Little Divi Bay -ship excursion

[sammylee]

Has anyone done this ship excursion? I am wondering how crowded does the resort get when the people from the ship descend on the resort? Is it very crowded? How is the beach in general- is it very crowded? I am deciding between this and Dawn Beach. Can anyone tell me which is a quieter more relaxing experience?

[WNYer]

I have been compiling information from these boards and putting it into a Word doc. The following is what I have collected about Divi Little Bay Beach and Dawn Beach.

Linda

 

I, too, wanted a beach other than Orient. We opted for Divi Little Bay and were thrilled. It was a $4 cab ride, about 10 minutes. Absolutely beautiful beach, didn't see any "clothing optional," gorgeous surroundings with every kind of watersport you would want (parasailing, jet ski, banana boat, kayak, etc.) but very peaceful. Full restaurant on property, bar, umbrellas and chairs to rent. We could not have been happier. We went out on jetskis and could see the ships at the pier when we got a bit beyond the bay. It was very cool!

 

We went to Divi Little Bay the day after Christmas. We were on the Sun Princess. We were very glad we did it on our own and not the ship excursion. It is about 7-10 minute taxi ride - $4/pp each way. The umbrella is $5 and the chairs are $5 each. When we got a chair and umbrella they told us to feel free to use the pool as well. The beach and the bay were absolutely beautiful. We were thrilled that we picked Divi to spend our day at. They have every kind of watersport you would want. We rented jet skis for $45 for 30 min. and they let you go completely alone for the entire time - a blast ! We parasailed for $45/pp. The restaurant was incredibly slow and expensive - and then we found a cute little sandwich/ice cream/smoothie shop on the property near the registration desk where sandwiches and salads were about $6/each. Take a good sandwhich to your beach chair and enjoy the view and the reasonable price. I think you'll really like Divi.

 

You might also consider the Divi Resort on Little Bay. It is the next closest beach to the pier, but is definitely a taxi ride away, not walking distance. It's a full service resort, and even has limited shopping. I wouldn't put either of these beaches (Great Bay and Divi Little Bay Beach) on my favorites list except for their location for cruisers. I suppose Divi might be considered 'nicer' because of the resort location, and there's some snorkeling off to the left of the beach. All beaches on St. Maarten are public. The water taxi doesn't go to Divi, but there is discussion about doing so at some point. The closest it will take you is to the Little Pier, 'downtown'. This map http://www.caribbean-on-line.com/sm/pbmap.shtml has a better view of where the pier is located. Divi has liquor, some clothing and jewelry for sale. Certainly NOTHING compared to downtown.

 

DIVI is free. You can visit the beach but the only thing you pay for is food/drinks/beach umbrella and chair rentals (if you use them). YOu cannot get there by water taxi but by land taxi. There's not much shopping at DIVI compared to front street but DIVI has a jewelry store, a few gift shops, a coffee/internet cafe and a convenience store. Nice place.

 

Divi Little Bay beach excursion. The beach was very nice and they gave us drink coupons. The resort had a few pools, but we were only allowed to use one of them. It was nice, though. The barbeque lunch was lame, so we opted to eat back at the ship.

 

Divi Beach, St. Maarten last year and it was so peaceful and relaxing. We almost bought a time share but decided that cruisin' was more our style.

 

We really enjoyed Divi beach St. Maarten

 

Last year, we visited St. Martin for the first time. As we got off the ship, there is an information center...and I asked for the nearest family beach. I was instructed to stand in the Taxi Line (adjacent to the info center) and ask for Divi Little Bay. WE HAD THE BEST TIME OF OUR ENTIRE CRUISE THERE!!! The ride there cost us $4 pp and took about 5-8 minutes. As you enter the property, you notice that it is a very well kept resort type property. When we walked down to the beach (short walk along nice pathway) they were just starting a crab race, and everyone was having a great time. We spent about 4 hours there that day, and literally had to tear the kids away! The water was crystal clear and the kids even found sand dollars and star fish within 2 feet of water. There is a terrific BBQ stand that serves lunch right on the beach...as well as a bar (with all kinds of traditional bar drinks, as well as the frozen favorites - you gotta try the guava colada!). The vendors walk the beach, but they aren't as intrusive as some other places that I've been...and there are women there who will gladly braid your kids hair (for the customary $2 per braid) I would rate this beach a 9 and plan to go back there this July. PS This is our favorite island too!!

