About Me
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- Name:Jan Thoelke
- Location:Simpson Bay, Sint Maarten, Netherlands Antilles
01/01/2005 - 01/31/2005
02/01/2005 - 02/28/2005
03/01/2005 - 03/31/2005
04/01/2005 - 04/30/2005
05/01/2005 - 05/31/2005
07/01/2005 - 07/31/2005
08/01/2005 - 08/31/2005
09/01/2005 - 09/30/2005
10/01/2005 - 10/31/2005
01/01/2006 - 01/31/2006
Renting the Right Car
A rental car is a must to get the most out of a vacation on St Maarten – St Martin. Even though the island is small in size – only 37 square miles – the mountainous terrain allows room for several towns and villages, with an amazing variation of landscapes. The infrastructure is acceptable by Caribbean standards, but misses the quality of American or European road systems by a huge margin. Roads are build for slow to medium speeds, and 'sleeping policemen' (speed bumps) are widely used in residential areas. Heavens knows why they spend the money on speed bumps, because the potholes alone would do the job...Assuming that you would like to find the most economical way to rent a car, while getting reasonable comfort and good safety, you don't need to look for expensive, full sized vehicles. Don't waste money on an 4WD SUV if you don't have friends living in a villa up a hill with an extremely steep drive way and you insist on visiting during a rainstorm. That's about the only use for 4 wheel drive you will find.
Economy cars all offer four doors, automatic transmission and air conditioning. No: you won't turn heads while cruising the Boulevard, but you wouldn't achieve this in a Ford Explorer at four times the price either. To be noticed on St Maarten, think Hummer or Porsche Cheyenne.
The cute Japanese or Korean compact cars offered by many rental car companies on the island are not known in the US, but very popular in Europe. These are agile little vehicles, which might surprise you with their fun factor. Parking is very easy, the narrow roads are not intimidating anymore and you can't beat the price, if you get the car through us: it's free! Great cars are the Hyundai Atos and the newest model, the Hyundai Getz. These little compacts can accomodate 4 adults and will give you perfectly adequate transportation during your stay.
If your group consists of four plus sized adults, you might want to go for an intermediate car, such as the Hyundai Elantra – about 20% more expensive than the smaller class. If you participate in the FreeStMaarten program, you can upgrade to these cars and just have to pay the small difference.
Personally, I appreciate the ruggedness of the Jeep Wrangler, but I can only advise to not rent one on the island. The Wrangler is an off-road car – not because it handles the wilderness with great competence, but because even a regular, decent road 'feels' like you are off-road. The smallest bump – and the big ones we have here even more – cause great discomfort for the Jeep passengers and you might regret your choice of a rental car.
There are a few companies offering buggy style fun cars. These are tiny two-seaters with enough horsepower to be sporty – but there are not meant to cover the transportation needs during your complete stay. Lack of tops (and in one case even any body work) define them more as an 'activity', something you do like driving a jet-ski. I haven't tried them yet, but for the sake of research I will do so in the next days and post my impressions here.
Amazing is the number of visitors who rent scooters: they cost the same as renting a car, if four people rent two scooters its actually double the expense of a car. I really don't get it. If there is the desire to travel on two wheels, than go for a Harley, which can be rented for a reasonable price.
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