Orient Beach nudity!

[opieant]

We have heard the Orient Beach is a nude beach but we hear it is a nice beach. Do we have to be naked to go to that beach? You would not want to see me in the buff. My wife is another story. are there beach patrols to prevent idiots from taking pictutes.

 

Any info would be helpful.

[Colo Cruiser]

No you dont have to be nude just very accepting.

It is very nice and there are no camera police. :D

[imsulin]

I've been to Orient Beach many times, and have always worn a bathing suit. It is a "nude/topless" optional beach because it is on the French side . I always go there when I'm in St. Martin...beautiful beach! There are lots of shops, restaurants, and bars there, and it is a very long beach. I remember being there once back in the early 90's, and there was a nude-only beach area way down at the end. We "stumbled" onto it while we were trying to find a public bathroom. Interesting! On my last several stops there, I have taken a taxi from Phillipsburg to Orient Beach, and asked the taxi driver to meet me there at a designated time for the ride back to the ship. They always showed up, and I never had a problem!! Hope to be back there again on the 9-17 CB...if the weather allows!

[Taters]

The nudity at Orient Beach is no big deal... As Americans, we relate nudity to sex, to the French, as well as many other countries, nudity is just the way people attend the beach. No big whoop. Our daughter was with us when we were there - she'd just turned 13... We wanted to go because we'd heard it was so beautiful. We wore our suits, as we are a very modest family. It took about two minutes for her to forget that there were naked people there and just enjoy being at the beach and in the water. Really, you should go. I took pictures while I was there, but not of the people around us. I took pics of my husband and daughter splashing around in the water and having a great time. It's a beautiful place.

 

Have fun!

 

Taters

[Melb1127]

Hi! We were just at OB last Wednesday and it is well worth going! Although we had rough surf, we still enjoyed ourselves. The beach is beautiful and yes, there is partial nudity on the majority of the beach. If you walk to the far end (cross over some large rocks), you'll come to a beach that is total nudity. It is actual a nudist resort. But you are forewarned well before entering the beach, so if you are offended in any way by full nudity, don't go to the end of the beach! Otherwise, the topless women were around but my kids, ages 6 and 9, were fore warned and handled it well. We did not choose to expose any parts of our bodies that were not tanned already! There are no "camera police" either. There are lounge chairs to rent and most rent umbrellas with them.

 

When you get there, walk up and down the beach a little before renting the chairs as you will see there are various prices. For example, we paid $18 for 2 chairs and an umbrella but as I walked up the beach, I came across a deal for one chair, one umbrella and a drink for $6. We could have got 3 chairs and 3 drinks for the same amount we paid! Oh well, I hope you can be smarter than we were!

 

Hope you have fun whatever you choose to do!

[CaribbeanBlue]

Orient Beach is one of the nicest Beaches in the world. There is an area of the beach where most people are fully clothed and there is a sign warning that nudity is accepted there past the sign.

 

The nude part doesn't bother most who visit there, in fact a large percentage of the world wonder why people visit a beach fully clothed.

 

It is considered rude to snap pictures of those who are sunbathing etc. If the person is an obvious letch there are people around who will appraoch them and kindly ask for the camera, the film or toss their camera into the water. Cell phones that snap pics are also considered rude. Photographing your own family playing in the water is acceptable.

 

For more info you may wish to do a google search on "Naturist Beaches" or "AANR". It will ease your mind quite a bit. Naturist people can be really neat folks.

 

CaribbeanBlue

 

http://www.*****.org

[CrusinElf]

The nudist resort is on the far right side (as you face the water) of the beach. There's at least one large sign stating that this part of Orient Beach is nude. On the rest of the beach, you'll see some topless women and a few nudes, but the vast majority of people will be wearing bathing suits - you won't feel out of place at all.

 

Please do go to Orient Beach. It's beautiful and a favorite with many, many cruisers.

 

Elf

[Northender]

No you dont have to be nude just very accepting.

It is very nice and there are no camera police. :D

 

There is no smilie for me to use to reply to your statement.

OB is a beautiful beach. It is there for everyone to use whether nude or clothed. There is a forum designated to St. Maartin and the folks that use Orient are always making fun of the "cruisers" who just go for the looking around. Believe me, if you try and take a picture, there are "camera police" :cool:

[Colo Cruiser]

You know what, to each his own. Is it really there for everyone to use??? I did not know that. I thought it was open to the public.A little humor will never hurt anyone so I dont know where your comment came from or where it is going. I have seen numerous people taking pictures and never have seen them confronted by anyone so there:p

[Haven]

