Trip report: Orient Beach, St. Martin - November 2004

On 27 May 2005 07:34:00 -0700, Beach Comber wrote:

Responding to NNC's call to take back rec.nude, let me offer up a
quick trip report from a vacation last year. My wife and I spend a
week in November 2004 staying at Orient Beach on French St. Martin.
While not primarily there to spend time at the nude portion, we
didn't shy away from it either.

Good for you. Did you enjoy your nudity? Friends and I frequent this beach
and others.

** Geography **

Before telling my own experience with Orient Beach it would be best to
give some idea of the layout of the beach and surrounding facilities.
Orient Beach is on the Northeast side of Saint Martin facing out
towards the Atlantic Ocean. The beach runs from Southeast to Northwest
with the Southeast half being the most heavily developed.

At the Southeast end of the beach is the clothing optional resort, Club
Orient. The Club Orient portion of the beach ends at a rock break
(might have to get your feet wet) before opening up to the rest of the
beach. Going up the beach from Club Orient is a series of small bars,
restaurants, and shops until you hit the Orient Village about 2/5 of
the way up the beach. Right after the village is several large beach
operations with bars, restaurants, and lounge chairs including La
Playa, which is where we spent much of our time during the day. At
about the 3/5 mark the development stops and the beach turns fairly
wild (no chairs and backed by dunes) until you reach the Mount Vernon
hotel at the far Northwest end.

A couple of photos of the northern half of the beach are available via
the link at the bottom of this report.

One interesting location on the beach is a small thong bikini shop just
outside of Club Orient. The owners of the shop tend to work in the
nude, so you might get a slight surprise when you are digging through
bins of thongs and look up to see that the proprietor is wearing
nothing but a smile.

Since Orient Beach faces out towards the Atlantic, it tends to be
rather windy. There was a few times we were nearly driven off the
beach because every bit of sand wants to go airborne. It can be
troublesome at times but it sure makes the kite surfers happy. The
water can be a bit cool since it doesn't get as much of the nice,
shallow Caribbean warming. The warmest, and calmest, water was right
in front of Club Orient. Even if staying further down the beach it is
worth a walk down there for a swim (with or without attire).

** Schedule **

Our average beach day could be summed up as follows:
1. Morning walk up and down the beach.
2. Breakfast in the room.
3. Get some sun at La Playa.
4. Meal along the beach.
5. More sun time.
6. Afternoon walk up and down the beach.
7. Drinks and a few snacks at a beach bar until dark.

For our walks we would start from the middle, go north to the far end
of the beach in front on Mount Vernon hotel, turn south and walk to the
south end in front of Club Orient, and then reverse back up to the
middle of the beach. This gave us a good overview of the entire beach
and what was going on.

** Observations **

The people at Club Orient were almost all nude, as you would expect.
Still, nobody there seems to mind when a clothed person walks through.
During our first day there we didn't feel like walking the entire
length of the beach and did our turnaround at the rock break marking
the start of Orient Beach. Right after we turned around a nude man
coming the other way stopped us and said it was OK to walk up through
the other part of the beach as well. We thanked him and said we were
just tired that day. Every walk of ours after that went all the way
through Club Orient to do our turn at the true far end of the beach.

After Club Orient you don't see many nude sunbathers except for a
small enclave right about the 3/5 point going up the beach next to
another rock break. This rock break marks the transition from the
developed to the wild side of the beach. This other enclave is on the
developed side.

Along the wild portion of the beach you may see a few nude sunbathers.
These seem to be the ones just looking to avoid crowds. We didn't
see any "hide and stroke" types along any portion of the beach,
which was definitely a good thing.

The Mount Vernon hotel was closed and being worked on while we were
there. I've seen other reports of the operators there harassing nude
sunbathers, but with nothing but workmen at the facility that wasn't
happening. At least one time we saw nude sunbathers using the sand
right in front of the hotel.

Speaking of sand, the beach as a hole was in a declining phase while we
were there. Near the rock breaks you had to get your feet wet to cross
over and the big pipe by the middle of the beach was well out of the
sand. At the main concession locations they could only put out three
to four rows of chairs and had many, many more stacked up in back with
no place to go.

Being on the French side of the island, anywhere along the beach you
were likely to see topless sunbathers and walkers. In some parts of
the beach as much as 20-30% of the women would go topfree. Also, some
of the less shy nudist at Club Orient like to take a walk up the beach
and back. The concentration is highest during the morning and late
afternoon, but a few go for walks at any time of the day.

