Beach-lover’s guide to St. Martin

Baie NettlÈ

The strip of land separating Simpson Bay Lagoon from the ocean, called Baie Nettlè, is home to an unkempt beach rarely visited for anything but the bars that bookend it. Layla’s Beach Bar ($$; 011-590-590-51-00-93) on the east anchors the nicest stretch of sand, swept clean and lined with palms. Their menu of fresh fish is seasoned with herbs grown in the garden. Ma Ti Beach Bar ($$; 011-590-590-87-01-30), on the west end, dishes out French and Creole fare. Both are open for lunch and dinner.

Friar’s Bay and Happy Bay

Friar’s Bay is best known for its dueling drink shacks. Kali’s Beach Bar ($; 011-590-690-49-06-81; www.kali-beach-bar.com), attended by Kali himself, has Rasta-colored everything, a burgers-and-BBQ menu and a laid-back attitude. Meanwhile, just a stone’s throw down the beach is a defiantly French outpost, Friar’s Bay Beach Café ($$; no phone). The sand around the bar serves as an al fresco gallery where the owner, Laurent, displays art that he commissions — usually politically motivated pieces on large canvasses. When gazers get hungry, Laurent, a former chef with Windstar Cruises, creates exquisite entrees like beef carpaccio and stuffed mussels.

Zach Stovall / Caribbean Travel & Life Magazine Beach Bar, Orient Beach, St. Martin

An easy 10-minute hike from the north side of Friar’s brings you to Happy Bay, one of the island’s best stretches, whose blissful privacy and natural beauty more than make up for its lack of amenities. The creamy, palm-lined crescent is completely surrounded by emerald hills, and you can snorkel around rocks right off the beach. Pack a picnic that includes a bottle of wine and a baguette and get happy. 

Hot Stuff: They say a full moon brings weirdos out of the woodwork. Test the theory at Kali’s Full Moon Party. A bonfire on the beach and reggae bands from Anguilla, St. Barts and Guadeloupe draw the night owls from St. Martin and neighboring islands to hoot at the moon.

Grand Case

A skinny crescent of pale sand facing Anguilla is home to the quaint village of Grand Case. Waterfront foodies have converted this once-obscure fishing village into the culinary hub of the island, if not the entire West Indies. More than a dozen gourmet restaurants overlook the sand, and chefs from around the world painstakingly prepare traditional French dishes like foie gras and frog legs as well as extravagant shrimp curries, crab cakes and Italian pastas and pizzas. All, of course, enhanced by superb wine lists.

Though Grand Case is ideal for fine-food feeding frenzies, the village also offers lo-los, a group of barbecue shacks in the middle of restaurant row that cook up mouth-watering chicken, fish and ribs on oil-drum pits and then pile plates high with rice ’n’ peas and salad. It’s great, cheap (relatively cheap in the case of the grilled lobster) local flavor, and you can go in your swim trunks.

Grand Case Beach itself is about as sleepy as the town. Since there’s not a wide swath, make sure to stake out a spot beyond high tide’s range.

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