On the S coast the anchorages can be uncomfortable in SE winds.

Great Bay (Groot Baaï)

Philipsburg

Once round Witte Kaap (White Point),you enter Groot Baai. To starboard the new cruise liner dock pushes a long way out.
Caution There are mooring dolphins and mooring buoys to watch out for. At night lit buoys and lights on the jetty ends mark the limits of the jetty.
At the root of the Cruise Docks there’s a large esplanade at the entrance to the port. Once you’ve got around this area, you can head roughly N into the bay holding for preference to the line of the
channel to the ferry docks, in front of the waterfront. You should be in depths of 2·8-4m. The anchorage area is either to the E or the W of the ferry channel. In a SE swell the whole S facing bay can get
uncomfortable, especially in the W. Bobby’s Marina (VHF 16) has about 100 berths for small and medium craft with water and electricity. There’s a fuel dock at its seaward end. Depths are 2·5-3m
but less near the dinghy dock. Most of the berths are occupied by resident boats, so there’s little or no room for visiting yachts.
Ashore The office for clearance is at the Commercial Dock. Bobby’s has lots of specialist workers on tap and a branch of one of the islands main chandleries is here too. There are also shops, a grocery and a restaurant which is very popular
with visiting yachtsmen. Bobby’s Boatyard maintains the monopoly on lifting heavy yachts here on the Dutch side. Although, the relatively small space available in Philipsburg has led the yard to shift some of its hard-standing operations to two ‘technical’ areas in the lagoon, one near the airport and the other at Cole Bay. Bobby’s also has a great variety of repair and maintenance
services available. At Dock Maarten the whole length of the quay is taken up by the terrace of a
large restaurant-bar which still (at time of
writing) manages the small number of pontoon berths here. For provisioning the best choice is
offered by the Philipsburg supermarkets, especially the two or three really big ones on the edge of town. Other than the practical reasons for coming to the town, there’s also pleasure to be had wandering
the streets, mingling with the tourists on the hunt for duty free bargains, or, if more or less exotic food takes your fancy, sampling the town’s restaurants.

Simpson Bay Lagoon

Not long ago, the creation of a causeway linking the W coast airport to the E shore of Cole Bay split Simpson Bay Lagoon into two distinct areas. In
the middle of the route is a swing bridge, brought over from Holland by barge. The bridge’s precise opening times have not yet been established so ask at the lifting bridge office near the sea for
information (VHF 12).
N of the causeway
These are mainly French waters. The Dutch area is limited to a navigable narrow strip bordering the N of Princess Juliana Airport. Depths are irregular.
Three boatyards (including Bobby’s) can be found along this coast, each with travel hoists for varying weights. Still in this Dutch area N of the causeway, a 5m-deep channel has been dredged for almost 3M between the causeway and the new Little Cupecoy Marina N of Cupecoy Beach.
This marina appears to be solely for the use of boats belonging to residents of a luxury housing development. Nearby is the huge indentation of Mullet Pond but this small lagoon is shallow and,
therefore, unsuitable for keels, although small motor boats could moor here. fuel station has fast pumps.
E and S of Snoopy Island, various
dredged and buoyed channels provide
access to further nautical services.
To the S you’ll find Simpson Bay Yacht Club Marina with around 100 berths in 3·5m, with water, electricity and a fuel dock.
Ashore The marina office and a few
shops, bars and restaurants.
To the E, on the far S shore of Cole Bay, is the large Budget Marine Chandlery.
Further N is the large T-shaped pontoon of Lagoon Marina, equipped with about 40 berths.

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