Magen's Bay Beach Bar/Restaurant Pricing

[bfhokie78]

Trying to get a handle on food/drink pricing (and menu choices) at Magen's to decide whether packing a picnic might make more sense. Answers would seal the deal. Yes - already know the location is crowded, commercial, touristy. Going anyway - that ship has sailed :-)! Thanks for any help.

[Ms411]

The menu with prices is posted online. On the Magens Bay website, I think. If not, you should be able to find it by googling.

[O2B@Cagain]

I do not accept the premise that Magens is commercialized or touristy. It is a territorial park, and is set up as such. Yes, it has bath houses and a bar/cafe, a store. But it is not what I think of as commercialized.

 

That said, I think it is a great spot for a picnic. You can pick up "to go" items at most restaurants or at the deli/groceries near the cruise ship docks. Add a beverage and voila! Magens is a very popular spot for locals to picnic. :)

[bfhokie78]

Thanks for the replies. I've been coming up empty on web searches, but will keep trying. The adjectives I used for Magen's are words that have come from fellow posters. I love it there!

[cgmiller63]

What's the best mode of transportation to get to Magen's Bay Beach? Taxi? Bus? Walking?

[O2B@Cagain]

Taxi is the only option, unless you want to rent a car.

[Lard Greystoke]

Trying to get a handle on food/drink pricing (and menu choices) at Magen's to decide whether packing a picnic might make more sense. Answers would seal the deal. Yes - already know the location is crowded, commercial, touristy. Going anyway - that ship has sailed :-)! Thanks for any help.

 

A year ago I paid $10.75 for a burger and soft drink. The quality was okay.

 

My own experience may not be representative, but when I visited Magen's it was uncrowded (maybe 60 people on a beach a mile long) and only slightly commercialized. There is one restaurant located well back from the beach. Contrast that with Cane Garden Bay on Tortola which is crammed end to end with derelict shacks right on the sand (which is doubtless illegal, and bespeaks government corruption/indifference/incompetence, take your pick) in a space much smaller than Magen's. Compared to Cane Garden, Magen's is positively rustic.

 

I would recommend that anyone visiting Magen's should stop at Drake's Seat on the way to/from for a look at the bay from above. It's a very unusual shape.

[Lard Greystoke]

Taxi is the only option, unless you want to rent a car.

 

Although it's time-consuming and hot, it's possible to walk to Magen's from the port. About an hour and a quarter. I would still recommend a taxi for St Thomas and save the walking for Tortola or St Croix.

[lostdart1]

Although it's time-consuming and hot, it's possible to walk to Magen's from the port. About an hour and a quarter. I would still recommend a taxi for St Thomas and save the walking for Tortola or St Croix.

 

I would not recommend for anyone to walk to Magens Bay.......there is no sidewalks......hence you are walking in the streets and this is a busy thoroughfare with lots of blind corners.

[blue_water]

A year ago I paid $10.75 for a burger and soft drink. The quality was okay.

 

My own experience may not be representative, but when I visited Magen's it was uncrowded (maybe 60 people on a beach a mile long) and only slightly commercialized. There is one restaurant located well back from the beach. Contrast that with Cane Garden Bay on Tortola which is crammed end to end with derelict shacks right on the sand (which is doubtless illegal, and bespeaks government corruption/indifference/incompetence, take your pick) in a space much smaller than Magen's. Compared to Cane Garden, Magen's is positively rustic.

 

 

WOW! lol...let's respond to some of these statements so others new to STT and Tortola don't have surprises when they go by these descriptions!

 

Magens Bay is most definitely one of the most-touted and touristy beach in the Caribbean. Pretty beach, especially from Drake's Seat, and it's not overly-commercialized because it is controlled which is great. But rustic? Perhaps, but I would describe it as a nice calm beach with a busy vibe rather than rustic. And since it is touted by the cruise ship companies, Frommer's and others as one of the top 10 beaches in the Carib it attracts huge crowds as bfhokie78 acknowledged. It's a nice beach with some shaded spots and picnic tables and is maintained well, but I would consider Smith's Bay or Brewers more rustic than Magens. Just my opinion of course.

