The Top 5 Best Beaches in St. Martin

Okay fine, it’s not an official list, but I’ve been to 8 of St. Martin’s 37 beaches and so I think that makes me pretty much an expert on which beaches are the best. At least, that’s what my Linked In profile is going to say, because nobody exaggerates on Linked In. 😉

1. The Most Beautiful – Long Bay

I cannot even describe how beautiful the water is at Long Bay Beach. The bay is perfect for swimming due to the lack of waves. The water is so clear that you feel like you can see all the way to the bottom, even when you know it’s probably 20 feet deep. The white sand and the pretty cliffs surrounding the bay all add to the beauty. And notice how there is almost no one on the beach? It’s in a very wealthy neighborhood and doesn’t see much traffic.

My pictures really do not do it justice, so look at this website: St. Martin Boat Charter

Note: the DD7 speed boat in the first picture is the one we took all over St. Martin.

2. The Most Touristy – Maho Beach

If you’re only in St. Martin for a short time, I really recommend making a quick stop at Maho Beach. It’s not a relaxing beach or great for swimming and it’s pretty crowded. But the planes landing overheard and taking off are really something to see. Just make sure to stand on the beach side of the road. There are too many Youtube videos of people getting road-burns when the planes take off and throw them backwards. (Photo: Me being photobombed by a bikini girl at Maho)

3. The Best for Turtle Spotting – Tintamarre

The only way to get to Tintamarre is to take a boat, so I highly recommend Robinson’s Speed Boat Tours (see link above). Once you arrive, your boat will be one of many, but there’s so much space that you won’t feel crowded at all. Don your snorkels and fins and head out towards the ocean in search of the turtles. You’ll actually start to appreciate the other people there because it’s such a large area, and your fellow snorkelers will excitedly shout “turtle” whenever someone spots one!

4. The Best Nude Beach – Cupecoy

Ok, this one is actually kind of funny because we had no idea that Cupecoy was a nude beach when we went there. For one thing, it’s on the Dutch side of St. Martin. Also, important to note, when we say nude we don’t mean topless, we mean completely nude. But, that being said it’s still a beautiful beach and it’s perfectly acceptable to leave your clothes on if you want to. The steep stone cliffs that line the beach are really pretty and the water is the same pretty turquoise as Long Bay but with decent waves. (Note: Just make sure you aim and take your pictures carefully so you don’t wind up with pornographic images in the background of your memories.)

5. The Most Relaxing – Petite Plage

Petite Plage is the beach onsite at the Grand Case Beach Club, the resort where we stayed. Do not confuse it with the Grand Case Beach which has sea urchins. Petite Plage is much nicer. It was relaxing because we could walk right out to the beach from our room. The water is nice and warm with gentle waves making it the perfect beach to just sit and soak. It ended up becoming routine for us to visit this beach at the end of every day and just relax and float around as we watched the sunset.