I read on another site that the sand eroded from three sides of the base and it was removed for safety purposes.

The Simpsons

Yes, exactly. Hopefully the Perch isn't the next to "go".

speaking of the flag pole... is the webcam down again? i miss my daily st martin warmth fix!

No,it's still operational. Not much to see but water. Everything is getting washed away, but still better than what I see looking out of my window.

Yep, flagpool is gone. The footings for the beach side steps were undermined last week and are no longer useable. The fence on the high ground between perch and taxi area is gone, too.

So, we've only been visiting OB for five years, but what are people attributing the water rise to? Over the years on the forum people have talked about the and coming and going of the sand, but nothing like the conversations going on now. Is it water rise from global warming? I haven't seen any information yet regarding water rise and the Caribbean islands.

Normally the sand leaves in the summer and returns in the winter. It is not returning like it used to in years past. Today it looks like a lot of seaweed has showed up at waters edge.

The beach has been dramatically smaller since I first visited in the 90s for a long time. The worst beach erosion is in front of Papgayos and the Perch. Both are build on top of the dunes. In Texas, where I live, building on the sand dunes has been illegal for 30 years, because of what happens during hurricanes. I've also heard it theorized that the reef that protects Club Orient from big waves is crumbling. Very sad.

This morning the CO crew moved sand in front of and under the front steps of the Perch. So for now the Perch is safe and open as usual. There is more seaweed on the beach than normal, but the seaweed does catch sand as it's wash in. Yesterday the CO crew was piling seaweed along the beach between the Perch and taxi area to protect the high inland sand.

I had read previously that the last hurricane damaged the reef across from CO. Maybe this changed the water and sand movement.

A contributing factor is the wall CO put in place at Papagayos after the hurricane. It appears to have changed the current. Whenever walls are added at the beach bad things happen.

C.O. webcam shows the flagpole and flag being reinstalled!