Orient Beach and a 9 Year Old Girl - Appropriate or Not

[BC Gal Ann]

We are thinking of taking Bernard's tour and one stop is at Orient Beach. Of course we would go to the area where clothes are worn. Do you think it would be okay for a 9 year old girl? We have never been to a beach where clothing is optional, so have no idea what it would be like. Any information regarding this is so appreciated.

[meggie711]

If I remember right, you go left for full-clothed and right for clothing-optional (I could have that backwards, but there are signs). We went to the clothing-optional side and saw a lot of full-clothed people (well, bathing suits, etc.) and some with nothing on. Those people weren't exactly right at the sign for that side, they were further down. Parents will argue either way, but you should have no problem at all with the clothing-required side (or however it should be phrased..lol), IMHO. It is a beautiful beach!!

[eandj]

The beach is long enough so if you don't want your daughter to see total nudity, stay as far as you can on the clothing end (left side looking at the water) . Bernard will show you which way to head. (If too close to the nude beach side, she'll get an eye full for sure! ) You can walk thru the parking lot to get to the "clothing" side.

 

However, know that topless is allowed all over the beach. If that will bother you, talk to your daughter ahead of time to prepare her. You'll see other kids on the beach and once they see a couple ladies, they ignore it. I wouldn't worry.

The young boys stare a lot...actually pretty funny.

[cynjimbo]

We are thinking of taking Bernard's tour and one stop is at Orient Beach. Of course we would go to the area where clothes are worn. Do you think it would be okay for a 9 year old girl? We have never been to a beach where clothing is optional, so have no idea what it would be like. Any information regarding this is so appreciated.

 

Loved Bernard's Tour! As long as you stay on the traditional side, as opposed to the nude side, you will be okay. There was only one topless lady on our side... That being said, there was a man, we called the ambassador, who stood right at the boarder who was quite a sight! So I would walk down a little ways before hitting the water. There was a family with young kids on our tour and Bernard's dropped them off at an alternate beach; you still have to deal with the topless issue though.

Good luck!

[Karysa]

We are thinking of taking Bernard's tour and one stop is at Orient Beach. Of course we would go to the area where clothes are worn. Do you think it would be okay for a 9 year old girl? We have never been to a beach where clothing is optional, so have no idea what it would be like. Any information regarding this is so appreciated.

 

 

 

Toplessness is permitted at beaches on the French side of the island. To make that clear in regards to Orient beach that means that anywhere on the beach you should be prepared to see topless women. There is a small section of the beach that is clothing optional . This section is well marked. The nude beach goers are suppose to stay in that section and the vast majority do. During the times that I have visited Orient I have never seen nude beach goers any where but the c/o side. Chances are though, that you may see men in skimpy thong bathing suits on the non- c/o section of the beach. If you are ok with this then go and enjoy and if not then choose another beach. Little Bay is a good option for cruisers who wish to see all beach goers suited up. It is not as nice of a beach as Orient and is mostly used by the guests of the beaches 2 resorts and cruisers but it is a fine beach and suits the people that tend to choose it.

[BC Gal Ann]

meggie711, eandj, cynjimbo and karysa - thank you so much for taking the time to answer my question.

 

Our girl is not the type of child to look around at everything, she is too busy playing with sand toys and in the water. I think that she will be fine on the clothing side of the beach.

I will talk to Bernard and see where the best spot for us to go. We have seen very skimpy bathing suits where we live and she never even noticed or did not say anything to us.

Thank you all again... you are the greatest.... :)

[bwellen]

We went to Orient Beach as part of Benard's tour. We had our 8 and 6 year old daughters with us. We told them we were going to a beach but said nothing ahead of time as to what they may see.

 

Bernard will drop you off at the middle of the beach. As others have said, left is topless and right is the totally nude side. So we pull into the parking lot at the middle of the beach and right in front of the van is a 70 year old man walking up to the garbage can in front of us to throw something away and he is completely nude. The look on the 8 year olds face was priceless; I thought her jaw was going to hit the floor and her eyes were huge. My wife explained to her quickly that people in other parts of the world do things differently, etc., etc. and she was fine with that.

