Indigo Bay, St. Maarten: The New Development on the South Coast
Modern villas and apartments on a hillside between Cole Bay and Little Bay.
Why Go
Indigo Bay is the most recently built part of the Dutch side, a planned development on the slopes above the south coast between Cole Bay and Little Bay. It is a residential address rather than a destination: modern apartments and villas, a small beach below, wide views over the sea toward Saba on a clear day, and essentially no commerce. People rent here for space, quiet and a newer standard of building than the older resort strips offer, and they drive to everything else.
The Experience
The development steps down a hillside in terraces, with the buildings uniformly modern and the roads wide and well surfaced, which is not the norm on this island. It is very quiet — no strip, no bars, no through traffic — and the outlook is the main asset: open sea to the south, and on clear days the outline of Saba and Statia on the horizon. Below, the shore is small and rocky in places with a stretch of sand, sheltered enough for a swim but not a beach you would plan a day around. The surroundings are undeveloped hillside, so there is a sense of space that the built-up west of the island has lost. Everything else — shops, restaurants, beaches — is a five to fifteen minute drive. What is unusual about the area, and worth saying plainly, is that it was built recently enough to have been designed rather than accumulated: the roads, the drainage and the buildings are all of a piece, which on an island where most development happened piecemeal over fifty years is immediately noticeable and part of what people are paying for.
What to Try
Treat this as a base and go out from it. Cole Bay is five minutes north with the island's best-value restaurants, its supermarkets and the marine businesses on the lagoon. Philipsburg and Great Bay are ten minutes east for the boardwalk, the shopping and the ferries. Little Bay next door has sheltered swimming, dive operators and the walk out to the ruins of Fort Amsterdam. Simpson Bay and Maho are fifteen minutes west for the restaurant strip and the nightlife, and Mullet Bay for the best sand on this half of the island. The one thing to do without leaving is watch the light go over the water toward Saba, which from this hillside is genuinely worth arranging an evening around. For a family or a group renting a whole villa, the pattern that works is a big shop in Cole Bay on arrival, most breakfasts and a few dinners at home on the terrace, and the car used properly for one beach and one restaurant a day rather than for constant back-and-forth.
Insider Tip
Rent here for the view and the quiet, and budget for driving. There is nothing walkable — no shop, no restaurant, no bar — and taxis add up quickly on an island where fares are set by zone. The compensation is real: this is among the quietest places to sleep on the Dutch side while still being ten minutes from Philipsburg and fifteen from the airport, and the outlook over open sea beats anything on the built-up west coast.
The Practical Stuff
Indigo Bay is about ten minutes from Philipsburg, five from Cole Bay and fifteen from Princess Juliana airport, on the south coast between the two. You need a car — the development is spread across a hillside, there is no public transport and nothing is within walking distance. Parking is free and easy. There are no shops or restaurants within the development, so do a supermarket run in Cole Bay before settling in. The beach below is small and sheltered rather than notable. Everything here is recently built, so it came through 2017 better than the older properties on the island. Hurricane season runs roughly June to November.
Common Questions
Where is Indigo Bay?
On the south coast of the Dutch side, on the hillside between Cole Bay and Little Bay. It is about ten minutes from Philipsburg and fifteen from Princess Juliana airport.
Is Indigo Bay a good place to stay?
For space, quiet and modern buildings with a sea view, yes. It has no shops, restaurants or bars of its own, so it suits people with a car who are happy to drive to everything.
Is there a beach at Indigo Bay?
A small sheltered stretch below the development, fine for a swim but not a beach day. Little Bay next door is calmer and Mullet Bay, fifteen minutes west, is much better.
Do you need a car at Indigo Bay?
Yes, absolutely. Nothing is walkable, there is no public transport, and taxi fares on this island are set by zone and add up quickly over a week.
What can you see from Indigo Bay?
Open sea to the south, and on clear days the outlines of Saba and St. Eustatius on the horizon. The evening light over that water is the development's best feature.
Where do you shop near Indigo Bay?
Cole Bay, five minutes north, which has the island's supermarkets and its best-value restaurants. Do a proper shop there before settling in, since there is nothing within the development.
Pair It With
- Cole Bay — The shop that makes a villa week work, five minutes north.
- Simpson Bay Beach Guide — The nearest proper beach day, fifteen minutes west.
- Philipsburg — The boardwalk and the ferries, ten minutes east.
