Nightlife

After-dark activities begin early here, as guests start off with a sundowner, perhaps on the garden patio of Pasanggrahan Royal Inn. The most popular bar on the island is Cheri's Café.

Many hotels sponsor beachside barbecues (particularly in season) with steel bands, native music, and folk dancing. Outsiders are welcomed at most of these events, but call ahead to see if it's a private affair.

One of the island's most visited casinos, the Oasis, is at the Caravanserai on Beacon Hill Road (tel. 599/54-54000). Gamblers start pouring in here at 3pm daily, some staying until 4 the next morning.

Atlantis World Casino, Rhine Road 106, Cupecoy (tel. 599/54-54601; www.atlantisworld.com), is St. Maarten's version of Las Vegas, with some of the best of the island restaurants (Rare and Temptation), but also a posh interior with all the big table games along with 500 slot and video poker machines.

Pelican Resort Club, Simpson Bay (tel. 599/54-44463), has a popular Vegas-style casino with a panoramic view of the bay. It offers 3 roulette tables, 8 blackjack tables, 2 stud-poker tables, and 120 slot machines. The Pelican also features horse racing, bingo, and sports nights with events broadcast via satellite, plus nightly dancing on the Pelican Reef Terrace and island shows featuring Caribbean bands. It's open daily from 2pm to 4am.

Right in the heart of Philipsburg's shopping-crazed Front Street, Rouge et Noir (tel. 599/54-22952) has a futuristic design. It offers slot machines, roulette, blackjack, and video poker. It opens Monday to Saturday at 9am and Sunday at 11am to snag cruise-ship passengers and stays open until 4am.

Casino Royale, at the Sonesta Maho Beach Hotel on Maho Bay (tel. 599/54-52590), has 16 blackjack tables, 6 roulette wheels, and 2 craps and 2 Caribbean stud-poker tables. The casino offers baccarat, minibaccarat, and more than 200 slot machines. It's open daily from 1pm to 6am. The Showroom Royale is the largest and most technologically sophisticated theater on either side of St Maarten/St. Martin; its glittery shows change according to whatever act has been booked. Within the same building is the island's loudest dance club, the Q-Club. Containing wraparound catwalks that look down on the dance floor, multiple bars, and colored lights, it's open nightly from around 10pm, attracting dancers from both sides of the island. A cover charge of between US$5 and US$10 is sometimes imposed, depending on the season and the night of the week. Wednesday is ladies night.

Sunset Beach Bar, 2 Beacon Hill Rd., Airport Beach (tel. 599/54-53998), is directly on the sands of the beach, and resembles an oversize gazebo. This place is mobbed most afternoons and evenings with office workers, off-duty airline pilots, beach people, and sometimes celebs like Sandra Bullock. No one seems to mind the whine of airplane engines, or the fumes that filter down from aircraft that seem to fly just a few dozen feet overhead. Drinks are cheap, and you can order burgers, sandwiches, steaks, fish, chicken, shrimp, and hot dogs from an outdoor charcoal grill. Many local residents time their arrival here for sundown (usually beginning around 6:30pm), when "shooters of the day" cost only US$1 each.

In Grand-Case, Calmos Café, bd. de Grand Case no. 40 (tel. 590/29-01-85; www.calmoscafe.com), is funky and low-key. This beachfront shack draws a young, hip crowd, with an occasional pop icon like Linda Evangelista dropping in. Management posts a sign that says NO SNOBS near the entrance. On Tuesday and Sunday, there's sometimes live music from 8 to 11pm. Most people come just to flirt, gossip, and drink, but there's also good, affordable food, such as a Greek salad, a tuna salad, and "New Wave burgers" that are slathered with goat cheese. There is also jazz and lounge music to accompany your food. Also popular is the Ocean Salad, combining salad greens with three kinds of grilled fish plus shrimp. The house special drink is a Ti-Punch that's a local variation on an old-fashioned rum punch. It's open daily from 10am to midnight.

From the Orient Beach parking lot, Kon Tiki (tel. 590/87-43-27) is the most distant of the several bars that flank the sands of Orient Bay. Inside, you'll find everything you'll need to amuse yourself for a day at the beach. Facilities include two bars, a watersports facility, volleyball courts, and a bandstand where there's often live music. Chaise longues with mattresses rent for US$6 for a full day's use, and there's a staff member who'll bring you drinks like Sex on the Beach (US$5). If you opt to spend part of a day here, you won't be alone. Open daily 9am to 6pm.