TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Walking to Orient Village from Club Orient ?

So we are thinking of a quick trip back in July after 3 years away.
We are thinking of trying Club Orient, picking up where we left off, getting comfortable without suites but have a few questions.
Are most nude everywhere else on property and are we ok if were not, at least in the beginning?
We were thinking of staying put and not renting a car this trip since we plan on spending most of our time right there but can we still get to restaurants at night?
Would we be ok walking to Orient Village for dinner?
Thanks, and we are open to any other advise anyone may have.

Club Orient is clothing optional. Which means you wear clothes if you want. Don't wear clothes if you don't want. Regarding walking to the Village after night, I personally wouldn't do it with just two people. In a group of 4 or more, maybe, but if you do plan to do that, make sure you bring a flashlight, as there are no lights for most of the trip. I personally would not do it after night, but I am more cautious than many people. You might consider going for an early dinner and walking to dinner before dark and possibly getting a cab for the return trip. Or have a big lunch somewhere during the day, when you can walk there without any problem, and then having a lighter dinner, either in your unit or at Papagayo.

I definitely wouldn't walk there after dark. It's not too far but very dark and quiet after the bars close. Have read reports of people getting mugged on that walk ("road" or beach) after dark. So, that said, a short cab ride would be well worth the cost after dark.

If dinner in the village is imprtant - Why not try the reverse. Stay in the village and walk to the Club O beach for the day.

Last 2 yrs we've stayed in the units south of Alamanda, last yr behind Kakao, this yr behind Kontiki. Less than 10 minute walk to Club O and the Perch area

Five minute walk to the village resto's

J&B

I say, go for staying at ClubO...there's nothing like it. You can be as clothed or unclothed as you want any place on the property. Most people will be mostly unclothed/wearing a pareo or manskirt.
We have walked to the Village a few times along the beach, but always with a group. I second the very dark comment. After dark, they lock the gate along the road, so you must walk on the beach.

Thanks for the ideas. Didn't know if we could get cabs for that short of a trip, maybe a rental would be worth it? Is July a good time to visit other beaches like Happy Bay? We didn't want to fight crowds and were looking forward to being nude as much as possible so we thought staying at Club O would be easy and fun but we would still like options for dinner.

A rental in July would be pretty cheap, if you want to do that. And you could just rent for a couple of days if you like. Consider though, if you do think that you will use it a couple of times during the week, by the time you pay for a cab to and from the airport, you are a good ways toward the cost of a rental for the week. Definitely you would need it for a trip to Happy Bay..

We walked to dinner in the village one time just before dark and there was a guy not looking up to any good leaning against a tree with a machete. We made a sad attempt walking back in the dark before returning to restaurant and calling a cab.

As some know, the new shops have a light as bright as the North Star which really pollutes Orient Beach at night when looking down the dark beach from Mt Vernon.

Unfortunately this light doesn't light the way enough to make that walk back to Club O a safe bet.

This is a timely question for me also as I was wondering about the trip back from the village to the club after dinner/dark. I like the idea of taking a cab back but I have a slightly different situation.

My wife and I would not be staying at Club O but actually be on a boat anchored just off the beach. We bring the dinghy ashore at the watersports hut and would walk to the village for dinner. If we got a cab back to CO, where would it it drop us and would there be an issue getting from where it dropped us, back to the beach and the dinghy?

I've never been "inside" Club O so I don't know where a cab would end up and if I would have to walk through any area that a non-guest would not be allowed.

Would it be easier to just get dropped off at Pedros? I wouldn't think the walk from there to the other end of the CO beach would be dangerous would it?

Thanks for any insight

Just have a talk with Club O security during the day and let them know you will have a dinghy ashore that evening and will be dropped off at the guard shack after dinner. You can then say hi to the gate guard after dinner and tell him you are going to your dinghy to go back to your vessel anchored just off the beach.

Communication beforehand makes the problem "no problem, mon".

At worst they would drop you at the gate and I'm sure if necessary you could explain your dinghy is at watersports.

We have never been asked if we are staying when in a cab coming "home", they usually just open the gate for the cabbie. Have them take you to papagayo restaurant.

Club o has many preferred cabbies, one is Sir Winston "Churchill", don't have his number, maybe someone else does.

Thanks for the replies.

Regarding getting a cab; would I have to pre-arrange a cab to pick us up at a specified time or can I just call one when we are ready to go back? Would the restaurant be able to call a cab for us?

I've used TTOL sponsor Wilfred Brooks once before on a previous trip. Don't know if he's local to that area or would want to come there for a relatively short trip.

Thanks again

The restaurant should be able to call you a cab, yes. Also, Wilfred lives around Grand Case, I think, so he's relatively local. As I guess you know, he has a US number, so you could talk to him ahead of time and see whether he would do that trip.

I definitely would not do the walk, even with a small group, but you can easily arrange a ride - just ask at the office. Or stay put. Papagayo is actually pretty good and it can be a fun night.

Did you read these reports of muggings on Orient Beach on TTOL?

I would stay at Club O the food at Papagayo has improved a lot if you wanted to eat in the village I would walk the beach at dusk and take a cab back
They also have car rentals at Club O we no longer rent a car for our stay but for a day here and there when we want to shop or dine off the resort

One additional consideration for you. It gets dark early in St Martin.

SXM is in the Atlantic time zone, which is one hour earlier than Eastern Standard time. BUT SXM does NOT observe Daylight Savings Time! This means that during the summer the clocks read the same as in the eastern US, but the island is about 1,000 miles further east and thus gets dark an hour before the east coast of the US.

Added to that, SXM is at 18* North Latitude, about the same latitude as Central America. This means there is very little twilight and it gets dark very quickly once the sun dips below the horizon.

The third and final factor is that the length of the daylight period is only about 12-13 hours unlike in the US, where the tilt of the earth's axis has the sun rise early in the northeast sky and setting in the northwest giving us much longer days and shorter nights in the summer. Sunset in SXM will be around 7pm Atlantic Standard Time +/-

...so if you want to watch the sunset from your restaurant, show up for dinner around 6 to 6:30 in the evening.

Hope this helps...

Winston (Churchill) Blythe's phone numbers are: Cell #'s:590 690 87 01 55; 590 690 87 03 40. Winston is awesome and lives right in the French Quarter so he's not far away. We have been using him for taxi's for 3 years now and we also rent a car for a day or two @ $30/day.

We stay at Club O and eat in Orient Village. We walk over before dark and sometimes walk back on the beach and sometimes take a cab. No issues with getting a cab for a short trip like that

We have the restaurant call us a cab.

We chatted to a couple staying at Club O on our last trip. We had given them a name of a new restaurant in the village. They walked to the village with another couple. After they finished their meal they were unable to arrange for a taxi to pick them up. Not sure why. The owner of the restaurant had one of the servers drive them back to Club O. My suggestion would be to pre-book the taxi prior to your evening out.

Club O or someone should start a new business venture to transport people back to Club O from the Village, and maybe charge $5 each, I think people would love that. Last night we saw at least 4 couples from Club O dinning at Le Piment.

...except that they make more money if people just stay at Papagayo and eat! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Smile.gif" alt="" />

True!

Le Piment... that's exactly why we NEED to get to Orient Village. It's a must!

Great info Bill! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" />

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

Would you folks please stop advertising Le Piment. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/hungry.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Rofl.gif" alt="" /> She is already packed almost every night and *we* need to be able to get a table.

tandme we will be there July 1-11 and have a car. Will be more than happy to let you ride and join us.