Magen's Bay

[stprdi]

I'm giving a big thumbs up to this beach. We arrived home on Sept.2 from our first cruise ever. You see the postcard beaches but never think that they could be this beautiful in person. Wow is all I can say. We hired a taxi at the pier and asked specifically for Magens Bay. The walk to the beach is level from the parking lot. Gorgeous clean white sand and beautiful "see the hair on your toes" turquoise water. What better is there. The seas were absolutely calm, no breeze and 4 locals. What an introduction to the Caribbean. We did arrive around 10:00 and there were a few more folks there around noon. There are clean washrooms/change areas and a couple of entrepreneur types who rent the usual beach toys, snack/drink bar, plus a turtle cruising around. Like I said this was the first cruise for us so we haven't had chance to see the other beaches in St. Thomas. Don't hesitate to give this one a try.

[beaming90]

Thank you for the great info, we will be going to Magens Bay when we are in St Thomas in December. We can't wait!!:rolleyes:

[MelissaForrest]

How much is it for a taxi (or other transportation) to Magen's Bay, and how long does it take? I only have 6 hours and I want to do Paradise Point and Blackbeards Castle too.

[rtsmith]

Four our family of 4 think it was around $24 each way for taxi to Magen's Bay..about 20-25 min up and over the mountain...next time, we would try to walk out of the cruise terminal and up to Wendy's and look for a bus...i guess you just flag them down? That's what we did on St Maarten and only $1 per person all over...on the return from Magen's Bay, there are taxis, most open air, ie pickup type trucks with benches built on the back lined up...don't know how you would get a bus unless you walked over to the road and maybe saw one go by?

 

We got off the ship around 8am I think it was..had the beach almost to ourselves til about 10...then started to get more folks around 11am...but not too bad that it was crowded..that's also when the watersport rentals, etc started up too...we left around noon and our taxi dropped us off in town..it was SO hot..we had a 7 and a 9 year old with us...but after getting refueled for lunch, we walked up the steep hill and steps to Blackbeard's castle..which is really a tower and you have to pay something like $20 to go inside the grounds..think it is some kind of a resort now...but it was worth the walk up there because of the view..got nice photos of the ships docked...got a taxi back to the ship's dock..you could walk from downtown but it is a pretty long way...want to say that was $8 for all of us...the tram is right by the ships' dock...we got back around 2pm..would've had plenty of time I think BUT..I would do the tram earlier rather than later...another couple on our cruise did the tram after lunch and were terriified and stuck as a tower was hit by lightening, water poured into their tram, then they had to additionally pay for a taxi down from the tram as the tram closed when it finally started up and dropped off the passengers that were stuck..something to think about as afternoon rainshowers are the norm.

[jimswims]

We were on the NCL Spirit in August and went to Magen's Bay. We have been to St. Thomas and St. John before but never to Magen's Bay.

 

It was a beautiful beach. There really was no waves the day we were there and the swimming was fantastic. I did not think that it was that great for snorkeling, some fish but that is about it.

 

The snack bar actually has really good Pizza too!

 

We took the ship tour to get there. We would not do it this way again. Not really a problem, but it was a lot of people for the staff to get organized and on to the open air buses. Our friends made it to the beach about an hour before we got there.

 

If you want privacy and like to walk a bit, go all the way to the left as you look out to the ocean.

[Betsy's Mom]

Buses or dollar rides do not go to Magens Bay. You either have a car or take a cab.

B.

[maurick]

Thanks for the info. I was there a long time ago and hope to go back in Oct.

[paulymk]

Two years ago we went to Megans and thought it was the best, that is until we went to Coki beach on August 26th of this year. No comparison. The water at Coki is so clear and clean as well as the beach. Fish come right up to you and eat out of your hand, that is if you have something to feed them like a dog biscuit that they sell on the beach. We understand that Megans bay is still nice but getting very trashed lately. Several people who had gone to Megans bay in August took a cab from there to Coki because of the trashiness of the beach.

 

Hope this helps.

[stprdi]

Oh dear...sad they had that experience. We were amazed cuz the beach was pristine. Clean sand, clean washrooms, clear calm water. Couldn't have been better.