Drift Reality

On Saturday morning we woke up bright and early, feeling fully recovered from the previous day of travel. Opening the curtains revealed a stunningly bright and sunny day that helped drive us out of our grogginess.

We stopped in the reception and chatted with Kris briefly. She recommended Coconut Grove (Baie del L’Embouchure) but we had heard some good things about Orient Bay so we decided to stop there first.

After about a 15-minute drive, we arrived at the south end of Orient Bay, which is a bit dumpy, and began driving north until we reached the Coco Beach Bar and Restaurant. After parking outside, we started strolling south along the beach.

Orient Bay is one of the more well-known beaches in Saint Martin, and part of its reputation is derived from the optionality of clothing that is associated with the beach. I’m certainly no hater of the human body, but the sights we saw along Orient Bay made me contemplate poking my eyes out with a spoon and spending the remainder of my life in androgyny.

That being said, the beach itself was quite attractive:

In general though, I have to admit I wasn’t overly impressed with Orient Bay. The beach is nothing spectacular compared to some of the others in Saint Martin, the restaurants are over-priced and over-commercialized, and there is the aforementioned issue with naked nastiness.

We had a quick and forgettable lunch at the Coco Beach Bar and Restaurant, where the service was sub-par, before heading off to greener pastures.

After relaxing for a little while we decided to explore Grand Case and see if we could get a little beach time before the sun set. The receptionist at L’Esplanade told us about a small beach near the hotel called Le Petite Plage. After a short walk we discovered that Le Petite Plage was in fact, truly petite so we decided to walk to the main beach in Grand Case and check that out.

Grand Case has a truly local feel that differentiates itself somewhat from some of the more touristy destinations on the island. There are a number of small, quaint restaurants along the path (I’ll write about one of the better ones a bit later) as well as some small boutique and souvenir shops.

After walking for several minutes we arrived at the Sunset Cafe, where we had a couple of drinks while we watched a group of children playing in the water while the sun set over the horizon.