Dawn Beach

Dawn Beach earns its name daily: the east-facing strand stages the island's sunrise theatre - sun climbing out of the Atlantic past St Barts's silhouette, gilding a golden beach whose morning culture (walkers, swimmers, breakfast terraces) treats the show as scheduled programming. The rocky arms hold the east coast's better snorkelling when the swell rests, the sand runs generous between them, and the beach's day mellows from sunrise ceremony through swimming noon to the quiet that the west-facing sunset beaches never learn. Set the alarm once; the argument makes itself.

What you'll find

• The sunrise ceremony - the Atlantic's scheduled morning show.
• The St Barts silhouette - the horizon's supporting act.
• The rocky-arm snorkel - fish life when the swell rests.
• The breakfast terraces - the morning culture's institutions.

When to go

December to May with the season - and dawn by definition; calm-morning snorkelling follows the swell forecast honestly.

Good to know

Swell days surrender the snorkelling and stir the swim - the beach compensates in theatre; afternoon shade migrates to the terraces.

Nearby

Guana Bay's wild strand, Oyster Pond and Philipsburg.