sapphire beach, st thomas

[waiting2retire]

Thanks Sandi,

 

A week on St. Thomas sounds wonderful! FYI, the higher duty free allowance on St. Thomas doesn't apply to Canadians :mad: . It's all from outside our country.

 

I think I will stick with Sapphire this trip; it just means I'll have to go back again one day to experience Magen's Bay :D

 

Bonnie

[Sandi149]

Thanks Sandi,

 

A week on St. Thomas sounds wonderful! FYI, the higher duty free allowance on St. Thomas doesn't apply to Canadians :mad: . It's all from outside our country.

 

I think I will stick with Sapphire this trip; it just means I'll have to go back again one day to experience Magen's Bay :D

 

Bonnie

 

Oops....sorry, didn't see that you were from Canada. :o

[preacher]

When we toured with Sunny in June he gave us all a choice. Nobody wanted Coki, a few wanted Megan's Bay and the rest wanted Sapphire so I doubt he will give you a problem at all. He is quite accommodating and very nice.

 

He does make a stop at Mountain Top on the "tour" part which has a snack bar where you could get something to eat. He stays there for about 20 minutes. Or there is a very nice place down by the Main St. shopping area called Gladys Cafe that has really good food at reasonable prices. Also, if you liked Bloody Marys, they were $3.00. :D The service there is very good and Gladys is really nice. At Mountain Top they are famous for their Banana Daiquiris. We chose to eat at Gladys and just have the daiquiri at mountain top. How many hours of shopping did you opt to do with Sunny? That will depend on how much time you have to eat downtown.

 

Glady's food is good, but be prepared for the Bill. 4 of us for a simple lunch and soft drinks was $75.

 

Jim

[w8ing2cruz]

If we hire a cab for 8 to 10 of us and ask him to stop so we can fill a cooler with beer will we have any problems bringing this onto the beach with us? Has anyone done this?

[corinnv]

Hi all, we just returned from the 10/21 Valor sailing. We toured with Sunny. We went to Sapphire Beach. Do you self a favor and eat something in town if you can. We heard the beach restaurant was only open for a short time. However, my husband stated it was the worst service he has ever rec'd any place in the world. We joked with another couple about buying it, as it could be a "gold mine". We waited 20 minutes for someone to notice that we needed to place an order. After that it was another 53 minutes to rec' 2 burgers and a side of nachos. Very sad. :( The food was....adequate. We heard they ran out of fires and had to go to the store to buy more. We did rec' fries with the burger. Unfortunately, DH often will get a migraine if he skips breakfast and has a late lunch.

[The Islander]

You can take a cooler with you to the beach at Sapphire.

 

--Islander

[corinnv]

You can take a cooler with you to the beach at Sapphire.

 

--Islander

;) That would be an excellent idea:p !

[nancycara]

Do they have drinks like at Coki? We always look forward to the "Brown Monkey" at Coki Beach.

[ChefPeg]

Hi all, we just returned from the 10/21 Valor sailing. We toured with Sunny. We went to Sapphire Beach. Do you self a favor and eat something in town if you can. We heard the beach restaurant was only open for a short time. However, my husband stated it was the worst service he has ever rec'd any place in the world. We joked with another couple about buying it, as it could be a "gold mine". We waited 20 minutes for someone to notice that we needed to place an order. After that it was another 53 minutes to rec' 2 burgers and a side of nachos. Very sad. :( The food was....adequate. We heard they ran out of fires and had to go to the store to buy more. We did rec' fries with the burger. Unfortunately, DH often will get a migraine if he skips breakfast and has a late lunch.

 

Hi,

 

We had the same experience as you. I chuckled as I read your post. They have not improved since we were there on October 9th .

 

That 'restaurant' is awful!! My DH and I waited 10 minutes to order (only 10 minutes because we took the community menu from another customer) and we waited 45 minutes before we left after never receiving our food. We had only 2 1/2 hrs to spend on the beach and we already wasted almost an hour waiting for food that never appeared.

