Orient Beach St Martin The Nude Beach on Orient Bay

SXM Island

When visiting St. Maarten, St. Martin , you will come to know, if you don’t already, that many of the beaches are what are referred to as “clothing optional”. These comprise most of the beaches on the French Side where topless is ordinary but it is on Orient Bay where total nudity is most common. Thousands of visitors come to our island for the liberation of being able to shed clothes and relax on the beach au naturel. After getting over the initial worry of trying something new, most first timers agree that naturism is a release (no pun intended) and a liberating experience as well as a great way to relax.  While I do tend to compulsively joke about most things (as I will about this), nudity on the beach rarely raises an eyebrow here as it is such an ordinary part of the St. Martin ambience.

The popular Club Orient at the South end of the beach is the islands only naturist resort. Occupying several hundred feet of beachfront, Club Orient has been in existence for 24 years and today has 136 rooms in one-story chalets throughout the property. The resorts “Papagayo” restaurant is probably the only clothing optional restaurant at the beach. Although all of Orient Beach is clothing optional, the other restaurants along it prefer that swimsuits be on when dining.

For those that are uninitiated with the general rules of “clothing optional”, particularly first timers who might tend to go a bit overboard in their enthusiasm for the experience, I’ve chosen to list a few do’s and don’ts.

• Nudity while shopping in Philipsburg or Marigot is illegal.
• Do not try to undress strangers at the beach.
• Do not put celery in your ears and run down the beach screaming “I Love A Parade”. These common occurrences annoy others.
• Always use sun block but only applied to the skin. It serves no purpose to drink it.
• Wrapping your feet in aluminum foil will not prevent sunburn of the ass.
• Doing any dance besides the Tango while nude is frowned upon.
• If you must point at anyone, use a finger on one of your hands.
• All men in the nude are referred to as Ralph. All women, Edna.
• Do not use binoculars or video camera to observe other nude persons when within 8 feet of them.
• Standing in the middle of the road, making obscene gestures and going “Nyah-Nyah” at oncoming traffic can get you hurt. Nude or not nude.
• Be advised that these rules may vary from island to island but try to observe them as a general policy for everyone’s benefit.