Reggie the "Regular Guy" has made a series of postings about this island to the uk.rec.naturist since June 2000.
Introduction
I visited St. Martin in early May 2000 year after "tanning up" on
St. Barts.
I was there for 16 days, first at Hotel L'Hoste, then
at Club Orient, then at L'Hoste again. (Both places are at Orient
Bay.) It was soon after the beginning of the Low Season, the time
when the rates come down, and when the probability of rain goes
up.
The U.S. dollar had climbed versus the French franc, and by stipulating payment in francs when I made hotel reservations, I saved a considerable amount. My credit card company made the currency conversion for me. For other expenses, such as for groceries and restaurant meals, I also paid in francs with traveler's checks that I converted at a currency exchange. For the car rental company on the Dutch side, St. Maarten, I had to pay in U.S. dollars, but I was able to get a good price from a local company. I'll share all that I learned with you in the following three-part article - which I've written from the viewpoint of a penny-pinching nudist.
Saint Martin is the French (north) half of an island that is shared with
Sint Maarten,
the Dutch (south) half. And therein lies a world
of difference. St. Martin was allowed to grow more slowly and with
more planning than the Dutch side, and it doesn't have the honky-tonk
and random out-of-scale high-rise hotel feeling of Sint Maarten.
French is the language and the culture of the locals and a good portion
of the visitors, and France provides the government and the currency.
St. Martin is also more tolerant of beach nudity than the Dutch side.
This is fortunate because the best beaches are on the French side!
Be aware, though, that locals who were born and raised on St. Martin
don't go nude on the beach, and for many, public nudity is annoying.
A good guide book for St. Martin is "Eastern Caribbean" by Lonely
Planet. Web sites that may be of some help are:
http://stmaartenstmartin.com/
http://www.mrstm.com/ (photos of beaches in "Virtual Tour")
http://www.gobeach.com/
http://www.sxmhotels.com/
http://www.frenchcaribbean.com/
"Bonjour"
Learn to say "bonjour" well. Get the French "n" and "r"
right. You will be pleasantly surprised at how the French appreciate
being greeted in their own language. Numerous times, cold and
suspicious-looking French visitors were turned into smiling friendly
people by just "bon jour". True to form, though, the natives and the
southern French will be the warmest, the northern French will be
pretty cold at times. And don't forget "merci beaucoup" and "l'addition, si'l vous plait" ("the check, please").
Club Orient Beach (see
http://www.cluborient.com/
There is only one beach on St. Martin where nudity is officially
allowed: The portion of beach at Baie Orientale (Orient Bay) which is
immediately in front of Club Orient at the extreme south end of Orient
Beach. Hurricanes in the past 5 years, although causing a lot of
structural damage, actually improved the beach at Club Orient, and that
end of the beach now has the widest expanse of sand. Lounge chairs
and umbrellas cover much of the sand near the water where nudists
come out early in the day to reserve "their" lounge chair by placing a
beach towel or other belonging to show that it's taken. Beach towels
are important for comfort because the lounges are the parallel-strap
kind, and if you sit down on the side of the lounge without a towel,
you instantly don a Lounge Chair Thong. Do that once and you learn
to sit on a towel or at the end of the lounge. Further back from the
water, the lounge chairs thin out and there is enough room for a sand
volleyball court, and quiet reading is possible without hearing nearby
conversations. Back of that are low vine-covered sand dunes and then
a row of the Club's more expensive "Beach Chalets".
Virtually everyone is totally nude at the Club Orient end of the beach, and most of the people are guests at the Club. Some guests from other hotels manage to impersonate Club O guests and grab a lounge chair or just lay their beach towels out on the sand. They can be spotted by their lack of the pale yellow Club O beach towel. The average person is White, American, middle-aged, flabby, tanned and with a spouse or Significant Other. There are virtually no so-called "minorities" and very few singles and gays. Among the Americans, Southerners seem to be well-represented, and a good education seems to be a common element among all the Club O guests. After the Americans, French seems to be the most common nationality, followed by Germans and Italians.
