Sapphire Beach Snorkeling Details - Questions

[SG65CB]

We are going to Sapphire Beach next month and are bringing snorkel gear. I'd like to get some details about snorkeling locations at the beach.

 

What are the suggested locations for snorkeling? When facing the water is it better to go to the left, center, or right? Any specific landmarks on shore we should use when choosing where to enter the water? How far out should we go?

 

Thank you. 

 

[pghsteelerfan]

We've snorkeled at Sapphire Beach both visits there.  If facing the water, over towards the right has more rocks and corals and I have always found that to be the best snorkeling.  Over toward the center and left is more grass.  Before our first time there, I read on another travel forum that turtles can be seen in the grassy area.  I've snorkeled in those grassy areas both times we visited Sapphire Beach, but I have never seen a turtle. 

 

[SG65CB]

4 hours ago, pghsteelerfan said:

We've snorkeled at Sapphire Beach both visits there.  If facing the water, over towards the right has more rocks and corals and I have always found that to be the best snorkeling.  Over toward the center and left is more grass.  Before our first time there, I read on another travel forum that turtles can be seen in the grassy area.  I've snorkeled in those grassy areas both times we visited Sapphire Beach, but I have never seen a turtle. 

 

 

Thank you. Since you went back a second time presumably the snorkeling is good there. I don't have much snorkel experience but am looking to get out a few times on our next cruise. I think it will be nice to snorkel from the beach instead of having to book a boat excursion. 

 

[jean87510]

19 hours ago, pghsteelerfan said:

We've snorkeled at Sapphire Beach both visits there.  If facing the water, over towards the right has more rocks and corals and I have always found that to be the best snorkeling.  Over toward the center and left is more grass.  Before our first time there, I read on another travel forum that turtles can be seen in the grassy area.  I've snorkeled in those grassy areas both times we visited Sapphire Beach, but I have never seen a turtle. 

 

Have you been here within the past year since the hurricanes? 

[pghsteelerfan]

16 hours ago, SG65CB said:

 

Thank you. Since you went back a second time presumably the snorkeling is good there. I don't have much snorkel experience but am looking to get out a few times on our next cruise. I think it will be nice to snorkel from the beach instead of having to book a boat excursion. 

 

The snorkeling is pretty decent, yes, but that's just part of the reason we went back twice.  It's on St. Thomas' east side and we also love the views (St. John and the BVI's).  It's easy to get there (taxi), and there are loungers to rent, food/drink options, restrooms, and there is a place to rent snorkel gear if you don't have your own.  Both times we were there, there have been others but it never felt crowded. 

Will you be going to St. Lucia on your cruise by any chance?  That is where we've experienced the best snorkeling.  Jalousie/Sugar Beach, the beach between the Pitons.  There are a lot of fish and a variety and a lot of colorful corals.  I did see a lot of fish at Sapphire.  I need more practice getting decent pictures of them.  🙂 

 

26 minutes ago, jean87510 said:

Have you been here within the past year since the hurricanes? 

No, we haven't been there since the hurricanes.  I was wondering about the conditions myself but have seen many reports here on these boards (St. Thomas) that it's up and running and has been for quite some time now (a bar/grill type place to get food drink, restrooms, lounger rentals, place to rent snorkel gear).  They did lose some of the trees in front of the condos, but not all of them.  The views from the beach out toward St. John and the BVI's will remain the same though.  We were there in May 2013 and again in September 2015.  In 2013, the beach was nice and sandy over toward the center and left when entering the water.  It has always been rocky (rocks/corals) over to the right right at the edge of the water, but that's also where the snorkeling is (to snorkel, you enter in the center and swim out then over toward the right).  In 2015, there were a lot of rocks when entering the water even over on the left/center where there had been sand in 2013.  We found out that was due to a few other storms shortly before our cruise that caused some erosion.

[pghsteelerfan]

SG65CB and jean87510...just went thought some pictures I took at Sapphire Beach looking out over the water and attaching two so you can have a "visual" of the view I'm talking about.  The first picture was from our May 2013 visit.  We went early that year and arrived at the beach shortly after 9AM and were the first ones there and I took this picture right after we got situated with loungers.

 

The 2nd pic was from our Sept. 2015 visit.  We got there at 11AM that trip since we did the Skyride to Paradise Point first.  Both pictures are looking out directly ahead, so SG65CB, this is where the grasses are located (possible turtle sightings) and the rocky/coral areas are over to the right. 

[jean87510]

34 minutes ago, pghsteelerfan said:

SG65CB and jean87510...just went thought some pictures I took at Sapphire Beach looking out over the water and attaching two so you can have a "visual" of the view I'm talking about.  The first picture was from our May 2013 visit.  We went early that year and arrived at the beach shortly after 9AM and were the first ones there and I took this picture right after we got situated with loungers.

 

The 2nd pic was from our Sept. 2015 visit.  We got there at 11AM that trip since we did the Skyride to Paradise Point first.  Both pictures are looking out directly ahead, so SG65CB, this is where the grasses are located (possible turtle sightings) and the rocky/coral areas are over to the right. 

