Gay Areas in St. Barts?

[TxnAquarian]

Will be in St.Barts on my Xmas cruise in 2 weeks from 8am until 11pm. Anyone know of any gay/gay friendly hangouts in St.Barts? Beaches? Bars?

 

Thanks!

 

 

Mike

[derf5585]

At a time when much of the Caribbean appears increasingly hostile to gay and lesbian travelers, tiny St. Barts--that island hideaway for the global fabulocracy--is a surprisingly tolerant, trés chic retreat.

from

http://www.outtraveler.com/features.asp?did=535

 

Home » Other Gay Travel Destinations » St. Barts

from

http://www.pinkchoice.com/forum/topic31-st-barts.aspx

[mushromhd]

Are you on the the Regent Voyager?

If so I am also. Hope to see you aboard.

Looking for a beach to go when in St Barts.

HS

[BehrHunter]

I would imagine an Island like St. Barths is going to attact a lot of GBLT. I doubt you will find too many average joes from the bible belt there. Money trumps all prejudice and the French are generally a fairly liberal lot.

 

Ill be there sometime in March but will be on a sailing charter. Let us know how it goes.

[abenaki]

The beach you want is Grand Saline, at the right end (facing the water) Taxi from Gustavia is about $20. The restaurant at the entrance, le Grain du Sel is excellent. Beautiful beach, lots of nude sunbathers.

[garykool81]

My partner and I have vacationed in St. Barts before, and there really isn't a "gay bar" or anything of the sort on the island. That said, there is absolutely no need for one. You will find St. Barts to be *easily* as gay friendly as San Francisco, London or Paris. This is a culture that, fortunately, has remained untouched by the homophobia that has been spread by much of the "native" populations on other islands.

 

Having visited every beach on the island numerous times, my personal pick is Governor's Beach. I found it to be a great mix of beautiful sand, larger waves and great privacy. When we were last there in May, we had a good 100+ feet between us and the next person on the beach.

 

All of the beaches are gay friendly, IMO. On our recent trip, we ran into a nice gay couple from the Philly area that were frolicking around in the ocean 100% nude. No one on the beach so much as looked up -- it wasn't even an issue.

 

Sexuality truly isn't a problem here, and for the best reasons -- no one cares.

 

PS: Here are some photos we took while there last: http://picasaweb.google.com/garykool81/StBartsFrenchWestIndiesMay2009

 

And this is Governor's Beach: http://picasaweb.google.com/garykool81/StBartsFrenchWestIndiesMay2009#5342027881393308018

 

Notice the complete lack of other tourists. Capacity control works! :-)

[sfgoguy]

15 years ago when I lived in NYC and vacationed frequently in the Caribbean, St. Barts was definitely a tolerant, live-and-let-live island. I can't image it has changed. The other Gary's notes are spot-on.

 

(And, BTW, I found the same "climate" on both the Dutch and French sides of St. Maarten, which seems to have fallen off the radar of late.)

 

Enjoy. :)

[garykool81]

Thanks for the kudos, Gary!

 

Another plus I forgot to mention -- Unlike almost all of the Caribbean, St. Barts has virtually NO crime. This is a place where you can easily wander off the beaten path at 2AM, and not worry about being mugged.

 

We even picked up a hitchhiker while we were there, which is something we would *NEVER* normally do, or would we do anywhere other than St. Barts. A lot of folks there, due to the size of the island and low crime rates, literally just hitchhike to work and back every day.