Flamands, St Barts: The Long Beach and the Quiet Base

Flamands is the long beach on the north-west coast of St Barts, a wide, straight run of sand backed by a few hotels and a scatter of houses, and one of the most striking stretches on the island. It is also one of the quietest bases St Barts has. Staying here means a beautiful beach on the doorstep and a drive to almost everything else. For some travellers that is exactly the trip; for others it is the trade that spoils it.

What it is like to stay here

Flamands feels a step removed from the busier middle of the island, and that distance is both the appeal and the cost. The beach is at the end of the road, the hotels sit along it, and the villas climb the hillside behind. The evenings are quiet, the mornings on the sand are the point, and dinner is either on the spot, at one of the hotel tables, or a drive to Gustavia. Our guide on where to stay sets Flamands beside the other bases.

The hotels run the full range. Cheval Blanc, the only Palace-rated hotel on the island and the LVMH address, sits right on the sand, with the Italian seafood house Langosteria at its main table and lunch by the water at La Cabane. Along the same stretch are smaller, simpler places, the auberges and cottages that are the other face of Flamands. Our hotels guide covers both ends.

The beach and the sea

Flamands is the widest and longest beach on St Barts, and a long walk along the sand is reason enough to come. The water can pick up swell, which makes it feel grander, and a little wilder, than the calm bay at St Jean. Some days the waves are big and the beach turns dangerous, so look at the sea before you swim rather than assuming; on calm days it is a proper swim. It is not on the list of beaches that usually catch sargassum, which counts for something in late summer.

At the end of the road, on the Petite Anse side, the trail to Colombier starts: twenty-five to thirty minutes on foot to the island’s only beach without a road, and the more scenic of the two ways in. Our hiking guide describes the path.

Eating at Flamands

The hotel beaches, Flamands in particular, sit between the beach clubs of St Jean and the wild beaches with nothing at all. Several hotels here have restaurants open to non-guests, and the settings are lovely; as a rule, you are paying for the address as much as for the kitchen. For the rest, Gustavia is a drive away, and most people staying here plan their dinners around that.

Villas above the bay

The villas at Flamands sit on the hillside behind the beach, with the long bay below and the quiet that comes from being at the end of a road. The villas in Flamands are listed with their position above the beach, the detail that decides how far you are from the sand.

Who should stay somewhere else

Flamands is not a place you leave on foot after dark; Gustavia is the one for that. If you are travelling with small children and want calm water every day, St Jean and the lagoon at Grand Cul-de-Sac are the safer beaches. Flamands is for the long walk, the quiet, and the proper swim when the sea allows it.