Our beaches rank among the finest in the world!!!
People ask me, "What's the great beach to go to?" and I always answer the same way, "It depends what you are looking for--drinking? snorkeling? swimming? water sports?"
So I made it easy for you. Below are some of our most popular beach hot spots. Use the key below to find the spots that best fit the activities and amenities you need and are looking for.
On St Thomas...
Magens Bay
(Restrooms/ Food/ Bar/ Lifeguards/ Watersports/ Admission Fee)
Voted by National Geographic as one of the "10 most beautiful beaches in the world"--this beach is the busiest. I recommend it highly for families with children, as it is mostly shallow with no real drop off. The waves are also small and forgiving in general. The beach is great for relaxing on, but don't expect to see many fish if you are a snorkeler. Great beach bar--one of the best, with a pizza and burger joint attached. This place gets extremely busy, but it is a very large beach. Expect big crowds on busy cruise ship days. Great scenery and view.
NOTE: This is the Busiest Beach in St Thomas. Stay away from the weekends and holidays, unless you enjoy extremely large crowds.
Located on the NORTHSIDE of the island.
Hull Bay
(Snorkling/Dive Shop/Restrooms/ Food/ Bar/ Watersports)
A locals' beach. Secluded and beautiful. In my opinion, this is the best place to "Get away from it all". Very few tourists, all local. "Frenchie" fishermen park their boats here and this place is very mellow except for special events, holidays and Weekends. Sundays there is a live band at the bar from 4pm-7pm and it gets quite lively.
The HULL BAY HIDEAWAY is a great beach bar complex which has a great menu and you can get beers, cocktails, sodas and bottled waters.
There's also "Homer's Dive Shop" where you can rent kayaks (recommended!), dive gear and surf boards.
People are very friendly here and the beach is very safe.
Located on the NORTHSIDE of St Thomas.
Coki Beach
(Snorkling /Dive Shop/ Restrooms/ Food/ Bars)
Vendors sell food and drink of all kinds --and beach waitresses will bring your drink right to you. This place feels and looks like the Caribbean. It's one of our smaller beaches, but also one of St Thomas' most beautiful beaches. White sand and aqua blue water yield tremendous snorkeling. Try the right side of the beach by the rocks if you want to see loads of fish. Learn to scuba dive off this beach, or just rent snorkel gear. It can get crowded and chaotic on heavy cruise ship days, so unless you catch an off-day, it will be busy. Watch your items on this beach and don't take anything of great value with you. But by all means, check it out. The fish, food, and fun are going to give you a great day with an authentic Caribbean experience. Look at the colors in the picture! Wow, huh?
Located on the EAST END of the island, next to Coral World.
Morning Star Beach
(Restrooms/ Food/ Bar/ Watersports)
Located behind the Frenchman's Reef Marriot, this is a decent beach, with great amenities. Full bar, right on the beach, restrooms, restaurant, foot showers, the works. Great for the playing the waves, as the waves really tend to hit this side of the island with great regularity. Body surfing and boogie boarding is fun to do here. Also lots of Sunfish, canoes and jet ski's all for rent. Not a snorkel beach, but fantastic for watersports. They even have a volleyball net.
Located on the SOUTH SIDE of the island.
Sapphire Beach
(Snorkling / Restrooms/ Watersports)
Down the road to Coki Beach and near Red Hook, this beach has great snorkeling, swimming water and watersports, but since May 2006, there is no restaurant or bar for drinks. The saving grace however is the BAREFOOT TRADING COMPANY which sells bottled water, beer, soda and light snacks, as well as beachwear and souvenirs. You can rent snorkel gear, floats and other water toys from the Dive Shop and they have chairs for rent. Keep in mind, the white ones are for the public, but the blue chaise lounges you see on the beach are privately owned and only for use by the residences next door. I recommend that you bring your own lunch with you or settle for snacks only from the small store. The snorkeling is very good here. Don't forget to pick up your trash and remember that people live in residences on this beach as well. NOTE: This place gets mad busy in season on Sundays.
Located on the EAST END of the island.