When the cruise ships come in you see a few "boat people" turn up
at the beach. Being that Orient Beach is about as far from the boat
dock as you can get, people don't tend to end up there by accident or
without knowing what to expect. A big portion of them tend to wind up
at a few chair concession locations and those end up being mostly
textile. A few wander down to Club Orient or off to other locations if
they want to go nude or topless. For some reason the cruise ship
people don't seem to like going nude and topless around their fellow
passengers. A few go on fully clothed gawking excursions to Club
Orient, but the inhabitants just ignore them until they get their eye
full and go away.

** Food **

Food at the beach was a bit of a let down. Most of the beach
restaurants serve fairly common food. If you want something memorable
you are better off going into Marigot (capital of French St. Martin).
For breakfast and often lunch we found it easier to pickup something at
the little market in Orient Village and eat back in the room.

Staying in a hotel directly behind La Playa, we tended to eat at the
beach restaurant there more than other locations. The service was very
acceptable and the view from the upstairs dining area was very nice.
The only problem with upstairs was the wind, which could make eating
difficult even with the plastic screens drawn. The restaurant at La
Playa had a tendency to run out of specials, but what was available
tasted great and had nice size portions. After a full meal all you
wanted to do is head back to the beach to bake for a few more hours.

** Conclusion **

If you are looking for a place where you can go clothed, topless, or
fully nude then Orient Beach is the place to be. All three types of
groups seem to get along just fine there. The beach has plenty of
services and caters to all types. My wife and I definitely plan on a
return trip at some point.

Beach Comber

// *** start gratuitous plug ***
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// *** end gratuitous plug ***

Thanks for the post. Very interesting.

On 27 May 2005 07:34:00 -0700, Beach Comber wrote:

Responding to NNC's call to take back rec.nude, let me offer up a
quick trip report from a vacation last year. My wife and I spend a
week in November 2004 staying at Orient Beach on French St. Martin.
While not primarily there to spend time at the nude portion, we
didn't shy away from it either.

Good for you. Did you enjoy your nudity? Friends and I frequent this beach
and others.

** Geography **

Before telling my own experience with Orient Beach it would be best to
give some idea of the layout of the beach and surrounding facilities.
Orient Beach is on the Northeast side of Saint Martin facing out
towards the Atlantic Ocean. The beach runs from Southeast to Northwest
with the Southeast half being the most heavily developed.

At the Southeast end of the beach is the clothing optional resort, Club
Orient. The Club Orient portion of the beach ends at a rock break
(might have to get your feet wet) before opening up to the rest of the
beach. Going up the beach from Club Orient is a series of small bars,
restaurants, and shops until you hit the Orient Village about 2/5 of
the way up the beach. Right after the village is several large beach
operations with bars, restaurants, and lounge chairs including La
Playa, which is where we spent much of our time during the day. At
about the 3/5 mark the development stops and the beach turns fairly
wild (no chairs and backed by dunes) until you reach the Mount Vernon
hotel at the far Northwest end.

A couple of photos of the northern half of the beach are available via
the link at the bottom of this report.

One interesting location on the beach is a small thong bikini shop just
outside of Club Orient. The owners of the shop tend to work in the
nude, so you might get a slight surprise when you are digging through
bins of thongs and look up to see that the proprietor is wearing
nothing but a smile.

Since Orient Beach faces out towards the Atlantic, it tends to be
rather windy. There was a few times we were nearly driven off the
beach because every bit of sand wants to go airborne. It can be
troublesome at times but it sure makes the kite surfers happy. The
water can be a bit cool since it doesn't get as much of the nice,
shallow Caribbean warming. The warmest, and calmest, water was right
in front of Club Orient. Even if staying further down the beach it is
worth a walk down there for a swim (with or without attire).

** Schedule **

Our average beach day could be summed up as follows:
1. Morning walk up and down the beach.
2. Breakfast in the room.
3. Get some sun at La Playa.
4. Meal along the beach.
5. More sun time.
6. Afternoon walk up and down the beach.
7. Drinks and a few snacks at a beach bar until dark.

For our walks we would start from the middle, go north to the far end
of the beach in front on Mount Vernon hotel, turn south and walk to the
south end in front of Club Orient, and then reverse back up to the
middle of the beach. This gave us a good overview of the entire beach
and what was going on.

** Observations **

The people at Club Orient were almost all nude, as you would expect.
Still, nobody there seems to mind when a clothed person walks through.
During our first day there we didn't feel like walking the entire
length of the beach and did our turnaround at the rock break marking
the start of Orient Beach. Right after we turned around a nude man
coming the other way stopped us and said it was OK to walk up through
the other part of the beach as well. We thanked him and said we were
just tired that day. Every walk of ours after that went all the way
through Club Orient to do our turn at the true far end of the beach.