In stark contrast to the nudists is the constant parade of Looky-Lous from the rest of the beach. They walk past, trying to look casual while scanning, scanning, scanning. Frequently the male in a couple will be doing the scanning while the female looks down at the sand or out to sea or she looks directly at her mate while keeping up a non- stop monologue. More often, however, both are scanning and seeming to wonder "how can those people DO that?" The Lous are well-behaved, though, and I never saw any derogatory behavior from them. What they're gawking at are hundreds of tanned nude people standing and sitting around, frequently chatting, mostly lounging or reading, some in the shade of a beach umbrella, entirely ignoring the little parade of textiles passing them just feet away. Oddly, not many of the nudists are swimmers.
The water is warm and clear, though, and the bottom just is mostly sandy with a sort of sparse sea grass growing between slabs of coral. There are three floating docks anchored about 60 yards offshore, and they make for a pleasant workout swim any time of day. They are also a nice way to socialize with the more athletic of the guests as they rest between laps. The fish are used to the tan bodies swimming by, and its not unusual to cross paths with a school of tropical fish on their way to Somewhere. Amusingly, a school of about 50 stripped flat 6-inchers seemed to like the shade of the middle dock during midday while I was there. It was like their own beach umbrella.
Further offshore, but swimmably close, are the sailing yachts. They belong to nudists who have their own sailboats and who come ashore for walks and for socializing on the beach or for meals at the Club O restaurant. There is a water sport concession at the far south end of the beach where one can set up a charge card account and rent paddle boats and small sailboats ranging from Sunfish to Hobey Cats. You can do this all nude, and it's possible to sail a Sunfish out to the nearby island of Caye Verte (Green Cay) and sun for half an hour and then sail back within a one-hour rental period, and it'll cost just $15.
There is a low rock groin to mark the beginning of the Club Orient portion of the beach, and then a sign that announces a ban on photography. There are a couple uniformed guards who watch the beach 24-hours a day to prevent petty thefts and to prevent the use of cameras or other harassment of Club O guests. I felt a feeling of safety there and also a feeling of being in a theme park or a zoo.
Orient Beach
This is the rest of the beach at Orient Bay. It changes drastically
from year to year as more and more bars and restaurants and boutiques
go up at the edge of the beach and hotels and shops are built along the
access roads. A major resort community of nice and Very Nice vacation
villas is building out on the hills behind the beach, and the worry is that
Orient Beach will lose its charm. The government still observes the
tradition, though, that Orient Beach is Clothing Optional on the sand.
This means that bare female breasts are allowed anywhere on the
beach, and that total nudity of both sexes is tolerated except on the dry
sand immediately in front of the Mt. Vernon hotel at the extreme north
end of the beach. The sand between the beach restaurants and
boutiques is a gray area, and some of the current builders of hotels and
shops with hard foundations are worried that adjacent nudity will turn
off some of their potential customers.
Right now, the prevailing style is top-free for most of the European and some of the American females. Scattered among the acres of lounge chairs and occasional beach towel on the sand are actual nudists, most of them with spouses, some with families. They tend to be in the areas where hotel guests predominate. Otherwise, the rest of the beach is dominated by textiles who come in by bus and taxi from Philipsburg on the Dutch side, where their cruise ship has docked for a day or two. They arrive between 10:00 am and 11:00 am like locusts, photo-graphing and videocamming each other and scrambling for the front rows of lounge chairs so that they can see the "topless" women and occasional nudist walk by. They are gone by 4:30 pm.
But before 9:30 am and after 5:00 pm, the beach belongs to a parade of nudists. They originate from several points along the beach, mostly Club Orient, and they walk the length of the 1 1/2 mile long beach and back. There is a feeling of camaraderie, and they wave and greet each other as they pass. At the Mt. Vernon end, there is some-times a "guard" to keep the nudists off the "hotel's" sand, but the nudists walk by on the wet sand unimpeded.
