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1st timers...Carambola Beach? I've heard mixed reviews (MERGED THREADS)


lakerniner

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From the pier it's $18pp round trip and you arrange your pickup time with the driver. When we were leaving the mass amounts of RC people were all standing around waiting for the buses and we breezed right by in our cab.

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The published rate for Frederiksted to Carombola is $27 for 1 or 2 people and $11 pp for 3+ people. One way. So yes you can do it on your own. The beach is well maintained, has lots of palm trees, very tropical looking. The water area is rocky in places, largely the whole right side when facing the water. The left side has some more sandy spots, for swimming.

 

--Islander

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There aren't any watersports on Carambola except for the dive shop.

 

--Islander

 

Thank you!!! We were looking for a quiet place to relax while visiting the island on Aug. 8, 2009 during our AOS cruise. I'm definately going to book the tour option.

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Carambola is usually really quiet. Yes cruise ship tours go there but cruise ship folks also go other places... stay in Frederiksted, beach close to Frederiksted like Rainbow or Sandcastle, or to Cane Bay, or an island tour, charter... etc. so they spread out. There will be more people than usual at Carambola with the ship people but its a long beach so should be fine. Sandcastle which is also often asked about on this board, its part of the west end shore of beaches on St. Croix... so you can walk a bit further down the beach if you want fewer people. The west shore is basically one long sandy shoreline with different names given to different segments. Try a beach guide for St. Croix for more information: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=st.+croix+beach+guide+%2B+west&aq=f&oq=&aqi=.

 

--Islander

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We were at Carambola today and theMelumium was in port. The beach only had a macx of 10 people. It is usually not crowded and has lots of beach chairs. Carambola beach is in my opinion the most beautiful beach on the island. It is going to be less crowded than Cane bay by far.

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We were at Carambola just this past Saturday and it was wonderful! We took a cab for $18 per person round trip from the pier. We originally told the driver we wanted to snorkel at Cane Bay, but he suggested we go here instead because it was better. Lots of north winds made the water rough that day so we were unable to snorkel, but we didn't mind! It was very relaxing.

 

There's not really any activity on the beach besides sunning and swimming, so it was very quiet. I would say the chair to person ratio was 3:1. I'm not sure if it is that empty all the time, but we had no problem finding a good spot. Did not have to pay for chairs either, so we just picked two and moved them where we wanted. The restaurant there was good also..typical beach food. We had no real idea what to do in St. Croix, but we're glad we chose this beach.

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My DH claims this was our best beach. Actually, it wasn't because we didn't stay on the beach. Maybe it was because the tide was in but there seemed to be little beach and the water was rough. This was Oct. 27, a Tuesday. So we went to the pool and lounged there several hours.

 

Absolutely wonderful, relaxing, and we pretty much had the water to ourselves, although there were several others from the Millie there also. Pool is huge and has noodles and rafts. And the best pina coladas! We were approached by a local from whom I purchased a hematite bracelet. If you go to the Carambola, go into the gift shop and chat with Ann. She was so sweet and generous!

 

We had left the ship to head to Cane Bay Beach, but the woman on pier in an "official" tent selling tickets said we would like Carambola better. May have been a racket, probably, but we did enjoy our day.

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elysams - Rainbow Beach might have jet skis and some other things, don't think they have small boats. Don't know of any beaches on St. Croix that rent small boats.

 

At Carombola Resort the beach is Davis Bay, you pass through/around the resort to get to the beach. There is food/drink at the hotel resturant. There is a dive shop there but they don't have watersports.

 

--Islander

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  • 1 month later...
I will be travelling with kids 13 and 16 and they would like a beach that has activities on it--ie snorkling equipment, boats... AND food---Any ideas

 

Islander is correct, Rainbow beach is your best bet for what you are looking for. they have Jet Ski's, ATV tours, kayak rentals, snorkeling, beach vollyball, and an onsite resturaunt/bar. its $6.00 per person round trip taxi.

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Absolutely wonderful, relaxing, and we pretty much had the water to ourselves...

We had left the ship to head to Cane Bay Beach, but the woman on pier in an "official" tent selling tickets said we would like Carambola better. May have been a racket, probably, but we did enjoy our day.

 

I don't think the Carambola-supporter was a racket - we originally intended to go to Cane Bay, took one look and asked the taxi driver to take us to Carambola instead. Carambola was bigger, prettier, much less crowded, you name it... all that we wanted in a Carib. beach! Glad we went there :).

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We were there last week as part of the ship's tour and loved it. Since we were there as part of a package, I don't know how it works for those who just arrive. Our excursion inlcuded chairs and a nice lunch. It is very quiet and very beautiful. Hope we'll be able to return one day.

 

I'd suggest you call the resort to ask how it works for "drop-ins".

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If you are interested in going to Carambola but don't want to take the ship's excursion, I would suggest contacting the resort to make sure you will be able to do what you want to do. We were just looking for a beach and the response we got was something like we can use the public part but can't use any of the facilities or chairs or anything and since there is a ship excursion they won't be selling any day passes.

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