favorite beach?

[Loveynj]

Just wondering what people's faves are...... trying to decide where I want to go when we are in port that day. It will be my bday and I want it ust right......

[SnorkelAway]

Orient is a favorite for many, including me, but it all depends on what you like.

[SandRaven]

We just got back from a week in St Maarten, and spent the whole week touring the beaches! :D We look for beautiful water, soft sand, snorkeling, volleyball, shade, and affordable adult beverages. These were our favorite spots:

 

Our favorite was Mullet Beach (Southwest), as it met all of the above criteria. There were no permanent bars at this beach; just tent snack shacks, but they made great frozen mango coladas for $4, beers were $2, water $1-$1.50, and they were selling bbq ribs and french fries. There was a public restroom as well (no toilet paper though). Shade is found in the mangrove trees at the volleyball net, and by the trees near the snack shacks. You can rent umbrellas and chairs here. Snorkeling is decent on the right cliff wall; the left was pretty empty. The volleyball was advanced level; no jungle ball here! You can see the mountain island of Saba in the distance from here.

 

Le Gallion Beach (Northeast) is directly below Orient Beach, separated by a sharp rock outcropping and a salt pond. The bright blue ocean water is very calm here; just gorgeous - it's basically a sheltered lagoon. This is a wonderful palm fringed beach surrounded by mountains, with a LONG stretch of sand if you enjoy walking the beach. Lots of shade palms, beautiful sand, and there's a dive platform out in the water for fun. There's a full french restaurant/bar at Gallion Beach, build right on the sand, and they rent umbrellas and chairs. No volleyball net here though!

 

The best of the rest - Here are our thoughts on the others:

 

Maho Beach: Located LITERALLY at the start of the airport runway, this beach is awesome for about 15 minutes; then it's just LOUD! Great views of massive planes directly overhead, landing gear down... there are signs all over that warn of injury and death from the landing jets, but no one seems to pay much attention...:rolleyes:

 

Cupecoy Beach:

Right around the corner from our favorite beach, Mullet, Cupecoy is currently under construction; multiple hotels and condos in various states of completion suddenly cover every last inch of this once pristine spot to watch the sunset. :eek:

 

Baie Rouge (Red Beach):

This beach has super-soft sand and beautiful views of Anguilla. The water is gorgeous, but was quite rough when we went. There were two restaurants here that rented chairs and umbrellas, and served wraps, grilled lobsters, had full bars...Walking down the beach, you'll see some interesting beachfront and cliffside mansions. No shade here; you'll have to rent your own or hang out in the open air restaurants with an adult beverage or two! ;)

 

Friar's Beach:

Pretty cove beach, some shade, rentals available, but the restaurant prices were insanely expensive - 30 US dollars for a sandwich?? I know the dollar is weak, but come on!

 

Orient Beach:

Beautiful long stretch of sand with some uber-hip restaurants and bars, like Kon Tiki. Water was gentle, very swimable. No real snorkeling here. Walking down the beach, we passed nudist Club Orient, where we were getting odd looks for being the only beachgoers wearing swimwear. As there were no cruise ships in that day, it was basically us and the nudists...:p

 

Pinel Island Beach

Just next to Orient Beach at Cul de Sac, you can take a "ferry" (read - open boat that seats 40 very tightly) to Pinel Island (5-10 minute ride). Wonderful "private island" feel to this place. This was great if you enjoy exploring - great view from the hill at the top of the little grass covered island, and you could walk over the whole thing in under an hour. Check out all the cove beaches - good snorkeling here. The main beach area has 3 restaurants - 2 good ones and a snack bar in the middle. Lots of rental umbrellas and chairs. This was a great place to hang out. Alas, no volleyball.

[NJBill]

Divi Beach was my favorite of our whole trip..

[AmMom]

Sandraven, thanks for all the info. One question though, which of your fav beaches had the least amount of (or preferably no) nudity. I know that is pretty common on the whole island, but that's something we're trying to avoid.

[SandRaven]

All-in-all, Orient seemed to be the only heavily nude and topless beach; all the others had either two or three topless women and a couple of nude guys or just no nudes/topless at all.

 

We didn't see any nudes or topless sunbathers at Le Gallion; I suppose because it's about 5 minutes from Orient Beach, where they'd rather hang out. No chance of walking over to Orient beach from Le Gallion either, as there's a severely sharp rock outcropping and dense underbrush separating the two beaches.

 

No nudes or topless folks spotted on the main Pinel Island beach, and no people at all on the cove beaches around the tiny island - just 100% unspoiled sand and water.

 

Maho didn't have any nudes/topless sunbathers when we were there, and we only saw a few topless sunbathers on towels one day at Mullet Beach.

[astropilot]

By far it has to be Orient for us.

[Glaciers]

We went to Baie Rouge last December and it was very nice. Orient has been getting a bit too populated for us.

[sunlover58]

Sandraven- how far is Maho to Orient Beach? Want to see the planes but don't want to be drowned out all day with the noise. Thought we would got there for a short while and then head to Orient. Only been to the island once on a cruise about 4 years ago and only did the shopping thing. This time we want to do the beach thing!!!

