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The Two Faces of St. Martin/Sint Maarten

Online Stock Market Trading As I stroll through the Butterfly Farm, one of St. Martin's original eco-attractions, immense blue morphos glide past purple passion flower vines, owl butterflies seem to stare at me from their huge fake eyes, and a dull, sienna-tinted leaf opens up to reveal a world of neon orange and iridescent turquoise.
A living advertisement for the Rainbow Coalition, declares William Slayter, one of the two endearingly dotty Englishmen who run the farm, as he watches a tiny lemon caterpillar feast on a peanut plant and a lacy Cambodian wood nymph dive-bomb through the air. My eye is suddenly drawn to a fermenting banana chunk, on which several butterflies lie inert.
Don't worry, Slayter says, they're just drunk.
Should I be surprised? After all, St. Martin/Sint Maarten may not be the Caribbean's lushest island - or its least developed - but this binational island, shared since 1648 by the French and Dutch, might very well be its most fun, thanks to its great hotels, fabulous restaurants, water sports galore, duty-free shopping, nightclubs, casinos and three dozen beaches to boot.
But the big news on St. Martin is a reawakening of sorts - a new focus on eco-consciousness. Jam-med with about as much development as a 37-square-mile island can accommodate, the move is on to reclaim its environmental and cultural heritage and preserve what's not yet developed.
Want a taste of the isle's beauty that still remains practically untouched? Visit Loterie Farm, a 2-year-old project where hiking trails lead through 133 acres of lush secondary forest to the tip of Pic Paradis, St. Martin's highest point. Or explore the island's potent history in the Old House, a restored plantation home and rum museum, which opened its doors in July.
Crave more eco-pleasures? The Saint-Martin Ecotourism Association (SMEA), formed in 1998, is spreading the word with a host of activities, from hiking and diving to horseback riding, kayaking, windsurfing and tours of the Hope Estate archaeological site (On the Trail of the Arawaks, a permanent exhibit at the Marigot Museum, presents a fascinating assortment of the findings).
Even the Dutch side - not exactly a haven of green as it lays claim to most of the island's mega-resorts and all of its casinos - has gotten into the act. The 3-year-old Sint Maarten Nature Foundation is establishing a protected marine park for the entire length of the island and is working with residents to preserve beaches, reefs and wildlife.
In short, both sides of the island are promoting diversions that aren't purely sybaritic in nature. In fact, a visit to the Butterfly Farm can now be combined with a well-orchestrated tour of the nearby Old House.
But just because St. Martin is opening its environmental eyes doesn't mean the island is abandoning its swankier pleasures. Marigot, the French capital, still boasts countless ways to max out your credit card, from boutiques to boulangeries. Pareo-draped mademoiselles sip cafe au lait beneath spreading flamboyant trees; gingerbread-trimmed houses proffer US$5,000 paintings and duty-free Cartier jewels.
As the Dutch half of the island recovers slowly from 1995's Hurricane Luis (major resorts, including Mullet Bay, are still in ruins), the French side of the island is on the upswing as French shopkeepers maintain the area's Gallic atmosphere.
Still, it ain't Paris. Every native Saint Martiner I know learned English before French, and the U.S. dollar is about as widely used as sunblock. But it's certainly more European than Sint Maarten, which, a few Delft china shops and street names ending in steeg notwithstanding, feels less like Amsterdam than Des Moines, Iowa. I've never once heard a word of Dutch spoken here, or seen a guilder exchange hands.
But Sint Maarten does have its pleasures, and I don't just mean Simpson Bay's new tie-up for Rockefeller-budgeted yachters. The capital, Philipsburg, may not appear chic, but just stroll down Front Street and you'll change your mind after entering the Guavaberry Shop, where a folk liquor-turned-commercial product is brewed from woodsy-tasting berries grown exclusively on St. Martin and a few neighboring islands (free samples are available, by the way).
At a restaurant named Wajang Doll, even the puppets hanging on the wall seem to smile as you dig into a rijstaffel of more than 20 delicious dishes - a reminder that Indonesia, a former colony, provides the most exciting cuisine.
Overbuilt and Americanized as it may be, Sint Maarten does offer Cup-ecoy Bay, where you can ramble across cliffs that separate the beach into a series of rocky coves - one nudist, one gay, several barely big enough for a single blanket. Ignore the distant town and gaze ahead at the clear water, trenchant crags swathed in low-lying shrubs, and the utter lack of crowds. You'll understand why it's my favorite beach on the island.
Even the ritziest realms of the isle are accompanied by a flip side: Grand Case, a fishing village-turned-gourmet paradise, may hold the Caribbean's highest concentration of fine dining, but it's also home to the lolos, rough-hewn stands whose steaming trays overflow with down-home fare. At grandly named Talk of the Town Restaurant and Bar (just a few wooden tables where locals often play board games and share a drink), they dish up an ocean of stewed conch, mountains of rice and beans, and a humongous pile of plantains (tab for the feast: US$10). Smoke rises from sizzling half-chickens as a customer pesters the waitress to be his date for the local dance (she declines), and kids speed up on clattering bikes to pick up bulging take-out bags.
Look past the obvious. Early one Saturday morning, I puncture Marigot's upscale veneer with a visit to the harborside market. I head straight for the food stands, where ladies in voluminous madras and jaunty kerchiefs haggle over cannonball-sized squash, fishermen clean their catch on rickety stools and grizzled men haul bunches of green plantains taller than them.
I wonder if this is what the entire island was like 20 years ago.
To be sure, the last two decades (the tourist boom here is that recent) have brought a wealth of amusements to this tiny island. Stop by Bar de la Mer and a slew of other harborside cafes on Wednesday nights and you'll see what I mean. Live music fills the streets, restaurants offer discounts and shops stay open late for this midweek extravaganza - a celebration that jumps ship to the nearby Port La Royale marina on Thursdays.
Whatever eco-touristic trends take hold, unbridled fun is still the appeal and indulgence the major enterprise. And maybe that's OK.
Good boys go to heaven ... Bad boys go to St. Martin, reads a T-shirt hanging in a souvenir-shop window.
Need I say more?

Make a St. Maarten or St. Martin villa, condo, or vacation rental your home away from home in this Caribbean island paradise. square mile island, 160 miles east of Puerto Rico in the Caribbean Sea, is shared by two nations. The southern side of the island (St. Maarten) is governed by the Dutch, while the northern part (St. Martin) is under French rule. Visitors travel freely across the border, which is marked only by a sign. While both parts of the island offer gorgeous beaches and plenty of water activities, the cultures are quite different.

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