St Barths
I recently traveled to St Barths for my 30th birthday and it was amazing! I knew I wanted to go somewhere warm and tropical with beautiful beaches, great food, and where my entire family would hopefully love. St Barths is also known for a bit of partying so I thought why not close the chapter on my 20s with a little partying. We went for a total of six days. I think we could have stayed another 1-2 days to explore the island a little more, since I am not sure when I would be back. Here are my recommendations, thoughts and places where I went in St Barths. We also had the best person assisting with reservations, questions, transportation, etc! If you are traveling to St Barths for the first time you have to use Philipp from Discover_St Barths to help you plan out your St Barths vacation!
Getting there: We flew from Miami to Puerto Rico via American Airlines and then Puerto Rico to St Barths via Tradewinds. This route made it super easy as an American citizen because you only had to go through customs once in St Barths, since Puerto Rico is part of the United States. The flight time from Puerto Rico to St Barths is approx. one hour. You can also take the St Marteen route, but have to go through customs twice.
Lunch Restaurants/Beach Clubs:
La Guerite Beach: Loved loved loved La Guerite. I thought this was the best lunch out of all the beach clubs. We were able to get a chair no problem, service was great, and food was phenomenal. They have a DJ that starts to play music around 2pm. We booked the lunch reservation ahead of time. I also thought esthetically it was the most beautiful restaurant and beach club. They also have a location in Gustavia Harbor, but we wanted to check out the newest location on Saint Jean Beach.
Gypsea Beach: We made a lunch reservation ahead of time and then got to the beach early to secure beach loungers. I thought this was going to be the most party vibe beach club, but it wasn’t. Service was not the best and the food was sub par in my opinion.
Shellona Beach: We also made a reservation ahead of time for this one and unfortunately couldn’t get beach chairs so this is the spot where you should bring towels with you so you can still relax on the beach! Beautiful restaurant, amazing food, and great service - but bring your $$$ because it was definitely the most expensive meal of the trip.
Nao Beach: As far as vibes for beach clubs, this one was the best. They played the best music, the views were amazing, service and food was even better. You can get there early for beach seating, which is limited but we opted for some shopping before NAO so we didn’t get to check out the beach too much. This is also a great viewing spot to watch the planes come in over the ocean.
Dinner Restaurants:
Sella (Israeli): The vibes were the best out of everywhere we went at night. Loved the music, great service and food was perfect.
Tamarin: Beautiful outdoor scenery and food was phenomenal. The service was amazing - we had the sweetest waitress. There was a cat on the property so I was a little bit of a crazy person about that (lol).
Chef Dinner at Airbnb: I wanted to have one night in where a chef could cook a meal that all of us would love and eat. Baptiste (Bon Appetite St Barths) was amazing and cooked us a great steak and lobster meal. I would definitely recommend hiring him if you are looking for a private chef in St Barths.
Eden Rock: I think this was my least favorite meal and vibe. It was not a packed out week in St Barths so it was a little slow. The view was incredible though because it was right on the beach. To take full advantage of the views, it might be better to visit during the day for lunch. Pro tip: if you visit for lunch, they have a truffle pizza on the lunch menu that is supposedly delicious!
Le Toiny on the beach: LOVED Le Toiny for the vibes and music. They recently started Thursday night dinners on the beach and it was beautiful. They had fire shows on the beach as well. The food wasn’t my favorite, but overall great vibes. The clothing store is also open during dinner, so after a few drinks you can go shopping too!
Bonito: This was one of my favorite meals on the island. The food was amazing. More upscale vibe. The location was higher up, so it boasted stunning views of the harbor and had open-air seating. The truffle risotto was delicious!
Airbnb: We stayed at an Airbnb in Anse des Cayes right on the beach and it was perfect. It included a sunset cruise by the owner himself, which was one of my favorite parts of the trip. The Airbnb was also in the best location as we were able to drive everywhere pretty quickly from there (all the beach clubs were within 5-10 min). The property had a private beach but since the weather was bad the few days prior to our arrival, it was high tide and a bit rough to go in the water. It had an infinity pool and the sunrise views were incredible. My only complaint was that the WiFi was spotty for the majority of the trip.
Additional thoughts: We went to Gouvenour Beach for a quick visit to see and wish we had a chance to stay longer. Beautiful beach, warm water and stunning views. Bring a towel and hang out there all day - don’t forget your sunscreen! No bathrooms or food, but great beach nonetheless. Overall the shopping on the island is very expensive and mostly luxury stores, so personally there wasn’t too much for me. If you’re into shopping and luxury goods, it is the perfect dose of beach, shopping and food.
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