Just 11 miles away from the international airport, and 6 miles away from Marigot, the French side main town, the Hotel Marquis is perched on top of a hill overlooking the Anse Marcel cove. With only 17 rooms and suites, Hotel Marquis offers a stress-free and relaxing environment. Temperatures average 74F in the Dry season from December to May, and an average of 81F in the Wet season from June to November. When threatened by a hurricane strike, one should expect a 2-day displacement from evacuation to safe return. A vast selection of shops, galleries and boutiques makes this port of call a hot stop for cruise-loosened shoppers. The prices are in dollars here, too, so there are no surprises at the register.

St Martin/Maarten or any of the Caribbean islands for that matter is much stronger than what you are used to at home. An SPF 15 or higher sunscreen lotion is recommended by most doctors to insure some sun burn protection. Our first Caribbean cruise was immediately after a small hurricane in Oct. The seas were rough, and the captain decided to bypass St. Martin. If you plan to snorkel here, watch for the cross current and be careful when the trade winds are strong. Dawn Beach offers white powdery sand and is located on the eastern side of the island. Enjoy the marvelous water colours, have fun while snorkeling at the coral reef. The island’s 39 beautiful beaches provide a variety of choices as well as opportunities for diving, snorkeling and sailing. Duty-free shoppers flock to Phillipsburg (the Dutch Capital) and the waterfront market in Marigot (the French capital), one of the most charming towns in the Caribbean.

We visited Orient Beach just last week, it was one of our ports of call during our cruise. We docked in Philipsburg and took a cab over to Bikini Beach, rented two chairs $12 and an umbrella $3 and enjoyed the turquoise water and white sandy beach. The hotel is only a minute walk from the Orient Beach, a very nice beach. We brought a lot of sand back from the beach everyday and the cleaning staff did a great job getting rid of it. Cap Caraibes is a 35 room hotel with independent suites faces Orient Beach. Garden View rooms open to the pool area. Orient Beach is very easy to find. There appear to be several entries.

Grand Case beach club is located on 2 beautiful white sand beaches and within a short walk to fine dining in the village of grand case. The club offers the best accomodations and service. Grand Case Beach Club offers a wide variety of accommodations, all larger than standard hotel rooms and suites, in two and three story whitewashed buildings with red steel roofs. They all have either oceanfront or garden views, and colorful island motif fabrics that brighten the primarily white rooms, rattan furniture and tile floors. From your room at Grand Case Beach Club it’s only a couple of steps down to the beach, dotted with umbrellas for shade. The village of Grand Case, the ” Gourmet capital of the Caribbean ,” awaits you just down the beach.

St. Martin’s newest oceanfront hotel, a combination of tranquility and intimacy, where the 42 rooms, suites and family duplexes offer a breathtaking view of the powdery sand and azure waters of Orient Beach. This resort is the newest deluxe property in the French West Indies, an invitation to the splendor of living in the heart of the Caribbean. Cap Caraibes is a 35 room hotel with independent suites faces Orient Beach. Garden View rooms open to the pool area.

Depending on who you talk to, who is more traveled, the answer will be different. But there is no doubt that Orient Beach, St. Martin, is quite the beach. And if you’ve been to St. Martin, and were bound to the Dutch side - sorry - the spectacular beach is here, on the French side. Every local knows where this place is, so don’t be shy, but ask where Orient is and you’ll get directions. We drove from our hotel on the Dutch side and it took us through some of the strangest looking growth. Even in paradise, there’s poverty and you’ll find as we did, that the money follows the coast. We did not follow the coast and went through the island.

Columbus named this beautiful island, “St. Martin” or Sint Maarten (Dutch spelling) after the feast day of the same name, because he discovered the island on that day.

For St. Martin, there are 39 beaches total. Locals like to brag that there’s “at least one for each of the square miles that make up this Caribbean paradise!” It’s 37 square miles. But believe it or not, a lot of beach real estate on this island has been lost to the blade of bulldozers. Some call it progress.