Thank you! We have been to st. Thomas a few times but never got to sapphire. We usually go to st john or last time we went to water island. Our ship is only there 7a to 1pm at havensight so we plan to get there early to get into the water. We probably wont have time to eat there but we will have plenty of swim time. I did read on t.a. that taxis are pretty good there. I was supposed to go to secret harbour but a few reports say snorkeling is not good anymore from the shore. I will report back when I go in April to any snorkelers out there. I am also known as the turtle whisperer so I may find them and take some pictures. 😉

Edited February 18, 2019 by jean87510

[2PinaColadas]

Sapphire is still beautiful!!  Yes, the hurricanes did some damage, but they have worked hard to get things back to "normal".  My DH enjoyed the snorkeling when we were there last March.  To the right-- more fish, coral etc.  To the left he has seen turtles and rays.  Just depends on the day.  Sapphire is my favorite beach in the Caribbean (that I have been to). 

 

Coki also has good snorkeling but the beach gets really crowded when there are numerous ships in port.  

[SG65CB]

12 hours ago, pghsteelerfan said:

The snorkeling is pretty decent, yes, but that's just part of the reason we went back twice.  It's on St. Thomas' east side and we also love the views (St. John and the BVI's).  It's easy to get there (taxi), and there are loungers to rent, food/drink options, restrooms, and there is a place to rent snorkel gear if you don't have your own.  Both times we were there, there have been others but it never felt crowded. 

Will you be going to St. Lucia on your cruise by any chance?  That is where we've experienced the best snorkeling.  Jalousie/Sugar Beach, the beach between the Pitons.  There are a lot of fish and a variety and a lot of colorful corals.  I did see a lot of fish at Sapphire.  I need more practice getting decent pictures of them.  🙂 

 

Excellent, and thanks for the pictures, it looks and sounds like it will be a great day. 

 

Yes we are going to St Lucia on this cruise. We are taking a tour that ends with beach time at Jalousie/Sugar Beach. I will be sure to bring the snorkel masks with us!

 

[SG65CB]

6 hours ago, 2PinaColadas said:

Sapphire is still beautiful!!  Yes, the hurricanes did some damage, but they have worked hard to get things back to "normal".  My DH enjoyed the snorkeling when we were there last March.  To the right-- more fish, coral etc.  To the left he has seen turtles and rays.  Just depends on the day.  Sapphire is my favorite beach in the Caribbean (that I have been to). 

 

Coki also has good snorkeling but the beach gets really crowded when there are numerous ships in port.  

 

Looking for a good beach day, if it's your favorite beach it must be good. We were in St Thomas one other time, took the kids to Coral World and then lounged at Coki Beach. It was very crowded. There will only be one other ship there with us so hopefully not a big crowd at Sapphire. Maybe everyone else will go to Magens Bay. 

 

[pghsteelerfan]

21 hours ago, jean87510 said:

Thank you! We have been to st. Thomas a few times but never got to sapphire. We usually go to st john or last time we went to water island. Our ship is only there 7a to 1pm at havensight so we plan to get there early to get into the water. We probably wont have time to eat there but we will have plenty of swim time. I did read on t.a. that taxis are pretty good there. I was supposed to go to secret harbour but a few reports say snorkeling is not good anymore from the shore. I will report back when I go in April to any snorkelers out there. I am also known as the turtle whisperer so I may find them and take some pictures. 😉

That's a pretty short port day.  😞  But it's only 20 - 25 minutes to Sapphire from Havensight so it will be a great option for a few hours of beach time/snorkeling.  That's pretty much all we did too and have never actually eaten there but did get a couple drinks.  We've never had an issue with taxis getting back.  Yes, if you see turtles, please do post pics!   We'll probably go to St. John next time we get back, unless it's a short port day.  It's been a while since we've been there and we loved it.  We'd do it on our own (taxi to Red Hook, ferry, then taxi in St. John) since we did a tour last time and it was too rushed. 

[pghsteelerfan]

11 hours ago, SG65CB said:

 

Excellent, and thanks for the pictures, it looks and sounds like it will be a great day. 

 

Yes we are going to St Lucia on this cruise. We are taking a tour that ends with beach time at Jalousie/Sugar Beach. I will be sure to bring the snorkel masks with us!

 

We've really enjoyed it both times and so glad that 2PinaColadas posted the update on Sapphire.  I knew they had it back up and open.  🙂  We were actually thinking about Coki last time, but heard it get's crowded and since we enjoyed Sapphire so much the first time, it was an easy decision.  We've been to Magen's Bay too, our first cruise in 1992.  It as also beautiful but we were the only ship in port and the ships were much smaller then.  There were many others there, but it didn't feel crowded.  So glad you'll be getting to Jalousie/Sugar Beach!  Of the places we've snorkeled, it's my favorite.

[mompells]

I've read that they don't rent umbrellas at Sapphire, only chairs.  Are their enough trees to hide under?  I will be snorkeling most of the day, but my husband needs the shade.  I'm concerned about him not being able to be in the shade without an umbrella.

