Need Help w/St. Thomas Beaches

[scrappycat2]

I know this has all been posted before, but....

 

Can I have some recommendations for a beach in St. Thomas in November?

 

Want to basically hang out, snorkel a bit, rent a chair and umbrella and have a few cocktails.

 

1. Coki Beach - Heard it gets so crowded, you can barely walk.

 

2. Sapphire - are there chair/umbrella rentals?

 

3. Magen's?

 

Thanks. :confused:

[SeaWatcher65]

We are debating between Sapphire Beach or taking a boat excursion to snorkel with sea turtles or go to St. John. We went to Coki Beach and it was nice for snorkeling and Coral World is right next to it. The big difference I've read is that Megans Bay does not have good snorkeling. That's why we are thinking about Sapphire.

[HarpHarp]

I'd head to Sapphire. This was my beach of choice when I lived in St. Thomas.

 

There are chairs, food & drinks available. snorkeling is good near the rocks & reef .

 

Here is a link to a live web cam. At the top of this page, there is a link to a drone video.

http://www.sapphireinthesun.com/

 

Magens is beautiful & calm. There is admission & it can get very crowded. Also not much there in the way of snorkeling.

 

Coki is next to Coral world, with good snorkeling. The beach is smaller compared to the other two so it can seem crowded.

Edited August 12, 2015 by HarpHarp

[beautifulbill]

You will not see any umbrellas at Sapphire. There is plenty of natural shade and the breeze would blow an umbrella away.

[HarpHarp]

We are debating between Sapphire Beach or taking a boat excursion to snorkel with sea turtles or go to St. John. We went to Coki Beach and it was nice for snorkeling and Coral World is right next to it. The big difference I've read is that Megans Bay does not have good snorkeling. That's why we are thinking about Sapphire.

 

If you want good snorkeling, do yourself a favor & go to St John & head for Maho (turtles!) & Salt Pond, or do Trunk Bay .

[Mr2Scents]

We liked Sapphire. We were the only ship in port though and it felt like we had the beach to ourselves. We've been to Coki with three ships in port and it wasn't too crowded. The snorkeling by Coral World is good. I think we're leaning towards heading to St. John's to go to Trunk Bay this trip. You can't go wrong. They all have amazing water.

[scrappycat2]

We are debating between Sapphire Beach or taking a boat excursion to snorkel with sea turtles or go to St. John. We went to Coki Beach and it was nice for snorkeling and Coral World is right next to it. The big difference I've read is that Megans Bay does not have good snorkeling. That's why we are thinking about Sapphire.

 

We have done a trip on The Fury with Captain Mike in St. Thomas....snorkeling with sea turtles.....fun time and amazing trip....Captain and staff were awesome!

[scrappycat2]

We liked Sapphire. We were the only ship in port though and it felt like we had the beach to ourselves. We've been to Coki with three ships in port and it wasn't too crowded. The snorkeling by Coral World is good. I think we're leaning towards heading to St. John's to go to Trunk Bay this trip. You can't go wrong. They all have amazing water.

 

Thanks everyone! They all sound good. I am waiting to see how many ships in port on the days we are. Would prefer it not to be insanely crowded, but would like snorkeling and also need an umbrella.

 

On another note...does anyone know anything about Abi Beach? There is an excursion from the boat that looks great....they just opened the Abi Beach Bar which I read is similar to Soggy Dollar in Tortola....one of my favorites!

[blue_water]

Thanks everyone! They all sound good. I am waiting to see how many ships in port on the days we are. Would prefer it not to be insanely crowded, but would like snorkeling and also need an umbrella.

 

On another note...does anyone know anything about Abi Beach? There is an excursion from the boat that looks great....they just opened the Abi Beach Bar which I read is similar to Soggy Dollar in Tortola....one of my favorites!

 

Of the 3 popular snorkeling beaches, Sapphire will be much less crowded than Coki and Secret Harbor and also has abundant natural shade, no need for umbrellas...

 

Have not been to Abi but have seen posts here, use the search function and you should find those too

[scrappycat2]

Of the 3 popular snorkeling beaches, Sapphire will be much less crowded than Coki and Secret Harbor and also has abundant natural shade, no need for umbrellas...

 

Have not been to Abi but have seen posts here, use the search function and you should find those too

 

Thanks for the info Blue Water....out of those three beaches, seems Sapphire may be the way to go .... unless we go to Abi Beach. I'm really liking that one. Do you know anything about cabfare in St. Thomas? I heard that it is always charged per person?

[brookie848]

Thanks everyone! They all sound good. I am waiting to see how many ships in port on the days we are. Would prefer it not to be insanely crowded, but would like snorkeling and also need an umbrella.

 

If you are talking about your cruise this fall on the Gem, there are three ships total in port, the Gem, NCL Spirit and Freedom of the Seas for a relatively low passenger total of about 8,000.

[blue_water]

Thanks for the info Blue Water....out of those three beaches, seems Sapphire may be the way to go .... unless we go to Abi Beach. I'm really liking that one. Do you know anything about cabfare in St. Thomas? I heard that it is always charged per person?

 

Taxi fare is per person but lower for 2 or more passengers. So generally if you hop a safari taxi and more than 1 person is getting dropped at the same point the fare would be ~$6pp for Abi I would guess. NCL Spirit arrives at 8AM with you, FOS arrives at noon

http://ships.cruisett.com/schedule/Norwegian_Cruise_Line/Norwegian_Gem/November_2015/

 

Map example showing where Abi and Sapphire are in case you want a snorkel stop -

https://www.google.com/maps/place/abi+beach,+st+thomas/@18.3165366,-64.9102552,15z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0x3a34f91e453c103b?hl=en

 

Sapphire beach webcam and video -

http://www.sapphireinthesun.com

 

(Am I pushing Sapphire?) ;)

Edited August 14, 2015 by blue_water

[beachlvn]

We are coming in on the Princess Emerald week of Nov 7th. We don't snorkel, just like to relax, swim, walk the beach, and have a cocktail. Sounds like Sapphire would be the beach for us?? And how do you find out what ships will be in port?

[blue_water]

We are coming in on the Princess Emerald week of Nov 7th. We don't snorkel, just like to relax, swim, walk the beach, and have a cocktail. Sounds like Sapphire would be the beach for us?? And how do you find out what ships will be in port?

 

cruisett.com

You can search by your ship and then choose the month.

 

The schedule at vinow dot com shows where ships dock at STT

Edited August 15, 2015 by blue_water

[scrappycat2]

cruisett.com

You can search by your ship and then choose the month.

 

The schedule at vinow dot com shows where ships dock at STT

 

Ok, now we are contemplating an all inclusive day pass. We heard Marriott Frenchman's Reef does one and Sugar Bay which (let me know if I am correct) is now Dreams? Has anyone done or know about these?