The picturesque beauty of Orient Bay located on the east coast of Saint Martin was breathtaking! While eating my breakfast, I overheard the locals talking about Saint Martin’s most beautiful and popular tourist attraction located on the French side of the island. Afterwards, I decided that Orient Bay is where I will spend my day.

When I arrived, I discovered that Orient Bay is more than just a place to bask in the sun or go for a swim. It is a coastal community that has shops, restaurants, and beach side condos that were available for rent. I took my time and browsed through the stores, tasted samples of local seafood cuisine from the restaurants, sipped on a delicious mango cocktail and then headed down to the Bay.

The endless stretch of light brown sand was soft and smooth underneath my feet. Although, the aqua blue waters was crystal clear and seemed to be inviting, the waves were a bit rough when crashing on the shore.  There were lots of colorful beach umbrellas with white chairs that stretched across the sand. The price for renting the umbrella and chair set varied. Some companies charged $20.00, others $14.00 but luckily I rented the last set from a guy who charged me $7.00. My day at the beach officially began! I relaxed, read a book, and went for an occasional swim. After l ate lunch, I went for stroll on the bay.

 Orient Bay has an invisible line that divides the beach into two sections. One side are for people who are wearing a swim suit or swim trunks and the other are for people who prefer to wear nothing at all. Yes, you read correctly, nothing at all. Since I grew up in a western society where nude beaches are prohibited, I had never seen anything like that before. There were men and women who were conversing, drinking and  sunbathing wearing nothing more than a baseball cap or an over-sized sun hat; while their children played in the sand building sand castles. Culturally, it was certainly different.

On my way back to the other side of the beach, I saw that in addition to the umbrella and chair set, Orient Bay offered more amenities. Such as, the beach bar wait staff that took your order and served drinks to you right where you are. Also there were various water sports activities. The most popular was the jet ski rentals. I continued walking back to my beach chair and started reading my book.

My trip to Orient Bay was picture perfect!                                      

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