Hi all,
I'm new to this forum and fairly new to St Maarten, and I have a question. Last week we were denied access to Baie Longue at the La Sammana gate, because the hotel was closed. Not only that, the guard directed us upcoast two left turns to get down to the beach. But there were only locked gates all the way to Baie Rouge, which we enjoyed very much. When we returned the guard pretended not to understand what we were saying. Felt like something else going on.
I thought all the beaches in St M were open to all of the public. Can someone please help me get to Baie Longue?

LINK

See Long Bay on this link for specific directions...
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The public access is no longer reached by driving past La Samanna. They no longer want you near their facilities and have blocked off the road. You are supposed to drive toward Bay Rouge and use the other entrance to the lowlands. There are gates here also, but they have motion detectors that will raise the gate when you approach. As soon as you get inside, a left turn will bring you to the Bay Long public access and parking and going straight will get you to the Plum Bay public access and parking. .

It used to be a short drive, just across the border, a left at the top of the hill toward La Samanna and a right at La Samanna. In a couple thousand feet you would be at the public beach access, about a mile in total. In 2011, the lowlands association blocked off all access from this direction. You must continue on another couple thousand feet to the combined entrance to Bay Long and Plum Bay. It appears to be blocked off also, but the gate will rise if you approach it. A quick left takes you toward Bay Long, but this entire route is about three times longer than the old route. Once there, a short access path leads to the rather rocky center of Bay Long. Samanna to the south has sand and the very northern end also has sand. The coastline curves back at this point as Plum Bay starts. The point between Bay Long and Plum Bay is called Point e Canonniere and features the French side sewage plant.

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The road has no shoulder but where the beach path is there will be an area cleared out with room for about ten cars to pull straight in. There will also be a sign in French telling you not to leave anything in your car. Heed it! The pathway is about 20 feet long cut through the vegetation. Have fun.

All SXM beaches are public but Baie Longue being the beach for La Samanna cannot be accessed via the hotel unless you are staying there. The concept of "public beaches" is occasionally tested by some resorts.

If you go to La Samnana you will be stopped by security and not allowed in. Go back to the main road, turn left and go about a mile until you see a guard shack on the left with gates. Turn in and the guard will let you in, then you stay on the road past the guard shack for about 2 miles and you will see a sign for Baie Longue on the right. Went there in April. It was beautiful, sparsely populated and even went to the lower pool bar at La Sammanna without any hassles and was actually welcomed <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/jester.gif" alt="" />. You get the real Caribbean feeling, no one sitting 2 inches away from you, no noisy planes, no beach vendors, no black sox, no gawkers, no loud Americans..lol. Saw a few nudes but not sanctioned..Nice change of pace from all the "hectic" beaches. Definitely recommend a day there. It's the like the way St. Martin was in the old days..