First Adventure to a Nude Beach
 

My husband and I always joked that we would love to find a secrete beach where we could relax nude in the warm sunshine of The Caribbean.  I had tried topless but never nude. We knew Orient Beach was a clothing optional but after checking posts OB web site, we were completely turned off  and continued our search for “our” island.

I gave orientbeach.com another try, but this time there were several informative posts. I tried a few of my own and received many sincere replies. That was enough for us to book twelve days a Club O, knowing that at the very least that my husband and I always have a good time together.

Weather in the states delayed our arrival to 10:30 PM at Julian Airport.  Our rental car was no longer available, so tired, we hailed a cab. We arrived tired and starved. Things started looking up when greeted by a friendly security guard with an envelope containing a key to #30.  Still dressed for North East weather we set out to find the restaurant following directions in our envelope. The resort was dead quite until we came across a nude couple walking our way, they smiled and kept walking. My surprised expression probably left them scratching their head.

The restaurant was closed, only the bar tender and a waitress were there cleaning up.  We asked if the kitchen was still open and was offered two small pizzas and cold beers.  They could have been filet minion. A warm evening breeze, a cold beer; now it felt like vacation.

We retired to our chalet, put our clothes in drawers a fell asleep. The next morning my husband jumped out of bed, got dressed and headed to the reception office to check in and buy some food for breakfast.  I woke up slowly, but on my best bikini and went to pull back the drapes and open the sliding door. About that time a beautiful nude woman, with a yellow towel over her arm walking towards our door. She announced that she was Elizabeth. She met my husband at the office and told him she would let me know that he arrived one hour before the office opened and would be by shortly. It turned out that Liz and Brian were our next-door neighbors, soon to be friends.

First trip to the beach, I bravely shed my top. By afternoon I was completely comfortable nude, walking the beach.  What struck me was the number of repeat visitors. 

We grilled steaks with Liz and Brian, went to dinner on their last night and still keep in touch by e-mail. We also shared a fun day on the Tico cruise. Our group      included older fun couple from London, and couples from New Mexico, Texas and Italy. Even took some digital photos after we a promised never to share the on the net.

We had a wonderful vacation. Enjoyed the Club O staff and the friendly atmosphere that permeates the entire resort. Incredibly easy to meet people of either gender, any background, any size or shape. A friendly greeting is guaranteed to get you a friendly reply.

Kim & Mike

 -----------
 

From a couple who discovered Orient Beach while on a Caribbean cruise

I am writing this for the benefit of those like me who read before they go. We visited St. Martins in November on a Celebrity cruise ship. We had decided before leaving to visit the beach for the day. My wife and I enjoy au natural on the boat in the summer but have never been on a "nude beach". I wanted to go swimming in the Caribbean naked. She just wanted to relax on any beach. We left my sister and brother in law at bikini beach and walked down towards Club O. About 100 yards from the infamous sign, my wife took her top off. I was walking on the waters edge and my shorts were getting wet and sticking to me. So I took them off. There were a lot of people sitting on chairs with umbrellas. No one seemed to notice. I felt a little awkward for a few minutes as we trekked further down the beach. We found a nice spot and grabbed a couple chairs halfway between the beach bar and the restaurant. Regulars would know the proper names. A young man came by and collected the money for the chairs and the umbrella. I hit the water, fearful that something may come up. I snorkeled around for about 30 minutes and when I came back to the chairs, there were lots of people. None with a stitch on. I laid out on the chair next to my wife. I walked to the bar and got a couple drinks. Note to newbie's, have small bills because there is no where to carry your change. As we settled back in my wife decided to lose her thong and enjoy the sun. We swam and sunned for a couple hours. A nice couple from Ohio started chatting and it wasn't until 10 minutes into the conversation that I realized we were all naked. They nick named me cotton-tail because of my obvious tan lines. The weather turned and we had to head back. The locals directed us through Club O to the outdoor showers and they front office even called us a cab. On the way back my wife suggested we should do that again, soon. We don't think the whole "naturist resort" is our thing but we definitely love the idea of a nude beach and pool.
We both also noticed that there were far less people gawking than we receive on a normal beach in normal bathing suits. People were much more friendly and polite. Despite some of the messages on this board, it wasn't a "hot and horney escapade" it was a great experience and a wonderful way to enjoy the beach. There was nothing sexual about it. I was surprised by the ignorance of some of the later arriving cruise ship passengers with there obvious sheepish grins walking the beach looking absolutely out of place. Strangely enough I didn't feel uncomfortable but felt sorry for them. They looked awfully out of place.

We will go back! We will also seek out other places to enjoy the sun and freedom. Go with the understanding that its a personal experience not a voyeuristic/exhibitionist fantasy and you will not be disappointed.

Cruisers.

----

From Michigan fans of St Martin 1/19/2003

We want to share our experience on the Tiko Tiko in hopes that it will spur you to also enjoy one of the little known treasures of St. Martin and acquaint yourself with a small bit of the colorful history of this beautiful island in the French West Indies.

For those of you that are not familiar with Club Orient, the Tiko Tiko is a relatively large catamaran which uses the beach in front of the Paraguay restaurant at Club Orient as its base of operation. This sailing ship, with a passenger capability of about 12, has for a crew its French Captain Phillipe, and his assistant, Veronica (pronounced "Varo - nica") who is as French as the name implies and her strong accent confirms. Billed as a nude cruise, it certainly lives up to its name although Veronica happened to wear as tiny an orange thong as I had ever seen. Why she bothered with it perhaps came from a recognition that it simply added to the charm of her petite tanned body. 

Depending on the day, the sea between Club Orient and Tintemarie, the appointed destination of the cruise, can be a bit bolder than some may desire but a couple of dramamine washed down with fresh squeezed orange juice and a croissant for breakfast as Papagyo’s will level out the stomach of the squeamish.

At 9:a.m. the group of 12 naked passengers assembled on the beach and placed our towels, cameras, shoes and sun tan lotions in the designated baskets to be ferried out to the Tiko Tiko by an equally naked Phillipe, our intrepid Captain. Veronica in her hint of a thong greeted us as we motored out to the Tiko Tiko in the little dingy and it was hard not to steal a couple of extended views of Veronica as she helped transfer the baskets into the boat.

We motored away from the tie out buoy with the slight assistance of the jib and the ever present breeze. As we passed Green Caye, the little spit of an island a ½ mile off the beach, the equally naked wind surfers pushing off from the small island beach, waved to us while amazingly keeping their balance. The man and woman wind surfers ran parallel to the Tiko Tiko for about a hundred yards and then lowered their sales into the wind and virtually flew past us with another wave of their hand and the melodic sounds of what I imagined was a French wish to have a nice naked day.

