On 27 May 2005 07:34:00 -0700, Beach Comber wrote:
> Responding to NNC's call to take back rec.., let me offer up a
> quick trip report from a vacation last year. My wife and I spend a
> week in November 2004 staying at Orient Beach on French St. Martin.
> While not primarily there to spend time at the . portion, we
> didn't shy away from it either.
Good for you. Did you enjoy your nudity? Friends and I frequent this beach
and others.
> ** Geography **
>
> Before telling my own experience with Orient Beach it would be best to
> give some idea of the layout of the beach and surrounding facilities.
> Orient Beach is on the Northeast side of Saint Martin facing out
> towards the Atlantic Ocean. The beach runs from Southeast to Northwest
> with the Southeast half being the most heavily developed.
>
> At the Southeast end of the beach is the clothing optional resort, Club
> Orient. The Club Orient portion of the beach ends at a rock break
> (might have to get your feet wet) before opening up to the rest of the
> beach. Going up the beach from Club Orient is a series of small bars,
> restaurants, and shops until you hit the Orient Village about 2/5 of
> the way up the beach. Right after the village is several large beach
> operations with bars, restaurants, and lounge chairs including La
> Playa, which is where we spent much of our time during the day. At
> about the 3/5 mark the development stops and the beach turns fairly
> wild (no chairs and backed by dunes) until you reach the Mount Vernon
> hotel at the far Northwest end.
>
> A couple of photos of the northern half of the beach are available via
> the link at the bottom of this report.
>
> One interesting location on the beach is a small thong bikini shop just
> outside of Club Orient. The owners of the shop tend to work in the
> ., so you might get a slight surprise when you are digging through
> bins of thongs and look up to see that the proprietor is wearing
> nothing but a smile.
>
> Since Orient Beach faces out towards the Atlantic, it tends to be
> rather windy. There was a few times we were nearly driven off the
> beach because every bit of sand wants to go airborne. It can be
> troublesome at times but it sure makes the kite surfers happy. The
> water can be a bit cool since it doesn't get as much of the nice,
> shallow Caribbean warming. The warmest, and calmest, water was right
> in front of Club Orient. Even if staying further down the beach it is
> worth a walk down there for a swim (with or without attire).
>
> ** Schedule **
>
> Our average beach day could be summed up as follows:
> 1. Morning walk up and down the beach.
> 2. Breakfast in the room.
> 3. Get some sun at La Playa.
> 4. Meal along the beach.
> 5. More sun time.
> 6. Afternoon walk up and down the beach.
> 7. Drinks and a few snacks at a beach bar until dark.
>
> For our walks we would start from the middle, go north to the far end
> of the beach in front on Mount Vernon hotel, turn south and walk to the
> south end in front of Club Orient, and then reverse back up to the
> middle of the beach. This gave us a good overview of the entire beach
> and what was going on.
>
> ** Observations **
>
> The people at Club Orient were almost all ., as you would expect.
> Still, nobody there seems to mind when a clothed person walks through.
> During our first day there we didn't feel like walking the entire
> length of the beach and did our turnaround at the rock break marking
> the start of Orient Beach. Right after we turned around a . man
> coming the other way stopped us and said it was OK to walk up through
> the other part of the beach as well. We thanked him and said we were
> just tired that day. Every walk of ours after that went all the way
> through Club Orient to do our turn at the true far end of the beach.
>
> After Club Orient you don't see many . sunbathers except for a
> small enclave right about the 3/5 point going up the beach next to
> another rock break. This rock break marks the transition from the
> developed to the wild side of the beach. This other enclave is on the
> developed side.
>
> Along the wild portion of the beach you may see a few . sunbathers.
> These seem to be the ones just looking to avoid crowds. We didn't
> see any "hide and stroke" types along any portion of the beach,
> which was definitely a good thing.
>
> The Mount Vernon hotel was closed and being worked on while we were
> there. I've seen other reports of the operators there harassing .
> sunbathers, but with nothing but workmen at the facility that wasn't
> happening. At least one time we saw . sunbathers using the sand
> right in front of the hotel.
>
> Speaking of sand, the beach as a hole was in a declining phase while we
> were there. Near the rock breaks you had to get your feet wet to cross
> over and the big pipe by the middle of the beach was well out of the
> sand. At the main concession locations they could only put out three
> to four rows of chairs and had many, many more stacked up in back with
> no place to go.
>
> Being on the French side of the island, anywhere along the beach you
> were likely to see topless sunbathers and walkers. In some parts of
> the beach as much as 20-30% of the women would go topfree. Also, some
> of the less shy nudist at Club Orient like to take a walk up the beach
> and back. The concentration is highest during the morning and late
> afternoon, but a few go for walks at any time of the day.
>
> When the cruise ships come in you see a few "boat people" turn up
> at the beach. Being that Orient Beach is about as far from the boat
> dock as you can get, people don't tend to end up there by accident or
> without knowing what to expect. A big portion of them tend to wind up
> at a few chair concession locations and those end up being mostly
> textile. A few wander down to Club Orient or off to other locations if
> they want to go . or topless. For some reason the cruise ship
> people don't seem to like going . and topless around their fellow
> passengers. A few go on fully clothed gawking excursions to Club
> Orient, but the inhabitants just ignore them until they get their eye
> full and go away.
>
> ** Food **
>
> Food at the beach was a bit of a let down. Most of the beach
> restaurants serve fairly common food. If you want something memorable
> you are better off going into Marigot (capital of French St. Martin).
> For breakfast and often lunch we found it easier to pickup something at
> the little market in Orient Village and eat back in the room.
>
> Staying in a hotel directly behind La Playa, we tended to eat at the
> beach restaurant there more than other locations. The service was very
> acceptable and the view from the upstairs dining area was very nice.
> The only problem with upstairs was the wind, which could make eating
> difficult even with the plastic screens drawn. The restaurant at La
> Playa had a tendency to run out of specials, but what was available
> tasted great and had nice size portions. After a full meal all you
> wanted to do is head back to the beach to bake for a few more hours.
>
> ** Conclusion **
>
> If you are looking for a place where you can go clothed, topless, or
> fully . then Orient Beach is the place to be. All three types of
> groups seem to get along just fine there. The beach has plenty of
> services and caters to all types. My wife and I definitely plan on a
> return trip at some point.
>
> Beach Comber
>
> // *** start gratuitous plug ***
> http://worldbeachlist.com/World/Guadeloupe/Saint-Martin/Orient-Beach.html
> http://worldbeachlist.com/topics/co-beaches.php
> // *** end gratuitous plug ***
Thanks for the post. Very interesting. |