 

We found a nice spot about 1/3 the way down to the left and the girls had a blast playing in the water and with the sand toys. Even though we had many topless people walking by us and a couple ladies sunning themselves right next to us topless as well the girls never seemed to notice it at all. To be honest, I think the 6 year was completely oblivious to the whole thing.

[BC Gal Ann]

bwellen, Thank you so much for the information.

 

I laughed when I read this: (I could imagine the look on your girl's face).

 

So we pull into the parking lot at the middle of the beach and right in front of the van is a 70 year old man walking up to the garbage can in front of us to throw something away and he is completely nude. The look on the 8 year olds face was priceless; I thought her jaw was going to hit the floor and her eyes were huge. My wife explained to her quickly that people in other parts of the world do things differently, etc., etc. and she was fine with that.

 

I know that if our girl saw that, she would have the same reaction. As like your children I feel that our girl will be so busy playing and having fun that she really will not notice too much.

 

Thank you again.... :)

[Ready4cruise!]

We went a few years ago and must of seen the same old dude, could of missed that one. Our son at the time was in his tweens and stayed in the water the whole time, there were alot of women topless!

[linnyj86]

I've been going to Orient Beach on both family vacations and cruise stops since I was in elementary school, and I turned out just fine :)

 

There's really so much to do that if she's the type who likes to go go go and play play play, she won't really notice it.

[graceinmelbourne]

What is Bernards tour? We are visting in September but haven't thought about what we are going to do yet. I have heard that Orient beach is lovely though so we would like to go there . We will have a 15 and 12 year old with us. Not fussed as to whether they see nudity or not. They have seen it before on a beach here and in Europe and besides a few giggles they got over it. I don't see how it is going to harm them to see topless or even naked. Much rather they see that than watch a violent movie or tv show.

[rummenroman]

What is Bernards tour? We are visting in September but haven't thought about what we are going to do yet. I have heard that Orient beach is lovely though so we would like to go there . We will have a 15 and 12 year old with us. Not fussed as to whether they see nudity or not. They have seen it before on a beach here and in Europe and besides a few giggles they got over it. I don't see how it is going to harm them to see topless or even naked. Much rather they see that than watch a violent movie or tv show.

 

You don't need a tour to get there, unless of course you would like a tour. The cab ride is based on the number of people in the cab and is fairly reasonable (if i remember correctly we hand the drive a $20 for the two of us). There has always been a plethora of cabs waiting at Orient to take you back.

[BeagleOne]

I think Old Naked Guy was there a couple of weeks ago too! Fortunately the key parts were hidden by some shrubbery. Otherwise I might have had to get the brain bleach out. :D

[graceinmelbourne]

I think Old Naked Guy was there a couple of weeks ago too! Fortunately the key parts were hidden by some shrubbery. Otherwise I might have had to get the brain bleach out. :D

 

I imagine that could have been quite a disturbing sight! We had a similar experience here at a beach in Broome in West. Australia. We went on a camel ride on the beach and the camels walked to the right hand side which was the nudists side. We were enjoying our ride with our kids when a few very naked, very old and very wrinkly guys were strolling towards us - eeeek! Not a good look! As the camel ride went along we spotted many other people naked and none of them seemed to be under the age of 60. It was quite a funny and memorable experience. The kids thought it was gross to say the least.

[Bettytrouble]

You don't need a tour to get there, unless of course you would like a tour. The cab ride is based on the number of people in the cab and is fairly reasonable (if i remember correctly we hand the drive a $20 for the two of us). There has always been a plethora of cabs waiting at Orient to take you back.

 

Nothing to do with the post= I LOVE your basset hound picture!! We have 2, they want to cruise but,, alas, they don't quallify as service dogs

[BillOh]

We went a few years ago and must of seen the same old dude, could of missed that one. Our son at the time was in his tweens and stayed in the water the whole time, there were alot of women topless!

 

It can't be the same guy there all the time can it? There is always somebody there it seems. It was what I would describe as a mid-50s guy there last May.

[stones902]

We have spent a considerable amount of time on Orient, the last being for a week last month. The answer really depends on your child and what they are used to and what you are comforatble with. It is a fact that you will see plenty of topless women throughout the beach. Full Nudity is allowed on the Club O naturalist resort and occasionally in the early morning you will see naturalists walk the beach before the crowds hit.