Before we realized it we were anchoring in 20 feet of crystal clear water 200 feet from the south west shore of Tintemarie. With Veronica reminding us to listen for the lunch bell most of us dove off the Tiko Tiko and swam for the shore. Foam rafts were provided for the less adventuresome and Phillipe used the dingy to ferry the baskets, beach umbrellas and coolers of beer, wine and soft drinks to the shore. The beach was perhaps a half mile wide and 50 yards deep and with the exception of two naked teen age girls and one boy who had ridden their jet skis out to the island and were lounging on the faded maize colored sand seemingly oblivious of their nakedness, the island’s billing as being uninhabited seemed appropriate.

For those with the fantasy of being marooned on a south sea island with a half dozen naked women, this just might be a dream come true. The blue of the sky was only slightly darker than the tint of the sea and with the yellow umbrellas, bronzed naked bodies and the gentle sea breeze quickly drying the sea from your body, it was not hard to get used to this as a way of life.

The lunch bell brought most of us out of lazy sprawls on the sand, it is great not worrying about sand in a bathing suit, and we swam or rafted out to the Tiko Tiko. The transformation was astounding. The rear area of the boat had been transformed into a canopy covered dinning room complete with crisp white linens, shiny china, polished silverware and wine glasses. The pleasantness of this surprise was only topped by the fact that Veronica had changed out of the thong and into a white collar and bow tie. Phillipe had simple added the collar and bow tie since he never started out with anything to change out of in the first place. After a toast of champagne our hosts served us our previously chosen option of Steak or Chicken, with a baked potato, vegetable, rolls and followed with as lucious a piece of cheese cake as you can imagine.

A leisurely swim back to the beach followed by basking in the warm afternoon sun on the wet sand where the sea gently laps up on you and the beach quickly brought the word hedonism to mind. Feeling like we should exert some modicum of effort my wife and I walked to the north end of the beach and climbed the somewhat intimidating precipice that terminated the north end of the beach from where we enjoyed the spectacular view of Pinel Island to the southwest, Anguilla almost due west, St. Barts to the south east and of course St. Martin all to the south of us.

We rejoined the rest of our group just as Phillipe delivered the rumored bucket of special clay he had dug out of his secret location on the island. We all helped each other cover our bodies from head to toe with the brownish green clay which quickly dried as it supposedly imparted healthful minerals into our bodies. Whether or not the purported healthfulness is true is of absolutely no importance, it was the application of the clay that I enjoyed the most. We all know that giving is far more rewarding than receiving but then again receiving was not all bad either. Then it was back into the sea to wash off the clay which was no small task and actually required about the same amount of assistance as the application.

As the sun was getting lower in the western sky the bell rang signaling the need to return to the Tiko and Tiko and the real world, if that is what you consider Club Orient. The ride back to Orient bay went quickly and before we knew it we were thanking Phillipe and Veronica for their hospitality (they both had removed the collars and ties after lunch and the thong had not reappeared.) We exchanged e-mail addresses and said good by to the new friends we made on this wonderful trip in paradise.

Although seemingly a little pricey, the trip is well worth the cost and be sure to leave the clothes behind, this is the place to improve your tan, not add to the tan lines.

Michigan Fans of St. Martin

****

In November of 2002, my husband and I took a cruise that landed in St. Maarten.

We went to Orient Beach as we had planned so I may experience being topless on the beach. My husband was encouraging me to enjoy the feeling and thrill, but I was a little apprehensive. Well much to my surprise it was much easier than I had anticipated.

When we got there we found a little bar for a drink. I started asking questions of the bar owner and his friend about the beach and their answers made me feel more comfortable.

After our drink we started down to the clothing optional part of the beach. In no time we saw lots of happy people topless or nude. This made me feel more comfortable as the bar owner had said, no one was really looking at you.

We walked to Club Orient where I took my top off and sat on a lounge chair. This really felt great and I was surprised how easy it was. Within a few minutes I was up and walking around topless.

My husband and I went next into the ocean to enjoy the water being topless and having a great time. My husband had put on his thong to join me, he was beside himself, and he was thrilled to be with me topless on the beach and in the water. He tried taking a picture of me only, security was on him quick.

After playing in the water we decided to walk the beach me topless and hubby in his thong. After a few minutes we came to a bar and had a drink we sat on high barstools looking over the beach, this felt great. This is where my hubby was able to take my picture topless on the barstools at the bar.

We left the bar and walked the rest of the clothing optional part of the beach to the dividing line where all the on lookers were trying to take pictures and watch the nudists. We were sorry we had come to the end of the clothing optional part and I put my top back on. There is a bar there too, we asked a lady to take our picture, off came the top for our pictures. We also took pictures of each other. We will enjoy the pictures, of ourselves, for years to come.

On the way back to the bar where we started, I put my top back on. We let the owner know he was right, it was great for me to experience having my top off. With the bar owners, help we took many more pictures as my husband went total taking off his thong. I always wanted to be topless behind a bar and the bar owner let us take a picture of me topless behind his bar - just a great thrill.

Sadly, our time came to an end and we had to leave. As we put our cloths, on we made a vow to come back next year and spend a week on St. Marten and of course a great deal more time at Orient Beach.

Now I must say, my husband is 59 and looking good and I am 52. My husband and the bar owner told me how great I looked, in fact the bar owner told me I had boobs like a forty year old. My husband told me, it was obvious the bar owner could be believed by his words and manor. Certainly made my day!

After telling my story, I let you all know, we both are working out regularly and again vowed to keep this up so we even feel and look great next year.

Thank you Orient beach - from a happy Canadian

Bill Brandt
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This is what St. Martin can do to a formerly modest wife:
My wife Karen at home is very shy and modest, conservative to a fault. She had gone topless only once before going to SXM, and there were only a couple of people on that beach. When we decided to go to SXM she told me she would NOT go topless again. And she didn't...
... for about an hour. It took only a couple of drinks on the beach the first day and off came the top in front of everyone at the Cocoa Beach bar. I couldn't believe how quickly it happened. But she was in a frisky mood and those island drinks were helping erase all inhibitions.
We sunbathed for some time, and around 3:00 that afternoon I suggested we take a walk. I assumed she'd put her top on. Nope. Without hesitating she got up and joined me for a walk, her breasts proudly on display. Remember, this is a shy wife who SWORE she'd never take her top off!
We walked down a bit, got to one of those beach bars, and I suggested we go in and have a drink. I thought she'd never go for that -- wrong again! In she went, right up to the bar, topless. (I should mention here that she's very good looking, with a very cute figure. I've posted some of her pics in the picture section). She was getting plenty of admiring looks from the guys. We had a couple of drinks, then off to the next bar... and the next one... and the next one.
To make a long story short, we got rather blotto that afternoon and evening, so smashed in fact that by the time we returned to the Cocoa Beach bar it was dark outside. We walked in, with Karen feeling no pain, and very topless. We had a drink there and it was only after a few minutes that I realized the bar/restaurant was now filled with dinner patrons. Very fully dressed dinner patrons. And my shy, modest wife right in the middle of it all wearing only a short bikini bottom. The wives around the room were giving her very disapproving looks; the guys were all staring in appreciation. When my wife realized just how much on display she was, she got red as a beet, but there was nothing to be done. We finished our drinks and left, both of us laughing hysterically. I don't need to tell you where we went, and what we did next..
The next day, when Karen woke up and remembered what she'd done, she couldn't believe it.
Now when we go to the island, she doesn't think twice. The moment we hit the beach her top comes off, and never goes back on. She even lounges naked at the Esmeralda pools. It's a complete change in attitude. Man, I love that island!
--Ron