I love Orient Beach and have been there several times in all forms of dress--bathing suit, topless, fully nude and have always felt comfortable. I've never seen folks taking pictures of those going au naturale, and to tell you the truth, most of the bodies are in ALL NATURAL if you know what I mean. The first time I went I thought it would be some international mecca for beautiful bodies. Instead it's a mecca for natural bodies of all shapes and sizes (and I do mean all shapes and sizes) who simply love the feel of the sun and warm water and breezes on their bodies. My only advice would to use sunblock and really enjoy the experience. Leave any embarrassment or judgement at home and FREE yourself !:-)

[sunluva7]

Be aware, though, that nudity exists at just about all of the French Saint-Martin beaches. We were recently horseback riding on Le Galion Beach near the Butterfly Farm and saw nude bathers. No big deal - I did warn my kids ahead of time, though, so that there were no surprises for them. ;)

[TXREDHEAD]

Orient Beach from Pedro's on down is mostly total nudity. You will see topless and people totally dressed tho. It is a great beach...very relaxing. If you go, don't go to oogle! Americans are too hung up the nudity issue. You should go for the natural/naturist experience. I took lots of pictures but not of naked people.

[seattlekckckc]

I did the PRincess tour to OB and stayed close to the designated lounge chair area (as I was by myself, I didnt want to leave my belongings). I hardly saw any Clothing Optional people, in that section. However, the few I did see, the tour giude had hit the nail on the head - those that choose to be nude aften were the LAST people you would WANT to see that way! I saw lots of sagginess, and while that should have made me feel better about myself, I certianly kept my clothes on!!!

 

Casey

[Knuklehead]

We have heard the Orient Beach is a nude beach but we hear it is a nice beach. Do we have to be naked to go to that beach? You would not want to see me in the buff. My wife is another story. are there beach patrols to prevent idiots from taking pictutes.

Any info would be helpful.

As far as aditional info , I shall strongly advise against the use of Cialis or any other such medication . ;)

[lablvr2]

The Orient Beach experience is one not to miss. The water is warm, the wind is always there and it is a very unique day off the ship. Our first visit was to to Bikini Beach bar there and have been back three times. Yah - it takes a little bit to get over *some* nudity you might see but it's the culture there. Get over it!!! I had a completly nude woman come up next to me at the bar requesting a drink. She had no problem with it but I did. Blame it on my American upbringing where bathing suits are required. I later visited that beach with my son. He found it appropriate to swim nude. Trust me, I didn't look. It had been a long time since I had changed his diaper!! More power to him - he took advantage of something I wished I could have done.

Orient Beach is a DO NOT miss outing for your port of call. I didn't notice any perverts taping. Just go and have fun!

 

Susan

[TXREDHEAD]

The Orient Beach experience is one not to miss. The water is warm, the wind is always there and it is a very unique day off the ship. Our first visit was to to Bikini Beach bar there and have been back three times. Yah - it takes a little bit to get over *some* nudity you might see but it's the culture there. Get over it!!! I had a completly nude woman come up next to me at the bar requesting a drink. She had no problem with it but I did. Blame it on my American upbringing where bathing suits are required. I later visited that beach with my son. He found it appropriate to swim nude. Trust me, I didn't look. It had been a long time since I had changed his diaper!! More power to him - he took advantage of something I wished I could have done.

Orient Beach is a DO NOT miss outing for your port of call. I didn't notice any perverts taping. Just go and have fun!

 

Susan

 

Thank you Susan!! for letting your son experience OB. As Mark Twain said, ""Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things you didn`t do then by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore, Dream, Discover."

 

Go for it yourself next time....you'll be glad you did.

 

Those folks that go to OB, walk the beach fully clothed with cameras snapping usually get an earfull from the sun bathers there. Ok to go oogle but not ok to snap pictures...unless of course you are one of us.

 

Can't wait till my next trip there.

[OCruisers]

Have enjoyed reading this post! We rather like Pedro's and that area of Orient Beach. We wear bathing suits like many others ... some only wear their "birthday suits". No one seems to care what others are wearing ... or not wearing. :p

 

There's a thread on the St.Martin Board with a list of favorite bars: "Orient Beach: Favorite Beach Bars?. A couple of people have posted a nice list there with pictures and websites that you may find helpful.

 

Go and have FUN! Happy Sailing! OCruisers :)

[cruisebore]

DO NOT go near Orient Beach if easily offended.

We went there in February.

First of all I could not believe! that so many ladies would sunbathe

topless.

 

My wife and I being with friends found it all too embarrassing; I decided to

take a stroll to the other end of the beach. WELL the sight that met my

eyes; just so disturbing, people were not just sun bathing naked but walking about totally naked. I beat a hasty retreat.

 

Getting back to the sanctity of the topless area I could not believe what I

had just witnessed.

So much so that I revisited that area of the beach four times that day just

to be reassured that my eyes were not deceiving me. ;-0

 

Regards

Ray

[Nliedel]

There are many European vacationers on St. Martaan. In Europe they sunbath topless. If you are easily offended by this then there are some other beaches on St. Martaan that are less cosmopolatin.