We informed the 'waitress' we couldn't wait any longer and she couldn't have cared less, we did find out our food showed up as we left the restaurant.

 

Also a man next to us ordered a burger and fries. She informed him there were no fries left and he asked how much is the burger with out fries then she said it was the same price. He asked why won't you discount the meal since he was only getting half of it? She shrugged and had no idea. He left.

[Mark_from_Plano]

Nope, never been to Magen's Bay.....just saw it on Sunny's tour. It sure did look beautiful. We were only in St. Thomas that one time but my husband and I fell in love with the island that we want to go back someday on a land vacation and spend a week there.

 

The same thing happened to us, we stopped on St. Thomas on a cruise in 2004, then went back for a two week vacation in 2005. There are LOTS of great things to do on St. Thomas and it is a great jumping off point to visit St. John, Tortola and the other BVI islands.

 

Here's my take on the three beaches based on our limited experience there:

 

Magen's Bay: One of the most beautiful "beach" beaches in the Caribbean. Great sand. Very large. As you get there most tourists go right (lots of amenities, chairs, toys, food, etc.) and locals go left (more secluded). Despite lots of people it often doesn't feel overcrowded because it's so large. The major negative is that the snorkeling is awful because it is all sandy bottoms. There is some snorkeling on the far edges, but we found it to be the worst snorkeling beach in the VI. Great for relaxing and playing in the water. Very sheltered so usually waves are minimal. Peaceful and serene.

 

Sapphire: Nice sand, can be a bit rocky in places. Great views of St. John. On the far eastern end of the island, it's in the path of the trade winds so it can get choppy. 2nd best beach snorkeling on St. Thomas (wouldn't make the top 10 on St. John though). Some good reefs near the beach to see fish. Amenities have been well covered in other posts.

 

Coki: This beach is small. It is also home to Coral World and has probably the best snorkeling on the island. Try Snuba here if that appeals to you. AMAZING. During our visit here it was like snorkeling in a leg forest. Impossible not to crash into other people. Lots of amenities. Lots of places to rent equipment. If you can go here on a day when it isn't crowded, do so. IMO it's not worth it if it's a crowded day.

 

IF YOU HAVE THE TIME: By far the best beach experiences are on St. John. If you can find an excursion that takes you to St. John for a beach and shopping excursion, take it. If you have a full day and are willing to use it you can do it on your own.

 

If you have the time I would recommend grabbing a taxi at the port and taking it to the Red Hook Ferry (about a 15-20 minute cab ride), then taking the Red Hook Ferry (about 15-20 minutes) over to St. John. From there, take your pick of any of the beaches on the northwest end of the island (Hawks Nest Bay, Cinnamon Bay, Trunk Bay, etc.). All are a fairly short cab ride away from the Ferry Terminal in Cruz Bay. The snorkeling on these beaches is WORLD CLASS. In each case, there are reefs or islands a short swim off the beach with amazing sea life and absolutely pristine clear water. If you have a chance at all, the snorkeling on St. John is not to be missed. However, please leave plenty of time so you don't miss your ship.

[corinnv]

Hi,

 

We had the same experience as you. I chuckled as I read your post. They have not improved since we were there on October 9th .

 

That 'restaurant' is awful!! My DH and I waited 10 minutes to order (only 10 minutes because we took the community menu from another customer) and we waited 45 minutes before we left after never receiving our food. We had only 2 1/2 hrs to spend on the beach and we already wasted almost an hour waiting for food that never appeared.

We informed the 'waitress' we couldn't wait any longer and she couldn't have cared less, we did find out our food showed up as we left the restaurant.

 

Also a man next to us ordered a burger and fries. She informed him there were no fries left and he asked how much is the burger with out fries then she said it was the same price. He asked why won't you discount the meal since he was only getting half of it? She shrugged and had no idea. He left.

....soo funny. That could have been us. We too were given a community menu. We shared our nachos with another couple because they were starving.