Nude on Beach
Alfred Gockel
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When we took our second trip to St. Martin and our first to Club Orient, my huband's suitcase didn't show up. (In addition to his clothes, it also contained food and coffee, which were missing when the case finally showed up four days later. That's not the funny part.) At dinner our first night, we were invited by three other couples to join them for lunch at Pedro's the next day. When we met on the beach for lunch, we were surprised that all of our Club O. friends wore clothes. I grabbed a towel for cover-up, but my husband literally had nothing to wear. He adjusted fairly well to being the only naked person in a crowded restaurant. But when one of our new lady friends asked him to dance with her to the steel drums, he tried to decline. No way would the others let him off the hook. He ended up dancing with all three of the women and finally with me. We were celebrities for the rest of the week. On the day before leaving, we accepted our friends' offer of free lunch and drinks if he'd give them an encore. I never expected him to accept, but he figured he had nothing to lose. And he saved the last dance for me.  

Maryanne

Nude with a Cat
Sanyu
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My wife and I just returned from five incredible days at Orient Beach. It was the best beach vacation ever. We will likely never go anywhere else for this type of vacation. Part of the credit goes to the information posted on the orientbeach.com and the TTOL bulletin boards. As a result of many months of reading these boards in anticipation of our trip, we learned just about everything we needed to know to get the most out of our trip. Thanks to all who participate here!!! Karl took good care of us at L’Hoste. Had great dinners in Marigot and Grand Case. We were glad we got a rental car--perfect service from Alain at AAA Car rental. Can’t say enough about the Tiko Tiko cruise: This was the best day. We met five other couples, two of which were Tiko Tiko veterans. (Tiko Tiko Cruise in the blue turquoise water, rum punch upon boarding, beach umbrellas, snorkeling gear and floaties provided, an awesome grilled steak for lunch served with champagne—EIGHTY-FIVE DOLLARS. Exfoliating nude with your new-found, possibly life-long friends after applying a freshly mined, pulverized and hydrated slurry of rare and highly sought-after Tintamarre Island clay-mud—PRICELESS!)

Other priceless moments from our trip: Galloping horses in the surf with Christine at Bayside Riding Stables and not falling off!!! (…though I am still sore.) Going to the Sunset Beach Bar and not having to pay for the girls’ drinks. Having your wife whisper how glad she is you brought her to OB right under the sign in Kon Tiki that says, “Next time bring your wife.” Meeting new friends that save you beach chairs at CO, force you to drink their outstanding concoction of frozen rum punch and then serve you home cooked lunch on their chalet deck only 30 yards away. Having some guy offer you a chilidog on the beach, because every year he makes everybody on the beach a chilidog. How cool is that? And it was a damn good chilidog too!

What a wonderful place filled with uncommonly kind people! What we will do next time: 1) Stay for 7 days. 2) Make sure we find out which nights are best for which dance clubs—this was hit and miss. 3) Do the Tiko Tiko again. 4) Snorkel to Green Key. 5) Wake up one morning for a sunrise c/o beach walk—best we could do this year was 7:30. 6) Did I mention…stay for 7 days. Now, we too are among those of you who continuously count the days until you return to OB!

Rum Punch lover April 2002

Female Nude
Philip Porcella
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Last spring my wife and I went on a Royal Carribean cruise that stopped in St. Martin.  We had never been to a "clothing optional" beach before so we decided to go just to see what it was like.  We both were fairly sure we'd keep our suits on.  
    We had been to a topless beach a few years before and she said it wasn't nearly as shocking as she thought it would be.  We were with some friends so the tops stayed on.  Later she admitted that she would have been tempted if we had been only with strangers.
   The day before we got to St. Martin, we were in St. Thomas.  She surprised me by buying a string bikini there.  Another first.  She said that if she "chickened out" at Club O, at least she'd get some sun.  I had a "Speedo" for the same reason.  We shopped in Phillipsburg in the morning since the cruise line had a shore trip went to Orient Beach in the morning.  We didn't want to bump into any other cruisers.  I rented a car and drove to Club O after lunch.   Our first sight of the beach was a real shock!  Almost everyone was completely nude.  We found a spot with some chairs and an umbrella and set up.  She took off her shorts and tee shirt that she had over her suit.  I sat with my back to her to take off my shoes.  When I turned around her top was already off!  She looked great!  She said she took it off right away so she wouldn't change her mind.  I took off my suit and stretched out in the sun.  It felt great!  A little later, I asked if she would like to go skinny dipping.  She smiled and said, "Yes."  We strolled into the water nude and really enjoyed it.  The water was so clear and I really enjoyed the view.  We both stayed nude for the rest of the afternoon.  I even took a walk along the beach, from the sign near Pedro's to the other end of Club O.  People were really friendly and several said, "Hello."  I was surprised at how comfortable I felt being nude after only a very short time.  It was interesting to see everyone nude.  There were all shapes and sizes, and all ages.  There were older couples, middle aged couples, and some families with kids, but mostly adults.  And, yes, we did check out those around us, but not in a "gawking" manner.  It was interesting to see how the other men and women were endowed.  It was also interesting to see how the women were shaved in different styles and some completely.  We also saw one man who was completely smooth.
   When it was time to leave, we both hated to go.  She actually convinced me to stay a little later than we had planned.
    We had hoped to return this spring, but that didn't work out.  But, we're going to try to visit next year, hopefully at Club O for a few days.  I'd like to stay for at least 4 or 5 days.  I'm hooked.

DM  4/22/2002

Seated Nude Woman, Study
Gustav Klimt
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Went to St. martin for the first time in February. We didnt stay on Orient Beach, but after going there we wished we did.My wife was a little shy about going nude but I thought it was great.It was my first time on a nude beach and I can't wait till next year to go back.We spent the whole week on Club Orients beach it was great never having to put a bathing suit on all week.The best part of the day was taking a walk down the clothed part  of the beach.In the afternoon when it got really crouded I would take a walk the whole length of the beach.I never thought I would have the nerve to do that but it was easy after the first time.Alot of people would try to take your picture without you seeing them, I thought it was funny.It was a trip being one of the only nude people on that whole part of the beach.The expression on the face of alot of the cruise ship people was priceless.Looking forward to next year.     

