• What to know if you go

St. Barts — It's only 9 a.m. on this French West Indies' isle of style, and the fashion show has already begun.

Scott Warnke. (ENLARGE)
Eden Rock, perched atop a stony promontory in St. Jean Bay, is one of St. Barts' most luxurious resort properties.
Scott Warnke (ENLARGE)
Rugged hills provide a striking backdrop for the surf of St. Jean Bay in St. Barts.
Scott Warnke (ENLARGE)
Yachts fill the harbor of Gustavia in St. Barts, viewed from the lighthouse above. Gustavia, the capital, offers exclusive shopping, including Cartier, Dior and Louis Vuitton.
Scott Warnke (ENLARGE)
A windsurfer slices across St. Jean Bay in St. Barts. Favorite island pastimes also include celebrity-watching.
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My husband and I have just tucked into a feast of deliciously stinky cheese, fresh croissants and champagne at Eden Rock's On the Rocks restaurant when a blond waif in a pink couture mini-dress wafts through the door.

The wind is hurling itself across St. Jean Bay, buffeting against the stony outcropping where this open-air restaurant rests like an eagle's nest, but the woman's long locks hang like a curtain of golden silk.

She is poised and paparazzi ready behind oversized sunglasses, and for a moment, I think, "Could she be Paris Hilton?"

No lack of celebrities

Celeb-spotting is this island's equivalent of bird-watching, though no one would be so déclassé as to use binoculars. But this blonde is missing the requisite mouse-size Chihuahua tucked under her armpit, and it suddenly strikes me that no self-disrespecting debutante of debauchery would be caught dead dining out at this early hour — or, indeed, eating at all.

St. Barts, or St. Barthélemy, has a reputation as the island of beautiful people — the effortlessly chic, deliriously wealthy and insanely famous.

With its dramatic, jagged slopes ringed by white sand beaches, the isle is a big draw for fashion shoots. It has been featured on the pages of publications ranging from the Pirelli calendar to the Victoria's Secret catalog and drawn the likes of Kate Moss, Claudia Schiffer and Gisele Bundchen. Tom Cruise, Harrison Ford and the late John F. Kennedy Jr. have all vacationed here, and the harbor of the capital, Gustavia, is filled with yachts the size of small cruise ships.

Island 'like a village'

So what's the appeal? "It's safe and very small, like a village," Sabine Masseglia explains. Masseglia, originally from a small French town near Nice, is director of sales and marketing for Hotel Guanahani & Spa, a colorful village of well-equipped bungalows that can claim its share of famous guests, including Jon Bon Jovi and Arnold Schwarzenegger.

"There are 22 beautiful beaches, 80 restaurants, exclusive shopping," Masseglia continues. In Gustavia alone, Hermès, Cartier, Dior, Bulgari and Louis Vuitton all preside over a one- or two-block stretch.

"You do not come to St. Barts to go to museums," Masseglia notes with a smile. "A perfect schedule for our guests is to lie on the beach until 4 p.m. Shower optional. Shopping from 5 to 7 p.m. A drink in Gustavia, and a good restaurant."

Plenty of beach choices

Our biggest decision each day is determining which beach to visit. Grande Saline and Gouverneur are two of the most famous. Both are wild, natural crescents, devoid of visible development but easily accessible via a sandy path. The farther you stray from the path toward the far ends of each beach, the more inhibitions — and clothes — the sun-worshippers shed.

Colombier Beach is reached by a more strenuous, steep hike through cactus-laden underbrush, but the payoff may be an abandoned stretch of sand all your own.

Our favorite is St. Jean Bay, where the beach is bordered on one side by aquamarine water that changes to emerald near sunset and a smattering of cheeky bars and rental cottages on the other. We enjoy a promenade between Eden Rock, an elegant hotel atop a peninsula overlooking the bay, and the airport. Tiny prop planes buzz in from the south, swooping down over the hills at an alarming angle, wings tilting like a seesaw, before touching down and taxiing along a runway that ends just yards from the surf.

Near-nudity not always beautiful

During our beach excursions, we encounter for the first time the other side of St. Barts — the people who aren't necessarily so beautiful, that is. Interspersed among the perfectly bronzed bodies in gold lamé bikinis are naked grannies in flowered bathing caps, potbellied men in Speedos and topless middle-aged women. But the thing all these folks have in common is a certain comfort level with their bodies, a refreshing celebration of their corporal selves.

Besides the beaches, we find the most fascinating mix of people at Le Select, a relatively inexpensive burger joint in Gustavia that proudly purports to sell a "Cheeseburger in Paradise" (with the apparent blessing of Jimmy Buffett, a frequent visitor to St. Barts and the poster boy for the flip-flop contingent, despite the fact that he owns his own plane and yacht).

