What beach? with snorkelling

[flyingandcruising]

Ok so my wife and i are going to be in St thomas on the victory Dec 21, i think there are 2 or 3 other ships in port that day.

 

I would like to know which beach is great for everything, including snorkelling, we plan on being at a beach by around 9am. We wont have time to go to st johns because we want to do other things as well. We would like to go to the beach for about 3 hrs somewhere.

 

Would Magens be the best bet? what is honeymoon beach like at Water island?

 

thank you for all replys

[jay1648]

my wife and i went to secret harbor in july. beautiful beach, clean, and not crowded. The snorkling was good. They have rental equipment and a good restaurant for lunch. we are going back this next summer.

[Betsy's Mom]

Pick another beach, Magens is wonderful for swimming,sand bottom and gradual depth, but no fish to watch. The fish like coral, rocks, sea grass etc. Secret Harbour or Coki are better choices. Enjoy:)

B.

[rummenroman]

If you want to snorkel the you MUST MUST MUST go to Coki Beach. I have family that have done 50+ cruises and thier favorite snorkel beach is Coki. Beach is decent, and doesn't get overly crowded (we had 4 ship in with us). We got their early and had the pick of the beach.

[flyingandcruising]

Thank you for the responses, i will look into Coki beach. I have however read that it does get very crowded. If we went at around 9am, do you think we will miss the crowds?

 

thanx

[dvan68]

Thank you for the responses, i will look into Coki beach. I have however read that it does get very crowded. If we went at around 9am, do you think we will miss the crowds?

 

thanx

 

To avoid the crowds, the better plan would be to do your shopping first, and then end the day at the beach. For whatever reason, most people beach first, then shop. That's just been my experience. Also, check out Sapphire Beach for snorkeling. They rent chairs and equipment as well.

[Islandbear]

If you really like snorkeling I would recommend Sapphire Beach over Coki.

 

Coki doesn't have anything except Sargent Majors and Yellow Fins left due to heavy fish feeding. All the other fish & creatures have been driven off by these more aggressive fish that swarm the tourists that feed them dog biscuits and cheerios.

[moondoggie]

If yes, same pick up point--by the K-Mart? Is there a specific bus we should look for, or are all the routes the same? Thanks!

[The Islander]

torontomale26 - The beaches with good from shore snorkeling are Coki, Sapphire, Secret Harbor, Cowpet. They all have chairs, food/drink, restrooms - but it varies for example Coki its food vendors on the beach where Secret Harbor and Cowpet have resturants. So depends on what else you are looking for in addition to snorkeling.

 

moondooggie - if you are docked at Havensight then your info. is correct. The dollar buses don't have route signs on them - they aren't really regulated - not like public buses. In anycase you'd want one heading East - just double check with people on it or the driver that its east bound toward Red Hook. Sapphire is on that east end route.

 

--Islander