Orient Beach - St. Martin
Orient Beach is located on Saint Martin / Sint Maarten and is the only official nude beach on the island. Upon our first visit, Orient Beach also successfully leap-frogged Blind Creek Beach as our favorite clothing optional beach that we have visited to date! Orient Beach has a storied history as not only a renowned nude beach that is well-attended (there is a textile section on the north end), but it also used to be home to Club Orient (a nudist resort that was unfortunately destroyed by Hurricane Irma in 2017). While the resort has yet to be rebuilt, there are a multitude of other nudist or clothing optional B&Bs and boutique hotels on the island, and the beach itself is still very much alive and well!
Words cannot describe how pristine the beach and surrounding scenery is (nevermind the literal ruins and wreckage associated with Club Orient—image below)! In our experience, there is plenty of sand for everyone. If you want to socialize, you likely will set up near the lounge chairs and Perch Bar & Grill. If you want to keep to yourself, maybe you will set up on the southern end near the old Club Orient buildings. Did we say beach bar and grill? We did! AND it's clothing optional! How cool is that? Despite Club Orient no longer operating, Perch Bar & Grill has been rebuilt and is thriving right on the edge of the sand; offering up delicious food and drink to anyone who wants to dine there, with the added bonus of guests not needing to put clothes on!
In addition to this being an all-around amazing nude beach that you HAVE to visit, it is worth noting that this is a regular cruise ship textile excursion drop-off point and that the excursion directors make it a habit of notifying the cruise ship visitors that there is a nude section of the beach, so you may encounter (as we did) curious looky-loos that meander down to that end of the beach to see what it's all about. These are mostly harmless folks and we wouldn't be concerned, but it's worth a mention if you happen to see some wide-eyed overdressed people there! One such group of tourists actually reached for a camera (not to be harmful, but it was likely an impulsive response to the fact that this was the first time they saw so many people frolicking around nude) and was quickly and sternly addressed by one of the restaurant staff members who explicitly told this person that photography is not allowed. There are a handful of "no photography" signs posted: one in the parking lot and a few more around the beach bar, which is nice to see as a matter of etiquette for the uninformed traveler. That said, if you are looking to take photos of yourselves as we often do, there are plenty of opportunities so long as you position yourself away from others where people cannot be mistaken for being included in your photograph.
The one last thing that we somehow haven't mentioned yet that really stuck with us after our visit to Orient Beach was the overall quality of the ocean water. We visited in March and we couldn't believe that this really felt like bathwater—no exaggeration!! While that may not be uncommon in the Caribbean, for some reason we do not recall ever having the sensation of open water being this warm, clear, and welcoming. It wasn't even just the temperature, which was divine and would allow you to stay in the water all day long if you wanted to, but it was literally crystal clear and a beautiful bluish color. It made for some great diving opportunities, even without real gear for snorkeling. Speaking of which, if you are looking to combine adventurous opportunities with your visit to Orient Beach, there are many catamarans and water sports that are hosted at this beach by various providers—some that can even be clothing optional! We didn't have the time to enjoy any of this extracurricular stuff on our initial visit, but we will be sure to return with a direct trip to SXM and will let you know what else we discover!
