Just Back from Emerald Beach

[pjcoach]

Spent the day last week at Emerald Beach. My family and I really enjoyed it. I haven't been to other beaches on St. Thomas so I have nothing to compare it to, but this beach met all of our expectations.

 

Nice sand. Great view. Calm water. Water sports available (paddle boat $15 per 1/2 hour), kayaks, snorkel. Food and drink available. Chairs and umbrellas available. Restrooms available (free).

 

The entire beach is probably about 1/2 mile long. It is at the end of the airport, so you do hear plans taking off and landing (small and big), but this did not bother us. No smell of jet fuel.

 

Very enjoyable day.

 

I'll answer any questions I can.

[TwoTrekkers]

Did you walk or take transportation to Emerald Beach, and if the latter, what were the costs from either Crown Bay and Havensight? If the former, how long did it take to walk there. Do you have very specific directions if walking? How many ships were in port and did you find many people were at this beach?

 

Did you see cabs at the end of your time or did you have to go to Best Western and request a call to them?

[jellyfish]

We're thinking about going to Emerald Beach in May on our cruise. We've been to Megan's and Sapphire and wanted to try something different. This sounds nice. Just wondering what the prices were for drinks, beer,etc? Thanks!

[pjcoach]

TwoTrekkers and Jellyfish,

 

Definitely can not walk from Havensight, maybe you can from Crown Bay, but I think it would still be a pretty good walk. We took one of the open air cabs and they charged $7pp to get there from Havensight. It was about a 15 minute ride by cab. The driver offerd to come back to get us, so I took his card to call him. However, just when we were getting ready to leave a cab driver was walking along the beach to see if anyone needed a ride. We used him and he charged us $6pp for his minivan. I didn't notice any cabs outside of the Best Westren when we left, but I'm sure they would call one for you.

 

Including our ship, there were a total of 4 ships in port (Triumph,Explorer of the Seas, Disney and Eurodam). The beach was definitely not to crowded. We arrived there at about 10am and had our choice of spots on the beach. We chose to rent 2 chairs ($7each) and a palapa ($6), but we could have just put our towels down under some seagrape trees and not paid anything.

 

We brought our own drinks (water), so I don't know what they charged for drinks at the bar, but we did buy 3 hamburgers and an extra order of fries which cost us $38. The burgers came with fries and they were pretty big.

[jellyfish]

Thanks for the answers! Sounds good.

[marymount]

Just wondering, are there any facilities that can be used by us cruisers before going back, such as showers or places to change?? Can we use their pool?

 

Thanks, for the info. I think you made up our minds for us.

[mivama]

Did you do any snorkeling while you were there? If so, how was it?

[kcparrothead]

I read a review that said you can see the water treatment plant from the beach. Is it that noticeable?

[Jeanne B]

Did you do any snorkeling while you were there? If so, how was it?

 

We stayed here on the last night of our land vacation two summers ago, DH and DD snorkeled and didn't see much of anything, the water seemed dark compared to all the other beaches (I only waded in).

 

If we'd stayed there the first night of our vacation I'm sure we would have thought it was a beautiful beach but with it being on the last day of our vacation after spending 9 days on so many beautiful beaches on both St John and St Thomas we were kind of disappointed (but I'm sure that it was our last night wasn't helping the mood either:D).

 

I read a review that said you can see the water treatment plant from the beach. Is it that noticeable?

 

I don't recall if we could see the water treatment plant or not, I just remember the view not being anything spectacular, but again, this was after we had just come off of being on St John for a week, hard to beat the views that you have from most any beach on St John.

 

On St Thomas, Sapphire Beach was our favorite for both views and snorkeling.

[Ms411]

You won't even notice the water treatment plant (WAPA). It's on the other side of the hill, so you really don't even see if from the beach.

 

There aren't any shower/changing facilities, but there is a little kiddie water park all the way down to the right. If they're open, you can pay the tiny ($2?) fee, and rinse off. Then walk back down the road to the Best Western for a cab. You can use the restrooms at the hotels, though they prefer that you do so in conjunction with buying food or drink(s).

 

If it's rained recently, the water will be somewhat cloudy. Lobsters have been sighted in the waters at Emerald Beach.

[pjcoach]

You can use the bathrooms to change. No showers, but there was a water spout to wash off your feet at the Beachcomber Hotel next door. Not sure if the Best Western has one also.

 

I did snorkel a little, but not much to see, just some little see thru fish. You can get these fish to come near you by putting little pieces of bannana in the water.

 

We did not try to use the pool since we were not hotel guests.

 

Didn't notice the water treatment plant, unless of course if it was the green tank off to the left and up the hill. If that is it, then yes you can see a green tank, but I wouldn't say that seeing it had any affect on my day or atmosphere at the beach.

 

As other posters have said, probably some nicer beaches, but this ahd everything we needed, nice view, not crowded and calm water.

[kcparrothead]

Didn't notice the water treatment plant, unless of course if it was the green tank off to the left and up the hill. If that is it, then yes you can see a green tank, but I wouldn't say that seeing it had any affect on my day or atmosphere at the beach.

 

As other posters have said, probably some nicer beaches, but this ahd everything we needed, nice view, not crowded and calm water.

 

Oh good! I was thinking that might not be true since I hadn't heard anyone else talk about it. It was a Tripadviser review and she was mainly talking bad about the Best Western!