Secret Harbour, Emerald, or Saphire Beach?

[Mass2Cruise]

Looking for beach advice for February stop with three ships in port.  Secret Harbour, Emerald, or Saphire beach?  We are on Symphony so we'll be docking at Crown.  Not sure what's the most economical to get to and has a good beach, chair rental, place to eat, and bathroom for the boy.  Thanks.  

[blue_water]

Lindbergh Bay (aka Emerald Beach) is much closer than the East End beaches of Sapphire, SH, and Coki. Short taxi and there will be amenities there for you.

[Mass2Cruise]

Thanks.  I'll have to start looking there instead of SH which is what I had been to this point.

[blue_water]

Sapphire is our favorite, but we’ve rented condos there and it’s an amazing spot to stay and we’re a bit biased toward that beach! It can get a bit crowded anymore because it is so nice and quiet, but most day visitors hang in one spot and you can move away from the main huddle if it is busy. Beach bar, restrooms and lounge and other rentals. Just a gorgeous beach with beautiful island views. SH is a smaller bay with a beach restaurant and typically calm water with a dedicated section for day visitors. Both offer snorkeling, food and drink, SH can run out of lounges and umbrellas for day visitors but you may be able to reserve then at www.aadivers.com.

 

Lindbergh gets the noise of the jets and is a nice beach and more convenient to Crown. Just not in the same category as the East End beaches, IMHO...

 

[Cruisin4aTan]

On 1/4/2019 at 11:01 AM, blue_water said:

Sapphire is our favorite, but we’ve rented condos there and it’s an amazing spot to stay and we’re a bit biased toward that beach! It can get a bit crowded anymore because it is so nice and quiet, but most day visitors hang in one spot and you can move away from the main huddle if it is busy. Beach bar, restrooms and lounge and other rentals. Just a gorgeous beach with beautiful island views. SH is a smaller bay with a beach restaurant and typically calm water with a dedicated section for day visitors. Both offer snorkeling, food and drink, SH can run out of lounges and umbrellas for day visitors but you may be able to reserve then at www.aadivers.com.

 

Lindbergh gets the noise of the jets and is a nice beach and more convenient to Crown. Just not in the same category as the East End beaches, IMHO...

 

Blue-water it has been a number of years since we have visited Sapphire Beach. Can you comment on how the snorkeling is? 

[Stinger-pr]

I was at Sapphire on Nov. 2018 and the snorkeling was great. Third time visiting Sapphire was really the charm for us! Coki can dazzle you with the amount of fish that surround you at times and all the different types and colors. But you get a better feeling of adventure at Sapphire since you have to be more aware of your surroundings (not in a dangerous way) and you have to keep your eyes wide open in order to catch some things. This time we saw all kinds of fish, the biggest flute fish I've seen yet, a big lobster (my first) and a small sting ray that wasn't too shy at all. Although we didn't get to touch it, it allowed us to get close enough almost to. Every time I return to St. Thomas I say I'll try out another beach only to end back up at Sapphire.

[Mass2Cruise]

Thanks all.  Now you have me thinking about Sapphire.

[blue_water]

Thanks Stinger-pr for that great update!

 

We snorkel just a little, but love Sapphire for the beautiful beach, gorgeous water colors, island views, and overall vibe there. And it is such a prime spot to spend a week or two! We stay here whenever we return from Tortola. There are gorgeous beaches like Magens, Coki, and the beaches of STJ, and then there are gorgeous beaches that just exude character, and Sapphire is just one of those beaches for us.

 

Lindqvist is another on STT, but with cruise line excursions also going there, and fewer amenities, it may have lost some of that charm. But I’m sure it is still a favorite beach for many with no ships in port.

[disneykins]

We have done Magens and Emerald.  We keep going back to Emerald, love it there, never more than 20 or 30 people. Have heard bad things about Sapphire so never tried it.  Crowded, hustlers trying to sell you stuff, long walk from taxis.  But reading blue_water's posts we wonder if we should maybe try it.  We are also thinking of Honeymoon bay.

Any thoughts?

Tony

[blue_water]

13 hours ago, disneykins said:

We have done Magens and Emerald.  We keep going back to Emerald, love it there, never more than 20 or 30 people. Have heard bad things about Sapphire so never tried it.  Crowded, hustlers trying to sell you stuff, long walk from taxis.  But reading blue_water's posts we wonder if we should maybe try it.  We are also thinking of Honeymoon bay.

Any thoughts?

Tony

You must be thinking of Coki beach with the crowds, vendors, and long walk from a bus (taxis drop you at the beach).

Sapphire has no vendors and is a larger Bay...

[Cruisin4aTan]

On 1/8/2019 at 1:23 AM, Stinger-pr said:

I was at Sapphire on Nov. 2018 and the snorkeling was great. Third time visiting Sapphire was really the charm for us! Coki can dazzle you with the amount of fish that surround you at times and all the different types and colors. But you get a better feeling of adventure at Sapphire since you have to be more aware of your surroundings (not in a dangerous way) and you have to keep your eyes wide open in order to catch some things. This time we saw all kinds of fish, the biggest flute fish I've seen yet, a big lobster (my first) and a small sting ray that wasn't too shy at all. Although we didn't get to touch it, it allowed us to get close enough almost to. Every time I return to St. Thomas I say I'll try out another beach only to end back up at Sapphire.

Thank you! Just what I wanted to hear. Are there taxis standing around for the return trip or do we need to make arrangements prior?

[blue_water]

Tony are you asking about Honeymoon Beach on Water Island? Or Honeymoon Beach in Caneel Bay on St John? The latter is nice if you have enough time, but during winter months or with sea swells the beach can be covered in water. HB on Water Island isn’t as nice as Sapphire in our opinion...

[blue_water]

5 hours ago, Cruisin4aTan said:

Thank you! Just what I wanted to hear. Are there taxis standing around for the return trip or do we need to make arrangements prior?

Taxis will stop in, your driver may also offer to return...

[Cruisin4aTan]

Thank you!

[disneykins]

Thank you blue water. We were asking about Honeymoon beach on Water island. We're thinking it would be easy to do that or Emerald if we dock at Crown. But after you're recommendation of Sapphire we would probably go there if we are at Havensight. Or maybe Lindquist, it looks nice too but maybe less facilities.

Not sure where we dock, we are on MSC Seaside one week and back again on NCL Epic the following week.

Tony

[ksjayhawks]

What is the easiest way to get to Sapphire beach?  We are on NCL Epic and i believe we dock at havensight.

What is cost of taxi? How long is taxi ride?  Do we need to arrange for a taxi to come back and get us?

[blue_water]

On 1/11/2019 at 4:12 PM, disneykins said:

Thank you blue water. We were asking about Honeymoon beach on Water island. We're thinking it would be easy to do that or Emerald if we dock at Crown. But after you're recommendation of Sapphire we would probably go there if we are at Havensight. Or maybe Lindquist, it looks nice too but maybe less facilities.

Not sure where we dock, we are on MSC Seaside one week and back again on NCL Epic the following week.

Tony

HB on WI is a nice enough beach but just gets so crowded today, especially with a ship in Crown Bay.

Lindqvist is arguably the nicest STT beach but right, fewer amenities than Sapphire...