Thread: I need to visit first

The more I look at how things operate and the more questions I have about island life and what to expect, the best thing to do is use my miles and travel to St. Martin before the Jan. class begins.

Any recommendations as to what I need to accomplish in the 3 days or so I plan on being there? I plan on coming during the week so everything should be open...

Come visit the school, sit in on one of the classes. Talk to the people at the housing office about available places to rent.
Rent a car and drive around the island, visit both Dutch and French sides.
There isn't really all that much to do, when my wife and I got here, we've pretty much settled in within 4 days. The rest of the two weeks before school was spent on the beach or exploring the island.

Oh, and one more thing: people are a lot more likely to post here if they have something to complain about, so if your impression of things is formed mainly by what you read here, it is most likely biased.

Originally Posted by ChampSJL

The more I look at how things operate and the more questions I have about island life and what to expect, the best thing to do is use my miles and travel to St. Martin before the Jan. class begins.

Any recommendations as to what I need to accomplish in the 3 days or so I plan on being there? I plan on coming during the week so everything should be open...

thats cool to visit before you come....im not sure what you'd do except as mentioned previously...explore the island etc. i personally didn't visit....all the nuances of island life will be dealt with once you get here.

i guess its nice to visit so you'll be familiar with stuff before you come, but what are you going to do if its unbearable? i kind of found it pointless to visit....if i hated this place, i don't think i'd like ross either!

it was definitely a weird feeling to just show up and be like, where do i start..haha

well I guess I want to come and
1. secure off-campus housing
2. look into leasing a car for my 20 months of staying or buying a used car
3. get a St. maarten drivers license, etc
4. open a bank acct

anything else?

You can do all of that by arriving 1-2 weeks early. No need to come twice.

Originally Posted by ChampSJL

well I guess I want to come and
1. secure off-campus housing
2. look into leasing a car for my 20 months of staying or buying a used car
3. get a St. maarten drivers license, etc
4. open a bank acct

anything else?

Originally Posted by AMZ

You can do all of that by arriving 1-2 weeks early. No need to come twice.

You don't really need local driving license.

Originally Posted by BiologyBY

You don't really need local driving license.

International license or a valid Canadian license should do, right?

does anyone get a local drivers license? If it was half as painful as just getting tags for your car, I wouldn't. St. Maarten government is perhaps the most inefficient agency in the world! I don't have one, or know of anyone who does.

Originally Posted by AMZ

International license or a valid Canadian license should do, right?

yep....i dont think they really care, but i havent been pulled over yet *knock on wood*

they showed us a sxm driver license at orientation that JJ had. it was really fancy but the less you deal with islanders and their government, the better.

Never even seen an international drivers licence, but I did hear you are suppose to have one after ~30-90 days. Ive heard of people getting stopped and their cars even impounded for no Insurance or new license plates (happens 1-2 times a year). Even though they all had cars impounded and such, I never heard someone say "And I even had to get an international drivers license too!" It was more along the lines of, "I had to pay 300.00 for fines + all the fees to fix everything."

Do yourself a favor and get insurance (its DIRT CHEAP) and get your new license plate every year like everyone else. (100 - 200 a year) and your fine.