Visitors pour onto the island by plane , with virtually all of the international flights landing at Juliana Airport on the Dutch side of the island. American Airlines offers daily flights from New York and Miami in the US as well as from Puerto Rico, while Air France provides several flights a week from Paris. Within the wider Caribbean, LIAT is the main service provider, with connections to and from almost all of the islands.

St Martin is also a convenient base for visitors to other islands. Windward Islands Airways (known as Winair; tel 599/545-4237) flies frequently to Saba (US$120 round-trip), St Eustatius (US$120 round-trip) and Anguilla (US$60 round-trip), while Air Caraibes flies to St Barts (US$100 round-trip). Special deals are regularly offered on all of these flights (day return trips, for example, can be dramatically lower than the advertised price) and it's worth calling to enquire.

Ferry services are also frequent: ferries run from Marigot Bay to Anguilla every thirty minutes from 8am to 7pm, the journey taking 25 minutes and costing US$10 each way. In good weather, the Voyager ferry (tel 599/542-4096 or 590/87 10 68) travels daily between Marigot and St Barts (45min) and twice a week between Philipsburg and Saba (1hr); the Edge ferry (tel 599/544-2640) makes the same trips.

The departure tax is US$20 at the airport, US$6 for flights within the Netherlands Antilles.