Crown Princess July 5 Best Beaches In ports

[robd225a]

I will be sailing on the Crown Princess this July 5 with my family. I'm looking for the best beaches in St. Thomas and San Juan that I will be able to travel to by Taxi in San Juan and by Taxi or Ferry in St. Thomas.

 

I read about Water Island in St. Thomas, but would like to hear from people who have been there.

 

I have already been to St. John and didn't enjoy the taxi to ferry to taxi deal just to get to the beach.

 

Thanks

[tsj]

Robd, My family will also sail the Crown on 7/5. Please feel free to visit the rollcall for this sailing (the link to the rollcall is in my signature) . You may also be able to get more info on Water Island from some of the folks on the rollcall. Welcome and happy sailing. Teri

[YoPhilly]

My husband went biking on Water Island and said it was great, but he's not a beach person. IMHO, I go back time after time to Magen's Bay. It's a stunning beach, crystal clear calm water and very easy cab ride. In fact, on our last cruise I wanted to try a different beach, so I went to Sapphire Beach....boy, was I disappointed. It was very narrow (hence crowded), very breezy (being right on Drake Channel) and choppy surf. Next time, I'll go back at Magen's.

[margord]

My husband went biking on Water Island and said it was great, but he's not a beach person. IMHO, I go back time after time to Magen's Bay. It's a stunning beach, crystal clear calm water and very easy cab ride. In fact, on our last cruise I wanted to try a different beach, so I went to Sapphire Beach....boy, was I disappointed. It was very narrow (hence crowded), very breezy (being right on Drake Channel) and choppy surf. Next time, I'll go back at Magen's.

 

I agree Magen's is a lovely beach, but if you want to snorkle Sapphire or Coki would be best.

[crissyp]

I've read so many different replies on Megans Bay vs. Sapphire Beach over the last few months on these boards. The big question I have is can you rent jet ski's at Megans??? I've seen yes and no answers. I have seen pictures of people at Megans Bay on jet skis, but alot of people say just non-motorized water vehicles.

 

My kids really want to go jet-skiing....I just don't want to head to the wrong beach:(

 

Rob....we're also on the 7/5 sailing....come chat with us on our roll call.

 

thanks,

Crissy

[VioletNYC]

Hi! I was on the 6/8 Crown Princess...I feel like we didn't have enough time in St. Thomas at all! We went to Sapphire Beach-apparently the whole ship went to Megan's Bay lol. So it was nice to have an empty beach. It was absolutely beautiful!! There are a whole bunch of things to rent. I don't know if they charge for chairs? We got there around 8am and the cabana attendant just handed us a chair.

Have fun!! It was the greatest vacation ever!!!

[cruisegal40]

We have gone to Sapphire the last two times and I love it there. They usually rent the chairs for $7.00 a piece and they have jet skis and kayaks. My DS and I did that. We had a blast. Love it there. Have been to Megan's Bay a number of times too. No jetskis. They are not allowed. What you saw were probably people who rented them somewhere else and went over there for an excursion or something. Hope this helps.

[barbels]

We love Coki and go back time after time. Facing the water it's absolutely beautiful- facing back not so. But the water and the snorkelling are the best. It's almost always calm and crystal clear and there are huge schools of fish waiting to be fed. My 2 year year old grandson had a ball feeding them.

[wave breaker]

You will like Coki beach on St. Thomas or go over to St. Johns to Trunk Bay. I usually make my choice by wind direction as they face opposite and I want to snorkel in calmer waters. Both are beautiful but my fave is Trunk. Afterwards you can go over to the shopping center there before the ferry and they have some very nice items not found on other islands. I hope you enjoy your trip. I will be doing this sailing 2/2/2008 also.:)

[crissyp]

thanks! It's going to be Sapphire Beach for us!

 

Crissy

[Vanilla]

Just off the Caribbean Princess on Sunday. We have traveled to St.Thomas on many cruises and Megan's Bay is a beautiful beach with clear water but that is about all there is to do is lay on the beach - no water sports. This past week we went to Coki for scuba and snorkling and the beach is terrible. Small area, littered with cigarette butts, beer bottles, paper, a few construction nails, and the snorkling wasn't anything special - would not recommend this beach at all. We made a brief stop at Sapphire Beach to pick up/drop off passengars and the beach was lovely and the people getting on the taxi van said they had a lovely time. Have fun, you only have a few days until your cruise.

[sunsetme]

http://www.gotostthomas.com/live/magens.html

 

Sapphire has more wave action, water sports, great view.

[willysgrandma]

Trunk Bay is my favorite on St. John. It is a lot easier taking the ship excursion there - the boat that took us on the excursion picked us right up at Crown Bay. No need to go to the ferries.

[Spender Nui]

Hearing there are problems getting to Magen's bay from Crown Bay. Any information on this?