St Thomas with 6 ships in port....

[coltscards1]

My DD wants to go to Magen's Beach, but I'm worried it will be packed with 6 ships in port. Would you suggest going to a different beach? I would appreciate your input. Thanks!

[KirkNC]

With six ships, everywhere will be packed!

[CaroleSS]

While I understand that more ships = more money for the island, it certianly doesn't endear the island to the visitors. Why do cruise lines do this to us??? :confused::(

[blue_water]

Carole cruising has become a huge industry of late anf they cannot build monster ships fast enough. And STT is one of the busiest islands in the Carib so you get a double whammy :eek:

 

You will get many different recommendations depending on what you are looking for. Beaches closer to the docks like Lindbergh (Emerald Beach Resort beach) will be very crowded as will be Magens because it's the most advertised. The nicest beaches are on the East End (in our opinion), a 1/2 hr taxi away - Lindquist, Sapphire, Coki, and Secret harbor are the main beaches there.

 

For the quietest beach with no amenities other than restrooms and a small entrance fee look at Lindquist Bay.

 

For snorkeling look at Sapphire and Secret Harbor which are home to condo resorts and offer all the amenities you need. Coki has more vendors, is a smaller bay, and for those reasons gets pretty crowded with a livelier vibe. All beaches other than Magens and Lindquist are free.

 

We're biased toward Sapphire because we love the water colors, beach, and island views. But you will get many recommendations for a nice beach and your interests will guide you.

[chipq]

Was in St Tom in June and there was only one other ship in port and Meagans and Coki had quite a few people. There was still room to find a spot with an umbrella etc but I can not imagine the crouds with six in on one day.

 

 

http://luv2cruise.blogspot.com

[zozogo]

with 6 six ships all beaches will be packed with one exception. Honey moon on water island! Thats where we went and it was gorgeous, still some people but not like meagns and coki sardine can...

 

There is a very that goes from Crown bay. you will love it:)

[Nole0202]

Would not recommend Coki for 6 ships in port. It is very small and gets crowed when there are 4 or more ships.

 

An option would be to shop in the am and go to the beach after lunch (if time permits) by then the crowds will slim down.

[blue_water]

Actually we would do quite the opposite, head for the beach early while many ppl are touring/shopping then leave as it gets crowded.

[coltscards1]

Thanks for all of your input. I think we will try to head to the beach since we are there from 11:00 am until 6:00 pm (I think).

[Hornet441]

We were recently at Sapphire with 5 ships in and it was not packed. Busy yes but not packed, can't even say it was crowded. With the ships docked at staggered times it seemed people left in large groups and were replaced by other large groups a short time later. We had a blast. I agree with blue_water, recommend beach first and other stuff later.

[BoPippy]

thank goodness we are the only Princess ship in port the day we arrive in April 2013.:)

[mcdavis5717]

How do you find out how many ships are in port with you? We are sailing brilliance dec 29 and I'm curious!! Thanks!!

[mitsugirly]

Thanks for all of your input. I think we will try to head to the beach since we are there from 11:00 am until 6:00 pm (I think).

 

Just so you know, arriving at 11am is not early. Most ships will probably be there by then. Most arrive around 8am ;)

 

How do you find out how many ships are in port with you? We are sailing brilliance dec 29 and I'm curious!! Thanks!!

 

 

http://ports.cruisett.com/

[mitsugirly]

Here's my review of Sapphire. There is a link at the bottom with pictures.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=26210037&postcount=1

[coltscards1]

I checked our itinerary and we arrive at 10:00 instead of 11:00 as I had originally thought. Hopefully the ships that arrive at 8:00 won't be heading to the beach right away.

[blue_water]

For early arrivals (docking at 7 or 8 AM) heading directly to Coki early is the best choice and yes, many ppl will be doing just that. Coki has many fans and is a very popular beach for very good reason. Some ppl will move to Sapphire when Coki starts getting busier around noon, but most will stay there until early afternoon. But if you don't mind a busier vibe you will be fine, no worries! Coki will also be less busy later in the day too so you could also head there around 2PM to avoid the heaviest crowd, but it could still be pretty crowded with others on your ship.

 

If that doesn't sound like what you want then I would probably head for Sapphire instead because it will be much less crowded when you arrive.

 

Sorry there's no easy answers with your later arrival time, just depends on the experience you want. Just to give you an idea, we will be staying at the Sapphire Resort again next month. We love Sapphire because it doesn't get packed on heavy ship days. We also love Coki and we will go there very early and after 5PM to enjoy the quieter beach time, but we may also stop there midday to have drinks and enjoy the crowd. Justba livelier vibe and fun spot on a gorgeous little beach.

[seashell]

I was there last january with about 7 ships in port. My niece and nephew had never been before and wanted to go to Magen's Bay. the beach was packed. lots of brazillians who had come off of the RCCL megaship parked next to us at Crown Bay. It was less crowded at the far end. no problems getting taxis either way. we were there about 1 to 3pm. the further we walked to the far end the more cruise beach towels we saw from other ships. no one wanted to be too close to the teenagers from Brazil. It is a longish beach so plenty of room but next trip i think i will try some place else.

 

The first time I was there was in 1996 and there were maybe a total of 50 people on the whole beach. Times change.

[jd3ofthem]

Why hasn't anyone mentioned Morningstar Beach? It's close to where my ship is docking. There are 4 ships total at the island that day. We arrive at 7:45. I thought Morningstar looked good for me, but now i'm nervous no one is mentioning it.

 

I liked that it had chairs to rent and facilities.

[blue_water]

Why hasn't anyone mentioned Morningstar Beach? It's close to where my ship is docking. There are 4 ships total at the island that day. We arrive at 7:45. I thought Morningstar looked good for me, but now i'm nervous no one is mentioning it.

 

I liked that it had chairs to rent and facilities.

 

jd, the East End beaches are preferred by many because some are much less crowded than the beaches nearer the docks and the snorkeling is at these beaches. Morningstar and Lindbergh are both closer to the docks and are nice spots but do not offer any real snorkeling and they tend to get busy. For a nice beach day close to port we would recommend Lindbergh, but it's just a matter of preference. The Best Western Emerald Beach Resort is located in Lindbergh Bay and also offers rentals.

 

For a very nice beach we like Sapphire but it's a $10 taxi vs $6 or $7 to the nearer beaches....

[blue_water]

How do you find out how many ships are in port with you? We are sailing brilliance dec 29 and I'm curious!! Thanks!!

 

The vinow dot com site has a cruise schedule for STT in the upper right hand corner

[jd3ofthem]

jd, the East End beaches are preferred by many because some are much less crowded than the beaches nearer the docks and the snorkeling is at these beaches. Morningstar and Lindbergh are both closer to the docks and are nice spots but do not offer any real snorkeling and they tend to get busy. For a nice beach day close to port we would recommend Lindbergh, but it's just a matter of preference. The Best Western Emerald Beach Resort is located in Lindbergh Bay and also offers rentals.

 

For a very nice beach we like Sapphire but it's a $10 taxi vs $6 or $7 to the nearer beaches....

 

Thanks, that answers my question. We are going snorkling the day before so that doesn't discourage us. I will look into Lindbergh as an option too.

[jd3ofthem]

I also read somewhere that the Marriott at Morningstar offers day passes for 35.00 for adults and it includes chair and towels. Is this different than going to Morningstar and paying for a chair when we get there?

[awhcruiser]

I highly recommend Secret Harbor beach. Farther away so less of a crowd!