Education and rental

Hi Liliana,

This forum is quite inactive. You might wait a while till someone provides you any feedback.

Try this : https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/i … nt-Maarten

You will have a general idea.

All the best,
Bhavna

Thank you Bhavna 🙂

Hi Lily,

I'm from Sint Maarten, I've also lived on both sides on the island the French side and Dutch side. When you say that you heard rentals are expensive compared to where though? What are you looking for interms of accommodations size wise etc? It all depends what you are looking for your budget and personal taste. Are you looking for a fully furnished with a pool? Those might be a bit more pricer than unfurnished. For example, after the hurricane I moved to the USA. My rent here is double than what I was paying for in SXM. My house in SXM was fully funished with a swimming pool 2Bed 2 Bath beautiful view gated community for only USD $1500. Here in Dallas TX. It's much more also fully furnished but double no view, no pool my neighborhoods house I can literally touch it when I'm in my yard.

As for food, after the hurricane food prices went up a bit on the island, but when I compare it to Whole Foods were I do my shopping it's relatively the same.

Schools, you said that you heard that they are mainly English. You didn't specify which language you are looking for. On the Dutch side there are Dutch and English schools. 3 Private schools LU is American (tution is high I had my son there in Kindergarten) and CIA is Canadian and also Montessori. And there is also a 1 French preschool on the Dutch side. If the private schools might be out of your league most people put there kids in any of the 5 catholic schools there. I believe 2 of those are Dutch and 3 are in English. There is also Christian Hill side school that has two campuses one English on Dutch. And of course there are also public schools which I don't recommend.

I had my son who a 10 years old attend a French private school on the French side. I only paid €450 monthly which included afterschool care. L'Ecole bord du l'eau. I loved loved that school.

If you love the beach SXM has some of the prettiest beaches kids will love it. Other than that not much things for kids there it's mostly geared towards adults. And after the hurricane lots had changed but the island bouncing back and things are picking back up.

I hope this was helpful and success with your new journey. I believe you will enjoy it there, by making the best out of it. People are very helpful and friendly after all it's a very small community.

Take Care!

Thank you very much for you respond has been very very help full ,  my husband will be working for Soneta  in maho  beach and I appreciate if you know the price  roughly  of accommodation   and if english school is around the area , 2 beds 2 bath apartment for $ 1600 is reasonable price I thought was like $ 3000 to 4000 ,  i would like to ask you one more thing about the transport is easy to get taxi on the street or need to buy a car and if is the case is the traffic  so congested?  I would appreciate  you respond as i am worry about my kids and the issue  of dropping and pick them up from school will be a daily problem , thank you!

Hi,

If he is going to be working in the MAHO area, accommodations there are in higher price range because it's a tourist area. It really boils down to what exactly you are looking for. An apartments over there can be @ what you wrote but you could also find maybe a 1 bedroom for $950-$1600 a two bedroom fully furnished might start in the $2000+ price range in the MAHO area.

CIA and Montessori are both in MAHO check their website for tuitions. If you are looking for a school that is not pricey then look into the Catholic schools. You'll maybe pay like $300 plus for the year. I attended a Catholic school as a child, back then those were the best schools to put your child in, but i'm talking nearly 30 years ago.

The tourist who are not renting a car or who don't dear drive on the island get them Taxis. Taxis are a bit pricey, but there is always public transportation. Although it can be a bit of a nightmare, it definitely takes getting used to. If you will be there long term you might want to invest in a second hand car or brand new car. If you are looking to buy a car (second hand) I just told my patients that I want to sell my car, since I have permanently relocated. It's been parked at my parents house every since I left just sitting there I might as well sell it. It's nothing fancy, in fact, it's an older car a 2007 Honda Civic. If you are interested I can arrange for you to take a look at it when you are in SXM.

Again, hope my answers have helped somewhat. Don't worry and don't stress you'll be fine and you'll love it. It's a very safe little island it's nothing near Johannesburg in terms of crime that is definitely one thing less to stress about. My sister lived two years in Petoria during her internship over there, so I've heard plenty of stories but overall she LOVED SA and hopes to move there one day.