Best time to take skyride to Paradise Point?

[Ruskincruiser]

We’re going to be in St Thomas tomorrow 8am through 430pm and have prepurchased tickets for the skyride to Paradise Point. I was wondering when it would be less busy. We plan on taking a taxi to Sapphire Beach to spend a few hours snorkeling in the morning. 

[Melanie H]

I wil be in St. Thomas the end of April and was thinking of doing Sapphire in the morning followed by Paradise point, let me know what time you decide to go.

[Ms411]

Every place is less crowded in the morning, and they're cleaner and more beautiful.

 

The view from Paradise Point faces west so the later you get there the more the sun is in your face and may glare your photos depending on your camera.

 

[OCruisers]

48 minutes ago, Ms411 said:

 

 

The view from Paradise Point faces west so the later you get there the more the sun is in your face and may glare your photos depending on your camera.

 

 

Very good and helpful to know ... especially for those of us who hate having sun in our face.  

[pghsteelerfan]

Our last time in St. Thomas (2015) we went to Paradise Point first, between 9 and 9:30am and then Sapphire Beach after that for a few hours.  There are a few reasons we decided to go to Paradise Point first. 

 

1.  Getting there a head of the crowds.  There were others there, but it was not crowded. 

2.  The morning sun would be behind us, which offered great views vs. glare of the afternoon sun.

3.  On prior visits to St. Thomas, clouds have moved in during the afternoon and we had heavy rain during the afternoon on our visit in 2013.  So we thought morning would be better for less chance of rain because if it's raining heavily, there go the views.

 

It was a clear day with some clouds and our pictures came out really nice when we were up there in 2015.  We were up there for an hour and loved the Bushwacker drinks...yum!  Once we got back down, about 10:30am, we found a cab driver to take us to Sapphire Beach.  We were at Sapphire by 11am and spent a few hours there. 

 

You mentioned you wanted to snorkel in the morning, so depending on how long you're at Sapphire, you could still get to PP before the late afternoon sun glare, but it would probably be more crowded.  And there are actually some benefits in going to Sapphire first.  When we were in St. Thomas in 2013, we were actually on the beach at Sapphire by 9:20am and it was just gorgeous in the morning light.  There may have been one or two other people on the beach at that time.  Another benefit is if you're there earlier and stay for 3 hours, traffic getting back to town will not be bad and you'll still have plenty of time for Paradise Point to enjoy it. 

Edited March 30, 2019 by pghsteelerfan

[soonernstlouis]

My first trip to STT (cruiseship) will be in September & the reason I’m thinking of saving Paradise Point until the afternoon is making sure I’m near port before departure.  STT seems to be one of those things islands where traffic is

less predictable.  But I do appreciate detailed responses such as pghsteelerfan above.

[Ms411]

September is the slowest month for visitors, so traffic will be less of an issue. It only takes about 25 minutes to get to Sapphire so if there's traffic it might take twice that. The island is so small that the distances are short by stateside standards.

 

[moondog73]

We have hired a driver for the day (actually a customized tour) in April.  First stop will be driving us to Paradise Point to take photos and get a bushwhacker.  Next is a stop in town to shop for a couple hours followed by a few hours at Magens Bay.  On the way back to port, we plant to stop at drake's seat for some photos and finally finish up at the port shops.  the "tour" was reasonable for 11 people.

[mompells]

I am going in June and we also plan on doing Paradise Point and Sapphire Beach.  I think I want to go to Sapphire first so that we can get some good snorkeling in before it gets crowded and the water gets stirred up.  How are the crowds in June?  We will be the only ship in port the day that we are there! (Lucky us!) When we get a taxi from Sapphire, do we just ask him to take us to the tram at Paradise Point?  When we are done at Paradise Point and ready to go back to the ship, is that walkable, or do we need a taxi to take us back to the ship?  Thanks in advance for any help/advice!

[Ms411]

There are 2 ports. Paradise Point is not within walking distance of the Royal Caribbean port. It is within walking distance at the port for all other non RCI ships.

 

[mompells]

So if we are on a Carnival Ship, then we can walk back to the ship after stopping at Paradise Point?  About how long of a walk is it?

[Ms411]

Yes, you can walk back to the Carnival ship. Paradise Point is directly across the street from the dock but you have to walk through a parking lot and it depends on what position your ship is at the dock. The maximum distance may be the equivalent of maybe 10 blocks.