Orient Bay

What it is

A long, wide beach on the Atlantic side of the French half, with a run of beach clubs along it and more infrastructure than anywhere else on the island.

Loungers, umbrellas, restaurants, showers and toilets. Watersports. Somewhere to spend a whole day comfortably rather than a couple of hours on sand with a towel.

The clubs are genuinely different

This is the thing to know before you go, because they are not interchangeable and the beach is long.

Some are loud and social — music, a bar scene, a younger crowd, busy from lunchtime. Others are quiet and family-oriented, with space between the loungers, proper food and a much calmer afternoon.

Turning up at the wrong end changes your day completely. Tell us the group and what you are after, and we will drop you at the right part rather than at the entrance.

See beach clubs for how to choose.

The naturist section

At the far southern end, signposted and physically separate. It has been there a long time and it is not something you wander into by accident.

The main stretch, where the clubs are, is entirely conventional.

The wind

Orient Bay faces the Atlantic. That gives it the space and the surf that make it what it is, and it also means it gets weather the west-facing beaches do not.

On a calm day it is superb. On a windy day the sand blows along the beach, the water is choppy, and you will have driven 45 minutes for an uncomfortable afternoon.

This is exactly the sort of thing worth asking about on the morning. We will tell you honestly, and sometimes the answer is to go west instead.

The drive

Forty to forty-five minutes from the airport or the cruise port, across the island and up the east coast. Fifteen minutes from Grand Case.

That is the honest number. It means Orient Bay wants to be the day, not a stop on the way to something else. Leave at ten, back at five, and it is excellent. Try to fit it around two other things and you will spend the day watching the clock.

On a cruise call it needs a nine-hour day to make sense — see cruise port to Orient Bay for the maths.

Parking

Difficult in season, and the walk from the outer lots with beach gear and children is longer than it looks.

Being dropped at the club and collected when you are ready removes it entirely, which is why a lot of people do exactly that. See a beach club day.

The village

Behind the beach there is a small village with restaurants and shops, quieter than the beachfront and worth a wander if you want lunch away from the loungers.