St Marteen/St Martin - What's best?

[Scarlettlab]

We will be on an eastern caribbean cruise with a stop in St Marteen/St Martin. Should we book cruises through the ship or direct on the island? What would be a good cruise for a family with two daughters (10 and 12)? We would like to see the island but nothing too strenuous. Thanks.

[-Lew-]

Should we book cruises through the ship or direct on the island?

What kind of cruise are you looking for? Are you looking for something on the order of a catamaran excursion?

 

Lew

[Spurs Fans]

You can't beat a relaxing day under an umbrella at Orient Beach. Plenty of things to do, great food and drinks or just relax if you would like.

[Scarlettlab]

Thanks for the answers. Everything will be new to us since we're coming from Australia.

 

In answer to what type of tour do you want to do - probably something on land since we're cruising the rest of the time - also not too strenuous!

 

Also, where is Orient Beach? How do you get there from the pier?

[The Big Booper]

From the pier to Orient is a 20-25 minute cab ride. The dispatchers will fill up the van cabs quickly and you pay $7 each one way (as long as 4 or more in the cab).

[Abberboo]

I have been to St Maarten/St. Martin a few times. We go to Orient Beach for about 5 hours, we love Kon Tiki, nice place to eat/drink and very nicely cushioned chairs with unbrellas. Beautiful beach, one of my faves in all the Southern Caribbean. Then we shop in St. Maarten, endless shopping and fun places to see. You can see both sides in a day easily.

[Lorey2007]

A tour we are considering taking is stopping at Orient Beach. Is it a nude/topless beach or is there a seperate area for that. Do you pay to use the beach or rent a beach chair? Are there public restrooms or places to change? Any other info you have will be helpful.

[Livin4Real]

Orient is a nude beach, with a naturists resort at one end. You will see nudity throughout the beach. There are several bars and locals to rent beach chairs from, along with seadoos, parasailing, etc. The snorkeling isn't very good right at Orient beach but theres a little island off the beach ($5 one way to get to) that has good snorkeling. When you rent chairs they will usually give you a couple tickets for the bathrooms, otherwise it'll cost you $.50

[janetz]

We will be on an eastern caribbean cruise with a stop in St Marteen/St Martin. Should we book cruises through the ship or direct on the island? What would be a good cruise for a family with two daughters (10 and 12)? We would like to see the island but nothing too strenuous. Thanks.

 

 

We take a taxi right from port to a resort called DiviLittleBay. Its less than 10 minutes from port. A family friendly beach, they have jetski's for rent, etc. No nudity. When you get there. just walk around the back to the beach. When you are ready to leave they will call you a taxi. :)

 

http://www.divilittlebay.com/DiviLittleBay/st-maarten-water-sports.html

[Scarlettlab]

I don't think nudist beaches will make my daughters feel comfortable. Are there any local tours of the island?

[The Big Booper]

Orient Beach is NOT a nude beach. The Southern end is occupied by Club Orient, a clothing optional resort open to the public (beach portion only). The local authorities have made an effort to control the guests at Club O from strolling the length of the beach in their birthday suits; you will see hardly any nekkid people strolling up and down.

 

You will see the occasional topless woman on a lounger.

 

The further away from Club O, say in the middle of the 1.5 mile beach, you will see nothing that will upset your kids.

 

The beach at Orient is superior to Divi in terms of quality of the sand, etc. And there is lots to do at Bikini, Kon-Tiki, etc.

 

All beaches in St. Martin are free and open to the public and whoever has the concession will only be too happy to rent a lounger (s) and umbrella for the day.

[maggiecharlie]

Orient Beach is NOT a nude beach. The Southern end is occupied by Club Orient, a clothing optional resort open to the public (beach portion only). The local authorities have made an effort to control the guests at Club O from strolling the length of the beach in their birthday suits; you will see hardly any nekkid people strolling up and down.

 

You will see the occasional topless woman on a lounger.

 

The further away from Club O, say in the middle of the 1.5 mile beach, you will see nothing that will upset your kids.

 

The beach at Orient is superior to Divi in terms of quality of the sand, etc. And there is lots to do at Bikini, Kon-Tiki, etc.

 

All beaches in St. Martin are free and open to the public and whoever has the concession will only be too happy to rent a lounger (s) and umbrella for the day.

 

 

What about restroom and shower facilities for public use?

