Antilles Treasures

We have been going to St Maartin/St Martin for years and regularly hear, “Happy Bay, you really should go see Happy Bay, it’s a beautiful beach, one of the jewels of the island”.

Rob put a visit to Happy Bay on the to do list and it has stayed there for at least the last two years if not three but always we find ourselves tucked into a routine and just not making it over to see this jewel.

Our most recent journey was to be different. First the weather cooperated for our scheduled day sail this year and the last stop of the day was to bob around on the waves in front of …yes, you guessed it “Happy Bay”. Second, this trip was very different as we had built a routine of visiting with friends at a couple of different villas every other day and then creating activities on the in between days.

A bit of a caveat here, We were on island two weeks and truly only made it to the beach for three full days. Villa life is good, VERY good!!! Some is the villa, some the view but most is the company we kept while visiting both villas.

Our first sighting of Happy Bay, French St Martin was on a Friday day sail aboard the Celine.  We passed it on our way to our destination of the day but on the way back we had the winds at our back and steered in to tie off at a mooring ball for a chance to escape the heat of the afternoons sun then followed by a nice snack as we finished off our day sail.

Once moored, I took a bit of time to survey the beach it was only sparsely inhabited that day and was quite an inviting sight. The beach was wide and called for me to visit like the sirens in an old pirate movie. The sand is a bit more orange in color than I am used to seeing on this island but I am sure some of that is because of the mass of dark rocks on the west end of the beach. Me thinks we will be making a visit to this beauty of a beach via land in the very near future.

A couple of days later we set out to find this elusive sliver of paradise. First stop is the parking area at Friar’s Bay. Friend to anyone that would stop by was Jack. He played the roll of security guard, greeter and tour guide to all that visited.

We easily found the path that leads to that Happy spot so off and up the hill we went. Today’s trip was going to be a short one to just check out the beach as the day was already scheduled for a visit new beaches and shoot photos of those that we thought were attractive and had never been to before.

The hike to Happy Bay was mildly difficult but not too strenuous. The views it afforded were at times breathtaking the entire walk to the beach from the Friar’s Bay parking lot lasted about 15 min. There is a fairly large hill with a loose stone path that you have to scale but it can be done in sandals if you are sure footed. Entering into the thicket I started looking for a creature from an episode of Lost or even a hobbit or two.
We conquered the hill and next looked for an open gate…found it ….and continued to a derelict group of buildings and turned left down the hill. Watch for fresh cow pies in the field area as there are a few bovine wandering the area but aren’t an issue. The walk was easier than we would have thought and led to today’s find…The beautiful strip of sand so aptly named Happy Bay!

We walked to the edge of the sand to survey the beach a bit, deciding to aim off to the left of the little makeshift shack that Danny calls home and works from then nestled ourselves in among the sea grapes for a few photos of this gem.

We took our pictures and decided it was time to venture off for another discovery as the Cap’n had no intent of getting in the water that day so had no swim attire which for this beach was no worry but didn’t think to bring along even a towel to dry off with if he got wet. Otherwise we would have stayed all day…not a bad thing but I was on a junket to shoot pictures this day no more no less.

First impression of the beach…BEAUTIFUL! Come early stake your spot and enjoy the day…we will return for sure! Waters edge faces North by North East so no real swells to speak of making for easy access in and out of the water. There is a drop off a few feet out but I don’t get in if I cant swim. There are a couple of shady areas for those that do arrive early and there is a beach guy “Danny” there daily that rents chairs and cooks lunch for those that are interested.

Our hike out was an uneventful decent down the rocky path…frankly I like going up it better than down. Back at the car Jack was still standing guard so we thanked him and headed off to our next adventure for the day.

We did go back for a full day later in the trip and loved it. We found a natural photo studio on the western end of the beach with beautiful entries into the water surrounded by large dark stones that I’m sure over the years have made the pigment of the sand what it is as it is darker, somewhat of Hawaiian like, sands than in other beaches on the island.

In Summary; Happy Bay is somewhat of a secluded beach that one must either hike to or arrive via water. It seemed while we were there that the western end of the beach has a bit of proclivity to be clothing optional but no one even looked up or thought twice about it. If you are relatively healthy (sans knee or back issues) Happy Bay may be that little get away you have been looking for. The hike is tedious but not too strenuous ailments aside of course. Bring some water, your camera and a free spirit and spend part or all of a day on a quiet little beach…enjoy!!