Great Bay
(Restrooms/ Food/ Bar/ Watersports)
This beach is technically part of the RITZ-CARLTON resort. As long as you behave yourself (and it doesn't hurt to patronize it's outlets) it's no problem. Parking is tricky, since the lot is usually full...look for the public beach access road and park there (if there is room). High end drinks are available at the bar as well as light fare. Chaises are mostly for guests, but if you are drinking and well-presented they usually won't hassle you. Dipping in the water is great, but there are better places to dunk your snorkel if you are looking to see fish.
Located on the EAST END of the island.
ON ST JOHN...
St John is a quick ferry ride from St Thomas, and the beaches are outstanding. You can be over there in less then 20 minutes by ferry from Red Hook on the east end. Or catch the ferry from downtown.
Here are my two favorites...
Trunk Bay
(Snorkling/ Restrooms/ Food/ Bar/ Watersports/ Showers/ Admission Fee)
This beach is gorgeous and mind-blowing. Great facilities--you can even shower off and change after the beach (bring clothes with you).
The only drawback is lots of people on busy cruise ship/ tourist days. Don't miss it. Home of the famous "underwater snorkel trail".
Told you it was cool!
To get there, take a safari cab from the ferry dock (Downtown Cruz Bay, St John)---they leave constantly, all day long.
Cinnamon Bay
(Snorkling/ Restrooms/ Food)
If you are trying to avoid the crowds, the next "Safari Cab" stop past Trunk Bay is this one. This is also a campground run by the park service. There is a restaurant, but the hours are random, so don't count on it. It's usually not open in the daytime and only in high season. There is a general store that carries juices, sodas, waters and "snack type" foods if you need to eat something, but nothing that qualifies as a meal. The beach is massive and generally not overcrowded. Across the street from this beach are some old sugar mill ruins worth checking out.
One of my personal favorites.
Now that I've helped you with tips, please help me with the following-
HELP PRESERVE OUR BEACHES!
Human traffic slowly takes it toll on nature--especially coral-- and luckily our reef are holding their own--SO FAR!
In case you haven't heard the sad news, worldwide, our seas and reefs are dying.
The Phillipean Islands have lost over 70% of thier reefs.
Experts aren't sure if they are beyond ever coming back.
Hawaii with all of it's heavy foot traffic isn't faring much better.
Here, we are alot less travelled, but we've still lost 40% of our reefs here in the Virgin Islands!
But our reefs still have a chance.
There are four simple things you can do to keep our beaches pristine (and alive) for the coming years.
Here they are:
#1. PICK UP YOUR TRASH- Cigarette Butts, Potato chip wrappers, plastic straws, 6-Pack Rings--all kill sealife. Please take your things out with you. (In fact, why not pick up one extra thing...!)
Most of our beaches do not have clean up crews and these items will simply stay here until some fish or animal eats them and dies.
#2. DON'T STAND ON THE REEF- Walking on the reef--even lightly--kills it instantly. The reefs are what feed our oceans. We lost 40% of our reef in 2005 alone. Don't touch it, walk on it or remove things from it. Just look at it and enjoy it. This is so important. Our oceans DIE without the reef. It takes decades for them to grow back and they are a VITAL part of our entire ecosystem. NOTE: If it's not sand and it's underwater...it's probably reef. When in doubt, swim over it. And remember, it's not a plant; it doesn't "grow back."
(P.S. Kicking or scraping the reef also causes damage--whether it's your hand, swim fins, your body or just a simple oar from a boat)
#3. DON'T FISH OFF SHORE AT "SWIMMING" BEACHES - Simple fact, people step on hooks and the garbage from it stays in the sand for months, maybe years. It's also illegal on beaches run by the parks department (Magens Bay, Cinnamon Bay and Trunk Bay specifically).
#4. DON'T FEED THE ANIMALS - Iguanas and tropical birds can die from overfeeding and eating junk food. Unless you have a degree in zoology, please don't feed them! Chips and cookies or not on the eating list of most wild creatures.
Thank you for keeping our beaches beautiful!
Please help pass the word.
More info: http://www.npca.org/marine_and_coastal/coral_reefs/
Also at: http://www.coral.org/
