St. Thomas beaches vs. St. John's?

[ParrotheadG]

We will be in St. Thomas on our NCL cruise from 8:00-5:00 towards the end of March. After MUCH research, I thought I had settled on taking the ferry over to St. John's to spend the day at Cinnamon. Now I'm wondering if we'd be better off staying on St. Thomas and going to Sapphire since it would involve less time in transportation? At the same time, I thought the journey to St. John's would be a fun part of the adventure. Maybe too much research is a bad thing! [emoji1] Either place, we would like to snorkel and just enjoy the beach. I'm hoping that those of you lucky enough to have done both can weigh in with opinions? Thanks as always for your time!

 

 

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[Duanerice1]

We've done both and will always go to St John now. To us the beaches are not comparable. And yea, it is a little hassle getting there but worth it!

 

Check out this thread, start at the end as it is a long thread.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2017377

 

enjoy

[ParrotheadG]

Thanks for the input! This was actually one of the posts I read previously that got me excited for St. John's, and Cinnamon. Just hoping to get some more comparisons from folks like you who have done both!

 

 

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[OCruisers]

While there are very good beaches in both St. Thomas and St. John, we have to admit to liking St. John better. ;)

[Ineedavacationnow13]

I just decided on lindquist for our cruise april. But cinnamon bay was a contender please write a review.

[sugarbird]

My wife and I have had a 2nd home on St John for 38 years. St John is one of the worlds special places!! If you do not mind the travel time ---go to St John.

Beaches on St Thomas are nice--and Sapphire is enjoyable--but none are comparable to St John. St Thomas has 50,000 people--St John approx. 5,000. Most(2/3) of the Island is a National Park.

Hawksnest, Trunk, Cinnamon, Maho, Framcis, etc are all good.

[beautifulbill]

Cinnamon and Trunk are where they send the cruise ship folks. They are both nice beaches but if your on a cruise you don't get to spend a lot of time on either and when ships are in those beaches can get very crowded.

[Daonlyone2000]

Can someone give a comparison to how the surf is? I normally like the water to be calm as I am not a good swimmer. I normally go to Magen's Bay, but would love a change.

[twingles3]

Cinnamon and Trunk are where they send the cruise ship folks. They are both nice beaches but if your on a cruise you don't get to spend a lot of time on either and when ships are in those beaches can get very crowded.

 

 

Only ship in port is ours that day so you think it would be less crowded?

 

 

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[OCruisers]

Can someone give a comparison to how the surf is? I normally like the water to be calm as I am not a good swimmer. I normally go to Magen's Bay, but would love a change.

 

The beaches at St. John have lovely calm water. :)

[bedfordmom]

Has anyone hiked into Honeymoon Beach starting at the National Park Trail right off of the ferry. I did it as a shore excursion Eco Tour, loved it but felt rushed and it was expensive. I was thinking about doing it on our own. Has anyone else done it. We could either hike out or catch a taxi at Canel Bay.

[southernbreezes]

Can someone give a comparison to how the surf is? I normally like the water to be calm as I am not a good swimmer. I normally go to Magen's Bay, but would love a change.

 

 

If you want a change from Magen's try Coki Beach. I have been to both St. Thomas and St. John's dozens of times and St. Johns just is not worth the extra time getting there when we are just in for the day on a Cruise. This is me, if you have never been it is drop dead beautiful so go if you like. When we stay for the week we always go to St. Johns once or twice. :cool:

[beautifulbill]

First off the name is St. John (no s)

 

I've been fortunate enough to visit both islands for over 30 years. If you have never been to St John then it's definitely worth a visit if you have been there a few times then I think your better off staying in St Thomas for a one day visit St Thomas has beaches every bit as good or better if you know where to go

[MMOMOM]

We've been to St. Thomas and St. John a few times on cruises, but not for a few years. We LOVE St. John!! Yes, you have to take the cab to Red Hook for the Ferry and another cab to the beach, but it is SO worth it!! Plus .... it's all 'part of the journey'. We go to Cinnamon Beach ... it's so beautiful! We're sailing the Escape in April and that's our plan for the stop in St. Thomas and can't wait! Highly recommend giving it a try. Enjoy! ;)