TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin cash vs credit card

Here in Vancouver, Canada credit cards are more widely accepted than cash. Before I go to the bank to exchange funds - are most places preferring cash or credit? Curious in particular about food stores, bars, beach bars and restaurants,
Excited about heading to SXM next week after cancelling 3 times due to COVID.
Take care and be safe all!!
Val Marie

No, I would say that credit cards are NOT more widely accepted in SXM than cash. Cash can always be used in SXM. Most places accept credit cards also. Not something to be overly concerned with, one way or another.

I agree with Carol. Many restaurants, especially more upscale ones, and most large grocery stores and many shops accept credit cards, especially for larger purchases. But cash is more prevalent than in Canada. So yes, you need to bring some cash, but make sure it is USD, not Canadian! There are ATMs readily available that will dispense USD using your Canadian debit card if you need to replenish the cash, so no need to bring a large stash with you initially.

Cash is King in SXM for sure but we hate carrying large sums of money when travelling and tend to use credit card more now than in earlier years. Keep in mind though you won’t get the best exchange rate from your bank and they probably will charge you an exchange fee as well if you use your Canadian credit card. We have a BMO card in US funds and a US funds bank account that automatically pays out our US credit card, we use Knightsbridge to purchase larger sums of US money whenever the CDN dollar spikes and deposit it in our US bank account. This minimizes bank fees, (Canadian banks are doing fine)😀

We found that when dinning on the French side using your CC was best for the exchange rates. In this climate, the privateers are happy to have cash!! And as one poster said, make sure it's USAD currency!!

Just get USD from an ATM when you arrive. Zero reason to exchange before you leave unless you need a bit for a taxi to your place.

Regarding using your cc for the best rate on the French side....very true but only if they make the charge in EURO rather than converting to USD .Some places do give a better rate for USD cash and that will be posted ..like 1:1 at the Cadisco gas stations