Ron.   October 19th 2001

Reclining Nude
Steve Hanks
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CK


We went on a family trip to St. Martin during a Disney cruise in November of
2000 (the 11th thru the 18th.) When we got to Orient Beach, my wife was
skeptical of "my" decision to bring our kids to the beach for the day
excursion.  After a while, my son turned to me and asked why aren't people
wearing clothes, I told him that they didn't have to if they didn't want to.
When we got back to the ship later that day, my wife finally took off her
bathing suit top to remove all the the sand, and my son said..."I know why
people do't wear swimsuits at Orient Beach, it is so they won't get sand in
their suits!" in the end, we will return to "Orient" in the future with and
without our kids. It was a great place to swim and to build sandcastles. Fun
for the whole family and I can also see how it would be fun for just the
Mommies and Daddies also.

St Barths
From Ed
24th Feb 2000

I have stayed on both islands... here's what I think. Both have great restaurants. Both have CO beaches (our primary reason to vacation in the Caribbean). All beaches are topless, after all, you are in the French West Indies! St. Barths has about 22 beaches total. Saline and Gouvenour are the two we visited, both CO. The former has more tame water, and a restaurant is a very long walk, or short drive away. The later is very rugged and has no services, but the Sante Fe Cafe is at the top of the hill (great sunsets!). Because the later is more off the beaten path, it is less crowded. You're not likely to encounter boat people taking pictures on either. St. Barths is a very "friendly" island. Because of the cost of everything, there's no obvious poverty. I swear, that someone must sweep the trash from the roads at night, the whole island is clean. I would describe it as more French than St. Martin, but language is not a problem. US currency and credit cards are also accepted. You will need a car as restaurants and hotels are scattered about the island. If you fly to St. Barths, be warned, the landing is an adventure, so don't panic when you see tarmac though the cockpit windshield. Sorry, I can't recall the name of the hotel we stayed at Grand Cul De Sac, but it was VERY expensive for what we received ($350 night). When my wife complained of ants in the room, they told her she can spray them with the bug spray to be found in the bathroom. It was otherwise clean, on the beach, and had a nice view, but nothing more than a room and bath. The ants were no big deal. We just stayed in St. Martin at a VERY impressive private villa with pool for $400 per night, and hotels are half that rate. Both trips were during peak season. On St. Barths, get a JoJo burger if your looking for a bit of US food - cheap (relative to everything else) and good. I think JoJo is in Lorient. Check out the site http://www.cieux.com/toc.html for more information on the French West Indies. I think Mr. Cieux does a great job of representing reality - lots to read and a few pictures. Check, double, and triple check all your reservations on St. Barths. We ran into hotels with no knowledge of our arrival (though we had a confirmation number), and rental car companies with the same problem. Write if you would like more.

Email: sunman@uswest.net

St Maarten Trip
With
Pegi, Reg, Sandy and John
Feb 19 to March 4, 2000

Saturday February 19
Flew down to SXM on Air Transat from Toronto. Flight went well, landed at
SXM and a representative of Paradise Car Rental met us at the Air Port.
They have a booth to the left of the main door out of the Arrival area. The
Paradise Car Rental representative greeted us by name and within a few
minutes we were provided a shuttle over to their offices. On our arrival
there our information was taken very quickly and at times we had two people
looking after getting us into a car and on our way.
That evening we went to Ric's Place for dinner. Reg and I had the Chile Con
Carne; Sandy had the Fish Sandwich and Pegi a Hot Dog with Sauerkraut (she
said the Sauerkraut was excellent). All of the food was very good and
reasonably priced.
Other than that we spent a quiet day enjoying a few drinks and unwinding
from the trip, watching the ocean from the patio at Guana Bay.

Sunday February 20
Shopped in Philipsburg in the morning. Went to Cupocoy Beach in the
afternoon.
The west end of the beach still has sand with lots of room, as there were
not too many there this afternoon. The majority that day was wearing a
Bathing Suit or Topless. The long narrow stretch to the east was mostly
washed out with a very small piece of beach on the very east end. The
terraced area towards the center of the beach also had some sand in front of
it although not as much as before.
About 3:30 pm went over to Maho Beach. We just missed seeing Air France
land, but did see the Corsair 747 land. There were a lot of people on the
road at the end of the runway and at the Sunset Beach Bar. Come early if you
want to get near the Sunset Beach Bar it was packed. We got two beers and 2
Pina Colada's for $16. The west half of the beach is almost non-existent
just a lot of very large rocks. The east end does have sand but not as much
as in the past.
For dinner we got pizza from Domino's that was very good.

Monday February 21
Around noon we drove to Friar's Beach, which is a very nice beach with
three beach bars on it. Today only two were open. We did some snorkeling
there, which was nice. There was lots of room on the beach and each of the
three beach bars had lounge chairs in front of them we were on the north end
of the beach virtually alone. There were a number of boats at anchor in this
bay.
We had lunch at the Friar's Bay Beach Club, had bacon, tomatoes, onion &
cheese on a Baguette (much like a Sub bun). This in addition to 5 mixed
drinks ($6 each) came to $74.00 US. This was not good value and we were
caught unaware of the conversion rate. I would recommend being careful when
you purchase something on the French side as they often only list the price
in Francs.
Tuesday February 22
It rained all day off and on. We shopped in Philipsburg today. The
Timeshare folks were still pestering us.
We had lunch at the Kangaroo Court, Pastrami on Rye was very good, Chicken
Caesar was also very good with lots on the plate and the Fruit Plate was
good value. This is not the place for fast food folk as the service is slow,
but I think it is intended that way. Be aware that an 18% tip is already on
the bill.
Met the new co-owner of Everyting Cool, Andy from Kingston Ontario. This
place looks like fun but is not open evenings. The original owner was from
Toronto; the manager is John who is from the USA.
Went to Butterfly Farm quite interesting however the rain made it
impossible to spend much time there. So we went to Orient Beach for a
look-see. The rain kept most people off the beach; just a few people off the
cruise ships were standing there looking around. The sign at the beginning
of the Club O end is gone, a victim of Lenny probably.
For dinner we went back to Ric's Place because the food was so good and the
prices were fair. We had Hamburgers, which were excellent with great hot
sauce. The girls had Tuna Salad, which was very good, and there was a lot.
Again the meals were good value.

Wednesday February 23
During the morning the rain was pouring down. The local radio station Lazer
101 had storm information including road closures and washouts and school
closings due to high water running down from the mountain.
Went to Philipsburg in the afternoon, bought groceries and beer at a little
shop on Back street. Some prices were higher and some lower than Rams Food
World were we have shopped the most.
Back to Ric's Place for dinner. Sandy had the Chicken Salad, which was
good, Pegi had the Fish Sandwich, which she agreed was also good, and Reg
and I had a Wet Burrito, which was excellent. Ric's has quickly become the
benchmark by which all restaurants are measured.

Thursday February 24
We went to Plum / Prune Bay Beach which is a beautiful beach, however there
are no facilities which can be a problem so bring any food and drinks that
you want. There is nice parking but only for a few cars and a good path
through to the beach. The beach is huge and looks just like a post card.
A high hoe was working on what may soon be a resort at about the center of
the beach; this might in the future add facilities.
We went to Chez Raymond's on Rouge Beach for lunch. We had Cheeseburgers in
paradise for lunch they were good and reasonable in price, but not as good
as Ric's burgers. They did have prices in both Francs and US dollars.
For dinner the guys tried to impress the ladies with our cooking skills by
making dinner at the unit. Must have been ok as nobody got hurt and nothing
was broken.

