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We travelled the first week of June, off-season, to the famous Orient Bay on the French side and discovered a lovely and charming little beachfront community.
About our Stay:
-Arrival/Checkin: prompt introduction and walkthrough of the apartment (late on a Sunday afternoon) by the very nice Magoli
-Apartment: beautiful as advertised, no surpirses. Only item was that the hair dryer didn't work but we (I especially as a male) didn't care and didn't address it with Mgmt. They did pro-actively dropped off an adaptor for North american power. Decor and Kitchen was perfect, everything was new, modern, and clean.
Washer/Dryer was handy as well. Beach towels, which were provided were clean and of good quality. We sat out on the ground floor terrace and enjoyed meals with the view and sounds of the ocean.
-Sleeping: the beds were clean, comfortable, and good for slepping.
-Ocean: the apartment was approx 30 feet from the ocean, amazing for early morning walks, quick dips, quick bathroom breaks (good for small children), cat naps...everything. The ocean was incredible for swimming (day and night), fighting waves, etc.. The turquiose colour was breathtaking and made us glow.
- Beach: its beautiful. The apt. has an agreement with one of the beach bars for free use of the beach chairs but they expect you to buy drinks. Shop around and choose the chairs you like, the prices vary marginally so choose what makes you happy. Make sure you explore the beach because there are numerous beach restaurants. Recommendations: most of them are very good; Baywatch with license plates was fun. The nude beach is also fun, very liberating to skinny dip in the ocean.
-Restaurants: all very good on the french side, be adventurous, but here are 3 experiences which we enjoyed (coming from an almost vegan:
1) Tai Chi in Orient Bay - excellant quality and very tasty sushi and thai. Pad Thai
2) A 'LoLO' in Grand Case - fun outdoor local cuisine
3) Sheika's Bistro in Phlipsburg - great find and good vegetarian
-Car Rental: I was resistant to rent a car and finally was convinced by many people to do so and were we ever glad we did. A car gives you so much freedom to explore the numerous beaches, villages, restaurants. The island is tiny so you will never spend much time travelling.
-Shopping: Marigot especially and Grand Case were our preferred stops. Philipsburg is overpriced and mainly about jewllery, watches, and tourist knick nacks. I even bought a couple of nice shirts.
-Running: I ran through the Orient Bay community, on the beach, and out of the neighborhood. Its great for runners early in the am or late PM but you need to be very careful on the roads out of the compound. I went to the sister neighborhood across the main road and ran up the hills, the view was breathtaking and so were the hills.
We loved every minute of our trip to St. Martin, its such a beautiful and romantic island and its safe (street smarts need always be applied), authentic, and was a lot of fun.
Thomas K
- St Martin
Dates of Stay: Jun 18, 2013
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