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St. Barts Beaches

Posted By: cabana

St. Barts Beaches - 02/01/2016 01:43 PM

Can anyone tell me anything about the remote (topless) beaches on St. Barts?
Posted By: NakedAsAJaybird

Re: St. Barts Beaches - 02/01/2016 02:18 PM

There are fourteen beaches on St. Barths, all blessed with gleaming white sand. Few are crowded, even in peak season. All are public and free. Nudism is ostensibly prohibited; TOPLESS is not unusual on any and all beaches.
For beaches with hotels, restaurants, and water sports, GRAND Cul de SAC fits the bill, as does St. Jean, which is actually two beaches divided by the Eden Rock promontory.
There is a smattering of hotels and restaurants at Flamands, a huge stretch of white sand fringed with lantier palms.
The village of Corossol verges on a lovely beach that serves the practical purpose of a fishing port.
The beaches at Marigot and Lorient are secluded and quiet, favored on Sundays by island families.
PETIT CUL DE SAC is secluded, and usually very quiet; TOINY is wild and beautiful, not for the faint hearted.
Gouverneur is serene; SALINE is well worth the hike over the sand dune.
SHELL BEACH can be reached on foot from Gustavia; Public, pronounced "poobleek", near the commercial pier, is fine for a quick dip.
Hardest to get to is COLOMBIER reachable by boat from Gustavia or by a half- hour hike down a scenic path.
Posted By: davew

Re: St. Barts Beaches - 02/01/2016 02:19 PM

We went over to St. Barts to check the beaches several years ago. No services of any kind and from what we could see, no shade.
Posted By: Carol_Hill

Re: St. Barts Beaches - 02/01/2016 02:29 PM

dave--that's a good description of Saline, but as naked said, several of the other beaches have hotels and services.
Posted By: Bahston

Re: St. Barts Beaches - 02/01/2016 02:40 PM

As mentioned above, topless is permitted on any beach, but total nudity is technically illegal. That being said, you'll find that Saline is the beach where you're more likely to find clothing optional, more so farther from the entrance. You'll sometimes find similar at Gouverneur, but at the end away from the entrance.

Also as mentioned above, there is no shade on any beach, and services are limited to a few hotels (St Jean, Flamands, Grand Cul de Sac) and restaurants (Grand Cul de Sac, Shell Beach, St Jean). There are no services of any sort on Gouverneur, Saline, Colombier, Lorient, and the areas of other beaches away from the few hotels and restaurants.

Skip Toiny. While Le Toiny now has a restaurant on the beach, the water there is dangerous.

If you want a beach with services, consider the area of St Jean where the Tom Beach Hotel is located.

If you want to be more remote, Saline is a good choice. There is a good creole restaurant at the end of the parking lot farthest from the beach entrance, Grain de Sel.

Governeur is a beautiful beach. Santa Fé, the restaurant at the top of the long, steep hill leading down to Gouverneur is an excellent lunch spot, but it's a drive back up the hill, not a hike. Please stay off of the dunes, as there is a dune replenishment project in progress.

The hike to Colombier is fairly easy, with a choice of two routes. The high route leads down from the Colombier lookout. The low route is from the end of Flamands.
Posted By: charlieh

Re: St. Barts Beaches - 02/01/2016 03:56 PM

Quote
NakedAsAJaybird said:
TOPLESS is not unusual on any and all beaches.

SALINE is well worth the hike over the sand dune.


SBH used to be my "2nd home" and Jaybird nailed it very well. I can't overemphasize how much I like Saline. It is my favorite beach in the world. Yes somewhat of a hike, but beautiful and worth the effort. Also nude is definitely a tradition there.
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