Vincent Mason Pool Beach or Carambola for cruise stop

[tuliplvr]

Hi- My cruise in May will be stopping in St. Croix for the day. The ship is offering a trip to Carambola or to Vincent Mason Pool/Beach.Which one would you recommend??

Thank you in advance.

[The Islander]

What does each include? What would interest you... beach... pool... snorkeling... just relaxing on the beach?

 

--Islander

[tuliplvr]

Vincent Mason-Join us for an afternoon of fun and sun with your cruise ship in the background at the Vincent Mason Pool and Beach in Frederiksted. Enjoy the pool or take advantage of the various water sports offered on the beach. Your beach break includes transportation, beach chairs, one umbrella per four people, and a welcome beverage. The facility features shaded areas, a pool, restrooms, showers, and lifeguards.

 

Carambola is the quintessential Caribbean beach experience - guests will have a chance to relax in a hammock to the sounds of the surf working its way up the shores or enjoy a secluded beach the way Laurence Rockefeller intended when he built the lush 150 acre Carambola Resort. Enjoy the hotel pool or beachfront. Your beach break also includes lunch served from The Carambola Flamboyant lunch menu at the Saman dining room and deck.

 

I would be interested in a beach.. not necessarily snorkeling, but would like to go in the water

[OOM]

I am also going via a cruise ship this March with my wife and two boys (ages 3 & 5).

Which of these or Cane Beach would be the best? Can you go to these same places/ use thier facilities without the ships excusion (i.e. take a taxi)? If so, do you need to make reservations with the facility and pay a fee in advance?

 

thanks

[The Islander]

tuliplvr,

 

Vincent Mason Pool and Beach is public park type set up; there are benches and pallapas umbrellas, some trees. The pool area is set back a bit from the beach. There is a nice shed picnic/bbq area; it’s possibly there that they will serve you the drinks mentioned in the description. The beach/shoreline on the west end of St. Croix, around Frederiksted looks like a long narrow strip of sand for as far as you can see... or as far as Sandy Point if that is the direction you are facing. Various parts of that long strip have different names, some strips of beach more defined than others. All are mostly sandy with clear water. The Vincent Mason area is the same; narrow shore with white sand, usually very calm water and clear - very nice for swimming. Not sure what watersports are available as that hadn't yet been set up when I was last there.

 

Carambola is a beach resort, so different set up than the public park. There is a restaurant, rooms, pool, all landscaped. Chairs and hammocks are among the almond trees, palm trees and other trees along the shore. The shore is wider than at Vincent Mason, but the water area is rockier. The beach at Carambola, which is called Davis Bay, has a rocky outcrop on the shore about mid-beach; standing there pretty much the right side in the water is all rocky, not really swimmable; the left side is usually calmer and more sandy, the far left the most swimmable area.

 

Hope that helps.

 

--Islander

[tuliplvr]

tuliplvr,

 

Hope that helps.

 

--Islander

 

It sure does.. thank you!

[The Islander]

tuliplvr, you're welcome.

 

OOM, Cane Bay would make a nice choice. The water is usually calm and the kids can play in the shallower water. Adults if they want to snorkel can do that as there is good snorkeling there. The 5 year old could probably do some snorkeling too as some of it is in shallower water - get a float vest to make it easier; the dive shop should have them for rent. There is a restaurant right accross the road for lunch, snacks, drinks. A dive shop also accross the road. The road is right behind the treeline of the beach, not a very busy road but mentioning it just the same since you have small kids. At Cane Bay there isn't a hotel so no amenities of that nature there.

 

--Islander