TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin St.Maarten COVID Questions

Hi ALL,


I have never been apart of any forums.

I have researched many vacations by reading all the good info from real people on them so I decided to join this one to help me plan correctly in regards to COVID-19.

So I am leaving Saturday Jan 2nd heading to St.Maarten from MPLS, MN.

I found a good place to get tested in my area that St.Maarten has accepted results from for Covid-19 tests per one of the members on this forum. I am aware of the EHAS form required for high risk countries and have read the info on the St.Maarten website.

So my worry is that the testing site wont be open a few days before I leave and I have to get the test on Tues 12/29 in hopes I get the results back on 12/30 so I dont have to worry about not being able to get results back before I leave the Saturday when I am to arrive on the island due to the medical facility possibly being closed new years eve and new years day. I have messaged the medical facility to confirm if this is so and will know Monday if they will send me results over holidays.
If I get tested 12/29 then I have to be very careful on timing so I dont go over the 120 hours. My initial thought was to plan a flight really late at night on New years Day so if I do get tested on 12/29 I am on my way to St.Maarten with a good cushion of time to account for any delays or set backs because I will be on my fourth day of the 120 hours and do not want to risk going over the 120 hours.

I am trying to strategize correctly as I haven't picked the best date to leave. Being that I have to get tested 120 hours before my last lag to St.Maarteen and we have New Years Eve and News Day coming I would love input on if:

1)If I get tested on Tues 12/29 at 5pm and am getting to St.Maarten on Sat. 1/2 before 5pm with a pre-approved test am I ok to enter?
2)When they say last lag does that mean when I land in St.Maarten or when I leave the the last stop before St.Maarten?
3)Will St.Maarten give me a pre-approval over the holidays? So anybody deal with this over Thanksgiving or any other holidays?

Maybe I just Leave New Years Eve and get tested Monday 12/28 and have to find a place to stay for a couple days before check in on Sat.1/2.


Just throwing it all out there. Please tell me if you have done this already or if you see any holes in my strategy.


Hope these make sense and appreciate any feed back from someone who has traveled in the last month or so to St.Maarten with the latest requirements.

Thank you in advance for any suggestions!

TFF--first, welcome! If you have any questions, please let me know.

Second, your post is pretty confusing because you keep referring to dates incorrectly, based on your statement that you are leaving on January 2. You can edit your post for a couple of hours after the original post, if you want to try to fix that.

As I understand your question, your question just revolves around timing of the test, versus flying. The test has to be administered within 120 hours for a PCR test or 48 hours for a rapid test, FROM WHEN YOUR LAST FLIGHT LEAVES, HEADED TO SXM. So if you have a connection, the time of your first flight is irrelevant, as well as when you actually arrive. It's when your outbound non-stop flight to SXM leaves.

Thanks for welcoming me and letting me know about the typo!!!

LOL

Phew, got tired just reading that one. Lol. This forum is all about information based largely on personal experience and opinion. Take the advice here with a healthy dose of skepticism. With that in mind welcome.