Friday February 25
At 8:30 am we were at Indiana's beach to take a dinghy to the Heineken
Catamaran with Bluebeard charter. We went snorkeling at Prickly Pear Island.
This is an excellent way to spend the day with a great crew, lots of cold
Heineken, Rum Punch & Pina Colada's. They served snacks on the way out and
back which were made up of Bread, Cheese and Crackers.
Lunch was served on the island and was BBQ Chicken Breast or Chicken Leg and
Ribs Or Vegetarian Plate. This was served with Salad, Home Fries & Rice.
There was a dynamite Hot Sauce on the table which was made in Anguilla. The
food was not hot and I am not sure if it was intended to be that way or not.
But it tasted really good; even the Home Fries were good only warm.
Snorkeling was quite nice in the morning but clouded up by the afternoon.
There was a nice reef with lots of fish & coral. I took many pictures of the
colorful fish and the different types of coral.
With the heavy surf that was coming in you had to be careful while traveling
over the coral as the rise and fall of the water as you hit crest or trough
of the wave could put you right into the rock or coral which would not be
good for you. There is a lot of power in them thar waves.
Would definitely do this trip again.
Spent the afternoon lazing on the beach, followed by even more lazing on the
boat on the way back. The trip back was a little less rough than the trip
over in the morning. Or maybe it was the fact that there was more sun and
this was a little less rude a time of day.
As I write these notes the next morning I could swear the table is moving
with the pounding of the surf I hear through the open door of the patio.
This evening we made calls home using Phone Cards from Antelecom. We learned
that you must use their phones on the side of their building and that not
all phones are created equal. Kind of like us guys on the beach. Some seem
to reach out real well and others just give you static.
The phone connection seemed to keep cutting out but we quickly learned that
these must be satellite phones or at least a radio type hook up and only one
person can talk at the same time. There is a slight delay in the switch.
Once you get use to this it is ok.
There are phones down on the docks but we could not get them to work with
any of our cards. They seem to be based with USA companies and maybe their
calling cards will work but not our Canadian ones. We had used our credit
cards in 98 and learned that is a much more expensive way to do it. A $20
Antelecom card got us through all the necessary calls we needed to make.
There was a big Street Party set up on Front St and we were told they do it
every week. There were bars set up along the street with food available and
live bands. We saw one rock style band and a steel band.
We made our way down to the Greenhouse bar and there was a large crowd there
in preparation for the finals of the Hawaiian Tropic Bikini Contest later
that evening. Oddly enough they had a bingo game going as we passed. We did
not stay for the evening.

Saturday February 26
We woke up this morning feeling sorry for the folks who came down on the
Air Transat flight with us who would be flying home today.
Today was a beautiful day, probably the best so far with hardly a cloud in
the sky.
Naturally, started the day shopping in Philipsburg. We actually wanted to
drop a ballot off to win another trip back. We found the ballot in one of
the magazines they give to us tourists.
The ballot said to drop it off at either Guavaberry Shop or Everyting Cool
on Front St. We went first to the Guavaberry Shop and they did not know
anything about it there. So bought Sandy a Guavaberry Pina Colada to fortify
her vitamin C and walked down to Everyting Cool and it was still closed at
11:30 am. We later learned that they do not open on Saturday.
There was no ship in today so down town was fairly quiet.
Went to Cupocoy and parked by the wall. Beach had more people on it than
last time but still enough room to find your own place in the sun. A large
piece of narrow beach to the east had no one on it except at the far end
"Where the boys are" that had about a dozen folks on it.
Just past this area there is a nice little cave eroded out of the stonewall
by the surf. At this point the beach now ends, the rest having been washed
out by the storms. The good part of the beach is now not as wide as before
Lenny. But not as bad as different posts on the Internet said.
There is actually one little private chunk of beach down at the east end
but access would be a little challenging and the beach area is only large
enough for two or three couples.
The guys being bolstered by our previous culinary success cooked dinner
again. We see a future of employment on the island in the restaurant
business and have already developed a staff dress code for our wives.

Sunday February 27
Began day in Philipsburg. Went to Fed Ex / Mail Boxes location on Front St,
west of Court House on north side. The office is upstairs and they charge $5
per half hour for computer time and $.20 per minute for phone time to Canada
& USA. They use Internet Explorer ver. 4.0 with only 40-bit encryption. We
had been to Cyber Nation Café at Simpson's Bay just east of the bridge and
the airport on the ocean side. They charge $.20 per minute for computer and
use the same browser. Cyber Nation has the ability to send e-Mail which Fed
Ex / Mail Boxes could not.
They had a general power failure in Philipsburg at about 10:15 am and
everything basically shut down.
We went back to the car and off to Orient Beach. The general opinion among
the ladies was that Orient Beach was not the best beach on the island. If
you like lots of people and an amusement park type setting Orient will be
right up your alley. There were lots of people today. To the Club Orient
side there appeared to be more chairs and umbrellas than on our previous
visit a year ago. But I don't know if that represented more people or just
the pushing out of the independent chair guys by Club O. We broke tradition
this trip by not walking down toward Club O or being able to take our
pictures at "The Sign".
The sign appears to have been destroyed during hurricane season and not
replaced. I think it should be because having your picture taken there is
quite an event for a lot of people.
One tradition that we did not break was to get Donna to put beads in the
girl's hair. We talked to her about her family and remembered that her
youngest of three kids had a birthday on the day we met her which was March
11. This year she will be 3 years old.
To the north of the where the sign was there are a lot more chairs, bars
and shops. Today there was a lot of water activity with Jet Ski's,
Parasailing, and Windsurfing & Ski Diving. You will never be bored on Orient
as there is always something happening.
About 1 pm it turned cool and the wind picked up considerably, as the girls
were not really enjoying themselves we decided to see Anse Marcel. This
proved to be an interesting trip over a mountain road. The bay is very quiet
but still cool with the wind blowing in from the north.
We decided to venture back to Philipsburg and try to see if Everyting Cool
was open. It was but just barely. We got there at 3:30 pm and were told that
the kitchen closes at 4 pm; they had last call for the bar at 4:15 pm.
We had BBQ Pork sandwiches, which were good. Pegi had a Maui Maui sandwich,
which she did not like at all. However a passing dog seemed to really enjoy
the unexpected treat.
Everyting Cool is a good place for someone off the ships who is looking for
a little beach, drink and party. This really seems to be the trade they are
after. However the food would have to improve a lot to beat Ric's Place and
their hours really are set for the cruise ships.
Much later in the evening we stopped by the Greenhouse for drinks and a
snack. We had the Black Bean Soup, which was very good.