Adjacent to the beach, built on wood foundations (by law) are the various beach concessions - bars, restaurants, boutiques, lounge chair renters, parasail rides and renters of the obnoxious jet skis. Portions of the beach are still free of concessions and people, though, and if you want to practice your nudism in relative isolation, you can. Otherwise, most people use a lounge chair - either rented or provided by their hotel - to sun a foot and a half off the sand in front of a restaurant or a bar. I consider this a waste of good comfortable sand and a bit too pampered, but this is a strong French tradition, and it keeps sand out of your book or magazine when it's windy. Waiters and waitresses are available to take your order for drinks and munchies, and the whole scene is very civilized. Don't picture Miami Beach in your mind, though. No hotel directly overlooks the beach, and with the exception of the Mt. Vernon end of the beach, no hotel is more than 3 stories high.
Baie Rouge
On the west end of the St. Martin, past Baie Nettlé, are three
beaches, each about a mile long, that have mixed nude and textile
use. Baie Rouge has a "lo-lo" (outdoor barbeque restaurant) at the
parking lot end where everyone is textile. At about a third of the way
toward the opposite end, though, the swimsuits start coming off.
At the far end of the beach is a gated and guarded community of
vacation homes, and I'm not sure how they react to nude "riff-raff",
but most of the central portion of the beach has no adjacent homes,
and since the area is influenced heavily by vacationers, nude usage is
tolerated. The sand is luxurious and the swimming is good. It faces
mostly north.
Baie aux Prunes (Plum Bay)
Baie aux Prunes, the middle of the three beaches, is gorgeous.
It also has abundant sand and the swimming is good with a mostly
sandy bottom. At the turnoff from the highway, where a sign says
"Baie aus Prunes" and a barrier stands raised looking like a flagpole,
take the left fork which looks like a dirt road. Follow it 2 kilometers to
a fork in the road and then go right about 0.3 kilometers to a parking
area with beach access. There are no concessions on the beach, and
there are usually not many people there. Usage is by tourists
(American and European) and by white French owners of vacation
homes. There is no pattern of nudist vs. textile positioning and no
one seems to care. The beach faces mostly west.
Baie Longue (Long Bay)
The super luxury hotel, La Samanna, sits at the southeast end of
this beach, closest to the Dutch side of the island. The rest of the beach
is overlooked by expensive vacation homes (and currently, construction
equipment and crews). Away from the hotel, I saw a couple sunbathing
nude, but I don't know how well that is tolerated. (I wouldn't hesitate to
sunbathe and swim nude there.) Otherwise, the sand is abundant and
the swimming appears good. There is a parking area and beach access
from the shoreline road at about the midpoint. The beach faces
southwest.
Ilet Pinel, north shore (see
http://www.orientbeach.com/pinel/)
The local nudists will hate me for this: Pinel Island has a very pretty
and relatively unknown clothing optional beach on its north shore. (See
"Deserted Beach on Pinel".) Except on weekends, there is usually no
one on it. Workers in the visitor industry go to Pinel to get away from
tourists, and the nudists among them go to this beach. The sand is
white-white, there are rocks and coral for snorkeling, and there is a
sandy entry to the water on the left side where the bottom is also sandy.
The prevailing current tends to move you toward shore. If you get
hungry, you can walk over to the "front" of the island where most of the
beachgoers are and where there are two lo-los and a bar. Unless you
have a boat or jet ski, the usual way to get to Pine Island is to take the
shuttle boat from the landing at Cul-de-Sac. It costs $5 round trip and
the boat runs hourly during the day. Once on the island, take the trail
back of the first lo-lo leading over the rise and to your left (north).
There is also another trail starting next to the north side of the open
air boutique which runs up past the second lo-lo and the bar. The
island is a public park, so please don't litter.
Possibilities - Happy Bay, the cove west of Anse Marcel, and the beaches along the shore of Plateau Red Rock on the northernmost point of the island
These are on the north shore and away from any dense settlement. A couple who had rented a motor yacht for a day told me about several beaches that they saw from their boat which looked like good nudist beaches. These may be the ones, although I never got to check them out. Wear hiking shoes and take lots of water.
In my opinion, there are only two places on St. Martin for a nudist to stay. These are not just a 10-minute walk or a drive away from a clothing optional beach. They also allow nudity on the premises and are adjacent to a clothing optional beach. Both are at Orient Bay.
