st john's beaches

[saleaaway]

Booked a tour going to St. John today. We have some time to discover the shops and another few hours of beach time. We have never been there so I'm looking for a bit of advice. Going with my three grand kids so would like to go somewhere that the waves are a bit on the mild side. I also would like to go somewhere closer to the shop area.

I've read a lot about Trunk. It sounds like the perfect spot but as usual I differ to the pro's.

thanks

[truffles2]

I think Trunk Bay would be a great stop. You have the underwater trail and markers and it is "mild". Stop by Mongoose Junction for shopping.

[Seatravelers]

Cinnamon Bay is our favorite:)

[SeaYa52]

Trunk Bay is great with the grandkids. Shopping area is mostly near the ferry......nice outdoor bar & restaurant right next to ferry - great burgers and have a " lime & coconut". Walk up the road to our favorite bar & restaurant - Woody's". There are many awesome beaches - but you would need a car rental to take off & explore several ( which really is a great way to spend the day). We love St. John.....usually rent a house.....if I ever run away - you'll find me there.:D

[stjohnbeachlover]

I would go to either Cinnamon Bay or Hawksnest. They are both fairly close to town. If you go to Trunk's Bay and it's a cruise ship day, that beach will be packed. If you walk over to the National Park Service (just 2 blocks from the ferry), they will give you a map to get to Saloman or Honeymoon Beach. It is a one mile walk from the National Park Service, but you will probably be the only ones on the beach. That is what we did last time we were on a cruise. We got back in plenty of time. I even had time to shop at the pier by the cruise ship. I guess it depends on how old the grandkids are, but I would say any kid over the age of 5 or 6 could handle the walk.

[Ellen Dio]

Trunk is great - so is Cinnamon - Trunk might be better for the kids if they snorkel with the underwater trail and all - I don't know cause we used to go via my grandparents boat from St. Thomas but I THINK Trunk is closer to where you get off the ferry??? not sure.

[LovinCruisin24]

Just curious, did you book the tour through the cruise line?

Destination St.John: Guided Shopping and Leisure time?

[saleaaway]

That is exactly the tour.. It really was one of the most affordable considering there are five of us. We've done St. Thomas so much and we have never been to St. John's.

[LovinCruisin24]

Thats the one i believe we are going to be doing next week when we are there! I wasn't impressed with St.Thomas and cannot wait to see Trunk Bay!!

[1stcruiser1]

please let us know how the tour works out. thanks

[LovinCruisin24]

Will do!!:D

[Ms411]

IMO the best places to shop with kids are the National Park Store and the Captain's Corner Store next to JJ's Restaurant. They both have inexpensive items that the kids might like such as shells and sharks teeth as well as other items. Mongoose Junction has great adult stores that are a bit more expensive than the ones I just mentioned.

[LovinCruisin24]

Well we have returned from our cruise!

 

Did not do the Destination St.John excursion, but rather the St.John on Your Own excursion-$34/person.

 

First off, Trunk Bay is unbelievably(sp?) beautiful!

 

The excursion we booked was 4 hours long, which sounds great, except it was a 30 min ferry ride each way and a 15 minute taxi ride to Trunk Bay. So we lost an hour and a half in transporation. And then we really only had about a little under an hour on the beach because we had to make sure we got a taxi back in time.

 

For the amount of people going to Trunk Bay on the ferry who booked other excursions, the beach was not crowded at all, which a big plus because i was getting a little worried in the beginning.

 

So i think next time, we will do St.John on Our Own, as in we get our own taxi's and ferry from red hook instead of booking through the cruiseline, because we can head over as soon as the ship docks instead of having to wait for the excursion time which for us was 11am.

[smarks]

Well we have returned from our cruise!

 

Did not do the Destination St.John excursion, but rather the St.John on Your Own excursion-$34/person.

 

First off, Trunk Bay is unbelievably(sp?) beautiful!

 

The excursion we booked was 4 hours long, which sounds great, except it was a 30 min ferry ride each way and a 15 minute taxi ride to Trunk Bay. So we lost an hour and a half in transporation. And then we really only had about a little under an hour on the beach because we had to make sure we got a taxi back in time.

 

For the amount of people going to Trunk Bay on the ferry who booked other excursions, the beach was not crowded at all, which a big plus because i was getting a little worried in the beginning.

 

So i think next time, we will do St.John on Our Own, as in we get our own taxi's and ferry from red hook instead of booking through the cruiseline, because we can head over as soon as the ship docks instead of having to wait for the excursion time which for us was 11am.

Good info. Thanks for coming back with a report. I will be there in May and we are going to go on our own.