Coki Beach vs Magens Bay

[KevinsCruising]

OK... I need the scoop. I am going back to St. Thomas aboard Carnivals Legend on 6/21. When in St. Thomas I have always gone to Coki Beach. Now I read that Magens Bay is one of the top 10 beautiful beaches in the world.

 

Has anyone been to both and can tell me the difference? Are there stands at Magens to get a drink or food? Bathrooms?

 

Any help would be appreciated. Also how much would a cab cost from the ship to there. (there are 9 of us)

 

Thanks,

Kevin

[Betsy's Mom]

Magens is lovely,but not for snorkeling. There is a bar, a food concession, bathrooms, and a boutique with nice clothing and bathing suits. The water is calm and shallow for quite a distance from the beach. It is "owned" by the people of Virgin Islands and there is a charge to enter. I do not know the taxi fare, but you can search these threads (right hand top of main page for St Thomas and St John) and someone will have it for you.It is a lovely spot, very diffnrent from Coki. Enjoy!:)

B.

[richtersl]

Magen's is very nice. But it is overrated IMHO. There are nicer beaches on St. Thomas and St. John.

 

You can see pictures from Magen's and a few other beaches here: http://lrichters.smugmug.com/Travel/162954

 

For information on even more beaches, check out: http://www.*****

[Genessa]

we've been to Magen's Bay twice, Trunk Bay at St. John's once and recently to Coki Beach.

 

coki beach was much better than Magen's Bay for the snorkeling, but Magen's Bay is "prettier" than Coki.

The sand is whiter and longer and wider. The beach is something like 2 miles long?? If you've ever seen the calendar photograph that looks like paradise in the Caribbean, THAT's Magen's Bay.

The restrooms there are institutional, but nicer than Coki. There is an actual store, not just a stand, for rentals and buying things.

 

That said, if we ever go back to St. Thomas, we'd go back to Coki for the snorkeling.

 

St. John's was gorgeous, too, but we'd rather go back there and stay for a week - when we're on a cruise it is more convenient to go to a beach on ST. Thomas and then back to the ship to shower and then go shopping.

[KevinsCruising]

Hmmmmm, now I am even more confused on which beach to go to. I would love to see Megans but I also want my kids to see fish in the water with a mask and snorkel. Thanks so much for the imput though. This may take a coin toss or maybe just let the kids decide.

 

Thanks again,

Any more comments are very much welcomed.

 

Kevin

[The Islander]

Hello Kevin,

 

If you want the kids to snorkel then Magens Bay isn't a good choice - as the snorkeling isn't good there. Its a great beach for making sand castles, playing on the shore, long walks, swimming etc. Have you looked at Sapphire and Secret Harbor?? They have good snorkeling and are nice beaches (with food, restrooms).

 

--Islander

http://www.*****

[KevinsCruising]

Hi Islander,

 

No, I have never looked at those other beaches but I will look them up online. I am leaning towards Coki. Do you know if they have jet ski rentals there and how much would they be.

 

Thanks,

Kevin

[The Islander]

Hello Kevin,

 

There is a jet ski rental spot at Coki, its not on the beach but accross the street. Its been a while since I checked but it was $50 for 30 minutes last year.

 

--Islander

*****

[KevinsCruising]

Thats great Islander...thanks for the info. We rented jetskis in Barbados last year and really enjoyed it.

 

Thanks again,

Kevin

[lisainpa]

We were just a Coki Beach last week. This was a first time in St. T so we have nothing to compare to, but the tropical fish and snorkling were wonderful! There was a small reef on the right-hand side full of very colorful tropical fish. Our taxi companions had brought along dog biscuits, and the fish would come right up to you and eat them out of your hands. My two boys thought it was one of the highlights of the trip. Some say the surf can be rough, but we are used to New Jersey and Outer Banks surf, so it didn't seem very intense to us.

 

Lisa in PA

[CoNEY46]

Kevin,

you might want to consider Sapphire beach. It's just as pretty as magens bay if not more so, and the snorkling there is ok. Coki has the best snorkly on the island. You rent jet ski's at bith Coki & Sapphire. Coki has more food options, buit you just can't beat the view on sapphire beach

 

BTW no charge at either beach

[KevinsCruising]

Thanks for the info on Sapphire Beach. I will look more into it. Do you know if you can rent jet skis there?

 

Thanks,

Kevin

[Nliedel]

Go to St. Johns for snorkeling. Magan's is beautiful, if you walk down the beach and get away from the people.