Club Orient (see
http://www.cluborient.com/)
This is a thorough "nudist resort", a compound which includes
a good beach, a restaurant, a beach bar, a water sport concession,
a boutique and grocery store, a tennis court, bungalows with
kitchenettes, and guarded grounds where you can be nekkid,
nekkid, nekkid 24/7 if you want to. The excellent restaurants of
Grand Case are 15 minutes away by car, and all the services of a
small town are 30 minutes away in Marigot. For variety, if you don't
want to drive, you can catch meals at the various beach restaurants
at Orient Bay. Guards keep you safe 24 hours a day, and all the
employees at the Club are polite and respectful. For some reason,
they all wear clothes.
The people that stay at Club Orient tend to return year after year, and the common time to make reservations for the next visit is at the time of departure on the current visit. Guests are very friendly and well-educated and well-behaved. There is a feeling of family among them, and the easiest way to meet them is to walk up bearing a seamless tan and simply introduce yourself AND YOUR SPOUSE. The latter is important for easy acceptance. There is not much to encourage socializing as a single, and there are few singles there, anyway. Most guests are White married Americans in their mid-flabbies who maintain a degree of privacy by introducing themselves using only their first names. One un-commonly trim example was a professor at a Midwestern graduate school who corrected his students' papers each morning via the Internet - and his students had no idea where he was vacationing!
One significant social event (that I missed) was the weekly wine and cheese party. This is held every Wednesday from about 5 pm to 7 pm, as I recall, on the patio of the restaurant, Papagayo. I did observe one of the parties while a non-guest as I walked by on the sand one evening. I was somewhat surprised to see that most people wore something to cover their genitals, although most of the women were bare-breasted. I guess close quarters and the possibility of genitals bumping together dictated prudence.
The rooms at Club Orient include single-unit Chalets, two sizes of duplex Mini-Suites, and duplex Studios. They all include a fully- equipped kitchenette and a patio with a picnic table. They're furnished comfortably with furniture in a style that I would call "Rustic American". Each unit has an extra outdoor shower for those who like to shower with all their neighbors watching. And each bathroom has a window, too, for those who like to... well, you know - with all their neighbors watching. If you're really an exhibitionist, you can even lie in bed with the neighbors able to see you. All units have air conditioning, and a ceiling fan, and screen doors and windows, but none have a TV or a telephone.
The oceanfront Beach Chalets were heavily damaged by Hurricane Luis, and they were replaced by new ones built of cinder block. Some of the Garden Chalets may also have been rebuilt with cinder block, but the remaining Mini-Suites and Studios, that are wood with single walls of tongue-in-groove lumber, were just repaired and they show signs of water damage. In many cases, damaged sections of moldings were cut away and replaced, increasing the number of un-caulked joints. This loose repair and the looseness of the original construction led to the presence in my unit of small roaches which each night came out of the woodwork to forage for food. The single wall construction, although affording visual privacy between adjacent units, didn't block sound, and I could clearly hear the quiet conversations of the couple next door. Some metal, such as in the window-opening hardware, showed evidence of prolonged saltwater contact by heavy rusting, and parts had broken off or were hard to move. While basically comfortable and clean, the unit left me with a vague feeling of discomfort and annoyance.
In a word, I would call the rooms at Club Orient somewhat "Spartan". To eschew other accommodations, you have to Need To Be Nude Among Nudists.
Hotel L'Hoste (see
http://www.hostehotel.com/)
The following is an edited compilation from two postings made by Reggie,
one in June 2000 and another in January 2001.
At mid-beach at Orient Bay, is Hotel L'Hoste. It's a small (28-unit) hotel that is immediately adjacent to the beach. The rooms are tastefully furnished in what I would call "French Chic". It has a restaurant just off the beach, a swimming pool with sun deck, a breakfast room serving complimentary "continental" breakfasts (or a cooked breakfast for a fee), nicely landscaped grounds, a lighted parking lot, and access by a paved road. Each room has a TV and a telephone and a mini 'fridge. And I never saw a roach, although at 2 am one night, a couple brown crabs scratched their way up the frame of the patio door to spend the night in the exterior roll-down blinds. It sounded like something from "Alien"!
