How to Get to St Barts (and Why Charter Guests Skip the Ferry)

There is no direct long-haul flight to St Barts. Nearly everyone arrives through St Maarten (SXM), then covers the last 15 or so miles by small plane, by ferry, or by boat. Our charter clients use the third option without thinking about it: the yacht boards them at Simpson Bay in St Maarten and delivers them to Gustavia, which turns the hardest part of a St Barts trip into the first afternoon of the holiday.

The 3 ways in:

• Small plane: a 10 to 15 minute hop from SXM to St Barts (SBH) on Winair or St Barth Commuter
• Ferry: 45 to 90 minutes across from Philipsburg or Marigot, honest but often rough
• Your charter yacht: board at Simpson Bay, step off in Gustavia, no baggage limits and no connections

Step 1 Is Always St Maarten

St Maarten’s Princess Juliana International (SXM) is the big-jet hub for this corner of the Caribbean, with nonstop flights from the US mainland and good European connections. It is the reason we structure St Barts charters around it: your long flight lands somewhere built for long flights, and the tricky last leg becomes someone else’s job.

Coming from New York or the East Coast, the math is simple: a morning nonstop into SXM has you in the islands by early afternoon, with time to make the last leg the same day. Coming from the West Coast or Europe, look hard at arrival time before you book, for a reason we will get to in a moment.

Option 1: The Small Plane to SBH

The flight from SXM to St Barts’ Gustaf III Airport (SBH) takes about 10 to 15 minutes on Winair or St Barth Commuter, and Tradewind Aviation runs a premium connection via San Juan. The landing is famous: the runway is only about 650 meters long, one of the shortest in commercial use anywhere, so only small turboprops fly here and the pilots carry a special certification for the approach over the hill.

It is a genuinely fun way to arrive. It also comes with 2 catches worth knowing before you build a tight itinerary around it:

• Daylight only. The runway has no lights, and the airport closes 15 minutes after sunset. A delayed afternoon arrival into SXM can mean an unplanned night in St Maarten.
• Small planes, strict baggage rules. The aircraft are 9 to 19 seaters with small holds. Limits are enforced, and overweight or oversized bags often follow on a later flight, which is not how anyone wants to start a week that involves evening reservations.

Neither catch is a reason to avoid the flight. Both are reasons to plan it with someone who does this weekly.

Option 2: The Ferry, Honestly

Ferries run daily from St Maarten: Great Bay Express from Philipsburg does the crossing nonstop in about 45 minutes, and Voyager sails from Marigot in about an hour or more depending on the boat. It is the budget-sensible option, and on a calm day it is a pleasant ride. (Note if you researched this a while ago: the Edge ferry stopped operating in April 2026, so there are fewer departures than older blog posts suggest.)

The honest part: the route runs east into the trade winds, and the outbound crossing has a well-earned seasickness reputation. Crews hand out bags for a reason. If you are flexible, travel light, and pick a settled day, the ferry is fine. If you are arriving for the most anticipated week of your year, it is a rough way to open it, and there is a better option.

Option 3: Let the Yacht Deliver You

This is how we run nearly every St Barts charter we book. Your group lands at SXM and boards the yacht at Simpson Bay, a few minutes from the airport. Nobody weighs your luggage. Lunch is served while the crew casts off, and the same water that makes the ferry miserable feels completely different on a 100 ft yacht that was built for it. Depending on the afternoon, your captain might drop a first swim stop at Anguilla or Tintamarre on the way, and you arrive in Gustavia as guests who are already on holiday rather than travelers finishing a journey.

The yacht is the transfer, the hotel, and the trip in one move. That is the practical reason St Barts weeks start in St Maarten, not just broker convention: the provisioning, the flights, and the fuel all favor it. You can see how the full week unfolds from there in our 8-day St Martin, Anguilla and St Barts itinerary, and what that week costs in our St Barts charter cost guide.

Which Way Should You Choose?

• Villa or hotel stay, light luggage: fly. 15 minutes, a story to tell, book a daylight arrival.
• Budget-flexible and unhurried: the ferry works, eastbound stomach permitting.
• Charter week: you already have a boat. Board it at Simpson Bay and skip the whole question.

One timing warning: around New Year’s, every seat, berth, and ferry ticket in this corner of the Caribbean is under maximum pressure at once. If that is your week, arrivals get planned months ahead alongside the yacht itself; our St Barts New Year’s guide covers how early the good options go.

Tell us your dates and where you are flying from, and we will build the arrival into the charter itself, from the St Barts fleet to the Simpson Bay pickup. It is the part of the trip our clients say they should have stopped worrying about sooner.

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