Any European Style Beaches

[thompsongunner06]

Any secluded nice beaches,,,Wife wants to get a topless tan and swim. C ship is prob out so a nice out of the way beach would be nice.

[K&RCurt]

I was told previously that there were no topless or CO beaches on St. Thomas.

 

When we were there last week we took a combination tour/ trip to Magens bay Beach. When we were on one of the stops on the tour (either the Botanical Gardens or Drake's Seat) our tour guide pointed out a strip of beach in Magens Bay (to the right side of the bay if you are standing on the beach looking out at the mouth of the Bay) that he said was a Clothing Optional beach. I didn't catch the name of the place and haven't been able to find it via web search yet...But I'm working on it! lol

[The Islander]

Public nudity including at beaches is illegal in the USVI so there aren't any official CO beaches.

 

The beach where this is somewhat overlooked as K&RCurt indicated his tour guided mentioned while on his last visit to the island is Little Magens. Not to be confused with Magens Bay. When standing on the beach at Magens Bay, facing the water, if you look to the strip of land (area is called Peterborg) that frames the beach on the right side you will see a couple small strips of sand. The first one closest to Magens Bay is Little Magens. You have to wade in the water or rock scramble along the coastline to get there. There is a trail, but you'd have to drive out to Peterborg and then know where the trail was as it isn't labeled and hike it, the trail passes along (or through) private property. If wading along the rocky coast from Magens Bay the water is shallow if its low tide - maybe up to an adult's knees, during high tide might be up to the waist. And it takes maybe 20 minutes. There are no amenities at Little Magens, it’s a small beach, sandy, a little natural shade.

 

If you look at a Google Map and zoom into Magens Bay you can see Little Magens. Here is a map: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=&daddr=18.369351,-64.92465&hl=en&geocode=&mra=mi&mrsp=0&sz=15&sll=18.369596,-64.930487&sspn=0.018694,0.038495&ie=UTF8&ll=18.370247,-64.925637&spn=0.018694,0.038495&t=h&z=15. Just below the B label is Little Magens.

 

And on a general note for safety, be aware of your surroundings at isolated beaches as they are sometimes targeted by opportunistic criminals.

 

--Islander

[K&RCurt]

That's interesting Islander. The tour guide implied it was a C/O "resort" not an isolated strip of beach. Thanks for clearing that up...I guess it explains why a google search didn't turn up anything.

 

Are there any U.S. National Park Service run beaches in the USVI?

 

In New Jersey nude sunbathing is also illegal, but it is permitted on a beach in the Gateway National Recreation Area on Sandy Hook in NJ. The reason it is permitted there is that that piece of land is "Federal" Property and is not subjet to the loacl laws. All Law enforcement within the National Park Service land is administered by Federal Park Rangers. Apparently there is no Federal Law which prohibits nudity on a beach, so it's not illegal on Fedreally administered lands.

[nabby]

Well, about 1/2 of St. John is run by the National Park Service, including Trunk Bay, Cinnamon Bay, and Hawksnest, but I don't think you will get very far with your argument there! :D

[The Islander]

Hello K&RCurt -there are no C/O resorts in the USVI. And there are no resorts on Peterborg Point, the strip of land that frames Magens Bay and that is visiable from Drakes Seat and the Botanical Gardens. The properties on Peterborg Point are residences, some of which are rented as vacation villas and some are homes.

 

Yes there are several U.S. National Parks in the USVI. One of which is the Virgin Islands National Park which includes almost 2/3rds of the island of St. John as well as a small peice of land on St. Thomas and almost all of a small island in St. Thomas' Charlotte Amalie Harbor called Hassell Island, plus some underwater areas. (The other 3 NPS parks are on St. Croix.)

 

Several beaches on St. John are part of the Virgin Islands National Park however nudity is not allowed. There is a beach in the VI National Park called Saloman Bay and this is another beach where, for a long time, nude and topless sunbathing was overlooked. Several years ago the National Park rangers cracked down on this and since that time they routinely patrol the area by boat giving warnings and issueing tickets to repeat offenders.

 

Not familiar with the 'no federal law against nudity at beaches' arguement.

 

--Islander