[The Islander]

Thanks for the info on Sapphire Beach. I will look more into it. Do you know if you can rent jet skis there?

 

Yes, from the Marina area. You can ask at the watersports booth on the beach.

 

--Islander

*****

[Jordna]

Don't waste your time anywhere else - Magens Bay Beach has it all!

[blue_water]

Magens Bay is overrated in our opinion. Nice enough beach with dead calm water and drinks and chair rentals. But no island views nor nice water colors, and the food is terrible there in our opinion. And it's also a very busy beach because it's so highly-touted. Plus there's an entrance fee for all of that! We like seeing Magens from Drake's Seat but prefer to spend our beach time at the East End beaches.

 

There are much nicer beaches with more character on STT like Coki and Sapphire. Coki is arguably the nicest beach on STT but it just gets so crowded because it's such a small bay. Sapphire is just as nice but has room to spread out, and because it's home to 3 condo properties it doesn't have the many vebndors there and doesn't get as busy. Also abundant natural shade as well as a dive center with rentals, restrooms and changing rooms/shower, food and drink options, gorgeous water colors and island views, and great snorkeling to boot.

 

I'd strongly recommend Sapphire if you want another beach as nice as Coki. ;)

On this map you can see that Sapphire (and Smith's Bay and Secret Harbor) are just down the road from Coki. Smith's is another nice beach that's being developed but won't be as busy as Coki or Magens.

http://www.virginislandsthisweek.com/st-thomas/maps/st-thomas-island-road-map.html

[blue_water]

And here's a thread with opinions and experiences on the various beaches that may be helpful.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1993432

 

There are jet ski rentals at the Sapphire Marina (as well as fishing and daysail excursions but you need to book these ahead of time).

The Banana Cabana serves a great mahi mahi sandwich and there runners taking food and drink orders on the beach from the BC and the Sapphire Village restaurant behind the marina.

We rent a condo there and it's gorgeous.

[O2B@Cagain]

This is an old thread, but I will say Magens does NOT have it all. There are no obnoxious jet skis or other motorized water toys. LOL

 

Blue has a burr under the saddle about Magens... The water color comes from the reflection of the sun on the surface under the water- white sand makes beautiful blue water like you see at Magens under most situations. I am happy that Blue recommends Sapphire, don't get me wrong. I feel I must defend the crown jewel of the territorial park system! :D

[blue_water]

This is an old thread, but I will say Magens does NOT have it all. There are no obnoxious jet skis or other motorized water toys. LOL

 

Blue has a burr under the saddle about Magens... The water color comes from the reflection of the sun on the surface under the water- white sand makes beautiful blue water like you see at Magens under most situations. I am happy that Blue recommends Sapphire, don't get me wrong. I feel I must defend the crown jewel of the territorial park system! :D

 

Yes! Had to get a mention in there for Sapphire.:p Magens is just ok to us, but we've enjoyed an awful lot of gorgeous beaches too. So perhaps we look for something with more character or something. But folks should experience each beach for themselves and then they'll know what their favorite is! :D

[4serenity]

St. Thomas - Our plan was to to get off of ship and take a taxi into town (which is $4.00 per person) to shop until around noon, since we were in port on a Sunday and the shops close at 1:00 or 2:00 depending on the store, then to get onto another taxi and go to Megan's Bay (which is $8.00 per person one way and $4.00 per person to get onto Megan's Bay) for a few hours and then back to the ship (which is another $8.00 per person, so round trip taxi is $16.00 + $4.00 to enter the beach = $20.00 per person). Our cab driver saw we had towels and told us he would meet us in town at noon after we shopped and bring us to Megan's Bay and pick us back up at Megan's Bay and bring us back to the pier, we gave him a time to pick us up and he came back for us. He didn't charge us the $4.00 to get into town and we paid him when he dropped us off at the end of our day, which was only $16.00 per person round trip. He also insisted we pay him when he brought us back to the ship. When on Megan's Bay lunch cost around $8.00 - $12.00 per person if you'd like. Lounge Chair rentals are $10.00 + deposit but I'm not sure how much that was. Sand chairs were $5.00 with a $5.00 deposit. Snorkel mask and tube were $9.00 with a $20.00 deposit, fins are extra. I heard someone say if you pay cash you get all of your deposits back, charge cards I'm not sure how they work. I did see paddle boats, paddle boards and a few other water toys at the end of the beach. There are showers and bathrooms and plenty of shade.

 

 

 

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