TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Information on Dawn Beach

For anyone interested in an update on the situation at Dawn Beach, here is what I learned during a recent visit.

1. There is a security guard at the entrance gate to the old Westin Hotel. When I asked about the ownership of the property, she told me that Westin still owns the property.

2. The hotel still has plenty of signs of damage -- large holes in the facade, missing windows, chunks of stucco missing. However, pallets of recently delivered building materials (concrete blocks, tiles, etc.) are arrayed in the parking lot awaiting the arrival of construction workers.

3. All of the solar panels are missing from the roof.

4. The beach is not attractive. Someone has made some large piles with a bulldozer or tractor -- a mixture of sargassum and sand -- in a first attempt to clean up. But everything looks rough.

5. The swimming pool has (surprisingly) been restored, and tourists lounged there and were hanging around the beach bar, which was open. On the way out, I asked the security guard about the units which seem to be occupied. "Those are the time-share units," she said. "They are open. But the hotel is still closed."

Thanks for the report. I guess the timeshare guests can use their pool.

Thanks for this update. You would think things would be way further along given it's been more than two years after Hurricane Irma. This used to be a nice area but now it's kind of an afterthought, and that's too bad. Having a functional pool is fine, but it's the beach that used to be the primary attraction here.

Thanks for the update. Will the security guard allow for public parking on the Westin property? Outside of the large piles, is there room on the beach to lounge and walk?
Thanks.

We love/loved Dawn Beach. Big fans of Busby’s and spent many hours there.

Sadly, Dawn Beach has sustained the wrath of many hurricanes and now The Sargassum Invasion.

July of ‘17 we were there because Grace and her Sister loved the Conch Salad, so we went for lunch. The Sargassum was so think it looked like you could walk on it. There were payloaders moving it and making mountains of it. The smell was terrible.

I don’t know why anyone would want to invest more money there. JMHO

Agreed, the seaweed has been a huge, ongoing problem at Dawn Beach. Other than Pinel, which is just the drop-off point for the ferry, Dawn seems to be affected more by the seaweed than anywhere else on island.

SMalbany,
The security guard suggested that we park in a gravel lot adjacent to the checkpoint. (In other words, she didn't let our car past the barrier.) No problem -- it was a short walk from there to the beach, and the security guard told us that we were welcome to walk to the beach. While you're parking your car, you can visit the crowd of iguanas gathered there. (They are used to being fed, so they beg.)

Even though there is sargassum on the beach, you can certainly find a clean place to spread your beach towel or set up a folding chair if you want to. That said, Dawn Beach has all the usual problems it has always had -- lots of waves, and murky water that makes the spot unsuited to snorkeling.