Most of the guests at L'Hoste are not nudists, but some that I met were resolute nudists who liked the amenities that L'Hoste provides. Nudity is allowed everywhere on the hotel grounds except for two places, the breakfast room and the restaurant "La Playa". I took advantage of L'Hoste's policy by walking nude between my room and the beach and by swimming in the pool nude and by sunbathing nude on the adjacent sun deck. You can also walk nude from the front door (or from the patio door) of your room out to the beach over hotel property with no problem. Most nudist guests walk along the walkway past the unpaved parking lot and then between the two restaurants, "La Playa" and "Bikini Beach", just as other guests do. All these activities, were observed by the hotel employees and by management, and they continued to be friendly and courteous to me. Given the nature of Orient Beach, none of the other guests acted shocked, and I never felt particularly daring. I got along well with everyone and I was invited, both verbally and by subsequent email, to return soon. I think they wish to keep a balance of nudist and non-nudist guests so that there is a sense of freedom and relaxation with a minimum of dress rules - which is the essence of Orient Beach.
Starting just this past Spring, though, as construction on the adjacent condo/small shop complex proceeded, a nudist couple to whom I spoke, said that they had been reminded by a Service Municipale guard that nudity was "not allowed" in the parking lot and between the restaurants. The belief is that the owners of the complex in construction do not want to scare away potential buyers and renters with frequent nudity passing before their eyes. The solution, if that persists, is merely to walk out to the beach across the lawn behind the hotel directly from hotel property onto the beach.
I know CO to be the hotel policy because one of the two female managers told me this on the orientation tour. And I did, and I was seen doing, all the nude activities that I described, and I was greeted by all three managers (two female and one male) and by grounds personnel, with a smile and a "Bonjour". During my 13-day stay at L'Hoste, I saw and spoke with other nudists walking between their rooms and the beach nude, and one couple from Idaho who go there 4 times a year, said that the CO policy has been in existence since the hotel began. The hotel was started by a wealthy French woman from mainland France, and her daughter is now one of the managers - a buxom brunette who sometimes wears a long silk blouse over a push-up bra and thong panties (and no slacks). The ambiance is very French and sophisticated (although most guests are American).
Don't get the idea that L'Hoste is a "nudist hotel", though. Most guests do not go nude on hotel grounds or even go nude on the beach. It is rare for a nude person to lounge around the pool or to swim in the pool, although topless females are not unusual. It is merely assumed that nudist guests will behave them- selves and not flaunt their nudity or act offensively. Carl, a manager who also acts as a part-time bouncer at a disco-bar in Sint Maarten, will soon discourage your continued residency there if you do. But if you are well- behaved, all the hotel personnel will treat you very well and everything will be cool and relaxed - which is the very essence of L'Hoste and the Orient Beach tradition. If you want to sit on your patio nude and read a book, fine - the house keeping maids don't even blink or act nervous if you answer the front door nude. If you want to sunbathe nude on the lawn behind the hotel, fine - the gardeners don't care and they'll even say "Bonjour". If you want to wander out to the beach nude and take a dip and come back nude for a snack from the refrigerator - no problem. It is the feeling of easy-going relaxation that brought the owners to Orient Beach years ago, and that is what they are trying to preserve.
I personally like it there better than at Club Orient, and I have stayed at both, although Club O offers a purer nudist experience with virtually every guest nude on the grounds (the women usually are a little shyer while walking between the rooms and the beach, though). I like L'Hoste for the more sound-proof walls, the telephones and TV sets (I like French TV), and the easier drive out to the highway. I like the civility of the patio breakfast room, and I like the easy transition from shorts to thong to nudity without feeling that I'm out-of-place in any of those states of dress or undress. BTW, they answer their email if you have any questions. And they didn't pay me or promise to pay me for this written opinion. :-)
Car Rental at Juliana Airport
Car rental is an art that best occurs at the Juliana airport (on the
Dutch side). Just before the exit from the Arrivals terminal, there is
a compound of a dozen or so booths for agents of the various car
rental companies. If it's Low Season (or approaching Low Season),
the car rental companies will have an excess of cars, and the agents
will be smiling, waving their arms, and shaking your hand to make
you feel that they will give you the best bargain. Here is where you
must perform your dance because after you exit this compound,
the airport security guards will not let you reenter, and if you don't
yet have a deal, you will be raped. Why? How else will you be able
to compare rates and to bargain and to walk away from a deal? The
rental offices are all off-airport, and do you have the telephone
numbers of all the car rental offices? Furthermore, many of the pay
phones require a pre-paid telecard. (They ALL do on the French side).
