Port #3 - Philipsburg,
St. Maarten (Day 5- 11/22/06)

We had breakfast at 7:30 and were off the Navigator by 8:30 AM. St. Maarten is the smallest island in the world ever to have been partitioned between two different nations, St. Martin/St. Maarten has been shared by the French and the Dutch in a spirit of neighborly cooperation and mutual friendship for almost 350 years.

We were docked on the Dutch side of the island at Philipsburg. We met our British guide, Wendy, for a beach trip to Orient Bay. Orient Bay is located on the French side of the island.




Orient Bay is the most developed, the most popular and the busiest beach on the island, probably the most famous beach in the entire Caribbean. The beach is reputed as much for its natural beauty and setting as it is for being the island´s foremost swimsuit optional or nude beach. Here is Judy arriving at the beach (Kakao Beach on Orient Bay) and picking up our complementary rum fruit punches.




The beach was indeed lovely with our padded chairs and umbrellas prepared for us.



The sea was choppy, but that did not stop these West Virginia tourists.



As soon as we arrived, the local vendors were working their way through the beach chairs trying to sell their wares. Beach towel/pillows, jewlery, and even hair braiding were available.



Judy fell for this young lad of 18 years young. Asha was selling palm hats and palm bowls. Judy purchased two woven palm bowls, one for us and one for Rachael and John. I asked Asha if he had a girlfriend. It seems that he has a child and the girl friend lives on the island of St. Lucia with his little one. It would be nice to know the stories behind many of these folks walking the beach.



Speaking of walking the beach! One attraction of Orient Bay is of course the clothing optional beach and the world´s famous Club Orient, the island´s only naturist resort at the southern end of the beach.

Clothing is optional in front of the Orient Club and the nude beach there is open to the public. The northern end of the beach, near the hotels, has more clothing, but in fact you may encounter nude sunbathers anywhere. The highest concentration of naked people, however, is at Club Orient.





What can I say? Be happy this is THE END of today's blog entry!

Tomorrow is a full day sailing and we will be having our first Thanksgiving in the middle of the ocean. Friday we will arrive in Nassau.