TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Sandy Ground - more unrest

On December 28th, 5 men broke into an unoccupied charter catamaran at the Sandy Ground Polypat yard and stole a flare gun and flares. Then they broke into an occupied boat (friends of mine, a cruising couple), fired the flares and beat up the man. Repelled by wasp spray, they departed. But after the police arrived, took the report, and left the thieves returned and stole a catamaran and tried to pass under the Sandy Ground bridge and got stuck. They managed to escape back to Sandy Ground. A friend said that there had been roadblocks and burning tires after the Sandy Ground motorcycle incident that was reported here several days ago. I'm surprised that the incident wasn't in the paper - unless it was decided that it would put the French side in a bad light and found not to be newsworthy. Some details can be found on the Caribbean Safety and Security net.

So, in light of these recent developments, it might be prudent to avoid or at least be at heightened security awareness when transiting Sandy Ground for the time being.

Thanks for the report. Agreed, stay out of Sandy Ground.

We drove through Sandy Ground during the day in our last trip. But I have to admit, I would not do it if it was approaching darkness. And avoiding it altogether seems like a good idea.