse of 1793 and a small museum on the island's colonial, salt and plantation history, and the ruins of Fort Amsterdam sit on the point above Great Bay. Across the border, Fort Louis overlooks Marigot with a good view of the harbour. A morning covers it all; nobody comes here for sights.

The Dutch side is where the island goes out, and it does so more than most of the Caribbean. Simpson Bay and the Maho area hold most of it: beach bars that start at sunset, casinos open late, cocktail lounges and a few dance clubs that run into the small hours, especially at weekends and in the winter high season. Philipsburg's boardwalk fills with cruise passengers in the afternoon and is quieter at night.

The French side is calmer, with long dinners and a drink afterwards in Grand Case and beach parties at Orient Bay. It is a fun, loose island scene for a vacation rather than a serious club destination.

The island is small and hilly, with dry forest on its slopes and a large lagoon in the west. Walkers climb Sentry Hill on the Dutch side or Pic Paradis, the highest point, on the French side, where trails and zip lines run through the woods. The sea offers more: snorkelling around Creole Rock and the Tintamarre islet, dives in the Man of War Shoal marine park, kitesurfing and windsurfing in Orient Bay, and sailing and catamaran trips, helped by steady trade winds. It is pleasant rather than spectacular, and summer heat and the autumn hurricane season limit outdoor plans.

Sitting at the hub of the northeast Caribbean, the island makes a good base for hopping. The French side is a day in itself: Marigot's harbour market and waterfront, and Grand Case for a long lunch. By ferry, glamorous St Barths and its little harbour town of Gustavia are about an hour away, Anguilla with its quiet beaches and island villages around half an hour from Marigot, and Saba, a steep volcanic island of tidy white villages, about an hour and a half. Sint Eustatius is reachable by short flight. The outings are small places, and rough seas can make the ferries uncomfortable.

Families come for the beaches, and the calm, shallow water at Simpson Bay, Mullet Bay and around Pinel Island suits young children. Resorts with pools and kids' clubs line the Dutch side, and apartments around Simpson Bay make self-catering simple. Beyond the sand the list is short: zip lines and a chairlift on Sentry Hill, treetop courses in the woods below Pic Paradis on the French side, glass-bottom boat trips and easy snorkelling for older children.

Distances are short and the island is easy-going, but traffic, heat and strong sun need managing, and there is little made for children on a rainy day.

Everything is close, but getting there is slower than the map suggests. The roads are narrow and hilly, and traffic backs up around Simpson Bay, the causeway and Philipsburg, especially on cruise-ship days. Public transport is a network of privately run minibuses that are cheap but informal, with no timetables to speak of. Most visitors hire a car, which makes crossing the open border to the French side simple, and taxis fill the gaps. Philipsburg's waterfront and Simpson Bay are walkable in parts, little else is.

Sint Maarten is a duty-free port, and that shapes the shopping. Front Street in Philipsburg is lined with jewellers, watch and electronics sellers, and liquor and tobacco shops aimed squarely at cruise passengers, along with souvenir stalls. Guavaberry liqueur is the local buy. Across the border, Marigot adds a handful of French fashion and perfume boutiques and a harbour market with spices, crafts and fabrics. It suits a visitor hunting a specific watch or bottle; beyond that the range is narrow.

This is an expensive place to stay. Beachfront resorts and villas command high winter rates, restaurant meals cost far more than the food warrants because most produce is imported, and car hire and taxis add up. There are ways to economise: apartment rentals around Simpson Bay, self-catering from supermarkets, minibuses, and the lolo barbecue stalls in Grand Case. Summer and autumn, the hurricane season, bring lower rates, but the main winter season is decidedly costly.

There is little formal stage life. The cultural high point is Carnival in spring, one of the larger in the Caribbean, with calypso and soca competitions, steel pan, parades and late-night jump-ups in its village of food and music stalls. Outside that season, live music means bands and DJs in beach bars and resort lounges, sometimes steel pan or reggae. There is no theatre, concert hall or regular programme to plan an evening around.

Wellness here means a resort spa, a massage by the pool and long, unhurried days, rather than any bathing tradition. Several of the larger hotels have spas, and yoga sessions turn up at beach resorts. The calmest stays are away from the cruise port and the Simpson Bay strip, on the east coast near Dawn Beach or on the quieter French side, where the pace slows noticeably. Expect busy roads and cruise-day crowds on the Dutch side to interrupt the peace.