Friars Bay is a small, beautiful, quiet beach that locals tend to go to. Friar’s Bay is also known as “Anse des Pères”. It is a great family beach. If you choose to have a chair or umbrella service, three beach bars and restaurants offer these services.
Both are conveniently located right on the beach, so if you get hungry for food and drinks, it’s all right there. You can have refreshments at Kali’s Beach Bar, enjoy Caribbean fusion cuisine at 978 Beach Lounge, or enjoy classic French at Friars Bay Beach Café, entering through their famous “beach door”. The beach and water are so clear and exceptionally clean, and the sand is incredibly soft and white. It is a quiet daytime place, but at night it comes alive with full-moon parties, bonfires, and reggae bands.
On the road to Friars Bay Beach, also make sure to stop by Ruby Bute’s Art Gallery and visit Richard and Lourdes at the Gutside Restaurant, one of the island’s best local restaurants.

Lovers Bay a.k.a. Lover’s Beach is south of Friar’s Bay. The off-the-beaten-path secret spot is definitely hard to get to but well worth it.
To get there you go in the direction of Friar’s Bay, but instead of taking a right over the bridge you take a left and follow the dirt road toward the coast. Park your car and follow the trail through the tiny, rusted gate. Then you have to choose your pathway to the left or right, although both lead you to the bay, but rumor has it the left is a little easier. They trek down a very steep cliff, but it is very doable.
As the name suggests, lovers often go here for the intimate secluded experience of this tiny little beach which really only has room for two. This is a fun spot but take note the beach can be exceedingly small to practically gone when there is high tide. But when the conditions are exactly right, it is truly a picturesque treat.

Written for We Are SXM by Chanaz Kokkelmans (Final edit by Roy van Zutphen)