[Livin4Real]

Orient Beach is NOT a nude beach. The Southern end is occupied by Club Orient, a clothing optional resort open to the public (beach portion only). The local authorities have made an effort to control the guests at Club O from strolling the length of the beach in their birthday suits; you will see hardly any nekkid people strolling up and down.

 

You will see the occasional topless woman on a lounger.

 

The further away from Club O, say in the middle of the 1.5 mile beach, you will see nothing that will upset your kids.

 

The beach at Orient is superior to Divi in terms of quality of the sand, etc. And there is lots to do at Bikini, Kon-Tiki, etc.

 

All beaches in St. Martin are free and open to the public and whoever has the concession will only be too happy to rent a lounger (s) and umbrella for the day.

 

 

Sorry, Orient Beach IS a nude beach. We were there last year and saw plenty of totally nude people all up and down the beach. You run the risk of seeing nudity on ANY beach in St. Maarten, it's an accepted practice there. If you don't want to take my word for it go ask the locals that frequent the vi now.com message boards. Even on Maho the bars offer free drinks to topless women. Orient is a beautiful beach nonetheless.

[Livin4Real]

What about restroom and shower facilities for public use?

 

If you rent chairs from one of the bars they should give you a couple tickets for the bathrooms, otherwise it's $.50 to use it. I didn't see any showers there.

[kal]

Baie Oriental (Orient Beach) has a small section at one end that is "clothing optional". Many refer to this section as a "nude beach" but by no means does this apply to the entire 1.3 mile long beach. Last year the Gendarmes enforced a policy where the fully nude people were restricted from walking the full beach from about 8:00am to about 4:00pm. This was in response to complaints by residences of the adjacent condos and the mouse boat. In 2008 the enforcement was discontinued.

 

I just returned from spending 3 weeks at Orient and saw no more than 2-3 fully nude people strolling the non clothing optional section. Even then, one of those people was an elderly man about 80 yo who normally wore a hospital gown.

 

To claim that "any" beach in St. Maarten is a nude beach is nonsense. Total nudity on the Dutch side is prohibited by law. It's limited to certain beaches on the French side.

 

Maybe the reference here equates toplessness to nudity. If so it is incorrect.

[beachchick]

Baie Oriental (Orient Beach) has a small section at one end that is "clothing optional". Many refer to this section as a "nude beach" but by no means does this apply to the entire 1.3 mile long beach. Last year the Gendarmes enforced a policy where the fully nude people were restricted from walking the full beach from about 8:00am to about 4:00pm. This was in response to complaints by residences of the adjacent condos and the mouse boat. In 2008 the enforcement was discontinued.

 

I just returned from spending 3 weeks at Orient and saw no more than 2-3 fully nude people strolling the non clothing optional section. Even then, one of those people was an elderly man about 80 yo who normally wore a hospital gown.

 

To claim that "any" beach in St. Maarten is a nude beach is nonsense. Total nudity on the Dutch side is prohibited by law. It's limited to certain beaches on the French side.

 

Maybe the reference here equates toplessness to nudity. If so it is incorrect.

 

Right on! I think there is quite a bit of confusion between the terms. Some people think women being topless is the same as full nudity. Perhaps in their eyes it is, but the difference truly is more than just semantics.

 

As we know, all beaches on the French side follow the custom of (optional) topless female sunbathing. The only fully clothing-optional places that I know of (and granted my knowledge is fairly limited) are Club Orient (and out towards Pedro's) on Orient, Cupecoy on the Dutch side (unless things have changed), and Baie Rouge (which we haven't visited, but have seen the sign out front that is allows clothing-optional, rather than just toplessness). I'm sure there are others, but we're not familiar enough with the island for me know all the in's and out's of what's allowed where--Maybe DH and I should plan a trip just to check out the various options.:D

 

I have a question about Cupecoy. I've always heard that it's fully c/o, but I also know that full nudity is against the law on the Dutch side. Is it simply "overlooked" because it's limited to that beach, which doesn't seem to be a particularly great beach option for most people? I believe that toplessness is allowed on the Dutch side with no legal restrictions. Is that correct? I mention it because I have read reports from time to time of a few topless women at places like Little Divi, which is typically reported to have no toplessness and certainly no full nudity. I simply assumed (I know, shouldn't do that) that toplessness is legal on the Dutch side because of places like SBB and so forth.

 

Anyway, thanks for pointing out the difference in definition between toplessness and nudity.

