Hawksnest Cove,Coki,or Cinnimin Bay???

[big al]

My wife and I will be on the AOS next spring.Been to Trunk Bay,loved it.Looks like my choices for beaches in St.Thomas are narrowed down to Cinnamin Bay,Coki Beach or Hawksnest Cove.Anybody been to all 3 or at least one or two??

Alan

[lostdart58]

Cinnamon and hawksnest are both in St John. All three are great beaches.

 

There are no emenities except rest rooms at hawksnest. You will need to bring food/drink.

 

Excellent snorkling even for the novice at Coki. you can get anythig you want at Coki,,,,food, drink....chairs ...umbrellas.

 

Cinnamon has excellent snorkling......there is a place for food and drink. Cinnamon is a full service campground. there are cold water showers/changing rooms.

[The Islander]

Hello Alan,

 

One of the biggest differences for me between Coki and Hawknest or Cinnamon Bay is that Coki is quite commercial/"touristy" (lots of vendors, taxis, tours...). As mentioned other differences are that Coki has food, drinks... where as at Hawksnest you would need to bring a picnic lunch with you... but hey how often do you get to have a picnic on the beach on St. John??? Sounds great to me! Cinnamon Bay has amenities and if you wanted to hike there is a hiking trail right accross the street so you can have beach time and hiking time.

 

What type of beach environment/atmosphere are you looking for?

 

--Islander

*****

[big al]

Islander-I would prefer less crowded,but on the otherhand,I do like concession stands-it's easier to just buy a sandwich and drink,than lug a cooler around an island....it sounds like Coki is not as bad as Meagan's Bay..I've been to Sapphire Beach,which I thought was very nice,not too crowded,and had food and drinks.Do they all have bathrooms at least?My wife does not swim,but she will go in if it's calm and shallow-that's why she loved Trunk Bay..it was great there.We went early,but soon the tourists came,and it got a bit crowded....any opinion is always welcome.Thanks!

[Host Anne]

Cinnamon gets my vote. I prefer St. John overall so we haven't been to beaches on St. Thomas in awhile. Hawksnest is lovely (quiet and secluded, too) but facillities are very limited as others have mentioned. Cinnamon has a store for snacks, food, drinks and a place where you can rent beach chairs, snorkeling equipment, etc. The beach is lovely and usually far less crowded than Trunk Bay. You can usually find a spot to yourselves although it's not quite as empty as Hawksnest.

 

My very favorite St. John Beach is Maho which is one beach further east of Cinnamon. However, it has no facilities (not even a restroom) so it's not a great spot if you are coming off a ship unless you have a car so you can hop back to Cinnamon for the restrooms and other amenities.

 

You can't go wrong no matter which one you pick.

 

Have a great time!

[The Islander]

Hello,

 

Its a matter of opinion... I like Magens Bay better then Coki. If you liked Sapphire perhaps you would like Secret Harbor Beach... it is a quiet beach, has a nice restaurant (Blue Moon Cafe) that looks over the beach, there is a nice little beach bar, hammocks in the palm trees and chairs (you would have to pay a couple dollars to use the chairs as a non-hotel guest), good snorkeling, good for wading for the non-swimmer, clean restroom.

 

On St. John, Cinnamon Bay would be a good match for what you are looking for; restrooms, food, a little store for drinks, snacks, snorkeling, wading, nice beach.

 

Have a great time.

 

--Islander

*****

[Host Anne]

How did you weather Hurricane Frances? We were worried about you!

[The Islander]

Hello Anne,

 

Thank you for asking. We were fine, a few big gust of wind, big waves, a little rain, a few claps of thunder. It missed us and I am thankful. My thoughts go out to the folks in the Bahamas and Florida.

 

--Islander

*****

[Host Anne]

Islander....so glad to hear all is well down your way. We're still waiting and watching to see what will happen in Florida.

 

Hope there aren't any more storms heading your way this season. We'll be down your way in January. Bad weather can be so devasting for you.

 

Take care and thanks for all your helpful info!

[The Islander]

Hello Anne,

 

We are watching Tropical Storm Ivan now.

 

--Islander

*****

[Host Anne]

We've been watching Ivan, too. Let's hope it doesn't turn into a big storm. Neither you nor Florida needs a big storm right now. We have a home in Sarasota, Florida so we are watching all of these storms closely. And we love the Virigin Islands so we certainly don't want to see damage down there as well.

 

Stay safe!

[AliceS]

How much is the taxi to Coki beach.

[The Islander]

Alice, from Havensight or town... $7 a person in a shared cab each way.

 

--Islander

*****