Coki, Saphire or Trunk Bay

[TMS9539]

How does the snorkeling at Coki and Sapphire compare to Trunk Bay? Of the three, which is the best for snorkeling?

 

I've been to Trunk Bay twice and thought the snorkeling there was pretty decent (and it was beautiful). This trip I would like to try something different. But my traveling companion has never snorkeled and is really looking forward to it, so I want to go where ever the best snorkeling is. We're not too worried about a beautiful beach because we can always snorkel for a few hours and head to Magen's Bay for the rest of the day.

[richtersl]

If your friend's a first time snorkeler, I'd opt for Coki Beach. There's not much swimming involved to get to where you see fish. The beach itself is smaller than the others you mentioned, but if you're going there in the summer months, crowds will not be a problem. But make sure you go with a group and that one of you stays behind to watch your belongings while the others go in the water. At Coki Beach peoples' belongings can magically grow legs and disappear. :p Well, actually, that can be the case anywhere, but one cruiser I met had his video camera stolen out of his bag at Coki. :eek: And that's all I need to hear before I get hypervigilant.

[maofthree]

to go to sapphire , you drive through coki... woo, don;t know about snorkling but i felt like it was a trashy trailer park... kind of scarey... we dropped a couple off there, i thought her teeth were goin to drop, when they pulled up... equipt with a above ground cemetary. few miles to sapphire whole different atmosphere.... resaort, lookin they had a pool that was gorgous, water fall in in to another pool, it rained the whole time we were there but it was beautiful anyway... took pics.walked around and swam some... really clean.:D

[elaineb]

Haven't been to Saphire, but here it does not have good snorkeling. Have been to both Coki and Trunk Bay. Trunk Bay is in a class all its own just for the sheer beauty of it. But it is an ordeal to get there. Since you've done that, Cokie does have some wonderful snorkeling. It is very, very small. We were 10 of us and rented a couple of chairs and umbrellas and took turns snorkeling and watching our stuff. The water clarity is amazing there. Clearest I've seen anywhere so far in the Caribbean. I think you have a good plan - head out early in AM for Coki and snorkle, then I'd go back to the ship for lunch and then out in the PM to Magen's for a relaxing afternoon.

Here is a picture of Coki:

[CaribbeanBound]

I've been to Coki and Saphire on St. Thomas, and Trunk and Cinnamon on St. John.

 

The downside of Coki is that it is a small, crowded, relatively unattractive stretch of sand maybe 25% as long as the considerably less crowded, more picturesque, Meagan's Bay. $20 will get you 2 beach lounge chairs (unpadded) and a very large umbrellaat Coki Beach.

 

St. John's beaches and snorkeling CANNOT be beat on St. Thomas. If you have the time to get over to St. john, do it. However, if you do stay on St. Thomas, I'm with maofthree, I too would recommend Saphire.

 

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[Jeanne B]

On St Thomas we've snorkeled at Sapphire and Secret Harbour but we haven't been to Coki and we've only driven through Magens. We thought the snorkeling and the view was great at Sapphire, better than Secret Harbour. We saw lots of parrotfish at Sapphire, lots of other varieties that I don't remember the names of, and a barracuda!! (that was definitely a highlight)

 

We also spent a week on St John and of course the beaches there are stunning but on St Thomas my first recommendation for snorkeling would definitely be Sapphire and as I mentioned above, we thought the views from Sapphire were beautiful, we preferred it over Magens. Coki never interested us, I read too many reviews prior to our trip about it being small, crowded and somewhat dirty.

[scarlet4897]

Maofthree - when did you visit Sapphire beach? Was it easy to get resort access to their pool?? I've heard that there's no restaurant but that you can order down the street and it will be brought to you? Also that there's a convenience type snack shack....would you mind describing that beach more?? I also heard that there's parasailing at Sapphire beach?

 

Thanks! :)

[lazygal]

lol...so many different opinions...here's mine...

 

I have been to all three. Coki, once - Trunk Bay twice (ship's snorkle excursion and on my own) and Sapphire by $1 bus - once - in May of this year.

 

HANDS DOWN, SAPPHIRE IS THE BEST. and that was in the pouring down rain. It wins for best reef, best variety of tropical fish and quantity, and it wins for comfort and travel time.

 

Trunk Bay is beautiful and St. John's deserves one visit, but the cost and time involved in getting there is another factor. I'll be going to Sapphire from now on.

 

Yes, there are restrooms, yes there is food and drinks. Yes there are watersports.

[maofthree]

well everything was already answered... it was also raining when we were there. the pool was beautiful, no one in it , there was about a dozen people or so. we didnt get a pass or anything. just took the cheap bus. we caught the taxi back, cuz of rain but if you walk to the top of the hill , you can see it from resort there is a bus stop there $1. worth the walk. very beautiful, have been to mageans bay really nicer than that. bigger and more things to do:cool:

[mueller74us]

Sorry everyone, a little confused?!?.....I am traveling with someone that would not be able to walk up/down hill? If I take a "regular" taxi to Sapphire Beach do they not drop you off right at the beach...is there truly a hill to consider?

 

THANKS!

[lazygal]

Yes, if you take a regular $10 pp taxi, you will be dropped off right at the lobby. It is a short walk to the beach.

[kml2000]

If we take our own snorkel gear, can we rent a life vest at Sapphire. Also, how far out do you have to swim to get to decent snorkeling?

 

THANKS

[Jeanne B]

If we take our own snorkel gear, can we rent a life vest at Sapphire. Also, how far out do you have to swim to get to decent snorkeling?

 

THANKS

 

Before you invest in renting vests you may want to try the snorkeling first, we spent 10 days on St Thomas and St John last summer, I'm not much of a swimmer and I never needed a vest. It's amazing how easy it is to float in the waters there without even trying!!

 

I don't remember offhand how far out we had to go to get to the snorkeling at Sapphire, it wasn't too far. I'm terrible with distances, I would guess 30-40 feet but I could be way off. Hopefully someone else here can give you better info. :D

[kml2000]

Thanks Jeanne....I am leaning toward Sapphire for our beach time on our tour. The girl travelling with us said she wanted a vest if they snorkeled. We will see, I will talk to her about it.