Friar's Bay

Anse des Peres, known universally as Friar's Bay, is a sheltered 400-metre crescent on the northwestern coast where the land curves to face southwest toward the sunset. The bay is protected from the Atlantic swell by a headland to the north, which makes the water noticeably calmer than Orient Bay or Le Galet further up the coast, and the sand is firm and wide enough for a morning walk.

Two beach restaurants occupy the best positions at either end of the bay. The southern restaurant is the older of the two, a family operation that has been grilling fish on the beach for more than twenty years. The owner, a fisherman from the neighbouring village, brings the catch each morning and posts the day's selection on a chalkboard: red snapper, grouper, lobster when the season is right. The cooking is simple and honest — fish grilled over charcoal, served with baked plantain and a green salad from the market.

Snorkelling is the bay's unexpected pleasure. The reef that fringes the bay is not the most spectacular on the island — that distinction belongs to the marines reserves at Pinel and Tintamarre — but it is accessible from shore without a boat and within swimming distance of the beach. Turtles are spotted occasionally in the shallows; moray eels and spotted drumfish occupy the coral heads in deeper water.

The beach is popular with local families at weekends, which means it has a genuine community feel rather than the packaged resort atmosphere of the larger bays. Children play in the shallows, men fish from the rocks at the northern end, and the beach restaurants operate at a pace that suggests they have been there longer than the tourist trade and intend to remain after it.

Sunset from the beach faces directly over the Caribbean Sea toward the islands of Saint Barthelemy and, on very clear evenings, Saba on the horizon. The sky in the hour before dark can be extraordinary, with the light turning amber and then crimson over the water and the first stars appearing over the hills behind.

Access is via a short road that descends from the coastal road to a small parking area at the beach level. The beach is never as crowded as Orient Bay but can fill on weekend afternoons, especially when cruise ships are in port at Philipsburg on the Dutch side.

There are no large resorts or hotels on this stretch of coast; the accommodation nearest to the beach is in the village of Grand Case, about a ten-minute drive to the north, where a handful of small guesthouses and vacation rentals occupy the hillside overlooking the bay.

The bay offers some of the calmest swimming on the island because of its protected position, making it ideal for families and snorkellers who want reef access without a boat.

The two beach restaurants are genuinely local operations rather than tourist concessions, serving freshly caught fish and Creole dishes at honest prices in an unpretentious setting.

Sunset from the southwestern-facing beach is among the best on the island, with views over the Caribbean Sea to Saint Barthelemy and Saba on clear evenings.