The Island
Cupecoy, Mullet Bay and the West End
The best swimming beach on this side of the island, and the best sunset, ten minutes apart.
Mullet Bay
The best swimming beach on the Dutch side, and it is not close.
Long, wide, proper sand, water that is usually calm, and — unusually for this island — actual shade at the back among the sea grape trees. Loungers and umbrellas for hire, a few beach bars, and food.
It is ten minutes west of Maho, and the contrast is instructive. Maho has the aircraft and a steep shore break; Mullet Bay has the swim.
If someone tells you they want a beach day on this side of the island, this is the answer. See cruise port to Mullet Bay.
When it is not — occasionally, when there is swell running, the shore break picks up and it gets rough. That is not typical, and it is exactly the sort of thing worth asking about on the morning.
Cupecoy
Different in character entirely.
A cliff-backed beach at the far western end, near the French border, with low sandstone cliffs and caves worn into them. It is dramatic in a way nowhere else on this island is.
It is not the easy swim that Mullet Bay is — the entry is steeper and the amount of sand changes substantially with the season and the swell. Some months it is generous, some months there is very little.
What it is, is the best sunset on the Dutch side. West-facing, open water, cliffs, and very little between you and the horizon. See a sunset drive.
The clothing-optional part
Sections of Cupecoy have long been used as clothing-optional. It is not formally designated in the way Orient Bay's naturist end is, and it is at the quieter parts of the beach rather than the main access.
Worth knowing so that it is not a surprise.
Facilities, honestly
Mullet Bay — loungers, umbrellas, bars, food, shade. Limited toilets compared with Orient Bay, which matters with children on a long day.
Cupecoy — very little. There are places to eat nearby rather than on the beach, and the access involves steps down from the road. Not the choice for a day with young children or anyone with limited mobility.
A good west-end day
Mullet Bay in the morning while it is quiet and the light is good. Lunch nearby. Half an hour at Maho in the early afternoon for the arrivals bank. Cupecoy for sunset.
That is four genuinely different things within fifteen minutes of each other, and it is one of the better days available on the Dutch side.
Getting there
Fifteen to twenty minutes from the airport, 25 to 30 from the cruise port, past Simpson Bay and Maho.
The Simpson Bay bridge sits on the route and can add fifteen or twenty minutes when it is open. See Simpson Bay.
Questions people actually ask
Is Mullet Bay the best beach in St. Maarten?
On the Dutch side, for swimming, yes — real sand, gentler water than Maho, and actual shade at the back. Orient Bay has more facilities and Anguilla has better beaches entirely, but for a beach you can reach easily and swim at, Mullet Bay is the answer.
Is Cupecoy good for swimming?
Less so. It is a cliff-backed beach with a steeper entry and it changes with the swell — sometimes there is a lot of sand, sometimes very little. It is about the setting and the sunset rather than a lazy swim.
Is there shade at Mullet Bay?
Yes, at the back among the sea grape trees, which is unusual here and genuinely useful in the middle of the day. Loungers and umbrellas are also for hire.
How far is it from the airport?
Mullet Bay is about 15 minutes, Cupecoy about 15 to 20. Both are past Maho at the western end of the Dutch side, near the French border.
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Checked and updated 4 September 2026.