No, not as the Beetles sang about rather as a passenger aboard a 40’ catamaran in the waters around ST Martin that was christened with the name ”Celine”.  She was custom built by her Captain Neil Roebert in his home country of South Africa and then sailed to St Maarten and now resides daily in the Simpson bay Lagoon.  The Celine’s current home is docked at Skip Jack’s restaurant and all sailing adventures depart from there.

We had an early morning call with a quick briefing about the days activities followed by a light breakfast found a place to sit on the decking next to the mast and soon were underway.  I was able to anchor my camera equipment bag to the main so it wouldn’t head overboard while I was shooting.

We were prepared for a great adventure as neither of us had been on much more than a ferry ride to Anguilla or ST Barts.  We motored thru the lagoon and waited for the drawbridge to raise  and let us pass.  Neil had cast off early enough that we were first in line and soon were headed out into the channel between French St Martin and Anguilla. We passed the French capital of Marigot (photo), Friar’s Bay, Happy Bay, Grand Case and finally Anse Marcel then about 30 minutes of open ocean sailing before we tied off to a buoy at a little out island just north east of St Martin named Tintamarre.

Once on the buoy we were given the option to swim ashore or ride the dingy in. The daintier of the two of us had a broken toe so she was escorted in via the dinghy.  I chose the formality of stepping to the front of the boat and performing a “classic” swan dive to the water’s surface below…oops I misjudged how far down it was and the impact was a pretty solid thud!  Thank goodness no one was watching, as surely the judges wouldn’t have given very high marks.  I shook it off, made sure the trunks were still in place and took aim at my lovely wife who was already on the beach and started swimming her way.

We had a couple of hours to explore the island so after walking the beach that was available to us we decided to cut across the island and see the view of St Barts from the far side.  We also learned from Neil that the island was used as an R&R base for German U boats in WWII.  There was at one time a small village on island with a runway.  All  since overgrown and indistinguishable.  The island was very quiet that day with only another cat that didn’t stay long, a sailboat for two and one other but again no one stayed as long as we did.

Lunch was prepared on board the Celine by the Captain and quite well I must add, so we headed back to the boat to enjoy the banquet that Neil had prepared for us.  We ate like a bunch of starving sailors just back from a long trip.  There was little left but the decorative lettuce, so that was fed to the fish that were schooling behind the boat.  Think they have ever done this before?

We were visited by a couple of turtles while we feasted .  This is where the one and only occurrence happened.  I snapped the lens cap off my camera to shoot pix of the turtles and sat it next to me just as the boat rocked…off and into the deep the cap went.  No worries, lens caps are much easier to replace than lenses or cameras but with that said, Captain Neil appeared with fins and a mask.  Asked me to point out where the cap had drifted off to and went over the side.  Shortly after Aquaman surfaced with a big smile and my lens cap in hand.    We were soon headed back to ST Martin so across the channel we headed once more.  .

First stop was Creole rock which is located at the edge of Grand Case harbor. There was snorkeling to be done by those who wished to do so.  We chose to chat with Neil as Patrick was busy watching the snorkelers.  We then cruised around the point to Happy Bay for a refreshing swim.  This beach is beautiful and we were to return a couple of times during the remainder of our trip.  Upon leaving Happy Bay we were served a wonderful fruit plate and then headed back to Marigot to once again await the draw bridge.  While waiting we were blessed with viewing an incredible sunset  then Patrick presented us all with some Baileys Banana Coladas so we toasted the setting sun with them.

We arrived back at Skip Jack’s restaurant and said our good byes then headed back to our room.

Our opinion of the our first exposure to day sailing;  Fantastic! I can not say enough positive about it.  The boat was wonderful, Captain and crew were top notch and the food as tasty as we had eaten all week.  Worth every penny of the fare Neil charges for the day and we will make a day with the Celine and crew a part of our routine!

In short if you get the opportunity to do something like this..jump at it as it was a lot of fun.  They say a picture is worth a thousand words…these can speak for themselves.