Another perspective, perhaps?

Our first trip to St. Maarten/St. Martin dates back to the early 70's and while Orient was not the first beach we visited - that would have been Mullet - we visited it nonetheless.

It was a totally different place than what many of you 'late comers' to the island who arrived say in the last 20-25 years knew. It was a pristine area that was actually difficult to locate coming from 'the other side' of the island. But find it we did and the only thing there that I can honestly recall was the earliest days of Orient Beach Club aka the 'nudist camp' and it was tucked away at the end of the beach pretty much away from all else. And for the record - 'all else' would include the occasion stray cow or donkey, and the sea grape and various other island flora and fauna that grew there in profusion along with the original restaurant on the beach - a 55 gal. drum morphed into a BBQ grill from which came some incredibly good eats.

It was truly a heavenly kind of place - no crowds at all - you could wander the full length of the beach and maybe encounter 2-3 small clusters of people seeking their privacy and a few more people mostly as you neared the Club O location.

Over the years that original BBQ grill eatery evolved into a profusion of shacks, huts and eventually, some pretty nice eateries and boutiques and even a few hotels with many local entrepreneurs settling in to earn a living there.

And the people came. And the more it was 'talked about' via the internet and hyped as a 'site to see', the more the people came and the development kept increasing.

Now here's where I get into trouble, and know, please, I'm not talking about the Club Orient property specifically but the beach pretty much over all - to me it took on a circus-like atmosphere of people trying to see and be seen. Not everyone, of course, but too many for my tastes. And with the profusion of information out there about this beach, it became to many of us just another cruise ship attraction - often times loud and boisterous people imbibing too freely of the various island libations along the route and all too often, displaying some pretty tacky behaviors.

Many feel this, more so than anything else lead to the decline in favorability of this beach for so many of us. But in the end, nature took its' course and Irma returned the beach to that which many of us knew and originally fell in love with.

I know there are many who will take issue with me, but for as long as it lasts, I would be inclined to rediscover what little is left of the old Orient, and for those who long for the up-scale eateries, accommodations, beach chaises and umbrellas, crowds and all the like, don't fret too much, it will return again and perhaps a lot quicker than it did the first time around. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" />