Chairs on Water Island

[jbu]

Hi, all -

 

I'll be stopping at St. Thomas next month, and will probably take the water taxi over to Water Island (if we dock at Crown Bay). I had read some time ago that Heidi at Heidi's Honeymoon Grill will rent you lounge chairs for $10 per person and you get $5 back when you return the chairs. Does anyone know if she still does that? If not, I'll need to plan on taking something to sit on (several large towels, I guess), but chairs would really be nice. Does anyone know for sure?

 

Thanks!

[canadarocks]

Not sure about Heidi's policy, but I learned this from Trip Advisor in July 2014 (so things might have changed):

 

Dinghy's Beach Bar and Grill ( http://dinghysbeachbarandgrill.com ) is located on Honeymoon Beach. They send a safari truck to meet each ferry and offer rides to the beach for those who don't want to do the 10 minute walk up and down hills. They also have an ATM machine, flat-screen TVs, chaise lounges, and rent Stand-Up Paddle Boards as well as Kayaks. And, most days there is an individual (Dan) who provides lessons on Fly-Boarding if you're looking for some real excitement. The point of contact at Dinghy's is Lisa at lisa@lmbertrand.com or 727.504.0268

[blue_water]

Hi, all -

 

I'll be stopping at St. Thomas next month, and will probably take the water taxi over to Water Island (if we dock at Crown Bay). I had read some time ago that Heidi at Heidi's Honeymoon Grill will rent you lounge chairs for $10 per person and you get $5 back when you return the chairs. Does anyone know if she still does that? If not, I'll need to plan on taking something to sit on (several large towels, I guess), but chairs would really be nice. Does anyone know for sure?

 

Thanks!

 

Not sure about the lounges apt Heidi's jbu. We'll be going over to Heidi's in a couple weeks while staying on STT and I'll ask in case no one responds here.

[Jiffymom]

I'm interested in paddle boards. Cost????

[cmarkovsky]

Paddleboards are $35 and do not need reservations.

[cruisegal40]

We'll be there next week. Is this a current description? This is what I wanted to do also.

[cruisegal40]

Sorry.. just re-read the post that is was from July 2014. Any new updates?

[Livethelife]

Sorry.. just re-read the post that is was from July 2014. Any new updates?

 

Comments from summer months are not always appropriate for visitors during winter months. July is the "off" season in the Caribbean. Everything is so much busier during the Jan - April "high" season. There are a very limited number of lounges on Honeymoon Beach and they are almost always already occupied early in the morning. For visitors arriving on excursion boats - most people will have to use towels. Honeymoon Beach has become very popular and there are often hundreds of people on this small stretch of sand. If you are traveling to the island via ferry (not on an excursion) you may have to allow extra time to return to St Thomas so as to not miss your sail-away time as the ferry has limited capacity and runs on an hourly schedule. Hope this info helps. :)

[blue_water]

We're staying on STT next week and we'll be at Dinghy's Beach Bar on Sat Jan 31 because there are no ships currently scheduled in port that day.

Cruisegal I'm sorry to see that you're in St Thomas on Wed, Jan 28 along with 20,000 other cruisers on the busiest day of the week. There are 2 - 3 ships scheduled to dock at WICO, 2 at anchorage, and 2 at Crown Bay (where you are). You arrive at 9AM while everyone else arrives at 7 or 8AM so you can't beat them there unfortunately. Honeymoon Beach will be swamped all day with excursions stopping in for lunch at Dinghy's or Heidi's, but especially because the ferry is a short walk from the cruise dock at Crown. Many folks from your ship and the Ruby will head for Water Island and be very disappointed I'm afraid. We're staying at Sapphire which doesn't usually get as crowded as the other beaches, but we'll be in the BVI that day to get away from the crowds.

