Snorkeling at Coki Point, Trunk Bay, and Turtle Cove in one day?

[ATPerez]

So I've heard great things about Coki Point and Trunk Bay and would really love to go snorkeling at both. My family also wants to do the Turtle Cove excursion through RCI and I was wondering if it would be possible to do all those things in one day from 9am to 5pm!

 

Like I mentioned before, they all seem like wonderful places to visit and I'll be sad to nix one from the list. If I have to, which one do you think I should miss?

[Stevesan]

So I've heard great things about Coki Point and Trunk Bay and would really love to go snorkeling at both. My family also wants to do the Turtle Cove excursion through RCI and I was wondering if it would be possible to do all those things in one day from 9am to 5pm!

 

Like I mentioned before, they all seem like wonderful places to visit and I'll be sad to nix one from the list. If I have to, which one do you think I should miss?

 

Very doubtful.

 

www vinow dot com (crusie critic won't allow a link) has everything you ever wanted to know about the USVI, and more. Transportation rates, including the ferry prices and schedules, detailed beach descriptions and locations. For your purposes, stay with the St Thomas and St John links. The latter helps with Trunk Bay, and St Thomas for transportation info and Coki Beach.

 

Here's a link for Coki Beach:

 

http://www.cokidive.com/snorkeling.html

[ATPerez]

I recently looked up Sapphire beach, looks great too.

From the reply I think I'll only be able to make it to one other beach.

 

So my question is now-

 

If you had one choice, where would you go for the best snorkeling- sapphire beach, coki point, or trunk bay?

[marci22]

I was just at Sapphire beach a few days ago and it was really beautiful. My teens loved the snorkeling and said it was their favorite stop. There was bar/snack service and the bathrooms were ok (bring your own TP though, and hand wipes). Our drinks were very good and sandwiches were good as well. It seemed like lots of people were ordering things. Beach was sort of crowded during excursion times, maybe from about 11am-12:30pm. We got there about 9:30am and had our choice of location.

 

Iguanas roamed around and there were lots of small ducks, but they weren't bothersome.

 

There are shells as you go into the water, but there were lots of sandy-bottom areas in addition to the reef areas. We got 3 chairs under one of the grape trees to the right as you face the water. Chairs were $7 each. I also saw people renting snorkels (we brought our own), people on kayaks, and people windsurfing (they stand on that surfboard thing, not sure what you call it).

 

I had debated Magen's, Coki, Sapphire, and Trunk Bay. Decided I didn't want to be hassled travelling with teens to St. John. The cab driver 'accidentally' drove us to Coki- looking around, I was glad I didn't choose this beach as it looked like a very bad area in general. He said 'the young people like it because of the ganja' (his words). He discouraged us from Sapphire and said we should go to Magen's but I felt my kids would be bored. I stayed strong :p and we finally got to Sapphire.

 

We were all very glad we went to Sapphire. The hotel is in mid-repair but it didn't bother us at all. The beach is beautiful and the water was crystal clear. Lots of fish, you didn't even need any food and they swam over to you.

 

ps taxi fare was $10pp. I would avoid the open-air pickup truck type taxis as it looks dangerous. Just insist on a closed vehicle. The cab drivers in St. Martin and St. Thomas were pretty rude. They will try to pack you in like sardines; we complained and our driver took our family only.

 

Another ps -I just saw that someone posted this http://stthomassource.com/content/news/local-news/2011/07/01/tyson-gets-double-life-sentence-coki-point-murders I am sure that violence can happen anywhere on the island, but this area in particular just looks bad.

[Betsy's Mom]

If you are going on the ship's excursion I doubt you would have enough time to travel to St John and Trunk Bay. As to where the fish will be when you sail, who knows? Coki is usually good, but the atmosphere can be a bit on the iffy side. Sapphire may have less fish, but a better vibe and be more relaxing.

Enjoy:)

B.

[ATPerez]

Thanks for the information everyone! I am definitely leaning towards Sapphire Beach now. I wonder why the taxi driver insisted that you go to different beaches?

[marci22]

Thanks for the information everyone! I am definitely leaning towards Sapphire Beach now. I wonder why the taxi driver insisted that you go to different beaches?

 

I have no idea. Ours did say that there were no facilities or food or drink at Sapphire. He mentioned the 'guy with the grill' and said 'I wouldn't buy food from him'. Well we have eaten at various beaches in the Caribbean and Mexico and it is always risky, imo.

 

The bar server was a woman from NY and she was very helpful and prompt. She said she made the drinks and they were really good. We all had sandwiches and lived to tell about it. All of the food seemed very fresh.

 

There were chair rentals, kayaks, snorkel equipment, etc, so I don't know why cab driver said there was nothing. The bathrooms were fine, just sandy on the floor, but were not stocked with soap or TP so be forewarned and come prepared.