 

I We did Dawn beach with two younger children on our Disney Cruise back in 2002. The good points: Calm, relaxed and uncrowded compared to the Orient "beaten path." Very pretty "half moon" geography in relatively undeveloped area. Nice, unpushy local vendors. Got loungers and umbrella right on arrival, then a decent lunch at a little seaside barbecue set up under a tent later on. Nice rocks to build sandcastles on at southern end of beach. The so-so points; Surf was calm early on, but got stronger as day continued. Cab scene is a little hectic (cabs coming and going constantly; on trip back, it took a little while to find a cab that wasn't already "picking up" a fare).

[OCruisers]

WNYer (Linda).... Thanks so very much for posting ALL of this info! It certainly saved me lots of time! :p

 

Have you made a decision on what YOU are going to do yet? :confused:

 

Happy Sailing! OCruisers :)

[WNYer]

OCruisers,

You're welcome. Of course, I need to thank all the great people on these boards for supplying the information. :) All I did was copy and paste. We have decided to do Divi Little Bay beach on our own and maybe rent jetskis.

Linda

[emen822]

WNYer, My family and I will also be on the Mariner on the 20th. I can't believe it's only 24 days away. This is my first family cruise and I think we plan to do the beaches by ourselves instead of the ship excursions. Seems cheaper and I like to be able to come and go as I please instead of on someone else's watch. Thank again for this information. We were leaning towards Divi also.

[WNYer]

emen822,

It is getting close. After about the 7 week mark, time has been flying. I always have mixed emotions as it gets closer. I enjoy the planning and I don't want it to be over. I really need to get serious about what I am going to pack. Have you decided what you're going to do in St. Thomas? We have reservations with Godfrey Tours. I think we are going to have him take us to Coki Beach after the tour.

Linda

[bluehorizonlover123]

Coki Beach is ok but you should really consider Sapphire Beach for your final destination.

[WNYer]

bluehorizonlover123,

Thanks for the advice. Here's the reason we picked Coki. We are going with friends who want to go to Coral World. My family and I really want to do the tour with Godfrey. As a compromise we are going to Coki Beach, after the tour, that way they can go to Coral World if they still want to. I don't think they will still want to spend the money to go to Coral world for only 2 hours, but I wanted them to have the option. I have been compiling information on St. Thomas beaches also, but only have one comment on Sapphire. Can you tell me why you would choose Sapphire over Coki? Maybe I'll be able to persuade our friends. Thanks for your help!

Linda

[emen822]

Do you happen to have a compilation of their beaches on microsoft word too? ;) This is our first cruise and it took a lot of convincing to get my husband to agree to go on this vacation... So I am in charge of all the planning, which I like. Just the other day he said "hey, did you know that they have a steakhouse on board". I just laughed. I have to read up more on St. Thomas. I just want a beach that has soft sand, clear waters, some water activities and some shade (an umbrella would do the trick). Also not sure about the Bahamas yet. My daughter wanted to do the dolphin encounter (on our own) but they are sold out until April.

[WNYer]

emen822,

Yes I do!

 

We went to Coki Beach on St Thomas. The water was such a beautiful blue, and my husband thought the snorkeling was amazing. We took a taxi. $7.00 per person to Coki beach. It's a narrow beach, but the water is a gorgeous color and so clear. Coral World is right there too. We were going to do both but had so much fun at the beach. Yes, there were chairs and Umbrellas for rent. I can't remember how much they cost, though.

Been to CW twice. Once when staying on St Thomas and the second on DCL Eastern. WE did it on our own - Got a cab from the dock. We packed towels and beach stuff and went to Coki Beach adjacent to it. It works out well because CW has showers (Clean) that after the Beach you can go back and freshen up. Coral World is great for Kids. We also printed a coupon online for a discount at CW.

We went to Coki Beach on St. Thomas via taxi. SUPER EASY. There is a taxi station at the cruise ship pier and then there is a taxi stand at Coki Beach for the trip home.

Snorkeling is great at Coki Beach, You can walk off of the beach at either end and see lots of fish. They usually rent gear there also. The beach isn't large, but I enjoyed it.

 

As for St Thomas, they have open taxi trucks that will take you to the beach. You also get them right at the pier. It is about 5-6 dollars each as well. There are a couple good beaches. If you want to snorkel I recommend Sapphire Beach. It also has a snack bar.

 

It you want to just have a beach day I reccomend Magans Run. There is an admission fee of about 3.00 an adult, but worth it

We did Magen's Bay on our own during the last St. Thomas day, very easy, though we did not end up getting the return cab ride we expected--he was there, but waiting around for his taxi-truck to fill, so we jumped off and moved to open seats on a nearly filled taxi-truck farther ahead in the line. It was stunningly beautiful there, no waves, clear water like rarely seen. This time it looks like we are going to go to St. John and Trunk Bay on our own next time.

Also some beaches on St. Thomas that are great to go to are Megans bay beach if you didnt plan anything else. It was absolutely beautiful. Also theres a good place for drinks called Duffy's Love Shack thats also in St. Thomas.

 

St. John

"Once off the ship we found a cab driver from friend-recommended East End Taxi Association which is based at the Red Hook Dock (340-775-6975) and told them we wanted to go to Red Hook where a ferry would take us to St John. We weren’t alone and the driver had no problem filling the cab. The ferry to St John ($5) took about 15 minutes where we got another cab and elected to go to Trunk Bay, a U.S. National Park ($4 admission) another 10 to 15 minutes away. I’d say total time from getting off the ship to the beach in St John probably 45 minutes. A lot has to do with timing though." The ferry runs at certain times and being there at the right time, avoiding a wait is the key to making it a quick trip. At the beach, chairs (kind of yucky) are available for rent ($7- probably more than they cost) as well as snorkel gear. Apparently this is a snorklers heaven because by noon there were no less than 50 people in the water doing it. I can sure see why too. Trunk Bay is the most beautiful beach I have yet seen, and I was later told that other beaches on the island are nicer. We spent most of the day there, opting to catch the 2:00 ferry back to St Thomas then a cab back to the ship.

I HIGHLY recommend going to St John and visiting Trunk Bay. Since it is so easy getting over there I would recommend you do the trip on your own and save some $$$. I think the day cost us about $30-35 a piece last year. That was taxis, ferry, and snorkeling equipment. Just remember the last ferry back to St Thomas is at 3:00 (I think) so DO NOT MISS IT. Start your day early and catch the ferry at Red Hook first thing. This way you will have plenty of time on St John and be back in time to still be able to visit the shops at the dock before boarding.

 

I hate to diss all of you Trunk Bay fans out there, but Cinnamon Bay has all that and then some. It is a lot less crowded (there were 50 people at Cinnamon...tops), free (still NPS), has a restaurant, two snack bars, and GREAT snorkeling around a small island about 30 yards offshore and at the end of the beach to the right around the rocks. It is also bigger than trunk. Check it out HERE! The reason that the cruise ships don't go there is that it is the campground for the Virgin Islands National Park and the Park Service directs them to Trunk to keep the crowds away from the campers. Many locals consider Trunk to be the sacrificial beach. The only upside to Trunk are the little plaques underwater. I was just there 4 days ago (sniff-sniff) and it was my favorite part of the whole trip!

Jon, Shhhh....! Cinnamon isn't really all that great, you must have been on a late cruise high or something! ;-) Mary says we need to stop touting it or it won't be quite so uncrowded...

[emen822]

I just printed that out. I have plenty of stuff to look over and hopefully make some good decisions. Have a great weekend.

[JaKetravels]

Hi, can you tell me how to get to Cinnamon Bay. Thanks

[WNYer]

Jaketravels,

I have never been to Cinnamon Bay. All the comments in my post were copied from other posts. I did do a search for it and found this:

 

Take cab from pier to Red Hook and get on Ferry to St John - They run every hour starting at around 9:am

Take a taxi to Cinnamon. I would make arrangements to be picked up as I don't know how many "taxi" drivers go that far out unless they already have a fare.

We are also doing STJ on our own in April, but will go to Hawksnest which is the first beach out of Cruz Bay and just before Trunk. Also, leave enough time to go back to CBay and walk around. Nice places to have a drink or two before heading back to ship. Also, good restaurants in the area for lunch or snacks.

 

There are also Ferries from Charlotte Amalie, but they do not run as often and take longer and can be a rougher ride. The ferries arrive at the same dock for both CA and Red Hook.

Let me know if you have any other questions.