 

There were many kids (European, mostly) that we saw of that age that were not bothered the least by seeing topless. American kids might be a different story however as this is a foreign (no pun intended) concept for them.

[blue_water]

We are thinking of taking Bernard's tour and one stop is at Orient Beach. Of course we would go to the area where clothes are worn. Do you think it would be okay for a 9 year old girl? We have never been to a beach where clothing is optional, so have no idea what it would be like. Any information regarding this is so appreciated.

 

The "north" end of the beach (around the Alamanda and Bikini Beach Bar) is not CO and is just crowded and full of beach bars. But you can see an occasional drifter even here. If you are dropped to the south (near the Orient Club) your daughter will see some sights, many wrinkly and unwanted.

 

Our nightmare (for some time!) was the Europeans wearing the Speedos - wow!

[rummenroman]

Nothing to do with the post= I LOVE your basset hound picture!! We have 2, they want to cruise but,, alas, they don't quallify as service dogs

 

That's our baby, he will see the suitcases come out and he will sit in them and refuse to move. I'm not sure if he wants to come with, or doesn't want us to leave at all.

[gtaylor]

The "north" end of the beach (around the Alamanda and Bikini Beach Bar) is not CO and is just crowded and full of beach bars. But you can see an occasional drifter even here. If you are dropped to the south (near the Orient Club) your daughter will see some sights, many wrinkly and unwanted.

 

Our nightmare (for some time!) was the Europeans wearing the Speedos - wow!

Alamanda and Bikini Beach are really much more mid-beach than the north end, and if you do actually make it much farther along towards the north end, you might very well come across full nudity at Coco Beach.

 

gary

[blue_water]

Yes, thanks, north of the area we wanted to avoid.

[kinggartk]

On our tour with Bernard, the parking lot we stopped at was right at the border between the full nude and topless beach. It was impossible to not see the folks on the full nude side (Even if you do go left).

 

We took up a spot about 100 feet from the border of the two sides, and saw some pretty amusing and disgusting things.

 

One funny thing is: there was this couple walking down the beach in front of us (Going left to right). She was topless, he was just wearing trunks. When they reach the border between the two areas, he dropped his trunks, and continued on down the beach carrying them. A few minutes later we spot them coming back...he stops at the border, puts his trunks back on and continues his stroll. He was a 60 something balding fella with a pot belley and too much back hair.

 

When we first arrived, we saw right at the edge of the parking lot, a beautiful hand sculpted sand castle. My wife walked up to look at it, sitting behind it was the artist. A very tall, very skinny local sitting in all HIS glory...wearing nothing but a smile. I've never seen my wife turn so many shades a red when he spoke up and tried to start a conversation with her. She had no idea he was sitting there.

 

As we were leaving I just couldn't get over seeing the artist (a man) and another man admiring the castle just standing there shooting the breeze, both naked as Jay Birds.

 

Orient Beach is a place where you should be prepared to see anything...and I mean ANYTHING. Warn your 9 year old...she may see more than boobies.

[kinggartk]

We went a few years ago and must of seen the same old dude, could of missed that one. Our son at the time was in his tweens and stayed in the water the whole time, there were alot of women topless!

 

 

I bet I can guess why he stayed in the water the whole time!!!!:eek:

[satbeachbill]

At Orient Beach there is always the possibility of seeing partially dressed sunbathers....no gaurantee you won't.

 

Maybe the question for the OP is....do YOU think it's ok for your 9 year old to see this?

 

There's lots other beaches where there's less of a chance.......just saying

[shofer]

We did a ship's tour on Princess to Orient and never saw any topless/nude bathers. They kept all the cruise tours together on the beach, Princess with Princess, Celebrity with Celebrity, etc. This way when our bus came they could gather all of us quickly. We were very close to the restaurant & parking lot location.

 

I am not much of a beach girl but I sure liked this one. The loungers and the umbrellas were right up my alley. There are vendors going around selling t-shirts, jewelry, etc. Don't be afraid to barter. We saw the same necklaces at the port area for cheaper prices. The one I bought was $15 and she "gave" it to me for $10. I saw similar for $8 at the port.