TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin A great new place, White Sands

<img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/dine.gif" alt="" /> We have been on the island 4 weeks and this is our last week We just found a Fantastic new beach bar. The White Sands Beach Bar.
Owned by a couple from Boston, Nichole and her husband. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Clapping.gif" alt="" /> The bartender, Anthony is a great bartender and makes great Pina Coladas.
The way to get there is go to the Sunset Beach and stay to your left and stay on White Sands Rd till you get there. Follow the runway and you can' miss it.

Try it you will like it <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/dine.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/usflag.gif" alt="" />

Was this the old 'Tahoma' and if so, is there a reasonable amount of parking there? The beach is beautiful, for sure. Any thoughts on pricing and/or comments on food, if any?

This new beach bar is called Zafiro and is located where the old White Sands Resort used to be and more recently Tahoma. It is right next to Beachside Villas. Some friends were there recently and said it was very nice.Hopefully it will be more successful than Tahoma.The parking was not great when we were last there about two years ago, so they will need to improve on that.

Is it called White Sands Beach Bar or Zafiro??

Great location but like so many on the island, parking is an issue. Unless more property is purchased I am not really sure how it is improved.

I believe it is now Zafiro. A friend posted picture on another forum a couple of days ago.

We were there 10 days ago, easy walk up beach from BSV. Antony the bartender is hilarious!!!! Had a great time there! Would highly recommend go there. The beach is great and not crowded!

How is the food?

i think we might have seen you two at the bar (last sunday)? el zafiro (name of the place you are referring, formerly white sands) is a great place that we also stumbled upon. we used to frequent it when it was tahoma. drove there last week to see if another beach bar had opened up and there it was. newly opened, we were the only ones there and took advantage of having the beach all to ourselves. we enjoyed it so much that we brought our friends, flying in from ca a few days later, and turns out that our friends knew the owners! our friends are not frequent visitors to the island, but had met the owners in st.john a couple years ago. what a small world! during the soft opening and while they get situated, the restaurant and hotel are not yet open, just the bar. for the time, they are working with piece of cake to deliver food to the beach. as for parking, the lot is currently the same as before. so far parking has been a non issue for us whenever we go there. one of the reasons we enjoy that end of the beach, versus karakter, is the low key vibe. it does not get as congested and always a relaxing, peaceful beach day. wishing ed and nicole all the best with their new venture.

We are staying on simpson bay beach. We can walk to Karakters. Is this place on the same beach as Karakters just further down? Just wondering if we could walk there as well.

Yes you can walk there from Karacter. It is about another 1/4 mile.

SXM??? Wendell

Thanks I will have to check it out.

Thanks for the post! It didn't look too busy in April when we walked by and unfortunately we didn't get the chance to actually stop in to see for ourselves! Will be sure to stop in during our July trip. It will be nice to have another option near Beachside Villas that we can walk to. Our group of young adults will be sure to love it!

So far no one has made it a go in that location. All had great expectations of doing well there but non could get traction enough to make a go of it. I think the rent is too high for a successful operation.
I hope these people do well but the odds are against it. Sorry to say.

I'm guessing that because the bars at that location haven't really played it up on FB and other forums a lot of people don't even know it is there! To me parking isn't any worse that going to Karakter so think it scares people off thinking the parking is bad. Hopefully they can make it work but who knows? Honestly we liked going to Tahoma except for that one time 6 of us went and they had run out of ice on a Sat so couldn't make any frozen drinks! LOL

Is it by Bliss?

you keep driving beyond bliss and will make a left on white sands rd (road that runs along the airport). i am pretty sure there is a sign pointing towards beachside villas and you will eventually come to an end where there is a lot for el zafiro; el zafiro is next door to bsv.

prek- if you like frozen drinks, you'll enjoy a cold one here. my frozen banana daiquiri was served with fresh banana. so refreshing.

Thank you Scout!!

Thank you all so very much for the kind words. We look forward to seeing you all again soon. Anthony says hello & thank you as well.

Cheers,

Nicole & Ed <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Groovin.gif" alt="" />

Best of luck to them and we are looking forward to giving it a try next February!

Welcome to the forum and the island! We'll definitely visit your place in November/December! It's a beautiful location, and I wish you great success.

We look forward to visiting your place in July!! We'll be staying at Beachside Villas so this will be very convenient for us!

We will also stop by in July...Looking forward to it!!

We will see you end of October. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" />
Lots of us staying at BSV. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" />

And we will see you sometime this week! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/jester.gif" alt="" />

Are there beach chairs and umbrellas for rent?

I liked Tahoma, the last few times I stopped there it wasn't operational, seemed like wedding bookings or the like took over. I look at it like the first tenants rent is way too high; second tenant, rent is high; hopefully for the third tenant rent is reasonable so they can make a go of it. Like the location so will be looking for it on next vacation to SXM.

That would be my question as well. We liked a Tahoma a LOT. Less crowded chair to chair than at Karakter, so cigarettes and dogs weren't a nuisance. Karakter has disappointed us recently (not the food, that's still great) but atmosphere, and lack of enough serviceable umbrellas.
When it was Tahoma chairs and umbrellas were no charge if you were getting drinks or food. Is that the case with Zafiro?

I will give it a try next week. Are chairs for rent? What's the menu like? <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/dine.gif" alt="" />

currently, chairs and umbrella were available with no charge to customers. no idea if this will change with time. bar is open for business, but their restaurant is not open yet; they're working with piece of cake for delivery. we ordered lunch on the beach and it came pretty quick.

Piece Of Cake?

We spent the day on the beach there today and really enjoyed it! We had the place virtually to ourselves until 4 other people showed up. Bartender Anthony was great. Drinks were good. There are chairs and umbrellas on the beach, along with a small volleyball net. Surf was up a bit (pretty breezy) and there was some seaweed along the beachfront and down towards BSV. The seaweed looked a few days old though, we didn't see any fresh seaweed coming up on shore and none in the water. Parking will be challenging, as usual, if they get a crowd. We'll go back for sure!

You didn't mention food, so I assume their kitchen is still not operational? Did they give you an idea of when that would be?

Where is Piece of Cake located?

They are on Welfare Road in Simpson Bay. #68, in Plaza Del Lago.

We enjoy their breakfast and crepes. There's a crepe station right out front. I would guess transporting items to the beach they would be limited to their salads and sandwhiches.

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Kitchen not up and running yet; Anthony only said 'soon', but did not specify exactly when that would be.

Has anyone been to the White Sands recently and can tell us how they are doing. Do the have a web site? <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/dine.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/usflag.gif" alt="" />

I was there June 11. Parking is fine in low season. Two other people were there besides me. Bartender was great, and drinks are good. Still no food on site. Very windy the day I was there, surf looked rough, and there was seaweed. Rest rooms include showers, which is a plus. The place has potential but, at this point, I prefer other locations. See my trip report for a couple of pictures.

Has anybody been to the White Sands recently and if so how was it <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/dine.gif" alt="" />