Pictures from Orient Beach Dec. 19, 2018

[pcsunlover]

We were in St. Martin at Orient Beach last week an rented chairs and had lunch at Bikini Beach Bar.  Here are some pictures of the beach and surrounding area.

[CruiseLady88]

Looks like lots of sea weed on the shore and sand. Also lots of rocks on the sand too.

[cathi007]

So how was it? What was the cost of the cab? Chairs? and umbrellas?? I see a lot of sea weed, but I heard that is a problem all over recently. Was it a good day?

[KD Travel Adventures]

We shared a taxi with a couple that was going to Orient Beach, but we were going to Pinel Island. The taxi cost for each couple was $25, but it could have possibly cost less if we were one group (not sure). Orient Beach was the first stop and then the taxi dropped us off at the ferry for Pinel Island.  

 

Here is a link to a video of Orient Beach from September 2016, two years ago.

 

On a side note from Orient Beach, Pinel Island was great.  It's a little further down the road to the ferry terminal to take you to Pinel Island, which is $12 round trip (and in addition to the taxi). The ferry is really just a large boat that holds about 30 people. The beach area was all sand (not rocky), but there was another area for snorkeling (which cost money), which was more rocky.  I do not remember any seawood at Pinel Island. 

 

[pcsunlover]

4 hours ago, CruiseLady88 said:

Looks like lots of sea weed on the shore and sand. Also lots of rocks on the sand too.

The Bikini Beach Bar people kept the seaweed cleaned up pretty well in front of the lounge chairs they rent.  It was very nice there.

 

[pcsunlover]

2 hours ago, cathi007 said:

So how was it? What was the cost of the cab? Chairs? and umbrellas?? I see a lot of sea weed, but I heard that is a problem all over recently. Was it a good day?

It was very nice. They have a lot of padded lounge chairs with umbrellas and little tables.  It was $30 for 2 chairs which Ithought was a little expensive, but they said that’s what they charge in prime season.  The restaurant is good and they have nice (for an island) bathroom facilities.

 

The seaweed was not an issue in front of the facility, they kept it cleaned up.  The seaweed you see in the pictures is from when we walked the lengthof the beach.

 

 Beware of the taxi drivers. We shared a taxi/van with group of people and it was $7 per person, so it cost us $14 plus a tip. We made the mistake of going back with a different driver who just took the 2 of us.  We stupidly didn’t ask the cost - we assumed it would be the same.  She dropped us off at the ferry instead of the port like we asked her too, and charged us $25.  Then we had to pay for the ferry too. I was really disappointed that we were treated that way when we made an effort to go there to try to help their economy. 

[cathi007]

21 hours ago, pcsunlover said:

It was very nice. They have a lot of padded lounge chairs with umbrellas and little tables.  It was $30 for 2 chairs which Ithought was a little expensive, but they said that’s what they charge in prime season.  The restaurant is good and they have nice (for an island) bathroom facilities.

 

The seaweed was not an issue in front of the facility, they kept it cleaned up.  The seaweed you see in the pictures is from when we walked the lengthof the beach.

 

 Beware of the taxi drivers. We shared a taxi/van with group of people and it was $7 per person, so it cost us $14 plus a tip. We made the mistake of going back with a different driver who just took the 2 of us.  We stupidly didn’t ask the cost - we assumed it would be the same.  She dropped us off at the ferry instead of the port like we asked her too, and charged us $25.  Then we had to pay for the ferry too. I was really disappointed that we were treated that way when we made an effort to go there to try to help their economy. 

Thanks for the information. We are 4 adults and two children 3, and 14 months. 🙂

[jordanaire]

Thanks for the pictures! Orient Beach is our favorite place on planet Earth. We were so devastated to see what the hurricane had done. We tried to go there back in April but no one would take us there. Said the government declared it unsafe for visitors. Yeah, right! So now we plan to go back this coming April and will definitely see our favorite beach again.

[cathi007]

3 hours ago, jordanaire said:

Thanks for the pictures! Orient Beach is our favorite place on planet Earth. We were so devastated to see what the hurricane had done. We tried to go there back in April but no one would take us there. Said the government declared it unsafe for visitors. Yeah, right! So now we plan to go back this coming April and will definitely see our favorite beach again.

We'll be there in a few weeks, so I will update you and take pics 🙂

[jordanaire]

Thanks! Looking forward to seeing them.

[karena1]

Nice to see it is coming back.  We will be in SMX again in April and plan to go back to our favorite beach there - Orient!  Hopefully more vendors will be open by then.  We always sit at Orange Crush but if they are not there anymore, we will find a different vendor to relax at

[OCruisers]

Thanks ... just happy to see progress is being made to get Orient Beach to what it once was.  

[satbeachbill]

On 1/4/2019 at 4:33 PM, jordanaire said:

Thanks for the pictures! Orient Beach is our favorite place on planet Earth. We were so devastated to see what the hurricane had done. We tried to go there back in April but no one would take us there. Said the government declared it unsafe for visitors. Yeah, right! So now we plan to go back this coming April and will definitely see our favorite beach again.

We were there last April. We were welcomed with open arms!

