St. Thomas opinions please

[dagcruisers]

We have never been to St. Thomas and will be on a Celebrity cruise in Dec. Hours are 8:00 am - 5:00pm. Husband wants to snorkel. Beaches offered on shore excursions include Honeymoon Beach, Sapphire Beach, Turtle Cove, Trunk Bay and Abi Beach.

 

What are your opinions on each of these locations?

 

In additional to snorkeling, we would like to do a little exploring and/or shopping on our own. Are there any "do not miss" sites?

 

Thanks so much for your opinions.

[beautifulbill]

For snorkeling they are all pretty good locations but they are not all on St Thomas. If you want to snorkel and maximize your beach time in St. Thomas then you don't need a ship excursion as it's easy to get a taxi and go directly to the beach. If you choose a St John beach then you will spend time on a boat coming and going

There are a number of shopping areas and both of the ship docking locations have some stores where they dock or town is a short taxi ride away

[dagcruisers]

Thank you, beautifulbill.

 

It's good to know that we can get a taxi and go on our own if we wish. We usually prefer to do that.

[mitsugirly]

Don't rule out Coki Beach. AMAZING snorkeling. Just grab a cab and head there. Did I say AMAZING snorkeling? Right from the beach.

 

Check out my review in my signature line with TONS of pictures and you will see what type of snorkeling was available there. :)

[BDsquared]

Don't rule out Coki Beach. AMAZING snorkeling. Just grab a cab and head there. Did I say AMAZING snorkeling? Right from the beach.

 

Check out my review in my signature line with TONS of pictures and you will see what type of snorkeling was available there. :)

 

Hi Mitsugirly!

 

My daughter (6) is a beginner snorkeler and nervous about having a lot of fish so close to her. If she freaks out, can she be "away" from the fish and still enjoy some shallow water, or are the fish just everywhere? (I really hope she doesn't freak out!)

[blue_water]

Would suggest Sapphire Beach since it is a gorgeous beach with all the amenities you'd want and abundant natural shade. If looking for a dead calm bay Secret Harbor would be a good choice, but no shade for day visitors so you'd want to get there early for umbrellas. Both offer good snorkeling options, Sapphire would be our choice.

Coki is a busier vibe because it's such a small bay, beautiful beach, just more crowded than Sapphire, or even SH. Many people feed the fish at Coki (please don't) so that does attract many small fish near shore.

[mitsugirly]

Hi Mitsugirly!

 

My daughter (6) is a beginner snorkeler and nervous about having a lot of fish so close to her. If she freaks out, can she be "away" from the fish and still enjoy some shallow water, or are the fish just everywhere? (I really hope she doesn't freak out!)

 

 

Usually the fish will gather along the sides (where the coral and rocks are) and then you'll find the normal fish like the black and yellow sergeant majors or the palometa fish that will be gathered around anyone who had food (the vendors give out dog biscuits to people to feed them, but we didn't do any of that). So unless she's around those people, she probably won't be bothered too much.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just so you know, these fish will be at ALL the beaches, so no matter where you go, you'll run in to them. :)

[seaturtle5]

We are just off the Magic and did Abi beach last week and I wouldn't recommend it, especially not for kids. Water was murky from recent storms and the beach is very rocky and the chairs/furniture is not maintained. Upon arrival the manager warns of sea urchins in the rock areas but in the swimming areas you "should be fine." We saw urchins in the seaweed washing up on shore so stayed out of the water. This beach does have a ton of shells/sea glass which is nice, but tough on the feet. Water shoes would be wise if you choose Abi. Also, the no-see-ums here are horrible. We are covered in bites and still itching. We did sapphire beach a few years back and loved it - night and day to Abi.

 

 

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[Livethelife]

SeaTurtle5 - So sorry your day was disappointing to you. I’m sure you described your day exactly as it was. When a long awaited vacation does not live up to expectations one tends to generalize that this is how it always is. On the flip side and to give a balanced perspective sea conditions vary day to day at ALL Virgin Island beaches. Last week the Virgin Islands were getting residual effects from the Atlantic hurricanes. Swells were stirring up the waters and sea grasses were washed ashore. No-see-ums proliferate whenever there have been heavy rains. And these conditions happen at ALL beaches to a greater or lesser extent. I suspect that Sapphire Beach would have been less than the perfect beach you remember if you had visited it on the day you went to Abi. Hope you will have perfect conditions on your next visit to the VI! :)

[blue_water]

Yes to be fair beach and water conditions can vary depending on several factors, and I give the manager much credit for his warnings. However a rocky beach and non-maintained chairs are not a result of day to day sea conditions. Is the beach there indeed more rocky than sandy as I've read elsewhere?

 

Sapphire can have rocky areas exposed after sea swells as can any beach, but it is still a gorgeous beach with lots of natural shade and beautiful views.

Edited October 16, 2016 by blue_water

[seaturtle5]

Blue_water - Last week the beach was far more rocky than sandy. It is a lot of small pebbles and ground up sea shells/coral. However, it is good for finding shells and sea glass (especially if you have water shoes). I am also thankful for the managers warnings but do wish we were told about them when discussing excursion options in the ship. Our original excursion was actually cancelled once we were already onboard (36 hours before we were supposed to be on St Thomas). We went off of the recommendation of the excursion desk as there was little time to research and feel we weren't given a clear picture of the excursion to Abi.

 

Livethelife - I don't fault the manager for the no-see-ums and rain came through while we were there which I know made them worse once it cleared. It is unfortunate we only get a short time at these islands and that is all we have to go on. I've seen where others loved Abi beach so it is all about preference along with factors that no one can control like weather, water conditions and insects. I've certainly been to worse beaches and it wasn't horrible. Just didn't feel it was worth the amount we paid.

 

 

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[KuffMUp]

Hi Mitsugirly!

 

My daughter (6) is a beginner snorkeler and nervous about having a lot of fish so close to her. If she freaks out, can she be "away" from the fish and still enjoy some shallow water, or are the fish just everywhere? (I really hope she doesn't freak out!)

 

Don't worry about your daughter (OK you already went). My first snorkling experience, I was feeding the fish (didn't know it was a no no at the time) and I screamed through the snorkel tube when a HUGE fish (OK, it only looked huge) came swimming from behind and grabbed my hand! :eek: