SXM Trip Part 6-1 (THURSDAY!)

As I look through my not so precise journal I realize that I wrote the wrong day on part 5 of this report, this part is actually from Thursday, knucklehead! One thing I love about our Caribbean vacations is that we often lose track of time and better yet days of the week, watches mean nothing to me there, note to self...stop wearing the watch! We woke up well rested and slid open the metal hurricane shutters. It was still early, but I could tell even with the limited light that this was going to be a stunning sunrise.







We left our villa the day before at 0-dark early so we didn't get to spend time with our adopted island pup. Would she hold that against us by staying away this morning?....Oh, GOOD GIRL!!





Once the sun was in its full glory we took our morning beach walk. My wife continued to harvest sea glass and I visited with the local iguana who was soaking up the rays looking out towards Anguilla. Note to self, explore Anguilla next trip! It was nice to see a familiar face walking the shoreline towards us from the night before at Gut Side, hello! We ventured much further down the beach this morning, passing Ma Ti, Dreams, The Sands and beyond to a sign that read "Nudist Beach" This area was a narrow stretch of beach with a lot of sargassum grass washed up on the shore, but the secluded cubby holes surrounded by healthy seagrape's were interesting with creative structures made from floatsam. It was a beautiful morning and we enjoyed the soft breezes while standing on the dock at dreams. I need to find a chart, but curious if anybody knows the waters in this particular area, it would be a nice place to stop on a sailboat!



















With our beach stuff packed in the car we headed to Marigot for breakfast at Sarafina's again. We highly recommend this bakery! Parking was a breeze and breakfast was awesome and the beach was calling our name! We drove back to Friars Beach and parked by Kali's again, but our destination would ultimately be Happy Bay. We walked to the end of Friar's beach and found the trail head right where we thought it would be.




The trail is what we expected, rocky with exposed tree roots, glad I wore running shoes to protect the toe! We started our casual uphill hike with wonderful views of the bay. The trail turns slightly inland and we walked through a rustic gate in a fence line, this is an active pasture from what we were told. The open grass field and smell of nearby cattle was a nice surprise, kinda reminded me of home. The relaxed walk from beach to beach, stopping for photos of course, only took about 15minutes. As my wife lead the way descending down the path she would give me a big thumbs up when she saw the beautiful beach at Happy Bay.

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This beach is absolutely gorgeous. The beach is not that long, but it's wide and it had a gentle surf this day. When people ask me to describe the perfect Caribbean beach, Happy Bay is an excellent example. We forgot to bring our towels so we simply reclined in the soft white sand and used a spare shirt in my backpack to dry off with. As we relaxed in the sand we noticed that clothing optional is the norm here. I'm not in the least opposed to this lifestyle, but the Irish skin that I was blessed with will NEVER be exposed to the UV rays especially at this latitude! Heck, I wear a UV swim shirt nearly all the time in the islands, especially snorkeling. For folks who want to hang (yep, I used that word!) around other swim suit wearing folks we found the center of the beach to be perfect. Lots of kids in this area. We found a wonderful spot under a tree surrounded by enormous seagrape plants that provided us (me) with nice shade. I was mindful of my camera in this environment, but was able to snap some nice shots around this outstanding bay.

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I had read and was told by someone on Friar's beach that Happy Bay didn't offer any food or drinks, that was bad info, at least on this day. There is a small structure (photo above kinda shows part of it) and the gentleman here was preparing food for the grill and offered ice cold PRESIDENTE's!! Word of caution, this gentleman was busy working and said people had put in orders for later in the day, people we've spoken with since talk highly of his ribs and chicken. As he grabbed a couple beers for us I mentioned that I heard that Happy Bay didn't offer food and drinks and I was happy he was there!, well this set him off, really set him off! I know his rant wasn't directed at me and I felt bad for bringing it up. It's a dog eat dog word when it comes to beach bars and I guess it was time for him to justifiably vent, fyi, he's there and open for business everybody!! Note to self...when we go back to Happy Bay, keep the small talk to a minimum! After a couple of hours of sun it was time for some fun, rock climbing! To the far left side of the beach is a great section of boulders far out on the point and small tidal pools. The views from the boulders are fantastic.

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It was early afternoon so we decided to grab a snack at Kali's beach bar, it smelled so good yesterday! We found a side trail from the boulders and worked our way over the point to the main trail. Along the way we noticed several old ornate light poles lying on their sides being consumed by the foliage, nature has a way of reclaiming its turf. There was once something special here, anybody have info? Someone should reclaim those light poles and make them accent pieces, they were solid and had a great rusty aged patina! Kali's bar was empty except for us and the grill master was hard at work. There was a family nearby on the beach and we watched their very young son stealthily work his way under their umbrella, he cautiously looked around then proceeded to enjoy chips or something from a beach bag. He saw us looking and he lowered his head peaking and grinning at us through the slats of a lounge chair, always mindful of his unaware parents location...very cute. I had a grilled fish sandwich and my wife had tasty jerked chicken, very good food in a very nice atmosphere. Great day so far!

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To be continued...<img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Cheers.gif" alt="" />

Nice pics, especially the sunset ones.

SXM??? Wendell

They say a photo is worth 1000 words---well your's are a million. Haven't yet convinced hubby to venture to Happy Bay but after he saw your pix he said "next visit."

Thanks Beerman!
Rosemary

Another excellent read with amazing pictures. Thanks.

Beautiful!

Love the Happy Bay pic with the Seagrape and water.....that is the blue of my dreams. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/snore.gif" alt="" /> and our master bed and bath! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Wink.gif" alt="" />

It's quintessential Caribbean.

show off, <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" /> great job buddy, can't wait to take all your advice

Thanks gain for the tour.

Talk'in about that little jump?! My wife stopped me on the first approach and said "uh..you might want to remove that heavy backpack first!" I replied with a goofy laugh "oh, you're right" <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/duh.gif" alt="" /> I actually dropped my dang glasses looking over that boulder, luckily they ended up in a pool of water <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" />

Rosemary, glad we could show him the light!

Thanks all <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Cheers.gif" alt="" />

Enjoyed every moment of your report and the pictures are fantastic!

Where was the nudist beach around Nettle Bay? I have never heard of it before

Another great installment. I am really enjoying your reports.

If I'm not mistaken, there is no dedicated nudist beach there, but I believe a section of Le Sand may be designated specifically for nude bathing use.

Danny's quite the guy. Works hard on his place and wheelbarrowning in all the food/drinks/ice must be a real chore. Have had a number of his meals and one can order a day ahead (for fish) if you have his cell number.
One of the funny "quirks" I've noted when we order. Danny tells us it will be awhile and he will give a holler when the meals are ready, cool. Then if another party wanders up and orders the same as us, just as ours is done, he gives the new party "our meals".........then sets forth on ours again. It's an island thing, makes perfect sense to Danny. Does pretty good grub. Nice to hear that he is still in business. Used to rent beach chairs but they were getting pretty dilapidated our last visit, probably scrap in the bushes now.

Dany is often at Happy Bay with food, yes, but not all the time. He brings everything in, as Dunkin said, so there is not a dedicated full time beach bar there.

Pat is correct; there is a small section of beach at Le Sand designated as a nudist area.

Great reports Beerman!! Wondered why we hadn't seen you in a while. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" />

We've only spent a day on St. Maarten, but really want to go back for a week. Your reports on further that desire. Thanks!!

...actually, I was anxiously waiting for 'the rest of the story'. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Laugh.gif" alt="" />

From what I heard about the structures at Happy Bay was that a resort was being built there. You would notice the now dilapidated structures there now. When they first were built they looked quite nice with high end finishing's. I can't recall if they ran out of money or what. This had to be shortly after Hurricane Lenny.

I recall it looked like everyone stopped working one day and left everything in the rooms, cabinets, fixtures, doors etc.

Also the front of the buildings would flood during heavy rains and it was like a swamp in from of them. Possibly why they did not continue building, the cost of fixing the drainage issue may have been too high.

I also remember that the Gendarmes had barracks in one of the northern buildings there for new recruits at one time????

You are correct about the buildings - I do not believe it was a resort, but rather about 6 multiple story buidings that all faced the ocean. After the development failed perhaps due to a hurricane, gendarmes lived in a couple of the buildings. I don't recall when they were destroyed, but it has been a while.

ReelG8r nice to see to over here! I was on a roll knocking out the reports then work and life got in the way this week!! I WILL find time this weekend to complete the reports, unless NCAA takes its toll on me <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/toast.gif" alt="" />