TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Orient Beach beach club clarification

Hi all:

In years past we typically spend our Orient days at Orange Fever, but would like to add in some days at other establishments as well, down towards the La Playa section. We do like La Playa. We've eaten at Bikini and found it "meh" but never spent a beach day there - I have reservations on doing so based on service. My question when researching the other options is this: Are there clubs named Kakao, KKO, and Coco? These are all three different places? Does Kontiki still exist? Any reviews / opinions / suggestions welcome for a new place for us to try on Orient. Thanks.

After discovering Orange Fever a few years back that is all we have been goin to. Used to go to Bikini then Wai but now just go to Orange Fever.

KKO and Coco are all separate entities and still exist.

Coco is probably the most high end option (maybe with Jao).

Kakao is now Wai Plage.

I enjoy Aloha and Wai Plage, I doubt you will have a bad experience at most of these places.

It depends on what you are looking for. Agree with you on Bikini. We loved the old ikini for what it was. The new Bikini tries to do too much and is not successful. If you are looking for chairs and excellent food, our fave is Aloha. Not a lot of chairs, but excellent food for a reasonable price. The menu and chair prices at Coco are astronomical in my opinion. We also spent a nice day at Wai place. Decent food and chairs, but they are large and cater to the cruise people. You would have to pick the right day to go there. I’m sure you will find something that works for you.

This is not toward La Playa, but I discovered Jao this year, between Aloha and Orange Fever, and fell in love. Food was absolutely outstanding; service very pleasant and attentive. I went twice on my last trip. Initially recommended by my island jeweler friend and ran in to him there on one of my trips. Highly recommend. It did not strike me as overpriced.

KKO and Kakao are one and the same. And my favorite of the higher end beach clubs!!

KKO is where Waikiki was before Irma, and is just the new spelling of Kakao. It's always been a favorite of ours. We've not been to Wai Plage, because the chairs don't have pads. At our age, comfort is key. Coco is fabulous; chair comfort, service, and food are all top notch. However, at 30 euros each, yes, EACH, the chairs are stupid expensive. Jao has comparable chairs, for half that, and food and service are comparable. Kontiki is still there, but we've not been there.

We tried Kontiki some years back before LaPlaya was back up and running. Food was very good, the restaurant area is very pretty and the bar has swings!!! Good beach service, nice comfy chairs. Always different guys working the beach. One guy said, no charge for chairs if your are lunching with us, another charged , I think it was $30.00 for the two chairs with umbrella. On a personal note, I noticed that the shore line has a steep drop off but levels out nicely. Kontiki VS Orange Fever? It's one of those things, I know many enjoy Orange fever and I get it. They know you and comp the little things. This is different!!!

I prefer Orange Fever. A local taxi driver friend suggested Jao or Wai Plage but I have not been to either. My most recent experience with Bikini Beach (nice restrooms) has not been positive. Lots of attitude, terribly slow service and seeing the beach attendants' French friends have their cooler on the beach when others were told it was not allowed, even if dining there.

They all seem ok, but Coco is too expensive.

"because the chairs don't have pads. At our age, comfort is key"
That is one reason we go to Orange Fever. The other is the service and food.

Any photos of the Jao menu?

JD - We prefer Orange Fever too. And we are sitting here right now, waiting for our French Burgers to arrive

Massively jealous…

Those French burgers are the bomb. Can't wait for May to have mine.

There's one embedded in this trip report.

Joa specials board

It's actually right next to Orange Fever, not down the beach, but my favorite for food there is Le String. We don't get chairs on Orient anymore, unless we go to Club O. Just go for lunch. I like Orange Fever, but Le String is a bit more French. Seems to be a favorite of French locals, as we often see big groups there.

Thanks everyone. We always do Day One at Orange Fever, so maybe we'll pay a little more attention to Joa and Le String on our beach walk and reserve spots for later in the week. I think all I will have to do to convince my husband to try Joa is show Jazzgal's photo of the specials. Truffle arancini? We're in.