Monday February 28
We drove to the east side of Cupocoy Beach to a sort of private Beach area.
Private because of its small size and the difficulty to get down to it. It
is the area of the old east end of Cupocoy, which is now separated by stone
from the west end. This is a nice sandy section of beach big enough for a
couple of couples. There was one couple there already so we did not impose.
But noted that we would have to get an earlier start if we wanted to get
this little beach for ourselves.
We went over to Long beach. This was probably once a very nice beach. But
the recent storms had made it all but impossible to get into the water
without climbing over rock just below the surf line. There were also no
facilities on this beach that we could see. The beach itself is very long
and has a nice arc to it and is fairly wide with sand.
We returned to the west end of Cupocoy and spent about 3 hours there until
the surf got pretty rough.
We then went to Maho Beach to spend some time at the Sunset Beach Bar. We
went there to take some pictures of the planes coming in to land at the
airport. Air France which fly's a 747 into St Maarten was supposed to land
at 3:00 pm but came in at about 3:30 pm. We got some good video and pictures
of the approach.
We had a burger while we were there.  The burgers were good and about the
same price as Ric's Place which has become the benchmark for food. Reg was
not sure it was as good as Ric's. I thought they were just fine but then I
am pretty easy to please when it comes to most food.
The burgers are cooked on a BBQ that is made out of a stainless steel beer
keg and cooked over charcoal.
The Sunset Beach Bar has a sign behind the bar which says " Topless women
drink free" while they had pictures to prove that was so, we did not see any
women drinking for free or at a reduced rate either. Even though we
encouraged our wives to help reduce costs these normally price conscious
women opted to pay full price.
We went back to the west side of Cupocoy to take some pictures of the girls
with the surf in the background. We figured that later in the afternoon
there would be fewer people using the beach to worry about and with the sun
in the west the lighting would be better.
Cupocoy may be the best beach anywhere for the photographer types. With the
surf rolling in and at times rolling into nice breakers, the colorful
sandstone cliffs, the mini caves and even the clothing optional designation
make it possible to take pictures you may not get anywhere else in the
world. With the beach looking mostly south, but slightly to the west, in the
morning and at sunset you will get interesting shadows on the rock wall.
Throughout the rest of the day you will have lots of light to work with,
even natural reflected light off the rock wall.
A Special Note: Bring your own Model / Subject, people on clothing optional
beaches don't always want their picture taken. At the very least ask first.
I always try to direct the camera away from other people and through body
language or the direction I am facing to the subject let the rest of the
beach users know they will not be in the picture.

Tuesday February 29
Got a reasonably early start this morning and drove to the Butterfly Farm
for 9:00 am. This is their opening time and a good time to take a tour and
see the new butterflies. We ended up getting an almost private tour through
the farm. There were the four in our group plus a gentleman from the states
and his driver.
I did not think a tour through a Butterfly Farm would hold my attention for
more than a few minutes or that there would be much for the guide to tell
you other than the names of the different types of Butterflies. Wrong on
both counts. There is a lot of interesting stuff to know about those little
critters and the young lady who led the tour and another fellow who answered
some questions earlier before the tour really know their stuff. We were
there for just over an hour. I had read via the Internet to go there in the
mornings, as the butterflies don't move as much later in the day when it
gets hot. The guide said they get their energy from the sun and seldom sit
still so there you go.
The farm itself is a tube metal frame with netting over it. The whole farm
might be 100 feet by 200 feet. Inside the netting are all the plants that
the butterflies need to live and it is set up in a garden sort of thing with
a footpath through. There is also a little bridge over a pond with fish in
it. All of the butterflies are free to roam around inside this area.
I would recommend that you take the tour because if you don't you can be
sure you will miss some of the stuff going on in that insect jungle.
Next we went to Pic Paradis, which is the highest point on the island. The
road up the mountain (1400 ft) is pretty much straight up. It is only about
a car and a half wide and not in great shape until you get to where you turn
off the paved road then it gets worse. From this point on either you walk or
take a four-wheel drive. Frankly I think I have more respect for a vehicle
than to take it up that road, four wheel drive or not. The road from here on
had long ago washed away. On foot it is not a bad climb or a long one taking
about 15 minutes. However you want to be in reasonable shape as you are
going uphill the whole time and wear decent footwear.
The view from the top is breathtaking or was it the walk. No it was the
view, after a few minutes. The top is not an organized viewing station like
I thought it would be but a series of paths that take you to different point
were a good view is available. It is well worth a look at least once, but
you should note that there is nothing in the way of facilities at the top.
We then went to Happy Bay. We parked at Friar's Beach and walked the trail
over the hill into Happy Beach. We picked up the trail behind the snack bar
at the north end of Friar's Beach. You begin by climbing a good-sized hill
and decent footwear would be a good idea. During the walk you need to watch
for two strands of barbed wire. We took the trail to the left that brought
us out beside a new development. Now we figure they must have a road into
this soon to be a resort but don't know where it is.
This will be a really nice resort when it is complete. And it will no doubt
increase the amount of traffic on Happy Beach.
Happy Beach is like being on a deserted island. When we arrived at the
beach that is approx. 1,000 ft long there was a couple on the south end and
a fellow and two ladies on the north end all where Au Natural. We parked
ourselves in the middle, which still gave us all lots of privacy. Due to the
way the sand is deposited on the beach when a person laid down they were
often not visible to the other beach users. About two hours later for a half
hour or so we were alone, the whole beach to ourselves. If you ever thought
of an Oceanside romance this may be just the place, until the resort opens
anyway.
While Happy Beach has many pluses, there are two problems. You need to
carry everything you need in with you. Please also carry out all the
garbage, sadly not everyone does. A beach bar may be opening soon as there
was a building down by the beach that looks like it would serve that
purpose. And there are lots of ankle biting rocks in the surf. This is a
tricky beach to get into the water at. The rock line and angle of the sand
creates a lot of being pushed around in the water and some sore ankles, but
there is no noticeable undertow. On the south end there is an area of rock,
which lends itself to some really nice pictures and also natural surf fed
whirlpools in the rock for good photo opportunities.
On the way home we stopped at Indiana's Beach Bar for a drink and to look
at all of the boats parked in the bay with the sun behind. This location has
good sunset picture potential.

Wednesday March 1
Went to town to get film. Then drove over to Cupocoy Beach. In the two days
since our last visit the sand below the surf line has been washed away
exposing a line of rock that would have made getting into the water to swim
pretty difficult.
So we went to Dawn Beach via the road to Scavengers Beach Bar. The road
itself is quite an adventure; it has a couple of hills that you would not
think a car would climb over. When we got to the beach it was very nice on
the north end. The waves were not so high as on the south end. The waves of
either end were easily swimable with no noticeable rock line.
We went snorkeling and saw a number of fish. There were a lot of different
fish to see but the water was murkier with sand than Prickly Pear so taking
pictures was more difficult. There was strong surf coming from the northeast
and Dawn Beach was fairly protected.
The beach itself is fairly flat to the water and there was lots of room.
Had a burger from Mr. Busby's Beach Bar that was very good and reasonably
priced.
Went back to Ric's Place for dinner. The guys had to get one more of those
Wet Burritos. Sandy had a Chicken Salad and Pegi had a Greek Salad, both
reported it was good. The guys just reported. We also had Nachos Grande,
which was supposed to be enough for two, but we split it as an appetizer for
four. It was very good as well. So far Ric's can't be beat.