Nail the rental deal down here, before you leave Arrivals.
The cheapest cars are offered by the local independent car rental companies. They don't have the same insurance companies and international reservations networks that the Big Boys have, but they do have lower rates on cars that you've never heard of. I rented a Daewoo Matiz from Sunshine Car Rental. The Matiz has 3 cylinders to move 4 seats and an air conditioner - sedately. But with standard shift, frequent downshifting, and with the air conditioning turned off when climbing hills, it proved adequate for two people. I was quoted $180/wk for a Matiz. For the 2nd week, I talked it down to $150. I hear that locals get a special rate of $130. I got home after the trip and found email quotes from Island Car Rental for an equivalent car for $168/wk, and from Adventure Car Rental for $149/wk for a Hyundai Atos. In any event, you should be able to get any independent's rate down at least 10% from the initial quote - IF you are still in the car rental compound, and IF it's Low Season.
What if it's High Season? Then you had best make your reservation via email before you arrive. If you want to be hardnosed, you can then see what you can wrangle in the rental compound, and if you get a better rate, cancel your reservation.
Men's Thongs
OK, you don't want to be naked all the time, but you don't want
a "Cotton Tail", either. You're a man, and you want to buy a thong.
Where to go?
In Orient Bay, try Adam and Eve, a beach boutique near the south end of the concession area. Their "changing room" is one corner of the store. Also, on the dirt road leading to Club Orient, in front of the water park, behind Pedro's Bar, is an open air shack run by a man who makes and sells pareos and swimsuits, including men's thongs. He will even make a custom thong for you and have it ready the next day. The shack IS the changing room :-) . An attractive nude blond was there (with her husband nearby) trying on pareos when I was there. I also found a tiny selection (no pun intended) at Bikini Beach Boutique, next to the Bikini Beach Restaurant at the center of Orient Beach.
On the north side of Marigot, at the Howell Center, check the men's store which faces the supermarket. They sell HOM, a French brand. In the heart of Marigot, across from the public telephones on Rue de la Liberté, there is Cactus, a men's underwear store which has a small selection by Letiga, a brand from Montreal. On the same street, a block south, is a small branch of Beach Bum & Co. which has a small selection by inScena, a brand from Brazil.
But the best selection is at Beach Bum & Co.'s main store in Maho Bay, on the Dutch side. (They also supply Adam & Eve, and perhaps others.) The prices are the same as at Adam & Eve - $25. The store is run by a Brazilian woman who orders directly from a manufacturer in Rio.
Picnic Lunches and Munchies
If you're on your way to one of the 3 beaches I mentioned on the
west end of St. Martin, you will pass through Baie Nettlé. In Baie
Nettlé, at the Royal Food Store, you can buy custom-built sandwiches
and take-out deli food and wine for a picnic lunch. You can also buy
soft drinks and cold bottled water (which I highly recommend that
you take with you to all the beaches). The Royal shopping center is
a line of little shops which run along the north (Atlantic) side of the
road.
Beach Umbrellas
If you want a beach umbrella, why rent when you can buy?
You can buy one for $25 at the Royal shopping center. You can
then take it with you to whichever beach you want.
Cheap (& good) Sidewalk Cafe
La Parisienne is a small cafeteria with sidewalk dining tables on
Rue de la Liberté, on the corner of Rue du Palais de Justice, not far
from the public telephones. It's not gourmet food, but the young
local French and French transplants gather there for lunch, and I
consider the food quite good.
