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St Barts Info

Experiences and activities for your vacation

St Barts Facts

Location: French West Indies (Leeward islands). Eleven miles southeast of St Martin.
Longitude: 62 50' 0" W Longitude: 17 52' 0" N
Language: French (English spoken everywhere)
Capital City: Gustavia
Population: 8450
Area: 8 square miles
St Barts Post Offices: St Barts has one main post offices with two branches located in Lorient and St Jean. The main post office is located on Rue du Centenaire in Gustavia open 8AM-3PM but closed on Wednesday and Saturday afternoons.
Time Zone: Atlantic Standard Time (UTC-4). One hour ahead of Eastern Standard Time except during daylight savings time when the time is the same as EST.
Currency: Euros (US dollars accepted)
Electrical Current: 220 volts. Convertors needed for US appliances.
Telephone code: 590 (If dialing from USA then 011 590-590 plus six digit number)

St Barts Security and Health

St Barts is known for the safety and lack of crime on the island. However, we still encourage our guests to be smart. Lock up valuables in your safe, keep the villa locked and do not leave valuables in the car.

St Barts has a small hospital in Gustavia for triage and acute care with eight resident doctors. A radiology lab also exists on the island. Pharmacies are located at La Savane Commerical (Phone: 059 027 6661) center and in Gustavia (Phone: 059 027 6182)

St Barts Gas Stations

St Barts only has one gas station.   The gas station is located near the St Jean airport. The gas station closes at 5PM each night and closed Sundays. The gas pumps are accessible after hours but they only accept credit cards with security chips.  Plan ahead and fill up your rental car if you departing after hours or on Sundays to avoid the extra fuel charges by rental car companies.

St Barts Shopping Hours

St Barts boasts dozens of boutiques and luxury shops. The island is duty free offering a means to save money buying luxury goods. The main shopping area is in Gustavia with it's chic and haute couture shopping where you will find Hermes, Dior and Cartier. Villa Creole in St Jean is another shopping destination. The store hours on St Barts are from 9AM until 12 noon. The stores reopen at 2:30 PM until 7PM. On Saturday, the stores are only open from 9Am to 12:30PM. Stores are closed on Sundays.

St Barts Transportation

The island has ample taxis and rental cars. We encourage guests to rent a car for convenience and cost The island is small and relatively easy to get around.  Guests can transverse the whole island in about 20 minutes.  Parking and turning around can be difficult. The island has steep hills and make sure that your air conditioning is turned off if you are struggling up a hill. The small cylinder rental cars can have difficulty climbing the hills at times. Be careful after a mid day rainfall as the roads can be slippery.

St Barts Blue recommends a narrow based and fully powered SUV. The roads can be tight and steep in some locations.

St Barts Weather

St Barts is known for ideal weather. Blue skies with the occasional passing cloud are a repetitive daily forecast. The island enjoys up to 3000 hours of annual sunshine. The island's daily temperatures are typically between 75-82 F. The coolest time period is during February when the temperatures average around 70 F/21 C and the peak temperatures are during the summer months with average temperatures around 86 F/30 C.

The nights do cool down a bit into the low 70s or high 60s for pleasant evenings.

The island enjoys gentle trade winds that cool the island and keep the temperature ranges in a relative range. The windward side (Cote au vent) enjoys the soothing trade winds and intermittent precipitation. The western side tends to be significantly greener than the leeward side. The leeward side is arid and has sparse and brownish vegetation.

The rainy season starts at the end of August and last until late October. The official hurricane season for the Caribbean starts June 1st until November 30th. The peak activity tends to occur between mid August to end of October.

The temperatures can be sweltering at times in Gustavia since the port town is protected from the trade winds by the surrounding hills. The air tends to be stagnant and humid during the summer months.

St Barts Ocean Temperatures

The ocean tends to be inviting all year. The high temperatures occur in the summer with an average temperature of 84 F/29 C. The low ocean temperatures occur in February with an average of around 79 F/26 C.

 

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WHAT OUR GUESTS ARE SAYING

"We had a great trip and we appreciate all you did for us. The car hire was also very smooth. The memories from this vacation we will truly treasure and we owe it to you. Thanks so much for working with us and helping us plan it all."
Priti G
Les Sables (CHL)
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