Bikini Beach

My wife and I arrived in St Maarten on a cruise ship. Since we had never been to the French side, we had arranged for a driver to take us to Bikini Beach Restaurant on Orient Beach. It was not crowded at all. We opted to rent chairs and umbrella in the first row. They charge different amounts depending on what row you choose. The chairs were super comfortable with thick padding. We were surprised they even had bar service on the beach. The server was excellent. He was around when needed but did not annoy us to keep purchasing food/drinks. The vendors on the beach were a different story. They all want to give massages or sing you a song for money. The beach was nice and the restaurant even had cleaned the seaweed off the sand before we arrived. The water was a bit churned up compared to other stops on our cruise, but we would not hesitate to return in the future.

This is the most central spot on the beach at Orient Bay. It used to be our favorite spot for lunch, but the quality of the food and attentiveness of the staff have gone down a notch or two. Still, it remains quite good and we would certainly return. Nice wine list. Steamed gyoza were good, also the grilled fish. They have a great coconut-flavoured rum to finish it off, but you need to ask for it specifically.

Went to Orient Beach for the watersports and this was a menu that looked good/we could all agree upon and had loungers/umbrellas for rent. The food was amazing and gourmet for a beach. Check out the daily specials as we ordered two meals from there. There was a large table/chairs area and real bathrooms with a rinse off area.