Beach Conditions

EddyG

SBH Insider
My favorite beaches have lots of sand and NOT lots of people. Today, Sunday, at Saline there were less than 20 on the entire beach. A few days ago there were only 3 of us on Gouveneur. Maybe 5 on St. Jean. No parking problems. The tile entrance signs are gone for now.

Here are photos of Gouveneur. It seems like the sand level is way down, but the width is about the same. The far half has rocks exposed, but the first half does not.

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The Russian lost his privacy for now.

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The water has been very nice.

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Here's Saline. Also lost a lot of sand depth, but just as wide. The large palm trees planted on the trail in are all gone.

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I imagine Saline is like it may have been 50 years ago before a lot of visitors. It still is a special place to enjoy the sea,

St. Jean has no businesses open that I could see on the beach, but the sand area is as good as ever. Just BOYB.

This first one is from where La Plage WAS.

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This is where Niki was - the beach is still there.

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This was La Plage.

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More on other beaches later. It has been a long time since you could find empty beautiful beaches on St. Barth. Just no cold rose'.
 
Brilliant pictures, thank you.....Eden Roc lost the boat which was tied up Nikki's side..or did they remove it before the storm?
 
Those are awesome pictures! Thanks for posting them as it gives us a real understanding of the current conditions. Pictures like this and others will help us a lot when we need to finalize our travel plans for April. Still a bit nervous about flying into SXM however. We will for sure be coming only with carry on!
 
Here is Lorient - a beautiful beach, just no surf shack. The white tent is where it was. Now you can see the church from the beach.

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Beautiful! Our favorite beach--we have stayed in the villa next to the Surf Shack (white fences) for 30 years--truly our home away from home.
Can't wait to return in March!
 
We have been here for a week and it is truly magical without all the loud tourist spots. Absolutely adore how quiet the island has been.
 
Those are awesome pictures! Thanks for posting them as it gives us a real understanding of the current conditions. Pictures like this and others will help us a lot when we need to finalize our travel plans for April. Still a bit nervous about flying into SXM however. We will for sure be coming only with carry on!

0 issues flying into SXM with 4 checked bags. St Barth Commuter was first class in service. We felt like VIP's! Amazingly efficient in guiding us thru the "new al fresco airport.
 
Max, what time was your A/A flight scheduled to arrive in SXM? And what was the actual arrival time?

Thanks.
 
We go the last week of August every year, and it is this quiet. The photos are captioned correctly. So much for the seclusion of Les Mouettes
 
We go the last week of August every year, and it is this quiet. The photos are captioned correctly. So much for the seclusion of Les Mouettes

We've spent the entire month of August on St Barth before and although it is quiet it is nothing like right now.
 
Wouldn't it be nicer not to build on the beaches... :)

100% agreed, all beaches should be left in their natural state. One of the many reason we love St Barth is because of Saline and Colombier. How we hope they stay undeveloped forever.
 
Max, our trips overlapped, we just departed yesterday afternoon. I could not agree more, quiet was nice and not as in August. On our departing Tradewind flight, Anita and I were two of three total on the plane, same as day we arrived. In 10-trips, can not recall so few tourists.
 
I was at Saline today around noon and I was the ONLY person on the beach. When I left there were 5 of us.

To confirm a previous question, here is Niki Beach as of today.

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Camp David:

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Eden Rock:

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More of St. Jean Beach:

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Only one business open on the entire beach - Carib Waterplay. 6 loungest to rent for 15 euros - no takers today.

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And the other end:

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Ed, your pictures really show how much was lost in the storms. They hurt my heart. I can just imagine how horrible the scenes were when the structural debris and destroyed plantings covered the sand!
 
Ed, your pictures really show how much was lost in the storms. They hurt my heart. I can just imagine how horrible the scenes were when the structural debris and destroyed plantings covered the sand!


I was just thinking the same thing Amy. My old daily walking track. Back in the day it was always a pleasure to wave to JC as we touched the rock at ER to mark the end of a beach lap. We would then make our turn around to go back and walk to the other side (prior to the fence) where we would find another marker signaling the end of a lap. So many people met over the years and friends made and celebrations had on that beach. It is with a heavy heart that I am reflecting on those memories. Truly stunning photos Ed.
 
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