Bellied up around the plastic tables in the outdoor courtyard one afternoon, we see paint-splattered workers in cutoff jeans; surfer dudes with tangled, sun-bleached ponytails; and one guy in a silky paisley-print designer smock that would have made Jerry Seinfeld's infamous puffy shirt look subdued. The chat is a mix of English and French, wafting along on a cloud of Marlboro smoke and a faint whiff of body odor.

The leisurely life

"It's good ambience, good food, and it's cheap," notes Candee Duensing, an expat from Raleigh, who strikes up a conversation with me. Duensing left her job with a telecommunications firm and moved to St. Barts in 2004 after falling in love with the isle during vacation. Now she's engaged to Victor Blanchard, a stonemason with boyish good looks who is a French-speaking native of St. Barts.

I ask Duensing to describe her typical day. "I get up when I wake up, walk with a friend of mine for three or four miles. Then we go to the bakery," she admits with a laugh. "I get a pain au chocolat [a chocolate-filled roll] and something cold to drink. We go fishing a lot, or we go to the beach."

OK, so Duensing may not own a yacht. Her abundant hair is dark and wavy, not blown into an obedient sheen, and her T-shirt looks more comfortable than couture. But as she describes these leisurely pleasures, her smile is beatific. When you get right down to it, that's what St. Barts is all about.

IF YOU GO

About the island

St. Barts is French and its currency is the euro, but some establishments accept dollars as well. Credit cards are widely accepted.

Getting there

Expect to pay $600 round-trip airfare from Atlanta to St. Maarten. From St. Maarten, you can take a ferry or a plane to St. Barts. The ferry ride can be long and rough, but the 10-minute plane ride can be a nail-biter, with its steep landing.

• Ferries: Rapid Explorer Ferry, one way 60 euros (about $70), round trip 89 euros (about $105); 011-599-542-97-62, www.rapidexplorer.com. Voyager, one way 37 euros (about $45), round trip 65 euros (about $77); 011-590-590-87-10-68, www.voyager-st-barths.com.

• Airlines: Winair, 1-866-466-0410. St. Barth Commuter, 011-590-590-27-54-54, www.stbarthcommuter.com.

Where to stay and dine

Many of St. Barts' hotels offer superb restaurants as well as luxe accommodations.

• Eden Rock, one of St. Barts' most historic hotels, has undergone a $25 million renovation. This Relais & Chateaux property features beachfront accommodations as well as rooms atop a dramatic peninsula that juts out into St. Jean Bay. On the Rocks, offering breakfast and dinner, features gourmet cuisine, fresh seafood, a creative assortment of amuse-bouches, and a romantic atmosphere from its perch above the bay. The Sand Bar, an open-air restaurant on the beach, is a lunch favorite among locals and guests. 1-877-563-7105, www.edenrockhotel.com. Accommodations, 475-2,500 euros (about $565-$2,977).

• Hotel Guanahani & Spa, a member of Leading Small Hotels of the World, features 71 private bungalows, a three-bedroom villa and a luxurious Clarins spa situated along a peninsula. A new Wellness Suite, which opened in December, offers ocean views and private, after-hours access to the spa. Award-winning chef Philippe Masseglia oversees Le Bartoloméo restaurant, serving Mediterranean fare, and the beachside L'Indigo, which features generous portions of design-your-own salads and pasta. Don't miss the crème brûlée. 011-590-590-27-66-60, www.leguanahani.com. Accommodations, 330-1,430 euros (about $393-$1,705).

• Hotel St. Barth Isle de France is anchored by a blue-and-white plantation-style building on Flamands Beach and features 33 accommodations. The spa offers specialized Molton Brown treatments, including a signature Shiatswe body massage that blends Swedish and shiatsu techniques. La Case de l'Isle serves gourmet cuisine, from risotto to rack of lamb, in an intimate dining room overlooking the sea. 1-800-810-4691, www.isle-de-france.com. Accommodations, 495-2,115 euros (about $590-$2,520).

• Village St. Jean offers modest, and modestly priced, rooms on a hill with views of St. Jean Bay. Amenities include a swimming pool, Jacuzzi and an Italian restaurant, Terrazza. 011-590-590-27-61-39, www.villagestjeanhotel.com. Accommodations, 110-570 euros (about $130-$680).

• Le Select in Gustavia really does serve a "Cheeseburger in Paradise." Burgers and fries for two, along with a couple of beers, will run you less than $30. 011-590-590-27-86-87.

• The Hideaway, Chez Andy in St. Jean offers large portions of pizza, pasta and a bottomless carafe of vanilla rum after your meal, but the real reason people come here is because of the affable smile and quick wit of proprietor Andy Hall. 011-590-590-27-63-62.

Information

• Office du Tourisme, 011-590-590-27-87-27, www.st-barths.com.

• The Insiders' Guide to St. Barts, www.sbhonline.com.