Thursday March 2
We went to Philipsburg for the last souvenirs, and then we went to Cupocoy
Beach and got the private beach for about 2 hrs. We took some pictures of
the Corsair 747 coming in from our perch of Cupocoy Beach. We were on the
east end and there were a ton of shells on this end.
We then moved to the west end for another couple of hours and to catch the
747 from Air France. Today you could only swim on the east end and from in
front of the terraced rocks.
Went to the Harbourview Restaurant for dinner and had Stewed Beef which was
very good, the Vegetarian Plate which was excellent and Grilled Chicken was
also good.
This is a family operation that has been around for about 9 years. A couple
of sailing crews were also there.
We ended the evening by going to the Greenhouse to see the Heineken Regatta
Party, which was very crowded. We did not stay there long.

Friday March 3
Began packing this morning for tomorrow. Went to Philipsburg to check for
any last, last minute items. One final walk up and down Front St. For lunch
we went to Everyting Cool. They were busy with the cruise crowd, but were
greeted right away and seated. When a table near the beach became available
we asked to be moved there and were.
There was a beach volley ball game happening that kept the girls
entertained because the teams were all guys and mostly young guys. Almost
the entire beach was being used for the whole time we were there.
Lunch was good and the drinks were cold but the Everyting Cool folks have
identified their market as the people off the ships. And they do well with
them. About 3:30 pm when people had to start catching their rides to the
ships the place emptied quickly.
Had dinner at Mary's Boon, they served Lobster Bisque which was very good.
They serve dinner family style and costs approx. $35.00 with everything
included except drinks from the honor bar.
They have a nice location that is very well laid out with a beach and a pool
with swim up bar.
Plan to make an evening of it because they take all evening to serve dinner
and this is the way it is planned to be. This evening is not for folks who
like to eat and run. Make your reservations early in the week because they
can only take a few people and fill up fast.

Saturday March 4
Arrived at the airport 3 hrs prior to flight, there was already quite a
line up. It took about an hour to check in.
Reg took the car back and everything was handled well and very quickly. He
was back to the airport in approx a half hour including travel time.
Paradise is definitely the company to rent from.
We took a walk to Maho Beach for one last look. The walk was further than
we thought but it gave us one last chance to be pleasantly surprised by the
people of St Maarten. We had just started our trek back to the airport when
a lady in an Explorer type vehicle stopped just ahead of us. With our
carry-ons over our shoulders it must have been pretty obvious where we were
heading. She says she is delivering a pizza for Pizza Pasta in Maho and
would we like a ride because it was too hot to walk that far. She was right
about the heat and we were very happy to accept her offer.

Hope to get back soon.

In March of 1998 Pegi, Reg, Sandy and I visited St Maarten for the first
time. We stayed in Guana Bay and traveled most of the Island. Being in first
time we stayed on a Caribean Island it was quite a trip. We really enjoyed
the stay.
The weather was wonderful, with only a few hours of rain the whole week. The
wind was blowing in off the south east the week we were there and some of
the beaches were a little rough.
On the Sunday we went over to Cupacoy Beach. Before our arrival at Guana Bay
the day before we had not seen a woman going topless on a public beach. When
we arrived a Cupacoy of Sunday the girls decided that they were not quite
ready for a nude beach so we moved on. By weeks end we had visited the
beaches at Rouge, Grand Case, Maho, Simpsons Bay, and Dawn.
We went to Orient Beach on Tuesday and Wednesday. Because of the fact that
we had be on the island for a few days we were all getting use to the
topless ladies and on Orient the idea of nude people walking around. On
Thursday we started out at Dawn beach snorkeling and it was nice but when we
go back I think I will take a snorkling trip. We moved to a different beach
and maybe it was the Irish Cream (Bless that stuff) or the week of getting
use to the sights but the ladies did not object to going to Cupocoy.
We probably sounded like school kids fooling around in the water and
laughing and such but it was alot of fun.
We stopped there in January of 1999 for one day while on a cruise and we are
planning to go back in Feb of 2000.
St Maarten is a beautiful island, with great resturants and very friendly
people. In January of 1999 we saw a young lady walking down the beach who we
thought we knew. Sure enough it was Donna, an island lady who puts beads in
your hair on Orient Beach. She stopped and we talked for a while and off she
went.
There is a resturant in Grand Case, I think, called Portovino, at least I
hope it is still there because we had the best meal on the island there on
the Wednesday night.
If you get the chance to visit St Maarten, take it.

John Fraser

Rich and Mary just arrived back home on July 4th 1999 after spending 10 days staying at Club Orient Hotel, Orient Beach
You can go directly to their report at http://www.richied.com/sxmreport2.html

Hello!

Having just got home from 8 days on your lovely island, I wanted you to know
I enjoyed Orient Beach very much.  It was my first time nude sun bathing, and
I absolutely loved it!  I found everyone very friendly and felt very
comfortable.
I will DEFINATELY be back, I got rid of all my tan lines!!!

Cindy

My wife I and just got back from a week at the Maho Beach Hotel. It was our first
time on St. Maarten. We're coming back for sure. We spent an afternoon
on Orient Beach and loved it. Yes, we went nude and it's just no
problem at all. Orient Beach is much more to our liking than anyplace
else on the island. It's not the nudity, per se, although that is kind
of titillating (no pun intended!) but the relative seclusion from the
traffic congestion, noise etc. one encounters at Maho and elsewhere. we
just want to sit and read, snorkel, party and whatever. we're outdoors
people...backpackers, mountain climbers that sort of folk. we want to
come back in February of 2000 (wow, two thousand, think of it!) anyway,
the purpose of this e-mail is to get some hard numbers, $$$$$, for a
rental for a week to ten days. I shall keep in touch over the next
several months. I prefer orient beach to the other end of the beach but
will consider anything on the beach. just the same, orient beach is
priority. keep me posted..I'll be bugging you! by the way, went to the
butterfly farm and I can tell you that you are being deeply remiss in
not singing its praises. It's a bigtime plus.

