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Orient Beach: What is available?

Guienevere_Arianette

By Guienevere_Arianette,
in St. Martin/St. Maarten

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Guienevere_Arianette

Guienevere_Arianette

Posted
Posted

I'm a bit confused by the posts, so a little clarification would be great for this slow poke behind the screen :o

 

Is is true that Orient Beach (I checked the website) does not have restaurants/bars/showers/anything unless you buy a day pass to Club Orient Hotel? From what I understand, that's what the site says, but I read other posts that seemed to suggest that to the left of Orient Beach, away from the nudists, there are bars/restaurants. Which is it?

 

I'm looking for a pretty beach to laze away the day; I'd like to rent an umbrella, buy some drinks, eat some lunch, and enjoy the sun. Is this a good place to set up camp?

 

Thanks so much for the help :)

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MGC

MGC

Posted
Posted
I'm a bit confused by the posts, so a little clarification would be great for this slow poke behind the screen :o

 

Is is true that Orient Beach (I checked the website) does not have restaurants/bars/showers/anything unless you buy a day pass to Club Orient Hotel? From what I understand, that's what the site says, but I read other posts that seemed to suggest that to the left of Orient Beach, away from the nudists, there are bars/restaurants. Which is it?

 

Thanks so much for the help :)

 

I'm not sure which website you looked at...

 

Orient Beach is a public beach. Club Orient is a naturalist resort at one far end of Orient Beach. There are quite a few hotels and restaurants along the rest of the beach. You don't need a day pass to Club Orient (or to any of the other hotels) to enjoy Orient Beach, including the beach immediately in front of Club Orient. You would need a day pass to use Club Orient's facilities. You also are expected to rent whatever lounge chair you select in front of any of the restaurants (you can't just pick one and sit in it for free, so once you've chosen where to sit, you'll probably be there all day). You can sit on the sand for free.

 

Personally, I prefer to set up at either La Playa or Waikiki. Both will rent you a chair and umbrella, and will serve drinks and food (I had one of the best fish dishes EVER at Waikiki last December!). How busy it is will depend on how many cruise ships are in port. And as you can see from the aerial photo, there aren't wall-to-wall chairs everywhere, there are sections that aren't populated yet.

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Britt23

Britt23

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We'll be going to Orient Beach for the first time next week. I've read so many posts but can't find anything about locker rentals. Just not sure where I will keep valuables (Credit Cards, cash, etc.) if I swim or rent a jet ski. Any suggestions?

Thanks!

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Donyb

Donyb

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Posted

Thanks for all the info on this thread. My sister and I will be in St. Maarten in Jan. and have been there several times but usually do the water taxi and find a spot on the beach at the harbor. We want to do something different this time. Orient Beach looks great and I've been there once but only on a short taxi sightseeing tour. My question: neither of us can sit for hours in the sun (been there, done that lots when we were young, baby oil and iodine galore!) so what facilities specifically offer lounge chairs and umbrellas for rent? It looks like maybe Pirate Beach but are there others? We also like the water so maybe a shower to wash off the salt would be an extra but not absolutely necessary. Available cold drinks would really be great!

 

If you've been there and know who might have these things (umbrellas on the beach mandatory...don't care if people are clothed or not), please post and we'll take a taxi directly to that place.

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kal

kal

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All the beach bars offer lounges and umbrellas for rent. You can adjust the umbrellas to shade the entire lounge. If you want more shade you can go into any of the open air bars and have something to drink.

 

Just ask the taxi driver to take you to Pedros. Then just walk to the left as you face the beach and look for a beach bar you like. The difference is price for chairs, food, nature of beach attendant, wave action, proximity to shower/bathroom, how crowded the area is, and type of people you would be sitting next to. (If you want to be near herds of cruisers, walk down to Bikini Beach). It's all a matter of personal preferences.

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sunchasers64

sunchasers64

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FYI. It's not just Club Orient that's a "naturalist" beach. We saw topless/nudes all along the whole beach. We planted at Bikini, and I couldn't resist joining the "topless club". :eek: The whole beach was crowded, but not wall-to-wall loungers. I'd definitely go there again.

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beachchick

beachchick

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FYI. It's not just Club Orient that's a "naturalist" beach. We saw topless/nudes all along the whole beach. We planted at Bikini, and I couldn't resist joining the "topless club". :eek: The whole beach was crowded, but not wall-to-wall loungers. I'd definitely go there again.

 

I'm not surprised you saw plenty of toplessness because topless sunbathing (in the usual French custom) is allowed along the entire length of the beach and on all beaches on the French side of the island (as well as a few on the Dutch side). How nice that you joined the topless ladies. It's really delightful, isn't it? Especially swimming in the nice bouyant salt water.;)

 

I am a tad surprised that you saw a lot of full nudity because there has been quite a bit of controversy lately over the local gendarmes (sp?) patrolling to ensure that fully nude folks stay down at the CO end of the beach. This had been enacted partly to mollify those cruise visitors who seem to think that it's okay to insist that another country change its customs to suit the cruise pax. Of course those same cruise pax would have a fit if visitors to their country did something similar.:rolleyes: Perhaps saner voices prevailed and the citizens decided that they would not change to suit tourists.

