St. Maarten Beach Clubs Guide

Beach Clubs in St. Maarten

They are not interchangeable, and picking by proximity rather than character is how people end up in the wrong afternoon.

What a beach club actually is

A stretch of beach with loungers and umbrellas set out, a restaurant or bar behind, and usually toilets and showers. You pay for the loungers for the day and buy food and drink on top.

Most of them are on Orient Bay, which has the greatest concentration on the island and is where the term properly applies. Elsewhere you will find beach bars with chairs, which is a different and simpler thing.

They differ more than you would think

This is the part worth getting right, because Orient Bay is long and the clubs along it are not variations on a theme.

The loud ones have music, a bar scene, a younger crowd, and fill from lunchtime. Good fun if that is what you came for and a poor choice if it is not.

The quiet ones put space between the loungers, do proper food, and are far more comfortable with children or a long lazy afternoon.

The family ones have shallower water in front, more shade, and staff who do not mind sand everywhere.

Walking a kilometre of beach to find the right one, in the heat, having already driven 45 minutes, is not how anyone wants to start. Tell us the group and we will drop you at the right part.

What it costs

Generally a set price for two loungers and an umbrella for the day. It varies by club and by season, and some clubs credit part of it against what you spend on food and drink.

There is no haggling and no theatre about it. Ask at the desk when you arrive.

Is it worth paying for

For a couple of hours — no. Take a towel, find a spot, swim, leave.

For a full day — usually yes, and the reason is shade. There is very little natural shade on the beaches here, and between eleven and three that stops being a comfort question and starts being a sunburn one.

With children the arithmetic is clearer still: somewhere to put things, somewhere to get lunch, and a toilet that is not a fifteen-minute walk away.

Alternatives if that is not your day

Mullet Bay has loungers for hire, beach bars, and actual trees at the back — the best combination of shade and swimming on the Dutch side, without a club structure.

Friar's Bay and Baie Rouge on the French side have a beach bar and very little else, which is precisely why people go. Quiet, undeveloped, lovely.

Great Bay along the Philipsburg boardwalk has chairs everywhere and every bar in town behind you. Convenient rather than special.

Getting there

Orient Bay is 40 to 45 minutes from the Dutch side and the airport, 45 from the cruise terminal. That is the honest number and it means it is the day rather than part of one.

Parking in season is genuinely difficult, and the walk from the outer lots with beach gear is longer than it looks. See a beach club day.

Questions people actually ask

How much does a beach club cost in St. Maarten?

Typically a set price for two loungers and an umbrella for the day, varying by club and season, with food and drink on top. Some clubs will credit part of the lounger fee against what you spend. Ask when you arrive — the pricing is straightforward.

Do I need to book a beach club?

In high season and on heavy cruise days, yes, for the popular ones. Out of season you can generally walk up and find loungers.

Where are the beach clubs?

Mostly along Orient Bay on the French side, which has the greatest concentration. There are beach bars with loungers elsewhere — Mullet Bay, Great Bay, Simpson Bay — but they are bars with chairs rather than clubs.

Is it worth it, or should I just take a towel?

For a couple of hours, take a towel. For a full day, particularly with children or in the middle of the day, shade and a proper chair and somewhere to get lunch make a genuine difference. There is very little natural shade on most beaches here.