TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Actually CO, or minimal at least?

My wife and I have been to St martin a handful of times, now just hitting our 40s. Both of use like to enjoy very minimal swimwear and her sometime topless, but last time we went to the CO section of Orient my wife got all kinda of comments for not going fully nude and her suit was TINY and she was topless. It was unnerving enough that we just left and setup at a beach bar on the textile side that didn't seem to care less about a couple in thongs. So much for that being the trip she lost her inhibitions.

Anyways we are headed back and would love to hear some beaches where minimal beachwear doesn't cause much stir. We've done the usual: bay long, bay rough, happy bay let petite cayes, etc. Have not been to the dutch side much. Any ideas? Nothing about what we like to wear is see-through or proactive, just a lot of butt :P

We have been to the Club O beach hundreds of times and my wife almost always wears some kind of bikini bottom. We always see everything from string backs, thongs, bikini bottoms in every imaginable size, style, sheer or not and have never seen or heard of anyone making any negative comments about them. In July, I would estimate that at least 30% of the women there had some kind of bottom on and some wore tops. I would say that men wearing thongs, speedos etc are rare, but, I've never seen or heard of anyone being harassed for what they were or were not wearing,,,

Shame on those people harassing people to get out of their comfort zone. Classless and unacceptable.

Had to be the people near you were clods, probably thought they were being funny. In our many visits to Orient, we have never heard anyone caring one way or the other about ladies' thongs.

That’s really too bad, definitely not the norm. My wife has wore thongs and never an issue, I’ve worn thongs and sometimes nothing but a [censored] ring and not once was there ever anyone who cared, Give it another try, must have been a total fluke. Try Cupecoy beach also, one of my favs!!

Trevor--I'm sorry you had that experience, but it is very unusual for the Club O beach. I would say that you should give it another try. And you might look at the cruise ship calendar and avoid any cruise ship days, if possible. In the past, I have heard of some people making fun of cruise ship people and perhaps that is what went on there. You might also consider going further down the beach toward the former Papagayo, where there are less people. And you could also try Cupecoy, as someone else suggested.

We agree with these comments. We are not concerned nor affected by idiots as you encountered.

Trevor, I have seen what you are talking about on Orient in December/January. There is a small group of people that sometimes try to intimidate others. They will call out and/or put up little signs saying thing like Nude Only.
They are a small group and should be ignored (although I understand that is easier said than done). What they are doing is totally against what most nudists/naturists believe. Most people understand that it sometimes takes people a while to be comfortable. And they also miss the point the the Club O beach is a clothing optional beach, not the nudist club they may want it to be.

I hope you and your wife give it another try. As mentioned above, some options might be to stay on the northern edge of the Club O beach (in front of the Perch Bar). I noticed the people giving others a hard time are more in the mid section of the beach. Or walk behind the rows of chairs to the southern part of the beach where, as Carol mentions, there are fewer people.

For the record, my wife and I have been on the beach many times. I am a nudist and she is not. She has never had any issues. But we tend to stay closer to the Perch end of the beach.

Trevor, I too can't believe someone harassed your wife like that. My wife and I have been going to St. Martin for almost 25 years. We always stayed at Club Orient and now just go to the Clothing optional section. My wife only goes topless, and no one has ever said a thing to her or me, sorry that happened. We will be there the last week in October for 10 days. If that's when you are going you and your wife can join us on the beach. I promise Patrick or Cedric will not let anyone hassle you and your wife.