 

But I was more amazed at your description of the businesses in CGB on Tortola:

 

"Derelict shacks right on the sand."

 

The only shacks I know of that resembles your description is Bomba's Shack in Cappon's Bay on Tortola and Latitude 18 on STT (which was a thriving business last visit). We don't stay in CGB anymore because we prefer quieter spots while on Tortola. But we still enjoy evenings at all of the beach bars in CGB and I'm not sure why you describe Val's, Stanley's (now cousin Tony's), Rymers, the Elms, and Quito's as derelict shacks? Something personal there?

[Lard Greystoke]

Something personal there?

 

I wouldn't say personal. I'm always just passing through. Maybe idiosyncratic.

 

To refine my comments a bit, neither Magen's nor CGB were crowded with human beings when I visited. That of course can vary. CGB was considerably more crowded with buildings, which is not going to vary. The wall-to-wall lounge chairs being prepped for the masses reminded me of the pool deck of a ship, which for me always induces dyspepsia. It seems likely that this instinctive revulsion did seep into my architectural criticism.

 

But I do seem to recall that the construction on the E side of CGB intrudes well below high tide and forces you either into the ocean or into their business. I dislike this kind of forced choice intensely and the teeming masses at CGB are not likely to be further inconvenienced by my presence.

[O2B@Cagain]

To get back to the original question...I just found a menu from last fall (was in an advertising section of the Daily News). Can't promise that the menu is completely up-to-date, but... They have breakfast from 9:30 to 11:30 am. Eggs, french toast, pancakes, breakfast sandwiches $7-11. Lunch: Pizza after 11:30am- $3.50 to $6.75 a slice or $22+ for a pie. Soup, salads, cold sandwiches, burgers, gyros, chicken sandwich, hot doggie, steak fries and onion rings as sides.

 

Blue, I know you are a BVI advocate, but quite honestly, I have the same opinion of Cane Garden Bay. Da Wedding has been an eye sore for years, and it once was the nicest restaurant on the bay. It has a ramshackle feel. Magens is a whole different enchilada. It is a territorial park so it is managed- lifeguards, bathhouses, etc. I know it doesn't meet your needs, but many people actually enjoy Magens. There are lots of options on St Thomas, and Magens is a nice one for day trippers. :D

[blue_water]

Magen's is rated in the top 10 for good reason. We just have different tastes, that's all. And to be clear, I would never compare CGB to Magens, that was Lard's comparison. These are not even in the same class as you said.

 

I'm not a big fan of CGB but I certainly wouldn't describe it as I read above. We do enjoy an evening there when Quito, the Elmtones, and others play, can't get that anywhere else. And some of the people that own and work there are amazing.

Not sure where da wedding is or what that refers to though? We've only been going there the last 9 years

Edited February 20, 2014 by blue_water

[blue_water]

Blue, I know you are a BVI advocate, but quite honestly, I have the same opinion of Cane Garden Bay. Da Wedding has been an eye sore for years, and it once was the nicest restaurant on the bay. It has a ramshackle feel. :D

 

Aah, you're talking about Uncle Pouie's place, the old Callwood Restaurant. He just passed and was very popular indeed. We didn't have the good fortune to enjoy his place I'm sorry to say...

 

I apologize to the OP for getting so far off topic, but I felt someone needed to defend CGB after these remarks. I think the difference is some of us prefer the lifestyle that the BVI and other similar areas offer as compared to the more developed areas. We like the funky, old beach bars thst the BVI is famous for while others obviously see them as "ramshackles" and "derelict shacks". We take no offense personally as we love these places and will continue to. But I want others to understand there is a big difference between these destinations, and anyone who compares STT to Tortola is doing both a huge injustice. Now Latitude 18 makes me homesick for many of the more "rustic" beach bars we've enjoyed elsewhere. :)

 

'Nuff said!

[spkinva]

What is the current taxi rate to get to Megan's Bay? Is it still $4 to enter?

[Darkkskyzz]

What is the current taxi rate to get to Megan's Bay? Is it still $4 to enter?

 

Per the website it is $4 for adults, kids 13+ are $2 and kids under 12 are free