After Club Orient you don't see many nude sunbathers except for a
small enclave right about the 3/5 point going up the beach next to
another rock break. This rock break marks the transition from the
developed to the wild side of the beach. This other enclave is on the
developed side.

Along the wild portion of the beach you may see a few nude sunbathers.
These seem to be the ones just looking to avoid crowds. We didn't
see any "hide and stroke" types along any portion of the beach,
which was definitely a good thing.

The Mount Vernon hotel was closed and being worked on while we were
there. I've seen other reports of the operators there harassing nude
sunbathers, but with nothing but workmen at the facility that wasn't
happening. At least one time we saw nude sunbathers using the sand
right in front of the hotel.

Speaking of sand, the beach as a hole was in a declining phase while we
were there. Near the rock breaks you had to get your feet wet to cross
over and the big pipe by the middle of the beach was well out of the
sand. At the main concession locations they could only put out three
to four rows of chairs and had many, many more stacked up in back with
no place to go.

Being on the French side of the island, anywhere along the beach you
were likely to see topless sunbathers and walkers. In some parts of
the beach as much as 20-30% of the women would go topfree. Also, some
of the less shy nudist at Club Orient like to take a walk up the beach
and back. The concentration is highest during the morning and late
afternoon, but a few go for walks at any time of the day.

When the cruise ships come in you see a few "boat people" turn up
at the beach. Being that Orient Beach is about as far from the boat
dock as you can get, people don't tend to end up there by accident or
without knowing what to expect. A big portion of them tend to wind up
at a few chair concession locations and those end up being mostly
textile. A few wander down to Club Orient or off to other locations if
they want to go nude or topless. For some reason the cruise ship
people don't seem to like going nude and topless around their fellow
passengers. A few go on fully clothed gawking excursions to Club
Orient, but the inhabitants just ignore them until they get their eye
full and go away.

** Food **

Food at the beach was a bit of a let down. Most of the beach
restaurants serve fairly common food. If you want something memorable
you are better off going into Marigot (capital of French St. Martin).
For breakfast and often lunch we found it easier to pickup something at
the little market in Orient Village and eat back in the room.

Staying in a hotel directly behind La Playa, we tended to eat at the
beach restaurant there more than other locations. The service was very
acceptable and the view from the upstairs dining area was very nice.
The only problem with upstairs was the wind, which could make eating
difficult even with the plastic screens drawn. The restaurant at La
Playa had a tendency to run out of specials, but what was available
tasted great and had nice size portions. After a full meal all you
wanted to do is head back to the beach to bake for a few more hours.

** Conclusion **

If you are looking for a place where you can go clothed, topless, or
fully nude then Orient Beach is the place to be. All three types of
groups seem to get along just fine there. The beach has plenty of
services and caters to all types. My wife and I definitely plan on a
return trip at some point.

Beach Comber

// *** start gratuitous plug ***
http://worldbeachlist.com/World/Guad...ent-Beach.html
http://worldbeachlist.com/topics/co-beaches.php
// *** end gratuitous plug ***

Thanks for the post. Very interesting.

On Fri, 27 May 2005 11:59:32 -0400, Vagina Canal wrote:

On 27 May 2005 07:34:00 -0700, Beach Comber wrote:

Responding to NNC's call to take back rec.nude, let me offer up a
quick trip report from a vacation last year.
snip
** Conclusion **
If you are looking for a place where you can go clothed, topless, or
fully nude then Orient Beach is the place to be. All three types of
groups seem to get along just fine there. The beach has plenty of
services and caters to all types. My wife and I definitely plan on a
return trip at some point.

Beach Comber

Thank you Beach Comber for the detailed and informative post - I think the
best I've ever read about Orient Beach.

My wife and I have been wanting to go for some time, and I think this
could just spur us on to organise a trip.

Mike
www.barebritain.com

Thank you Beach Comber for the detailed and informative post - I think the
best I've ever read about Orient Beach.

My wife and I have been wanting to go for some time, and I think this
could just spur us on to organise a trip.

Mike, thanks. The message was crosposted by someone else from
rec.nude, but I guess it does apply here equally as well. It would be
nice if more people would post their experiences and impressions for
other locations. I'm in the hunt for my next vacation spot, and it
will be hard to top Orient Beach.

The best thing I found about Orient Beach was just how much variety it
had to offer. Only thing I found missing was easy access to a
metropolitan area with more facilities (shopping, restaurants, etc).
Still, for many, the isolation here may be just what they want.

Enjoy your (potential) trip!

Beach Comber
http://worldbeachlist.com/

On 31 May 2005 06:13:35 -0700, Beach Comber wrote:

Beach Comber
http://worldbeachlist.com/

Nice list.