TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Club Orient Sand condition/prediction

The latest webcam images are bad news with the water lapping at the perch and the removal of the club orient flag pole.

In June, it looked like a new very wide strand of sand was developing along a jetty of rocks coming out from Pedro's and I thought that was a good start and it would fill in from Pedro's back to papagayo, but that does not appear to be the case.

I suspect, but hope not, that the perch will either
Get rocks or be moved by our return this summer. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Yikes.gif" alt="" />

It will all change tomorrow, in a few days or next week.

The tide comes in, the tide goes out. And sometimes the wind blows from a different direction. We saw all if that this last trip and the amount of beach also changed with all of that.

The stairs from the beach up to the Perch are currently roped off....the front part of the deck is also roped off...all the beach along the front is gone....the footings are also currently just hanging there.....all the beach from the Perch to Pedros is also gone.....again it is constantly changing....currently not good.

Other than immediate hurricane, has the current Perch's steps ever been dangling in the air? I have not seen it.

I watched our favorite beach town on the Florida Atlantic coast slowly lose sand then grass then built small sea wall, then boulders in front of wall, then artificial reefs, then finally pumping in of sand. Now that sand is on the decline.

I think the trend is definitely a negative one on Orient. Not one of pluses and minuses equaling out.

If you look at Larry's vacation cam site, the picture you click on for Orient Beach really gives you a perspective of how much sand is gone, I don't know what year that was but what a change from then until now!

Climate change and rising seas. 'The sand comes and goes' may no longer be a tenable position.

A question to those on SXM now...has the sand/water conditions improved on any of the other beaches?
Noticed Maho has more sand but rougher water.

Yes, agreed. It mostly "goes".

Been coming for a long time.
Stay at Belair on Little Bay.
Beach has declined for first 15 years and increased slowly over last 15 years.
Not what it was originally but close.
Attitude of locals? Beaches come and go.

Club Orient sand has receded horribly over the course of several years. Someone here posted a picture from something like 2006, showing tons of sand in front of Papagayo. Not sure why, but the sand at Club O has just 'gone' and then 'gone some more' over the past 10 years.

I can't recall them ever having to remove the flagpole before. Nor the Perch's steps dangling and being roped off. Certainly disconcerting news to those of us who love staying at Club O. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Yikes.gif" alt="" />

The sand at Orient beach was very narrow and full of seaweed when I was there in 1986. Sand comes and goes and the climate has been changing for millions of years.

Things got really bad after they added the rocks at Papagayo. They did it completely wrong...they made it convex (the easy way) which created flanking currents that swept sand away from the north side. If they had gone concave it would have built beach to the north. Look it up, it happens everywhere when people try to mess with the ocean.

The continued sand erosion at Club O is concerning. From my observation over the last 13 years, the beach is narrower each year, and the hurricane in 2014 greatly decreased the overall beach height and cut into the sand well behind the beach. On our last two trips in 2014 and 2016, the beach was so narrow it took away from the overall experience of a beach vacation and it is making us concerned about the future of Club O. The question is what are the plans by the management at Club O? Will visitors continue to come to Club O if the beach continues to diminish?

We were on Orient today. The only narrow part is from Pedro to just beyond the Perch, where at some points there are 3 rows of Club O chairs. North of Pedro the beach is much wider than it was last November.

If I could figure out how to add a picture I would of the beach from last week.....my pics are all jpeg and hence I am not sure what the URL code is?

You can upload here to the SXM picture gallery forum, if you reduce the size of the picture..

Thank you for the beach report Maureen!

Thank you Maureen for the up to date report. We were very concerned in November with how narrow the beach was near the Perch. We all hope the beach can grow and be there for all of us to enjoy. My profile pic is from 2006 looking out from Baywatch, there was alot of beach back then....

Its 'happy hour' at the Perch and I see people standing in line!
Stairs must be opened!

Plan on spending the day there tomorrow so I hope it is a winner.

If there was chairside service there, it would be perfect. I hate standing in line for drinks or anything for that matter.

I cannot remember when it changed - did one particular hurricane make the big difference? - but twenty/twenty-five years ago there was a huge above waterline sand bar off the south-west corner of Green Cay which I think had been there for decades - along with lots of sand on the cay on that corner. It was utterly different from what it is now and has been for years. That was sand that did not "come and go" - it just went and never came back - at least in any amount close to what had been there for many many years. As to the beach across from Green Cay at Club O, I think it clear that there is a decreasing amount of sand on the Club O beach as the years roll on - with ups and downs along the way, of course.

There is sand at the bottom of the steps today so you can use the steps now. I think they put it there. Its easier now.

We are here now. The tractor was used to put sand at the base of the stairs just this morning. The waves were working on the stairs all day. But it is better than nothing. The weather today WAS FANTASTIC. Very little wind. Brilliant clear skies.

<img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Thumbsup.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Thumbsup.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Thumbsup.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Thumbsup.gif" alt="" />

When did the sand change…in my view the most recent big change was the hurricane in late 2014. We arrived in November a few weeks after the storm and the level of the entire beach was lowered significantly. When sitting in your chair, the water washed up under your chairs consistently. Beach bags, coolers and anything else had to be kept elevated. The area down from the Perch to Papaguyo had a small strip of beach close to the ocean, then a mini ‘lake’ of standing water in the entire area. The area would dry somewhat, then be refilled with water during high tide, so you could not sit there all day. Lastly, the area behind the beach where the posts and wood fence was had been ‘cut’ straight down forming a ‘cliff’. The beach really has yet to recover from that storm.

I hate to stand in lines too, BUT for 2 for 1 All Over Tans made by Willie ? I will make the exception <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Groovin.gif" alt="" />

The sand at Orient originates from coral reefs. My last snorkel trip along the barrier reef off of Papagayo showed substantial bleaching and dying of the coral. AS a result the parrot fish and other fish that feed on the coral and grind it into sand are not replenishing the sand. Could be global warming?

I believe it was CHINA behind the entire conspiracy on global warming!

Please, let's keep conspiracy theories and politics out of this or it will end abruptly.

Another GLORIOUS day!!!!!! No wind, the umbrellas are NOT flapping at all. More sand was placed at the Perch stairs.. Very warm. Fantastic!

It's the only line that I don't mind being in. Usually have some interesting conversations with others in line.

I can confirm that it was a perfect day on Orient.
Only problems that I can mention is some sea grass and papagayo and Perch bars didn't open til 10AM. Maybe latter is my problem not theirs.

If a picture is worth 1,000 words, what's an HD Aerial Video worth?
4k Drone Video of Orient Beach Jan 19, 2017
At about the 1:45 mark the Perch/Pedro's beach situation can be seen.

Modi,
I think it would be cool to get a drone update 3 times a day. Great vantage point.

Also the 2:30 point in the video is another good snipit of the CO situation.

Been awhile since I have been to Orient, what beach bar is that with the huge amount of royal blue umbrellas??

That is Kakao, one of the long-standing beach restaurants on Orient, and our favorite, although La Playa is giving it a run for its money.

Agree with the assessment that it's the wall. It not only deflects the wave engery but the current as well. As soon as CO put the wall up its scoured the sand away in front of the wall and the water is now 5 feet deep at the wall. So before the wall the currrent moved parallel to the beach, mostly. Now the wave energy bounces off the wall instead of being dissipated as waves on the beach. This energy deflection is causing the current to bend at a angle further into the beach at the Perch. After the hurricane the beach was not allowed to repair itself, it was either the wall or Papaguyos. In the end when you mess with mother natural, she always wins.