St.Barts,Saint Barth?emy (French: Saint-Barth?emy,
French pronunciation: Swedish: Sankt Barthelemy), officially the
Collectivity of Saint Barthelemy (French: Collectivit?de Saint-Barth?emy),
is an overseas collectivity of France. Often abbreviated to
Saint-Barth in French, or St. Barts in English, the collectivity is
one of the four territories among the Leeward Islands in the
Caribbean that comprise the French West Indies, along with
Guadeloupe, Martinique and St. Martin.Tourism
St. Barts has long been considered a playground of the rich and famous and is known for its beautiful pristine beaches, gourmet dining in chic bistros and high-end designers.
St. Barts has about 25 hotels, most of them with 15 rooms or fewer. The largest has 58 rooms. Hotels are classified in the traditional French manner 3 Star, 4 Star and 4 Star Luxe.
Most of the rooms allocated to tourism on St Barts are found in private villas. There are approximately 400 privately owned villas available for rent on the island.
Geography
Located approximately 250 km east of Puerto Rico, Saint Barth?emy lies near the islands of Saint Martin, Saba and Anguilla. It is separated from Saint Martin by the Saint-Barth?emy Channel. Some small satellite islets also belong to St. Barts:
- ?e Chevreau (?e Bonhomme)
- ?e Fr?ate
- ?e Toc Vers
- ?e Tortue
- Gros ?ets (?ots Syndare)
Gustavia, which is the main town of the island, was named after King Gustav III of Sweden, and remains as a reflection of the Swedish period.
The oldest settlement still remaining is the village of Lorient (or L'Orient). Lorient's sister village on the French mainland is the city of Lorient on the southern coast of Brittany. The population is spread among a number of quartiers, roughly corresponding to settlements. Besides the capital Gustavia, there are:
- Anse des Cayes
- Grand Fond
- Grand Cul-de-Sac
- Petit Cul-de-Sac
- Quartier de Colombier
- Quartier de la Grande Saline
- Quartier de la Petite Saline
- Quartier de Public
- Quartier de Toiny
- Quartier des Flamands et Merlette
- Quartier du Corossol
- Quartier du Marigot
- Quartier du Roy
- Quartier de Vitet
- Quartier de Dev?
- Quartier de Lurin
- Quartier de Gouverneur
- Quartier Lorient (oldest settlement)
- Quartier Saint-Jean
Beaches
Of the 21 beaches on the small island, several are considered especially inviting. On the southern side of the island, Saline is a pristine beach with no development. On the western edge of the island is Colombier beach, which is only reachable by boat or a hike. St. Jean, Flamands and Grand-Cul-de-Sac beaches are also popular and attractive beaches which have hotels and other establishments on them. Shell Beach is popular for families with children as it has little surf.
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St. Barts has a tidal difference of only 8?15 cm. The beaches vary according to ocean currents ? the weather travels onto the island following the sun from the East. One of the main surfing beaches (Toiny) is known for its riptide, while Grand Fond is one of the island's only non-swimming beaches. These is a small variety of warm water sharks in the Caribbean; swimming at dusk and dawn or in murky waters is not recommended. Otherwise, scuba and snorkeling are a great way to see the nurse sharks, lobsters, conch and green sea turtles that abound in the waters surrounding St. Barts.
The beach of Grand Cul-de-Sac is the easiest beach in the Caribbean for learning sailing, windsurfing and kitesurfing as it has a reef which closes off the entire bay. The current that passes outside the reef here also carries the migrating whales and dolphins.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