 

Anyway, glad you had a terrific time.:D We love Orient too.

 

DonyB: We like the Pedro's-Baywatch, etc. area of the beach. It's close to CO, which is nice; the water in that area is great for swimming; there are several food/drink/lounge/umbrella choices.

 

beachchick

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sunchasers64

sunchasers64

Posted
Posted
I'm not surprised you saw plenty of toplessness because topless sunbathing (in the usual French custom) is allowed along the entire length of the beach and on all beaches on the French side of the island (as well as a few on the Dutch side). How nice that you joined the topless ladies. It's really delightful, isn't it? Especially swimming in the nice bouyant salt water.;)

 

I am a tad surprised that you saw a lot of full nudity because there has been quite a bit of controversy lately over the local gendarmes (sp?) patrolling to ensure that fully nude folks stay down at the CO end of the beach. This had been enacted partly to mollify those cruise visitors who seem to think that it's okay to insist that another country change its customs to suit the cruise pax. Of course those same cruise pax would have a fit if visitors to their country did something similar.:rolleyes: Perhaps saner voices prevailed and the citizens decided that they would not change to suit tourists.

 

Anyway, glad you had a terrific time.:D We love Orient too.

 

DonyB: We like the Pedro's-Baywatch, etc. area of the beach. It's close to CO, which is nice; the water in that area is great for swimming; there are several food/drink/lounge/umbrella choices.

 

beachchick

 

 

Buoyancy is a beautiful thing. LOL I REALLY enjoyed it. :D

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SteveS

SteveS

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It's a beautiful day on Orient Beach as I write this. Orient has something for everyone. There is very little or no full nudity outside of Club Orient during the mid day hours. So don't worry about the kids. But you should try skinny dipping at ClubO I'm sure you will like.

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RzrLens

RzrLens

Posted
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We'll be going to Orient Beach for the first time next week. I've read so many posts but can't find anything about locker rentals. Just not sure where I will keep valuables (Credit Cards, cash, etc.) if I swim or rent a jet ski. Any suggestions?

Thanks!

Bikini Beach was the only place I saw that had lockers. I think it was $5 USD for the day.

 

 

I'm looking for a pretty beach to laze away the day; I'd like to rent an umbrella, buy some drinks, eat some lunch, and enjoy the sun. Is this a good place to set up camp?

 

Thanks so much for the help

 

We actually "camped" out at Bikini Beach, although the prices there were a bit higher than the bars that were closer to the nudist resort. We ate and had drinks at "Le String". It was a quaint little place, not a whole lot on the menu, but if you want a good burger and some great drinks, that's the place I would go. The Wikki Wakki Woo was PHENOMENAL. Here's some pics of Orient Beach... it was pretty, although we enjoyed St. Thomas more.

 

The view from Bikini Beach

n500425475_639400_1716.jpg

 

The view from our chair @ Bikini Beach

n500425475_639402_2579.jpg

 

The view to the left of Club Orient

n500425475_639406_3943.jpg

 

The divider between Orient Beach & Club Orient Beach

n500425475_639404_3267.jpg

 

What you'll be doing at Orient Beach

n500425475_639407_4283.jpg

 

Let me know if you have any other questions!

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beary

beary

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It is truly a sad day when the people of St. Maarten alter their morals of topless or nude sunbathing because we Americans are rude enough to complain of their behaviour in their own country.

 

 

Well maybe, I don't live there to know for certain. But the Taxi driver last summer told us it was the locals (him included) doing most of the complaining about the nudity. We've visited St. Martin many times and I've never met one of these rude Americans. I'm sure there are few, but I don't know that they are driving the changes at Orient Beach.

 

Kevin

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volleyballmom87

volleyballmom87

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I am a HARD-CORE, flag waving, patriotic American, and I think that the MAJORITY of Americans are far more open-minded than we are given credit for. I am not a prude, but I'm not real interested in seeing other topless women. So instead of complaining about Orient, I think we are going to Little Bay. If my DD & her BFF weren't coming with us, we would likely be going to Orient (waving boobies and all - just not mine:D ).

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Spurs Fans

Spurs Fans

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Perhaps my wording was a bit too strong, we have all heard the stories. One summer we were in an outdoor cafe in Amsterdam. We were sitting close to a Dutch man who was reading the paper, having coffee and smoking a cigarette. An American guy who was sitting nearby became irate at the Dutch man for smoking his cigarette. He became very vocal with insults about his smoking.

 

My wife and I could only think how rude it was to be in another person's country complaining about their behavior which was totally appropriate under their rules of society.

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