[SG65CB]

5 hours ago, mompells said:

I've read that they don't rent umbrellas at Sapphire, only chairs.  Are their enough trees to hide under?  I will be snorkeling most of the day, but my husband needs the shade.  I'm concerned about him not being able to be in the shade without an umbrella.

 

I was there a few weeks ago. You are correct that there are no umbrellas. There are some trees available.

 

The taxi will drop you off at the Sapphire Beach Club. To get trees don't rent your chairs from the club. Walk through the club to the beach, then turn to the left. Just past the club buildings there is a small shack (blue/turquoise color) where there is a guy selling drinks and renting chairs. There are some trees in front of his shack, and when you rent the chairs he will put them under the trees if that is where you'd like to sit. 

[SG65CB]

Here is a photo showing the shack (with the white roof at the center of the photo) and the trees. You can see some of the chairs are under the trees. 

 

 

[mompells]

Thanks so much for the photo to show me the trees and shade!  May I ask....when was that picture taken?

[SG65CB]

7 hours ago, mompells said:

Thanks so much for the photo to show me the trees and shade!  May I ask....when was that picture taken?

 

You're welcome. Photo was taken about three weeks ago on March 11. 

[gothedistance]

Hi, I'm really interested in snorkeling here! This information is really helpful! I have a quick question, what do the buses/ open air "safari" buses look like? I am considering hailing one of those rather than a taxi, at least on the way out. There are 5 of us to $10 per person each way adds up.

Thanks! 

[SG65CB]

2 hours ago, gothedistance said:

Hi, I'm really interested in snorkeling here! This information is really helpful! I have a quick question, what do the buses/ open air "safari" buses look like? I am considering hailing one of those rather than a taxi, at least on the way out. There are 5 of us to $10 per person each way adds up.

Thanks! 

 

Here is what the safari buses look like - 4-5 rows with 4 passengers per row:

 

 

Edited April 8, 2019 by SG65CB

[gothedistance]

Thank you so much @SG65CB! I really appreciate it! 

[Ms411]

The safari "bus" looks like many of the regular taxis because the safari "bus" is a taxi driver who prefers to cater mostly to locals.

 

The public safari is called just that - a safari. If you ask a local about "the safari bus" they might not understand what you want. I saw it happen twice in less than half hour when I was near KMart.

 

[CruzControl]

We are having a tough time deciding what to do in St. Thomas. We will also only be there from 7-1. In the past, we have gone to St. John and Magen's Bay. Thought we would try something different this time and head to Sapphire Beach. Will this be easy to do from the cruise ship on our own? Is there a fee to enter? We are trying to decide if we should do this on our own or as a ship excursion. We will have a 3 year old and the car seat thing is really making things difficult!!

[SG65CB]

Sapphire Beach is very easy on your own, when you get off the ship find a taxi dispatcher/organizer and tell them where you want to go. The car seat makes it a little harder, I don't know if it will work in the safari taxi. On our way back from the beach we had a regular 15 passenger van as a taxi. It had seat belts, should be OK for your car seat. 

 

There is no fee to enter Sapphire Beach. The taxi will drop you off at the Sapphire Beach Bar, just walk through the building to the beach. 

[CruzControl]

On 4/12/2019 at 1:07 AM, SG65CB said:

Sapphire Beach is very easy on your own, when you get off the ship find a taxi dispatcher/organizer and tell them where you want to go. The car seat makes it a little harder, I don't know if it will work in the safari taxi. On our way back from the beach we had a regular 15 passenger van as a taxi. It had seat belts, should be OK for your car seat. 

 

There is no fee to enter Sapphire Beach. The taxi will drop you off at the Sapphire Beach Bar, just walk through the building to the beach. 

Good to know. Thank you! Are the safari taxis private? I had read about the public or "dollar bus". Are these the same thing? Or are they just large taxis? I don't mind paying a little more to make sure that we are able to arrange a pick-up time. I don't know if I want to risk taking a public bus on a set route with our short time in port. 

[beautifulbill]

30 + year owner at Sapphire beach here.

First, there is no such thing as The Sapphire Club so I don't know where that came from.

 

There are several reefs at Sapphire and several good snorkel spots. Most people go to the reef to the right and it is an easy snorkel with fish and some coral.

In the center where you see the water change colors is sea grass and that is where you will find the turtles and squid if they are around.

Over to the left is another reef. It is a shallow reef so be careful and stay out along the edge or you will get a painful coral burn. 

Walk down Pelican Beach to the left and swim out to the point and you will be on a beautiful reef. Usually only a few private boats know about this reef.

Finally you can walk to the right around the D building toward the marina and you are on Red Beach. This is not a swimming beach as its all rocks and coral so you have to go in carefully and swim once you are knee deep. There are usually large schools of colorful fish. I swim out and around the point and come back to the mail beach.

 

So there are plenty of snorkel spots.

 

One warning: DO NOT STAND. WALK ON or TOUCH THE CORAL.  It may look like rock but it isn't it's coral. Just a touch kills the coral and it drives the owners crazy to see cruisers stand and walk on the coral.