[beachchick]

Sandraven, thanks for all the info. One question though, which of your fav beaches had the least amount of (or preferably no) nudity. I know that is pretty common on the whole island, but that's something we're trying to avoid.

 

We've not been there, but Little Divi on the Dutch side gets darn good reviews here and is reported to have no toplessness/nudity. Of course, that's not a 100% guarantee, but it's pretty close.

 

FYI, Le Gallion has signage specifically stating that it is a clothing-optional beach. Just because there weren't topless/nude folks there on one day doesn't mean that there won't be many of them on another. Baie Rouge is pretty much ditto. There are often topless women at Pinel, but obviously not all of them and not all the time.

 

As it sounds like you know, all beaches on the French side follow the custom of topless sunbathing, and a few have completely c/o options. Cupecoy on the Dutch side is known for being completely c/o, but we've not been there. Sunset Beach Bar on Maho follows their motto that "topless women drink for free," but there no way to know how many (if any) women will be topless there on any given day. OTOH, that's at SBB, not specifically on Maho beach. I don't recall seeing lots of topless women on the beach.

 

We're Orient beach fans, and are fine with (and enjoy) toplessness/nudity. I know others do not feel the same way. I want to give you the best information I can, so you can make the right decision for you.

 

beachchick

[Karysa]

We just got back from a week in St Maarten, and spent the whole week touring the beaches! :D We look for beautiful water, soft sand, snorkeling, volleyball, shade, and affordable adult beverages. These were our favorite spots:

 

Our favorite was Mullet Beach (Southwest), as it met all of the above criteria. There were no permanent bars at this beach; just tent snack shacks, but they made great frozen mango coladas for $4, beers were $2, water $1-$1.50, and they were selling bbq ribs and french fries. There was a public restroom as well (no toilet paper though). Shade is found in the mangrove trees at the volleyball net, and by the trees near the snack shacks. You can rent umbrellas and chairs here. Snorkeling is decent on the right cliff wall; the left was pretty empty. The volleyball was advanced level; no jungle ball here! You can see the mountain island of Saba in the distance from here.

 

Le Gallion Beach (Northeast) is directly below Orient Beach, separated by a sharp rock outcropping and a salt pond. The bright blue ocean water is very calm here; just gorgeous - it's basically a sheltered lagoon. This is a wonderful palm fringed beach surrounded by mountains, with a LONG stretch of sand if you enjoy walking the beach. Lots of shade palms, beautiful sand, and there's a dive platform out in the water for fun. There's a full french restaurant/bar at Gallion Beach, build right on the sand, and they rent umbrellas and chairs. No volleyball net here though!

 

The best of the rest - Here are our thoughts on the others:

 

Maho Beach: Located LITERALLY at the start of the airport runway, this beach is awesome for about 15 minutes; then it's just LOUD! Great views of massive planes directly overhead, landing gear down... there are signs all over that warn of injury and death from the landing jets, but no one seems to pay much attention...:rolleyes:

 

Cupecoy Beach:

Right around the corner from our favorite beach, Mullet, Cupecoy is currently under construction; multiple hotels and condos in various states of completion suddenly cover every last inch of this once pristine spot to watch the sunset. :eek:

 

Baie Rouge (Red Beach):

This beach has super-soft sand and beautiful views of Anguilla. The water is gorgeous, but was quite rough when we went. There were two restaurants here that rented chairs and umbrellas, and served wraps, grilled lobsters, had full bars...Walking down the beach, you'll see some interesting beachfront and cliffside mansions. No shade here; you'll have to rent your own or hang out in the open air restaurants with an adult beverage or two! ;)

 

Friar's Beach:

Pretty cove beach, some shade, rentals available, but the restaurant prices were insanely expensive - 30 US dollars for a sandwich?? I know the dollar is weak, but come on!

 

Orient Beach:

Beautiful long stretch of sand with some uber-hip restaurants and bars, like Kon Tiki. Water was gentle, very swimable. No real snorkeling here. Walking down the beach, we passed nudist Club Orient, where we were getting odd looks for being the only beachgoers wearing swimwear. As there were no cruise ships in that day, it was basically us and the nudists...:p

 

Pinel Island Beach

Just next to Orient Beach at Cul de Sac, you can take a "ferry" (read - open boat that seats 40 very tightly) to Pinel Island (5-10 minute ride). Wonderful "private island" feel to this place. This was great if you enjoy exploring - great view from the hill at the top of the little grass covered island, and you could walk over the whole thing in under an hour. Check out all the cove beaches - good snorkeling here. The main beach area has 3 restaurants - 2 good ones and a snack bar in the middle. Lots of rental umbrellas and chairs. This was a great place to hang out. Alas, no volleyball.

 

I have been to all of these beaches as well and also share your views. Baie Rouge used to be my favorite but we had a frightening experience in 2006 with a surprise wave. We stopped at Mullet for the first time this past January and loved it.

Karysa