TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Favorite Orient Beach spot? (other than ClubO)

I am going down in a couple of weeks for the first time with non-ClubO people (my mom & sisters). What are the favorite places on Orient to rent chairs and have some food on the north side of Pedro's? Hopefully not too crowded? Is it better to park at Orient Village or behind Pedro's? I've been coming to SXM for 20 years and don't know this part of the beach! I will probably get them to stroll down the beach, but don't expect to be able to park ourselves there. Any other recommendations? Thanks!

Our favorite is Kakao. It's right in the middle of the beach, so you can walk end-to-end and take a break at your chairs midway. The restaurant is absolutely fabulous: gourmet French food, or more casual food like delicious pizza or even burgers if you prefer. And the KO bar, with GP bartending is just perfect.

Where are y'all in North Carolina?

We also enjoy Kakao. Centrally located and an easy walk if you park near Orient Village. You can actually drive past Orient Village and the road will take you to the right with parking along the beach. We stayed quite a few times at the Alamanda and chairs and umbrella at Kakao were part of the package. You could also try in front of Andy and Cheryls and eat lunch at Cheryls restaurant. Many here also enjoy the beach in front of Orange Fever. The vendors close to Pedros usually give you a drink with your chair and umbrella rental.

Third vote for Kakao.

We have always enjoyed the old Bikini Beach that is now gone. The new Bikini Beach is just a good. We enjoyed ourselves there last year. Good food and nice clean restrooms.

There is a beach frontage road from behind Pedors (where the gate is) that intersects to the road running past La Hoste. Rough but drivable. Lots of parking along there.
Some of the parking behind Pedros is out in the bushes so I have not been to comfortable there. Along the frontage road further up the beach it is all pretty open.
You may also want to look at Palm Beach where the access road is north of El Rancho down the hill(did I get that right?) Much less congested on multi-cruise ship days.
Surf, tho, up that way can be rougher than closer to Pedros.

Thanks for the feedback and info!

Another vote for Kakao for chairs and we split lunches between Kakao and Aloha

Palm, Waikiki are two of our favorites for spending the day on the beach. Both have good food, good service, comfortable lounges and more than adequate bathroom facilities.

For food and hanging out we prefer Andy & Cheryl's, La Playa and the old Bikini Beach.

If you want a bit more space between the loungers and a nice place Kakao fills the bill, maybe try Bikini Beach - I beleive Wilfred Brook's wife works there - Cassie?

I would alos suggest trying farther down near Pedro's, lots of favourites, ours is Orange Fever
The area will be more crowded ie chairs closer together, but the talk is the bars in that area are coming down and new concessions to be built this off season - that's what Olivier at Orange Fever told us this winter. If that is the case, it might be the last time to enjoy what is there now, as next yr might be different [maybe better, maybe not!]

J&B

We like LaPlaya food is very good and has a nice French vibe. While we don't frequent the beach bars by Pedro's I don't believe you will find a bad one anywhere. There is no official parking area I think your best bet in near the village.