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Orient Beach, home of the Club Orient naturist resort, has something for everyone. The northern end starts off mostly clothed and people wear less and less until they reach the southern end where clothing is optional throughout the resort: beach (of course), boutique (why not), and restaurant (yikes!). Don't let the, shall we say casual, atmosphere fool you as there are some very good restaurants on the beach. Kakao Beach, Bikini Beach, Palm Beach, and others at the northern end all have fine restaurants and snack bars for lighter fare, but also beach chairs, umbrellas, beach boys, boutiques, massage stations, and more. To the southeast the beach runs past various smaller shops and restaurants. These are smaller places, with smaller menus, and smaller prices, but with plenty of chairs and umbrellas for a relaxing day at the beach. ZEN Café stands out because of its striking decor and its huge menu featuring crepes, waffles, and ice cream in addition to the usual beach front offerings. The last thing on the beach is Club Orient, the naturist resort. At night La Place in Orient Village comes alive and some of the finest Asian cuisine can be found at Tai Chi.
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Want to see it all? Go to the southern end of the beach, no seriously, stop on Hope Hill for a view of all of Orient out to St Barts. Have breakfast, lunch, dinner or brunch at Paradise View. There are shops for clothing, local products, cold drinks, and duty-free alcohol. Next Door is Local Rums & Spirits where Bernadine offers tastings of local rums, chutnies, and more, while tending to abandoned animals. Almost across the street is Rancho del Sol, with the same great view of the wide sweep of Orient Bay.
On the left is Coco, photographer extroadinare. She patrols the beach and restaurants taking photos, if you wish. Before you leave, stop in at Alex Photos at Waikiki Beach to purchase a fabulous souvenir.
Just south of Orient Beach is L'Embouchure Bay or Galion Beach, voted best place to take your kids on the island. One of the reasons is Chez Pat, a great beach bar on a calm and beautiful beach with great windsurfing.
To the south is Oyster Pond, the home of Beau Beau's where St Maarten's legendary calypso King has opened a beachside restaurant in the Oyster Bay Beach Resort. Even a little further south is Dawn Beach, good snorkeling and boogie boarding, but now subsumed into the Westin Resort.
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This street map will be helpful for driving, but for an amazing aerial photograph that shows the entire sweep of the beach and has links to larger individual restaurant photos and websites, check out Ed and Sandra's Orient panorama.
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