Beach in St. Thomas??

[gapopes5]

What Beach to go in St. Thomas that is easy for ederly to get to and have some fun with grandkids? Any info will help us.

[The Islander]

Magens Bay deepends gradually and is usually very calm, and very clear. Great for both older folks getting in and out as well as small children playing at the shore.

 

--Islander

[gapopes5]

Does anyone think going over to St. John(to Trunk Bay) is too much trouble for elderly person? My mom is 76, but in very good shape to walk. (she does get tired) We just don't want it to be to much for all of us. We want to do some shopping and looking around the island. If you have any ideas, please let me know.;)

[The Islander]

It depends on your mom. Going to St. John on your own involves getting to the ferry (if you take a taxi, you are walking from the cruise ship to the taxi stand area by the cruise dock), taking the ferry to St. John (taxi drops you very close to the ferry area), and then a taxi to Trunk Bay (taxi stand at the ferry dock in St. John is right at the end of the ferry). At Trunk Bay you have to walk from the taxi area to the beach, flat and pretty short. So if your Mom is up for the various short walks she should be fine.

 

Here is some information if you decide on St. John: St. Thomas to St. John on your own is pretty easy, just need to plan accordingly, know the ferry schedules and the time you need to be back to the ship.

 

There are two departure points on St. Thomas for ferries to St. John. First is the Charlotte Amalie ferry, which leaves from the Charlotte Amalie waterfront. The ferry area is just at the start of the shopping district, across from Vendor’s Plaza. The Charlotte Amalie ferry is about 1.4 miles from Havensight Cruise Ship Dock area and about 1.7 miles from the Crown Bay Dock area. It’s a short drive between them, but this is all in town and traffic can cause the short drive to take a while. More ships mean more traffic. A taxi from Havensight to the Charlotte Amalie ferry is $4 pp, ow. Same from Crown Bay. The Charlotte Amalie ferry takes about 35-40 minutes to get over to St. John.

 

The Red Hook ferry is on the East End of the island. The drive from Havensight takes about 20 minutes in low traffic and from Crown Bay 35 minutes. More traffic it will take longer. The ferry takes 15 minutes to get over to St. John.

 

One vs. the other: time wise with shorter drive + longer ferry on the Charlotte Amalie ferry and longer drive + shorter ferry on the Red Hook ferry the commute itself tends to work out the same. Figure an hour to a little over an hour, depends on if you get a ferry right when you get to the dock or have to wait around a bit. When coming back to St. Thomas the Charlotte Amalie might help you avoid some of the traffic since its gets you closer to the ships. In terms of schedule: the Red Hook ferry has more departures. In terms of the trip: the Charlotte Amalie ferry allows you to see a bit more of the water and island along the coast but its longer and more open ocean so for someone that doesn’t like ferries or gets seasick easily you might stick with the shorter Red Hook ferry. With taking the Red Hook route you see a little of the island while driving to the ferry. For schedule and prices of ferries try: http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=getting+to+st.+john&fr=yfp-t-305&toggle=1&cop=mss&ei=UTF-8.

 

Both ferries arrive in Cruz Bay St. John. Right at the end of the ferry dock there is a taxi stand and usually half a dozen to a dozen taxi drivers waiting around. They approach people getting off the ferry dock asking ‘beach’, ‘tour’, ‘where can I take you’ so they aren’t hard to find. Tell them where you want to go and get the price and be on your way. Cruz Bay to Trunk Bay is $6 pp, ow for the taxi. It takes about 12-15 minutes.

Trunk Bay Admission is $4 per adult. 16 and under are free.

 

Plan to be at the ferry for the return trip at least 15 minutes before departure. Best bet is not to take the last possible ferry that would get you back on time, take at least the one before that – just in case you don’t get on that one or something happens at least you have one more option.

 

Also good to head to St. John first thing so you can do your visit there and get back to St. Thomas with time to spare. If you want to do some shopping and St. John, you could head to St. John and then shop in Cruz Bay on St. John - there are shops there and that is where the ferry dock is located. Or you could head to St. John and then plan to return to St. Thomas with time to shop.

 

Of course being able to do St. John, plus have shopping time, all depends on your time frame in port.

 

--Islander