 

We had 2 hrs on the beach and most was wasted on lunch. I warned other potential customers as they arrived. DH had to almost "beg" for the check. We too experienced a total lack of concern.

 

My dad always wanted to open a restaurant on St. Thomas....here might be his chance! :p

[NCTribeFan]

People need to remember that they're not in the states at a fast-food restaurant! They're on Island Time! :D

 

Since we're doing shopping/tour/beach and don't start until 9 at the earliest, I guess I'll plan on having a snack somewhere along the way. Or I could just have a few Banana Daquiris when we stop at Mountaintop.

[ChefPeg]

People need to remember that they're not in the states at a fast-food restaurant! They're on Island Time! :D

 

Since we're doing shopping/tour/beach and don't start until 9 at the earliest, I guess I'll plan on having a snack somewhere along the way. Or I could just have a few Banana Daquiris when we stop at Mountaintop.

 

Hello!! An hour for a burger and fries is NOT anyone's time!! There were only three other couples in the place. These people have no idea how to run a business much less a food establishment.

 

The banana daiquiris are wonderful. And yes, make sure you you stir before you drink unless you want a quick buzz:rolleyes: . By the time we got back to the bus we were all a little bit loopy:D .

[corinnv]

I agree 100% with chefpeg. This was beyond "island time." We have been to many islands. The staff made us feel that it was a bother to serve us. They were not swamped with guests. After the food arrived one hour later, it was cold as well.

 

All the guest checks were crumpled into little balls.:eek: It was a truly bizzare experience.

[heychadwick]

How much is the taxi ride to Sapphire beach? I need to get to their for my catamaran tour.

[Mark_from_Plano]

How much is the taxi ride to Sapphire beach? I need to get to their for my catamaran tour.

 

There's a taxi rate sheet on this site, but it hasn't been updated since 2005. It says $10pp

 

http://www.virginislandsmap.com/stthomas/vinow.htm

[Paco & Do]

Is it okay to have ice in your drinks on the carribean islands (St. Thomas, St. Martin, Tortola)? I wasn't sure if it was like Mexico where you should not drink the water and that means 'no ice in your drinks'.

[Sandi149]

Is it okay to have ice in your drinks on the carribean islands (St. Thomas, St. Martin, Tortola)? I wasn't sure if it was like Mexico where you should not drink the water and that means 'no ice in your drinks'.

 

Yes, water is fine there.

[ChefPeg]

Is it okay to have ice in your drinks on the carribean islands (St. Thomas, St. Martin, Tortola)? I wasn't sure if it was like Mexico where you should not drink the water and that means 'no ice in your drinks'.

 

Yep, I was there a few weeks ago and I had ice in my soda, no problems at all. We even at a local Lolos in St Martin. It was yummy!! We had rum runners at Sapphire beach. Real yummy!!:D

[RzrLens]

Check out some of my pics on this thread: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=544641&page=2

 

We LOVED it. When we were in Orient Beach the next day, we overheard a couple say that it was better than Maegen's, so we were glad we went to Saphire. Orient Beach was nice, but it didn't touch Saphire. We like not having TONS of food and water sports around. It leaves it feeling more natural, and uninhabited. I guess it's anyone's preference, but you will not be disappointed at Saphire Beach if that's what you chose.

[NCTribeFan]

Glad to hear that. And how were the "other" facilities? Food, beverages, toilets, etc?

[RzrLens]

Glad to hear that. And how were the "other" facilities? Food, beverages, toilets, etc?

 

Food: Subpar at best. It took 45 minutes to order 2 hotdogs. Definitely eat something quick in town so you don't have to waste half of your time at the beach ordering food. OR pack a snack in your bag to tide you over till you get to the ship later in the afternoon.

 

We didn't order any beverages, and we didn't use the restrooms there, so I can't really comment. My personal opinion on public restrooms, is to not set your standard high. In America we have HORRIBLE public restrooms... why would you even think that something outside of the country would have something better?