Lawag95

13 hours ago, TTEllis said:

Yes there's a dive shop at Secret Harbour you can't miss it all the way down on the right. I walked down there, too many people in the shop, I had spoken to the manager of the shop later that afternoon his name is Eduardo, forget Secret Harbour he's the biggest loser on that end of the island(hands down). LOTS of diving along the right(east) side of Secret Harbour, no kidding they were diving all day long. Hope that helps Todd

So there was too many divers in the water?

I wasn't going to dive St Thomas because my wife doesn't dive and I am diving Grand Turk 2 days before St Thomas.  But if I can work in a shore dive or single tank boat dive from the same beach, I may consider it.

6 minutes ago, TTEllis said:

Yes!!! I have somewhat limited snorkeling experience, actually I suck at snorkeling and I wasn't impressed. 

Want to snorkel go to Secret Harbour, they take diving and snorkeling really serious over there. I watched them the whole day I was there.

The Dive Shop is at the end of the beach on the right, it was packed when I was there.

There is a dive shop at Secret Harbour?  As a diver, that piques my interest...

Just checked the port schedule for Jan 19 at St. Thomas Charlotte Amalie port.  There is only the Veendam and Princess Line Crown Princess in port that day.  That's at most 5,000 at the port.  Is that a pretty light day?

Thinking about Coki Beach but didn't want to head there if it was a heavy ship day.

Deciding between Coki and Sapphire, but Coki is intriguing as I am a diver and could do a shore dive there.

6 minutes ago, blue_water said:

Yes as I mentioned we would avoid Trunk and choose Cinnamon specifically because there are fewer amenities - and therefore fewer people. You would bring a cooler with you....

 

Also agree with Bill, unless you are a novice you will must likely be disappointed with the trail at Trunk. On a cruise stop (and first visit to STJ) you don’t have enough time to go to the good snorkel spots, and Sapphire would be a good alternative if that is a priority.

 

Sapphire does sound nice.   Would you rate the snorkeling there better than Trunk Bay?

On ‎7‎/‎4‎/‎2019 at 7:12 AM, blue_water said:

For STJ, Cinnamon would be our choice, especially in high season, and if no food/drinks there we’d pack a cooler and lay our towels in the sand, then head to Sapphire and rent lounges there. But Trunk offers more amenities and as a result sees many more visitors. It just depends on what you are looking for in a beach. As you said you may enjoy a couple hours early and then head to Sapphire which should not be very crowded if only 1 ship in port. But you may decide enjoying one beach is much more relaxing than adding a second...

 

Is there only 1 ship in port that day? On big ship days Trunk is as popular as Magens...

 

 

I'm not sure how many ships are there that day.  Our cruise is in January.... is that too soon to see what ships are scheduled that day?

Only real reason we were going to go to Trunk is because of the snorkel course that we could do.  Sapphire definitely looks like the place to stop in St Thomas if we decide to make a 2nd beach stop.

Edit -  Just checked out reviews on TripAdvisor from Cinnamon and Trunk.  It sounds like Cinnamon has not been rebuilt from the hurricanes yet and lacks food service and only porta potties for facilities.  Trunk on the other hand apparently has facilities and a food truck up and going again. 

Just heard back from Oasis, they stop near Jack's Shack on the return trip after the dives to drop off gear and I'm more than welcome to hop off at that point and walk on over to Jack's.  Should be able to grab lunch with my wife and walk back to the ship with her.... perfect!

That's what i was thinking.  Figured we'd try to get there ASAP, knock out the snorkel course, and try to get back to a St Thomas beach.  But if it looks sketchy for time, we'll just relax on the beach.

5 minutes ago, Ms411 said:

Trunk shouldn't be too crowded in August if you're the only ship that day.

 

Sorry, should have been specific.  We cruise in January.

The only reason we are considering this is I've heard Trunk gets pretty crowded after 11am.  Of course that depends on how many ships are there that day in St Thomas.

Since we are on the smaller MS Veendam,  I'm hoping we can be off the ship in time to make the 9am ferry.  If not, then our plans/outlook may change. 

Of course, we will probably just make it a game time decision while at Trunk Bay.... just getting a feel for if it's possible.

17 minutes ago, Tigergenesis said:

Absolutely!  We booked a snorkeling excursion outside of the ship and we were done at about 2:00 p.m.. It was an easy walk down to Jack's beach where I met some other people that did not go on the excursion. We had lunch and hung out on the beach until it was time to go.

So, worse case scenario if I was brought back by the dive shop to the cruise port by 1:00.... then I should still have time to walk down to Jack's, grab lunch, and get back in time to leave at 3:00?

That jerk chicken sounds great after a dive!

Our ship arrives in St. Thomas at 8:00am and leaves at 5:00pm.  We were thinking about being off the ship first thing and going to Trunk Bay on our own to avoid a lot of the crowd.  If we left Trunk Bay around 11:00ish would there still be time to get back to St Thomas and visit a beach there before departing at 5:00pm?

Would there be a beach worth spending a couple hours at within a short taxi ride from the ferry from St. John?

My wife and I are visiting Grand Turk in January '20 for the first time.  I am hoping to go on an excursion through the ship and dive the Grand Turk Wall.  My wife does not dive and was thinking she could chill out at Jack's Shack until I get done with my dives.  Is there a beach in front of Jack's Shack she can relax at?  Any loungers?

I'm guessing that my excursion ends around 12:30 and the ship leaves at 3:00.  Would there be time for me to walk down to Jack's and have lunch with her before we left?

Thanks!