I have a great story from when I was at Orient Beach back in August of 1996
with a girlfriend of mine.  We were there for four days and stayed at the
St. Tropez Hotel.  We are from Pennsylvania and this was our first time
ever on a nude beach.  Not that I am not well-built but my girlfriend could
have been a model, so we had no inhibition about going out in the buff.
Anyway, the third day we were there we decided to go snorkeling out at the
island in the middle of the bay.  I have no idea what its name is.  This
guy took us out there and we told him to come back in two hours which would
have been about three o'clock.  So, we're out there totally nude swimming
and doing other things for those two hours.  Well, the guy forgot to come
pick us up and it was now well past three o'clock.  We were the only ones
out there and we started to worry that we wouldn't make it back into shore.
There were a few boats going by fairly close to the island.  And, being
that the boaters were mostly men, my nudegirlfriend had a much better
chance of flagging them down than I did.  Quickly, she got three guy's
attention in a pontoon boat.  They pick her up fairly far out into the surf
and take her to the beach. . .there was no room for me.  Figuring that they
were three French guys who were used to seeing nude women I didn't think
much of it.  But, when she came back out with the idiot that forgot about
us I found out otherwise.  Here the three guys that picked her up, keep in
mind she was totally nude, were two 17 year olds and a 15 year old from
Atlanta, Georgia who were on vacation with their parents on a totally
different part of the island no where near the nude beach.  She told me
that they were embarrassed to even look at her but did anyway.  They could
really barely even speak she said.  I about died laughing.  From what they
did say the two older ones were going to be seniors in high school.  I can
just imagine what they wrote when they got back to school about what they
did on their summer vacation. . .This is a true story.  We both had a great
time there in 1996.  I intend to go back as soon as possible. . .hopefully
with another attractive, young lady.

TRIP REPORT - OCTOBER 1998
(Previously posted on TravelTalk)

For some boring photos see http://www.richied.com/orientalbum.html

Hello Travel Talk friends,

After hearing all your info, this site definately helped my short 5 day vacation become the best ever.
Now I finally get to give a little back.
A few months ago, I was searching for St. Somewhere. (Around June, I think) After visiting many Carribean islands I think I found it in St. Martin. Although the the island is poor, like most carribbean islands, it has many beautiful sites as you tour the island. Arriving in St. Martin, I was welcomed by Alain from Triple A (I HIGHLY RECOMMEND) who had a jeep ready for us literally at the doorsteps of the airport. He was nice enough to escort us to the nearest shopping center to pick up some stuff before heading to Le Hoste. The man is the GEM of the Carribean!! I promised to create a web page for him. After leaving Alain we ran into some construction which backroaded us and we got a little lost. It was only until I saw signs for Pinel and Capt. Oliver's that I knew we were headed in the right direction. Le Hoste was Le Great. Location, room and view is unbelieveable, and it's smack in the middle of Orient. Don't eat there though. The staff did there best to accomodate us but we found the breakfast was poor. Sarah is very sweet and went out of her way to help us with our room that didn't lock up. Although we stayed at Le Hoste, we spended most of our time at Club Orient. Something we didn't think would happen. After getting a so-so daquari at Bikini Beach Bar. We strolled in the direction of Club Orient. Mary, my wife, wanted to browse the beach boutiques, and found no dressing rooms. She didn't mind that much cause being topless there was pretty natural, so she did it the French way.
Club Orient was an experience we will hold dear to us forever. I NEVER thought we would do some of the things we did there. If I did, we would have stayed there instead of Le Hoste. We took a quick skinny dip and headed back to Le Hoste. We ate that night in Grand Case at Bistrot Caraibes. Nice place, food so-so. The town at night is, in my opinion, dark and uninviting. We never returned for another meal there dispite the frequent mention of good restaurants. We strolled Orient and watched the stars with a bottle of wine. We never passed another couple any night we did that.
The next day, we ate a continental breakfast at Le' Hoste and took a power walk to Mt Vernon, Club Orient and back. We stocked up at Club Orient store, and off we went to Green Key via small cat from Papagayo. Mary enjoyed the naked guy boating us over. The island was ours for most off the day. Snorkeling, exploring and sunning was au natural was unsurpassed. We were slowly getting used to this. Lunch at Papagayos is excellent, as breakfast is also. Better daquaris too. That evening was our first venture to Phillipsburg via Margot. What a horror! It took us an hour and most stores were closed by 7pm. The casinos are not what I'm used to, and the town didn't look as inviting as it was the next day. We decided to take our chances going back via Orleans and found our way around the construction. We came across Capt. Olivers and ate dinner there. Food was pretty good and the atmosphere is really nice. I recommend this place.
Our trip to Phillipsburg the next day was great. The town was much better looking and the shopping was dominated by many t-shirt places and jewelry stores. Not to many clothes shops. Lunch at Ric's Place on the water is worth the stop. We returned to Le' Hoste in 15 mintues via Orleans and back to Cupecoy (No Beach) and Bay Longue (Very Rocky but very secluded). Bay Longue was pretty empty, so we made the best of it and watched the sunset.
By that night, we were dining at Papagayos! I swear, I never thought I would be doing this. We were also daring enough to have one dance which was enough for me. We went out on the beach and danced by ourselves in the sand under the stars.
The next day, we did our power walk. This time.....the entire beach (you know how!!!) It was great and very comfortable.
At 6 to about 9am, a few people are doing exactly the same. After that, it becomes a little arkward. Gawkers and such.
Breakfast at Le' Hoste, the following morning, was very disappointing. Mary asked for French toast and that's what she got. French Bread toast. I think something was lost in the translation.
Drove back to CO and off to Pinel. Best lobster on the island hands down!!!!
Snorkeling, hiking to the other side, boated back to Papagayos, baked in the sun and waited for happy hour. Wouldn't you know it, we left at nighttime and got suck in mud driving out with only a towel around us. That would have been hard to explain to anyone that helped. As it was, we finally got out. The road leading to CO is dirt and very bumpy. Rent a jeep is my recommendation.
Ate dinner in Margot at Le St-Germain next to the mariner. EXCELLENT!!!! Leave room for their crepes!
Our last day was breakfast at Papagayos and a quick tour of one of there beach units.
I got a lump in my throat when I went to pay my breakfast bill. The waitress asked me if I wanted to set up an account and I told her we were leaving and I was disappointed.
She looked at me, smiled and said, "Don't worry...you'll be back".
And we will.
Our flight was cancelled and we spent 3 extra hours at the airport. We could have been on the beach! Alain, once again, came to our rescue!
Calling the states is a bitch at the airport. He allowed us to use his cellular and refused a tip. I had to force one on him. Alain, we love you! Do you, I create a web page.

Some advise: Watch your currency! The Texaco station outside Phillipburg ripped me off for $7.oo.
Rent a jeep! Don't lock your car or keep valuables in there.
Visit the beaches!
Eat in a French restaurant.
Don't ever say never! Visit CLUB ORIENT!!!!!!!
Have lobster on Pinel!
Rent from Alain!
Take a crash course in French. I think it's only fair to the locals and easier to understand your dinner check.
Snorkel nekkid on Green Caye.
St. Somewhere is definately found on St. Martin.

Back on Long Island, wouldn't you know, the next morning going to work, I stopped at Dunkin Donut for a FRENCH cruller.

To you and the Friendly Island of St. Martin,
Best wishes,
rich
http://www.richied.com ( my personal site )

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