
Eastern Caribbean

Loungers and umbrellas can be hired from the beach bars. Royal Caribbean's Rhino Rider excursion includes time here, with sunshades and snorkel gear.
Kim Sha Beach runs along the shore of Simpson Bay, a few minutes from the airport and close to the hotels and restaurants of Simpson Bay village. The water is usually calm, with views across the bay to the hills of the island.
This is a beach for a drink and a swim rather than solitude. Bars line the sand, the Buccaneer Beach Bar among them, and there are loungers and umbrellas to hire, watersports and the occasional party or concert in the evening.
It was the last stop on our Rhino Rider excursion, with sunshades, loungers and snorkel gear waiting for us before the boat ride back.
An easy, sociable beach to end a busy day: good for a swim and a drink, less so for peace and quiet.



Location
Kim Sha Beach is on Simpson Bay on St Martin's Dutch side, about twenty minutes by car from the cruise port in Philipsburg.
Coordinates: 18.0332° N · 63.0932° W
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Travel series
This series follows our seven-night Eastern Caribbean cruise on Icon of the Seas, round trip from Miami in May 2026. We gave ourselves two days in Miami before boarding, then sailed to St Maarten, St Thomas and Perfect Day at CocoCay, with three sea days to get to know the ship.
Nearby places
All of St Maarten
Bell's Lookout Point sits on a hillside above Cole Bay on the Dutch side of Sint Maarten, with views down to Simpson Bay Lagoon, one of the largest lagoons in the Caribbean.

Cupecoy Beach is a coastal stretch on Sint Maarten with sandstone cliffs, small coves and natural sea caves along its shoreline.

Divi Little Bay Beach Resort sits on a peninsula near Philipsburg on the Dutch side of Sint Maarten, beside a calm, sheltered beach quieter than many others on the island.

Fort Amsterdam is a partly ruined 17th-century stone fortification on Sint Maarten, with antique cannons on site and views across Great Bay and Little Bay.

The small beach at the end of Princess Juliana Airport's runway on St Martin, where landing jets pass low enough overhead to feel the roar.

Mullet Bay Beach is a wide white sand beach on the Dutch side of Sint Maarten. Planes pass at low altitude overhead on their approach to Princess Juliana International Airport.