Club Orient on St. Martin, FWI

Going Au Natural Part 2

July, 1999

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The Trip

Since it has been a couple of years since we went there, I have kinda lost track of the exact sequence of events.  The beach was great, but after 3 days it was getting kinda boring.  Drinking pina coladas on the beach and watching the scenery walk by has a certain allure, but we were getting antsy.  So we decided to go shopping in a place called Marigot on the other side of the island.  Kathleen was expecting Rodeo Drive, but basically got something a little better that Tijuana.  Still, while we did not buy anything, it was cool to walk around and see the sights.  And, it put us in great field position for dinner at Grand Casse.  On the next day, we went parasailing and rented jet skis.  Both of us had been parasailing before, and the view here was excellent.  The jet skis were not as powerful as the one that I have, but we still had fun.

A view of the north end of Orient Beach from the Club.

Reef break and lounging platform in the lagoon.

The outside portion of the resturant.  The whole place is open air and there are no windows, only a roof.

Tame portion of the beach scene along Orient Beach.  The jet skis were for rent, so we did that.  Not nearly as powerful as the one that I own.

More odd cars.

Ready for road trip to Marigot.

Marigot has narrow, Colonial style streets lined with shops, resturants and bars.

The old French fort on the hill.  We did not visit it.

Always lots of high priced hardware in the harbor.

A side street where we encountered junkies shooting up in the open room on the left.

She shopped for clothes, I got the fashion show.

Early morning, other bungalows at Club Orient.

Outside the gym building.

The next cove over from Orient Bay.  Note green hills.

We hiked down to the main beach area on the last day.  Note the chaise lounges lined up.  You too can get one for about $5/day as well as earning the right to have solicitors and vendors in your face for the duration.

Thunderstorm building to the east.  We are getting buzzed on Red Stripe at 9am.

We parasailed on this boat, just not this morning.  We would be heading to the airport and home to San Diego in a couple of hours.

Kathleen next to fire truck with "man-co" tires. My truck has wimpy tires.

The trip back to San Diego was uneventful.  Some of the best flights are uneventful.  The trip is long, nearly 14 hours including layovers and general air travel hassles.  I would definitely go back.  In fact, we have gone back to the Carribean several times, though not to Club Orient.  But it was fun.

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