 

But with that information you may want to consider another option even though you want to enjoy Water Island. I'd suggest another nice beach with all the amenities you would want and probably zero (yes zero!) fellow cruisers. That sounds too good to be true on a Wednesday, but there are a couple choices that don't attract cruisers - Hull Bay and Cowpet Bay. Cowpet (Elysian Beach) on the East End would be our choice, a driver will be taking folks to nearby Secret Harbor and perhaps the Red Hook ferry and can drop you at Cowpet. You'd be sharing the beach with guests staying in the condos and nearby hotels. It's a public beach with food and drink and restrooms. You'll want to get the drivers phone# to have him/her return since they don't usually make pick-ups at Cowpet. The staff at Sangrai's or the beach bar can also call you a taxi for the return. Probably $11pp each way, but with 9 hrs in port that would be a nice day away from the crowds.

 

Another good option would be a daysail like New Horizons or Yacht Nightwind out of Sapphire marina, or High Pockets. Or if you aren't that adventurous the champagne cat through the ship is another option.

 

Here's a map showing where Cowpet is in relation to Secret Harbor and other beaches.

http://www.virginislandsthisweek.com/st-thomas/maps/st-thomas-island-road-map.html

 

Good Luck! :)

Edited January 21, 2015 by blue_water

[Froufie]

We're staying on STT next week and we'll be at Dinghy's Beach Bar on Sat Jan 31 because there are no ships currently scheduled in port that day.

Cruisegal I'm sorry to see that you're in St Thomas on Wed, Jan 28 along with 20,000 other cruisers on the busiest day of the week. There are 2 - 3 ships scheduled to dock at WICO, 2 at anchorage, and 2 at Crown Bay (where you are). You arrive at 9AM while everyone else arrives at 7 or 8AM so you can't beat them there unfortunately. Honeymoon Beach will be swamped all day with excursions stopping in for lunch at Dinghy's or Heidi's, but especially because the ferry is a short walk from the cruise dock at Crown. Many folks from your ship and the Ruby will head for Water Island and be very disappointed I'm afraid. We're staying at Sapphire which doesn't usually get as crowded as the other beaches, but we'll be in the BVI that day to get away from the crowds.

 

 

Looking for your feedback on Dinghy's/water island - how was it? Were there lots of loungers? Shade? How does the pickup/drop off at the ferry work?

 

Any info greatly appreciated. thx :)

[blue_water]

Hi, yes we enjoyed the day and Dinghy's was great. Their fish sandwich and salad plate was very good and the staff very nice. We took the ferry over and got there at 10:30 and there were plenty of loungers and also some tables, maybe 20 people there already. They use a generator for electricity and it shut off 4 times while we were there and it became a game for everyone eventually. The only negative is this is where the smaller excursion operators "park" their boats by anchoring in the sand and it gets crowded in the water. One guy got there after others and his boat kept drifting into the roped off swimming area so you just need to be aware.

 

But this end of the bay does have the nicer beach. We walked to Heidi's (short walk) and they had more of a shaded seating area with tables but not really the nice beach to lay out on as it's a bit stony there. But their menu looked great and if we returned we'd go there for a bite and one of their drinks.

 

I saw there is a larger boat that transfers cruisers between Crown and Water, I gather that's for those using the ship excursion but I never asked. We missed the 10AM ferry because we didn't know the drill (needed to visit the dock master to buy a parking permit. Obviously you won't have to deal with parking if coming from the ship. The ferry is small, on our return we were fully loaded and 2 people had to wait an hour for the next ferry. There's a gal that meets each ferry and takes you to Dinghy's and back to the dock (for tips), she drops you at Dinghy's or you can walk to Heidi's. You pay for the ferry when you board.

 

Would we go there again? Probably not, the beach isn't as nice as the beaches on STT, and it's just so easily accessible by day visitors that it gets too crowded for its size. We'd choose Lindbergh Bay if looking for a beach close to Crown, but just our opinion of course and everyone should try Honeymoon once.

Edited February 27, 2015 by blue_water