TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Sands beach next to Dreams C/O

I saw a post a few weeks ago about the 'Sands' the beach area next to the Dreams beach area being C/O?
If this is indeed a real C/O area that is supported by the French, how often and how many people are really utilizing the beach as a C/O site? My wife likes the C/O environment at Orient as that is the norm by most all on that end of the beach.
We stay on the Dutch side and love Orient beach but like to visit other areas and lunch and a day at Dreams is always a must do. Combining the C/O with lunch at Dreams would be a "Dream" and another great reason to extend our two week stay next year.
If anyone can let us know the real usage and legality, that would be great!
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It is my understanding the only legal c/o beach in st martin is orient.

That's actually an interesting question. Can a random property owner decide to make a public area clothing optional!

I always understood, probably incorrectly, the only reason Orient Beach is CO was because of the existence of Club Orient long prior to any of the later zoning rules or regs or societal issues regarding the nude usage. I remember our earliest trips and that beach was always accepted as CO but back then there was nothing there but sea grape and a wide open endless beach.

I've never quite understood how an individual or a business could make these decisions for either side of the island. Inquiring minds and all that.....

I was at Dreams a few weeks ago. Dreams has a beach with chairs, etc, as does Sands which is to the left, with their own beach, and to the left of Sands is a beach with a sign: "Nudist Beach". No chairs, no attendants, not raked and no one was using it.

Well, did not mean to open can of worms but maybe good it is discussed?
So, if I understand Sands is just a beach area and there is some area by the mangrove and sea grapes that MAYBE C/O friendly. But at this time no one cares because there is nothing or almost no one there.

Does that about cover it?

When someone discovers that it has potential and some local Frenchmen wants to try and make a couple of euros at renting chairs+ and maybe some snacks it will be taxed and regulated out of existence. So, take a risk for the time being until someone official takes down the signage or condones it. They might be surprised to find a gold mine if they condon and allow some chairs?

Has anyone seen any nudes using the area?

This is the write up on the SXM Blue website: Le Sand

Le Sand is a new elite restaurant right on Nettle Bay beach featuring one of the best menus on the island. Guests will enjoy open air seating with stunning views of the sea. The chic décor, unmatched beachside location and haute cuisine menu combine to make this restaurant/beach bar a rousing success. If Le Sand reminds you of the beachside restaurants on Orient Beach, it is with good reason. The new Nettle Bay hotspot is being developed by the same person who drove the development of the highly popular Orient Beach. The Le Sand menu features fresh fish and delectable French dishes. If you love paella, try Le Sand on the weekends.

Im pretty sure it's a beachside restaurant like Dreams, but has set up a nude section, or has a part of beach where they allow nudity

All I can tell you is that there is a sign posted: "Nudist Beach."
No idea if it is associated with Le Sands, if it's part of their beach, who it actually belongs to or if it is even legal.

Sands is a restaurant, with chairs and raked beach, the sign is to the left of their property (as you face the ocean)>

There is a nudist beach adjacent to the Sands, there is no legal restrictions for nudist beaches on SXM ...

So your saying you can go nude anywhere on the Dutch side and the French side?

Hmmmm, I wonder why no one has explained that to the gendarmes who periodically patrol Orient (and some of the other French beaches as well for that matter....) and suggest people cover up beyond the Club O beach area.

Better go back to the drawing board on that one Dilbert. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/duh.gif" alt="" />

Is
Let Sand there now? Or just proposed?
Love the location and concept.
The more C/O beaches on SXM the better as far as I am concerned
Would love to have a second location to enjoy the all together and the great food all at one location, but do not want to be the first group to test the cloths police

It's a beach restaurant that has been there for 2-3+ years - nothin new

So Le Sand I'd basically on the left side of the wood pier?

Just never walked down that way. Maybe the sun, food, drinks and sand gravity held me down. Come April will make the trek and explore the area a little more!

That almost sounds like an ad for the place.

To the others who mentioned a sign. Having a sign does not make something legal, illegal or acceptable.

I never suggested it was legal, only that there is a sign there.

Never said you did but according to another poster there are NO legal restrictions on nudity at all. That is a new one to me and probably many island residents.

Help me get my bearings here... we were on an around-the- island charter and as we came around the island headed toward the airport there was a nude beach, not very big in area but well attended nonetheless. Could we have been looking at the above mentioned?

That was probably Cupecoy. Were there orange cliffs behind the sand?

Yes, I do remember orange cliffs with seemingly large hotel properties situated above. An aside, we also cruised by Trump's home as well.

That was, as GaKaye stated, definitely the Cupecoy beach area. It used to be one of the most beautiful beach areas on the island and the only widely accepted clothing optional beach on the Dutch side of the island. It was the area that heralded the welcome to many a first-time visitor as they approached the island. Somehow, to me anyway, all the high rises that were developed atop those cliffs have hugely diminished the beauty that once was what so many of us termed 'coming home' again. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" />

The nudist beach beyond Sand is very secluded. I was surprised about the remark about nudist beaches not being "acceptable".

Anybody who walks past the nudist sign knows what they are going to see and could very easily stay on the other side. Of course there are always people who will go there to have peek...

Throughout the whole of beaches in France, when bathers are sparse, people tend to be naked and it's no great issue.

Regarding the nudist beach in Cupecoy, it is mainly a place for swingers or perverts who come their to look a naked people and then indulge in obscene behavior, you have been warned !

Mercy. Wrong on so many levels. This one is done.