We're thinking about staying here for Christmas. Please let me know your opinion. Looking for a place walking distance to Club O beach.

We stayed at Esmeralda in May. Some think its a bit pricey, but we love it. Rinsing off in the pool, sans suits, was a good way to finish a beach day.

EXACTLY!!!! We always stay in Villa and sometimes a few heads are turned our way...we love sans suits!!!

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Joe n Barb

Does Esmeralda allows nude swiming ? That would ge great.

Originally posted by bobby45 Does Esmeralda allows nude swiming ? That would ge great.

I have never stayed there, but have heard the official position is no. BUT, unofficially it seems to be ok in the evenings if no one is occupying the other shared pool units or they are all ok with it. Someone may chime in that has been there before.

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Life's a beach!

The official position is a definite no, but we rinsed off after the beach with our suits close at hand by the side of the pool. I was a bit more cautious than my wife since a skinny dipping man tends to upset people more than a woman since topless is officially permitted at Esmeralda. I just think its best to be cautious as some people are upset by nudity and it is their vacation, too. Our quietly breaking the rules came to an end when a couple with two small children rented the unit next to us, but it's all good since we'd been at the O beach all day. We're going back there in the spring because board shorts is a small price to pay for just a nice morning walk to Club O beach. Cheers.

My wife and I have stayed at Esmeralda 6 or 7 times over the last 15 years. There are about 18 villas, each with about four units and each with its own pool a few steps from your porch. We request a villa with a secluded pool. (We haven't been there since the hurricane so I don't know how secluded they are now,) We ask anyone we see in the other units if they mind if we swim nude and no one has ever objected. We spend most of the day nude at the pool, walk around the pool and back and forth to our room nude. We even toss a Frisbee around while we stand on the deck on opposite ends of the pool. If the Frisbee goes over the fence, we go get it while still nude. We go for about 10 days in late March, April or May and usually not all of the units are occupied and most people spend their time at the beach or somewhere away from the pool. Thus we usually have the pool to ourselves. No one has ever objected to us being nude. Sometimes other people use the pool nude but even those who are not nude don't care. If someone else is at the pool and they are not nude, we use a wrap when walking back to our room. These have been the most relaxing vacations we have ever taken.

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DS&SS

DSSS: When we were post Irma, it appeared all the vegetation around the villas at the E had been stripped bare. We didn't go up into the resort, but from the beach, there didn't seem to be much privacy.

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Paragraphs Are A Reader's Best Friend.

Correct. There isn't much plant cover any more, but it's growing back. Not the same as walking out of an oceanfront Chalet, but the walks are nice since that's all we've got after the storm.

Years ago, there was a clothing optional zone ( called Coco beach I think). Is it still there ?

It was part of Coco's. A cordoned off area with chairs and umbrellas next to the Es that Coco was evidently never truly happy with. Had some strict rules, such as if one got out of the chair to go in the water, bottoms must be worn. Irma blew Coco's into the sea. Had not been rebuilt when we there there last.

Back the first year we went to St. Martin, there was a nude area around the big rocks next door to the Es and Coco's We went down there on the first day I was ever naked in public. I had already been on the Club O Beach earlier in the day without my suit, so I went ahead and stripped naked in front of all those people wearing swimsuits, and more. It was a Sunday, which is "locals' day." We didn't know about that at the time. Had we known, we wouldn't have been there. There were hundreds (maybe thousands) of locals on the beach that day and only 4 couples without suits. We braved it out, and even walked naked down to the water a time or two. But that was our only trip to that area. I felt like an animal in a zoo. We limited ourselves to Club O beach after that.

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Paragraphs Are A Reader's Best Friend.

Pre Irma we kind of checked it out mid day once. It appeared to be kind of a joke, with about a 4 foot temporary wall where you could be naked on one side, but not on the other. We heard there were rules like if you used the bathrooms you had to get dressed, or maybe just bottoms?

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Life's a beach!

In 2002, on my first visit to Orient Beach, the area by Coco had quite a bit of nude use and and no fence. There was scattered nude use along the entire length of the beach, and some of the guidebooks said that the entire beach was clothing optional. A few people could be found walking the beach nude in the middle of the day.
I have heard that Coco's management was not happy with nude people walking to the bathrooms.
Then, the nudity crackdown started and the Gendarmes told everyone in the Coco's area to cover up. The fence was a compromise that didn't last long.

Would Coco nude use have been before they built out the village? I remember being bothered by construction while at Esmeralda in 2001. Just another example of the push for money ruining a paradise?

It continued a bit after that, but there's probably a connection. I have also heard Disney was part of the reason for the crackdown on nudity once their cruises started visiting the island.