[Dar28]

This will be our 4th time to St Marten and we always end up at Orient Beach. This time there’s no need to sightsee and just want to get back to our “favourite beach” as well ! There was a great place the taxi drivers dropped us off where there was a bar and restaurant. Not sure if that was the Bikini Bar??? Haven’t been for several years so hopefully things are getting back to normal after the hurricane.

Just to confirm, Orient Beach is really a long one and is a fair ways from the pier? There was a nude beach at the other end? Am I  correct?

 

We took a taxi sightseeing and the drivers pick d us up at the end of the day. Does anyone know how f taxis will do a return fare? 

 

[DISFANS3]

Thanks for info..

[SnorkelAway]

17 hours ago, Dar28 said:

Just to confirm, Orient Beach is really a long one and is a fair ways from the pier? There was a nude beach at the other end? Am I  correct?

 

Yes.  Orient Beach is about 1.3 miles long.  South end is the Club Orient beach, which is clothing optional.  It is a "fair ways" from pier, but usually, traffic is not bad from Orient to pier.

[karena1]

Please anyone going before April, post a report and let us know what is open and pictures.  Cannot wait to go back there!

[cathi007]

On 1/6/2019 at 6:56 PM, Dar28 said:

This will be our 4th time to St Marten and we always end up at Orient Beach. This time there’s no need to sightsee and just want to get back to our “favourite beach” as well ! There was a great place the taxi drivers dropped us off where there was a bar and restaurant. Not sure if that was the Bikini Bar??? Haven’t been for several years so hopefully things are getting back to normal after the hurricane.

Just to confirm, Orient Beach is really a long one and is a fair ways from the pier? There was a nude beach at the other end? Am I  correct?

 

We took a taxi sightseeing and the drivers pick d us up at the end of the day. Does anyone know how f taxis will do a return fare? 

 

Yes, but I just read that the nude beach is no more. I will be a Bikini Beach in a few weeks, so I will report back when I get back

[cathi007]

3 hours ago, karena1 said:

Please anyone going before April, post a report and let us know what is open and pictures.  Cannot wait to go back there!

I will be there in a few weeks, I will take pics and report back 🙂

[SnorkelAway]

17 hours ago, cathi007 said:

 I just read that the nude beach is no more.

 

Incorrect. 

 

Club Orient is no more - at least not now and the near future.  The beach in front of the Club Orient property is still there and is still clothing optional.  I.e., you can be nude on the beach in front of the Club Orient Property (and a little bit north toward the rocks).

 

There are no "nude" beaches on the island as that term is commonly used to imply that you must be nude.  There are clothing optional beaches on the island - at least two commonly recognized as such - the southern part of Orient Beach and Cupecoy Beach.

 

Bikini is about 500 yards north of the Club Orient beach, so if at Bikini, you can walk a little and see what is what on the Club Orient beach.

[karena1]

19 hours ago, cathi007 said:

I will be there in a few weeks, I will take pics and report back 🙂

Thanks that will be great!

 

[mompells]

How is the snorkeling at Orient Beach?

[SnorkelAway]

I never considered the snorkeling just off Orient Beach very good.  There is some snorkeling just out from the rocks in front of where Pedro's was, pre-Irma.  I do not think that there is any snorkeling worth mentioning north of the rocks. 

 

There is good snorkeling (good by St Martin standards) on the North-Western end of Green Cay, which is the small island in Orient Bay.  It is about a one-third mile open water swim off the Club Orient beach to get to Green Cay - a little further to get to where good snorkeling begins - or you can hire a guy to take you there on a jet ski (setting a time to be picked up).  I cannot recommend it to anyone who is not comfortable with open water swimming - and you do have to be careful of boats, jet-skis, etc. on way over and back, if you swim.  If you swim over, you might see rays and other sea animals in bay.

 

The quality of any snorkeling at any beach is of course limited by light and visibility.  If the sea conditions are or have been rough, then the sea bed may be stirred up and visibility may be very poor, even if the day you are there is sunny.

[thing]

We are heading there for a 1 week stay, right on Orient Beach.   I will report back with my 0.02 in a few weeks.....maybe even if I have a chance while I'm on the island.

[mlbcruiser]

Thanks so much to the original OP for the photos! Looking forward to the next report by those going soon. Glad progress has been made from the hurricane damage of 2017.

 

Wondering if there is a strong, foul odor from the seaweed?

 

Let me say I love St. Maarten. I've snorkeled a few places on St. Maarten/St. Martin, including Pinel Island. Admittedly, conditions and numbers of fish can be different from day to day anywhere. Much less year to year. However, snorkeling isn't great from any of the beaches where I've tried it, although it was sort of o.k. at Dawn Beach and the fish were more numerous off Pinel Island, but don't expect to see interesting or colorful coral formations. Once we were taken over to a beach on Anguilla. The snorkeling at that particular spot was a bit better.  Since I've snorkeled at so many much better locations in and out of the Caribbean and Pacific, I may be a bit jaded.  Simpson Bay, Maho, Mullet, Cupecoy, and Orient are all fine - IF you aren't hoping for good snorkeling. In my experience, a total waste of time at those beaches. Maybe I was just unlucky, but let's face it. Some places are known for excellent snorkeling and this island isn't really one of them.

Edited January 18, 2019 by mlbcruiser