U.S. Customs Guide & Savings

Customs For Returning U.S. Citizens

Recent changes in customs regulations have made shopping on St. Maarten/St. Martin even more attractive. Loose gemstones, for example, are exempt from customs duties. That means unset precious stones (diamonds, tanzanite, rubies, sapphires, emeralds) do not count toward the allowance total. Spend as much as you like on a loose diamond, for example, and you won't pay a penny of duty.

Customs Guides: Know Before You Go

Returning from Sint Maarten your allowance includes $600 per person exemption, ie; $2,400 for a family of four. Included in the exemption are a max of two liters of alcoholic beverages, (as long as one of the liters was produced in the Caribbean Basin Countries). Guavaberry Liqueur is a good example of a locally produced alcoholic beverage. And 200 Cigarettes - 1 carton.

To get complete details see the Know Before You Go Guide from U.S. Customs, in PDF, here.

How Much Am I Saving?

St. Maarten/St. Martin is the Caribbean's only true duty-free destination. What does that mean? It means the price you pay does not include all those government taxes imposed on imported foreign luxury items. How much can you save by buying duty-free items? Below are typical savings on St. Maarten/St. Martin, compared with U.S. retail prices of major brand-name products.

You can spend days shopping in St. Maarten/St. Martin and not visit the same store twice! So much to buy - so little time... visit our Shopping Guide and get full details about each merchant before you go. Print our shopping maps and take them with you.