Thursday Nights
Starting around 10 or 11 p.m. every Thursday night, the only
Place To Be for anyone in their 20s (or "early 30s") who is on the
island is the Indiana Restaurant & Bar on the Dutch side in Cole Bay,
behind the tall Atrium hotel. And I mean it. It doesn't matter whether
you're French, Dutch, American, or a local or a transplant or a tourist, *everyone* goes to Indiana on Thursday night to drink, dance, get
temporary tattoos, and boogy. It's mostly open air, and you don't
come away smelling smoky. It shakes until 2 or 3 a.m.
Currency Exchange and francs
Change your money into francs. Go ahead. You'll feel sophisticated. Only wimps stick with dollars - and get subtlely ripped off.
Driving into Marigot from the Dutch side, you'll find a currency
exchange just as you reach town on the right side of the road. There
is also InterChange in the center of town on Rue du Général de Gaulle
and another near the Marina somewhere. Right now, with the dollar
so high against the franc, even when prices are converted to dollars
on the spot for you at restaurants, the franc price is the better deal.
It's also easier to leave small tips with francs. :-) Really! As explained
to me by a hotel manager on St. Barts, a decent tip for dinner at a
good restaurant is 25 francs, plus or minus 15 francs according to
quality of service. That's because a 15% service charge is usually
already included in the bill.
Cheap Gas Station
The cheapest gas that I found on both sides of the island was at
the Marina in Marigot. There is a station reachable by a short dirt
road adjacent to the Marina just outside downtown Marigot on the
way to Sandy Ground. There is a big sign on the side of the main
road, so it's easy to find.
Supermarket
Why drive all the way to the Dutch side when you can shop
for groceries at the supermarket at the Howell Center on the northern
outskirts of Marigot? Well, they don't have Fig Newtons, but they
have most of what else you would want. If anything, stock up on
bottled water here. Put a 10 franc coin into the slot to get a shopping
cart. Don't give the cart to the kid who will magically appear at your
car and offer to take the cart back for you - unless you like giving
away 10 francs ($1.40) for the favor.
Postcards
The best selection (and the lowest price) for postcards
picturing Orient Bay are at the collection of tourist traps where
the highway peaks at the top of the hill overlooking Orient Bay.
They'll sell you 7 for $2, but you if you insist, they'll sell you
5 for $1.50 . Look out for tour buses and swarming tourists.
Photography of most of Orient Bay is good from there and
from the residential streets just below it.
Post Office
The post office in Marigot is down a small alley off Rue de la
Liberté next to the public telephones. The mail slots are in the side
of the building adjacent to the alley, and the postal clerks are in the
office just off a small courtyard just off the alley. It's all well hidden.
Laundry
Is your dirty underwear piling up? Drop it off at the laundry on
Rue de St. James east of the Marina as you leave downtown Marigot
toward Cole Bay. If you drop it off in the morning, you can get it back
clean and nicely folded in the afternoon. They charge by the kilogram,
and a load of 14 undershirts cost me $5. It lets you have more beach
time than doing it at a coin place, and it's far cheaper than what a hotel
would charge.
Reggie
Another thing to watch is the extensive construction underway at Orient Beach on Saint Martin. There have been links to photos of Le Village d'Orient provided recently at: http://www.OrientBeach.com/ The growth of Orient Beach as a destination resort may have some impact on its traditional clothing optional freedom.
A good message board for current information on St. Martin is: http://www.TravelTalkOnline.com/ , and to a lesser extent: http://www.OrientBeach.com/.
Reggie
For an update on what Orient Bay is becoming take a look at the photos at http://www.OrientBeach.com/.
A Frenchman by the name of Norbert Luftman has put a lot of money into development recently, and Orient Beach appears to be turning into the primary destination resort on the French side of the island. Whether the beach remains clothing optional away from the section adjacent to Club Orient, only time will tell. Two websites with on-going discussions about St. Martin and Orient Beach are the one mentioned above (click on "General Board") and http://www.TravelTalkOnline.com/. The latter has a section for St. Maarten/St. Martin, and it's very chatty and friendly and most of the regulars are avid fans of the island, especially of Club Orient. There was recently a chap from the U.K. asking questions in preparation for an upcoming trip (due about now, I think), and it is hoped that he may give a trip report upon his return.
Reggie
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