What is the best beach in St Martin? Baie Longue, Grand Case, Orient Bay, Maho: the island's beaches area by area, and the ones you can see by jet ski.
The St Martin tourist office calls it "the island of 37 beaches": more than 43 miles of coastline between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic, from wild, windswept strands to bays lined with coconut palms. Here are the beaches it highlights, area by area, and the ones you can also see from the water.
What is the best beach in St Martin?
There is no single answer: it depends on what you are after. For a long, quiet stretch of fine sand, Baie Longue in Terres Basses. For a lively scene and water sports, Orient Bay. For calm water in front of a village, Grand Case.
Many of these beaches look different from the sea, and several are on the route of our jet ski tours, which leave from Marina Royale in Marigot, on the French side.
The Terres Basses beaches, on the west coast
These are the beaches the tourist office lists under Terres Basses, the villa district on the west side of the island.
- Baie Longue (Long Bay) runs from La Samanna hotel to Pointe des Canonniers. It is one of the longest fine sand beaches on the island and one of the quietest, with turquoise water and the sun setting over the bay.
- Plum Bay, north of Baie Longue, is a wild beach with no facilities at all, and hard to find on a first visit. On calm days it is good for snorkeling; when the sea picks up, it turns into a surf spot.
- Baie Rouge (Red Bay), between Baie Nettlé and Terres Basses, takes its name from its sand, which glows fiery red at sunset. It is backed by ochre cliffs, easy to reach and a favorite with locals, especially on weekends.
From the sea, our Terres Basses tour spends 1 h 30 along the cliffs, villas and white sand beaches of the west coast. The Sunset Dream follows the same shoreline at sunset, off Terres Basses.
Grand Case and the north
Grand Case is the beach of the village of the same name, on the west coast, between the sea and the island's largest salt pond. According to the tourist office, it is sheltered from the swell, the sea is calm and the water stays around 27 °C (about 80 °F) all year. Behind the sand, the restaurant strip made the village famous, and in high season the Grand Case Tuesdays bring live bands and carnival groups.
Further north, Anse Marcel is a cove ringed by hills and sheltered from the wind. The sea is often as calm as a lake and shallow, which makes it a family beach.
This is the coast of our Samana Adventure: half a day from Marina Royale towards Grand Case, all the way to Froussards beach, a wild spot that will leave you speechless, then back along Terres Basses. The Big Tour covers the same ground over a full day, 10 am to 4 pm, with lunch at a restaurant and, to finish, the planes at Juliana airport.
Orient Bay and Pinel Island, on the east side
Orient Bay, on the northeast coast, faces the Atlantic: about two kilometers (a mile and a quarter) of white sand, steady trade winds, kitesurfing and windsurfing. The tourist office nicknames it "the Saint-Tropez of the Caribbean" for its beachfront restaurants. Its western end is clothing optional.
Pinel Island, off Cul-de-Sac bay, is reached by shuttle boat from the jetty, or by kayak or paddleboard. It sits in the heart of the nature reserve: a sheltered strip of sand with calm, shallow water, ideal for swimming and snorkeling.
You reach these two by road: neither is on the route of any of our jet ski tours.
On the Dutch side: Maho Beach and Mullet Bay
Maho Beach, at the end of the Princess Juliana airport runway, is one of the most photographed beaches on the island, for the planes that pass just above the sand. Right after it, Mullet Bay runs along the golf course: clear water, rocks to explore with a mask and snorkel on calm days, and surfers when the swell rolls in. It gets busy on weekends.
Our 747 Tour takes you to Maho in one hour, to watch the biggest airliners land from your jet ski. To know when they come in, read our guide to the Maho Beach plane schedule.
The short version
For peace and quiet, Baie Longue or Grand Case; for atmosphere, Orient Bay; for the planes, Maho. And to see the cliffs, villas and beaches of the west coast in one go, the sea is still the best viewpoint. Our tours run with or without a boat licence, with a guide from start to finish, one or two riders per jet ski, every day from 9 am to 6 pm. Pick your coastline, then book your jet ski tour.