 

beachchick

[Martin and Lindsey]

Have you thought of taking an island tour?

Bernard's Tours will take you around the island including some time at Maho Beach (where you can watch planes flying overhead) and Orient Beach. Looking at the sea, to the right is the clothing optional part of the beach, but from what I've read, if you walk down the beach to the left, you are less likely to see nudity. It is possible that you will though.

We are booked to go with him in August.

 

Here is a link to his website:

 

http://www.bernardstours.com/interest.htm

 

Hope this helps you.

[Scarlettlab]

Have you thought of taking an island tour?

Bernard's Tours will take you around the island including some time at Maho Beach (where you can watch planes flying overhead) and Orient Beach. Looking at the sea, to the right is the clothing optional part of the beach, but from what I've read, if you walk down the beach to the left, you are less likely to see nudity. It is possible that you will though.

We are booked to go with him in August.

 

Here is a link to his website:

 

http://www.bernardstours.com/interest.htm

 

Hope this helps you.

 

Thanks it does help. Actually, I was thinking of an island tour so that we can see as much of the island as possible as it is unlikely that we will be back any time soon (too far from Australia).

 

As for the topless issue, that's not a problem. Topless sunbaking is quite common on Australian beaches. My daughters won't bat an eyelid at that! Full frontal, of course, is a different story!

[Livin4Real]

Baie Oriental (Orient Beach) has a small section at one end that is "clothing optional". Many refer to this section as a "nude beach" but by no means does this apply to the entire 1.3 mile long beach. Last year the Gendarmes enforced a policy where the fully nude people were restricted from walking the full beach from about 8:00am to about 4:00pm. This was in response to complaints by residences of the adjacent condos and the mouse boat. In 2008 the enforcement was discontinued.

 

I just returned from spending 3 weeks at Orient and saw no more than 2-3 fully nude people strolling the non clothing optional section. Even then, one of those people was an elderly man about 80 yo who normally wore a hospital gown.

 

To claim that "any" beach in St. Maarten is a nude beach is nonsense. Total nudity on the Dutch side is prohibited by law. It's limited to certain beaches on the French side.

 

Maybe the reference here equates toplessness to nudity. If so it is incorrect.

 

I didn't claim that every beach in St. Maarten is a nude beach, please don't misquote me. I said " You run the risk of seeing nudity on any beach in St. Maarten" like I said even Maho has signs at the bar offering free drinks to topless women. And I don't equate toplessness to being fully nude, we walked 3/4 of Orient (away from Club Orient) and still saw completely nude people every 15-20 minutes, topless women pretty much all the time. I personally could care less, we have friends that are there 4 or 5 times a year and knew what to expect. I'm sure it depends on when you go as well. Also as I said I'm sure the Island locals at the other board can tell you where the least amount of skin will be. :)

[Scooter-n-GB]

We'll be in St. Martin/St. Maarten in Oct, and I would love to get to Baie Rouge and go to Gus' for some burgers and chicken. I hear it's some of the best food (and a great location). :p

[kal]

Sorry, Orient Beach IS a nude beach....

 

Au contrair, mon ami.

[beachchick]

Sorry, Orient Beach IS a nude beach. We were there last year and saw plenty of totally nude people all up and down the beach. You run the risk of seeing nudity on ANY beach in St. Maarten, it's an accepted practice there. If you don't want to take my word for it go ask the locals that frequent the vi now.com message boards. Even on Maho the bars offer free drinks to topless women. Orient is a beautiful beach nonetheless.

 

I have a quick question. St. Martin is not one of the USVI, so why would locals be on the vi now.com site frequenting the message boards? Just curious.

 

beachchick

[Martin and Lindsey]

We booked Bernard after reading endless great reviews on this website.

 

My sister lives on the Mornington Peninsula; at Mount Martha :)

 

Hope you have a great cruise.

[Scarlettlab]

We booked Bernard after reading endless great reviews on this website.

 

My sister lives on the Mornington Peninsula; at Mount Martha :)

 

Hope you have a great cruise.

 

Mt Martha is gorgeous. They have just opened a new timeshare there. We go down that way all the time on the weekend - about 30-45 minute drive.

[hubofhockey]

Au contrair, mon ami.

 

I don't understand why some people want to create or perpetuate a myth that Orient Beach is a nude beach when it is not. We took a land vacation there several years ago and the nude area is clearly marked. However, St Martin is a French island and there are topless women on pretty much all of the sections of the beach.