Water color question

Hello all,

I would like to know which beaches on the following Island have blue/turquoise water (that you can see your toes :p ):

San Juan

St. Thomas

Tortola

I am leaving on 05/20/06 and being from NYC, I am really looking forward to being in clear clean water

Thanks in advance :D

St. thomas has the clearest water, just like a bathtub, Tortola aslo has clear water followed by San Juan.

St. thomas has the clearest water, just like a bathtub, Tortola aslo has clear water followed by San Juan.

Any beaches in particular ? The reason why I am asking is that I heard that Megans Bay had murky water, but when I look at the pics on the internet it looks clear

Have a look at some beach photos and decide for yourself: http://lrichters.smugmug.com/Travel/162954

I guess that on a given day Magen's can be a bit murkier because it's a sandy bottom not unlike NJ and NY beaches. But even on a bad day the water at Magen's is clearer than any NJ or NY beach. :D

The clearest water we saw on St. Thomas was at Coki and Sapphire beaches.

The color of the water has to do with the reflection of the sun and sky on the bottom of the sea. Murkey water is caused when there has been a storm that stirs up the bottom and sand particles are still suspended in the water. Our water (in Caribbean) is the same as anyone's water, it just looks blue. Aren't we lucky! :)

B.

Being able to see your feet while standing chest deep in water at the beaches in the USVI is normal ;). Like Betsy's mom said... 'aren't we lucky!!'.

Murky waters at Magens Bay is not typical for that beach; it can happen there like it can at all of our beaches if weather conditions have stirred up the sand.

When I think murky I think muddy murky rather than sand stirred up... none of our beaches are muddy murky (again unless weather conditions... like flooding has brought lots of muddy water down from the hillsides into the bays) - takes a few days after storms for this to settle.

Check this beach guide http://www.*****/stthomas/beaches_stt/. Typically if the water conditions are calm then the water is really clear. Beaches like Morningstar usually have a mild surf and so the sand is stirred up a bit and the water isn't crystal clear, blue but not clear. Magens Bay, Coki, Secret Harbor are usually really calm with clear waters.

--Islander

*****

Megan's is crystal clear. It is like bathwater. Must of been murky after a hurricane.

~JS

<snip>

Murky waters at Magens Bay is not typical for that beach; it can happen there like it can at all of our beaches if weather conditions have stirred up the sand.

--Islander

*****

On our last visit we were told that the bay was again experiencing a 'plume', I believe, of natural contamination that occurs from time to time that greatly reduces the water's clarity. The fact is that the bay has just the one opening and no significant flow from any other direction to flush out to sea anything that occurs within the bay itself. There seems to be a stagnation effect at times.

You can see the condition of the bay when we visited in this shot from my PhotoBucket. And that is not a sand problem.

Clarity aside, we don't care much for Megan's Bay, as there is usually absolutely NO wave action, and we miss that.