Saw friends of ours this weekend who regularly go to St Martin.
Their beach suggestion (rather then orient beach) was Friar's Bay Beach.
No charge for chairs and umbrellas, just buy some food from the restaurant. Not too crowded, water not too rough,,,,,,,
So if you are not going on an excursion or after the excursion you might want to consider this beach...
Here is a review I found online.
Date of Entry: 8/30/2003
Category: Activity: Beaches
Name: Friars Bay Beach
Address: Friars Bay
City: St. Martin
What it's like:
This is a small quiet beach where the locals try and keep it to themselves. The water is extremely calm and is great for swimming, especially if you have children. The cost for the chairs and umbrellas was free as long as I ate in the cafe on the beach, which of course I did. The food was good and the atmosphere is great. I was at this beach twice during my seven night stay. I tried to go to different beaches everyday so I could find my perfect beach. There is not a lot to do here, but if you come to unwind, this is for you. They do have servers on the beach, but they are a bit slow unless you tell them to check back with you every 20-30 minutes for more drinks, if that is what you like.
Getting here is more difficult them alot of the other beaches, since it is hidden. Take the main road and look for signs to Friars Bay Beach. Continue of the road and then it turns to gravel, stay on that gravel road, it is not far from there, the road is two-way, so drive slow. Then you see the beach and you say, this is great, park and walk to your chair and umbrella and enjoy your day.
Enjoy the beach!
another review.....
FRIAR'S BAY
The Cranberry Cafe is gone, so now there are only two beach restaurants at Friars Bay:
Kali's Beach Bar and Friar's Bay Beach Cafe. I still recommend - strongly - that you head
for the area in front of Friars Bay Beach Cafe (FBBC).
The beach is excellent and there is good snorkeling at both ends of the beach. This is one of the few beaches that I saw yachts come and drop anchor offshore. The lounge chairs and umbrellas in front of the FBBC are free if you eat at the FBBC...and I assure you that the food there is excellent. They have an extensive menu with very reasonable prices. And the music...you have to hear this music - talk about eclectic! Frank Sinatra...French crooners a la Tony Bennett...Jazz with American Indian interludes...you name it...and it's all playing on Bose Speakers.
The lounge chairs and umbrellas in front of the FBBC are free if you eat at the FBBC...and the
food is excellent. They have a great menu, reasonable prices, and the beach itself is picture-
perfect.
You're going to love the ambiance of Friar's Bay - added to the regular mix of French,
Italians, Latin Americans, and North Americans this year was a group of Russians.
another......
My favorite beach of all on St. Martin is Friars Bay. This beach is just intoxicating. The water is clear, and usually peaceful, although one day it did knock us around a bit. The sun sets over a huge rock formation at the far left hand edge of the beach. As it does, the water becomes almost purple if the light is right. Giant birds dive bomb into the sea to catch their dinners. There is a feeling of peace in the air. Everyone has a blissful grin.
You've been there since lunch time, enjoying the sun and the sand. Lunch (two hours or so!) was at The Friars Bay Beach Cafe, which is all of five steps behind your chair. The motto of this particular cafe, translated from the French, is "Open every day, even when it snows." Lunch may have been foie gras, or else a delicate freshly caught fish called sea bream, washed down (slowly, languorously) by an excellent French Chardonnay. Not a glass. A bottle.
Welcome to our bunch of "cruise crazies"!
)
!
