Cost of Taxi to Sapphire Beach

We are a family of four (2 adults, 2 kids 5 & 8).

I read that to get a taxi to Sapphire Beach it will cost us $10 each, one way. THat is $80 round trip!!!! That sounds so expensive.

Does anyone know if this is correct or am I missing something?

Thanks!

~Amy

Hi Amy,

The concept of per person, when you have your family with you, is really hard to get your head wrapped around. Just get off the ship and start walking toward Kmart, the crew will point you in the right direction, or towards town. The taxis are all negotiable. The farther away you get from the port, the cheaper the taxi. You should have no problem negotiating a one way fare for 4 or 5 dollars per person, you do have 4 fares after all. There is always the 2 dollar taxi at Kmart.

Susan

Having lived on the Island for 15 years, I beg to differ, the fares are set by the VI government and are usually not negotiable. This is just the way it is on Island. No ned to tip however as the drivers own the vehicle.:D

B.

Having lived on the Island for 15 years' date=' I beg to differ, the fares are set by the VI government and are usually not negotiable. This is just the way it is on Island. No ned to tip however as the drivers own the vehicle.:D

B.[/quote']

 

I agree; there was no negotiating with the drivers, but I did not see the need to tip them, either. They seemed fine with it. I find the taxi drivers here, in general, to be a bit abrasive.

Just ask before you get in ...

We are a family of four (2 adults, 2 kids 5 & 8).

 

I read that to get a taxi to Sapphire Beach it will cost us $10 each, one way. THat is $80 round trip!!!! That sounds so expensive.

 

Does anyone know if this is correct or am I missing something?

 

Thanks!

~Amy

Yep...that is about right...and then add in chair and umbrella rental.....I just did it with my family back in July and I was disappointed..... definitely didn't feel Sapphire was worth it.....it's a run down resort with poor facilities. I MUCH more enjoyed going over to St John.

Check out Emerald Beach. Taxi cost is $6 per person. Beach is clean and there are water toys for your kids to enjoy. The water is calm. I have two teenage sons and we have visitied the beach twice and love it. Since the beach is not crowded, there is plenty of place for your kids to play on the beach and not disturb anyone. There is some snorkeling off to the left, but its not as good as other beaches. But...the Best Western Hotel has a great beach bar and restaurant and the bathrooms are very clean. There are beach chairs to rent. Beach toys available include: Kayaks, peddle boats, floating mats, and snorkel gear.

There were 5 ships in port this day. November 2010.

Yep...that is about right...and then add in chair and umbrella rental.....I just did it with my family back in July and I was disappointed..... definitely didn't feel Sapphire was worth it.....it's a run down resort with poor facilities. I MUCH more enjoyed going over to St John.

...but Steve is high maintenance. I'm low maintenance and I really liked it :p

Check out Emerald Beach. Taxi cost is $6 per person. Beach is clean and there are water toys for your kids to enjoy. The water is calm. I have two teenage sons and we have visitied the beach twice and love it. Since the beach is not crowded, there is plenty of place for your kids to play on the beach and not disturb anyone. There is some snorkeling off to the left, but its not as good as other beaches. But...the Best Western Hotel has a great beach bar and restaurant and the bathrooms are very clean. There are beach chairs to rent. Beach toys available include: Kayaks, peddle boats, floating mats, and snorkel gear.

 

 

There were 5 ships in port this day. November 2010.

 

 

 

Hi Dawn! Thanks for this info!!

I'm lining up our port excursions for Feb/12 and we have decided to give Best Western Emerald Beach a try on our own. Looks just like our kind of beach area!! ;)

Did you have any trouble getting a taxis at the pier and for the return trip to the ship? Do they have a separate taxis for Emerald Beach and will we be let off right at the Best Western Emerald Beach Hotel? Are they the open air kind of taxis?

Thanks in advance for anymore info you can share with us concerning the above questions. :)

Pat :)

...but Steve is high maintenance. I'm low maintenance and I really liked it :p

You just need to get out more;):p

Hi Dawn! Thanks for this info!!

 

I'm lining up our port excursions for Feb/12 and we have decided to give Best Western Emerald Beach a try on our own. Looks just like our kind of beach area!!

 

Did you have any trouble getting a taxis at the pier and for the return trip to the ship? Do they have a separate taxis for Emerald Beach and will we be let off right at the Best Western Emerald Beach Hotel? Are they the open air kind of taxis?

 

Thanks in advance for anymore info you can share with us concerning the above questions.

 

Pat

When you get off the ship, just tell the attendant that you want to go to Emerald Beach and he will put you in a taxi that is going to take passengers to Charlotte Amalie. The driver will drop off passengers in town then continue to Emerald Beach (aka Lindburg Bay). The drive took about 10-15 minutes including the time to drop off those people who were shopping.

Coming back...there are taxis waiting at the hotel, as the airport is right near there. If there aren't any taxis the hotel staff will call a taxi for you. The staff is very nice.

After spending about 5 hours at the beach enjoying the water and the beach bar, we had our taxi driver drop us off in Charlotte Amalie to do some souvineer shopping(my youngest DS has to get a shirt from every port we visit). We spent about an hour shopping then easily caught a taxi back to the ship. Taxi back to the ship from shopping was $4 pp.

You will love Emerald Beach. The water and beach were both clean. The water was calm...even when there was a storm in the area.

Here are some additional photos of the beach/hotel when we stayed there this summer.

Beach Restaurant and Bar

View from our balcony

The Beach

When you get off the ship, just tell the attendant that you want to go to Emerald Beach and he will put you in a taxi that is going to take passengers to Charlotte Amalie. The driver will drop off passengers in town then continue to Emerald Beach (aka Lindburg Bay). The drive took about 10-15 minutes including the time to drop off those people who were shopping.

 

Coming back...there are taxis waiting at the hotel, as the airport is right near there. If there aren't any taxis the hotel staff will call a taxi for you. The staff is very nice.

 

After spending about 5 hours at the beach enjoying the water and the beach bar, we had our taxi driver drop us off in Charlotte Amalie to do some souvineer shopping(my youngest DS has to get a shirt from every port we visit). We spent about an hour shopping then easily caught a taxi back to the ship. Taxi back to the ship from shopping was $4 pp.

 

You will love Emerald Beach. The water and beach were both clean. The water was calm...even when there was a storm in the area.

 

I believe Princess docks at Crown Bay not Havensight and is only a 5 minute taxi ride to Emerald Beach.

When you get off the ship, just tell the attendant that you want to go to Emerald Beach and he will put you in a taxi that is going to take passengers to Charlotte Amalie. The driver will drop off passengers in town then continue to Emerald Beach (aka Lindburg Bay). The drive took about 10-15 minutes including the time to drop off those people who were shopping.

 

Coming back...there are taxis waiting at the hotel, as the airport is right near there. If there aren't any taxis the hotel staff will call a taxi for you. The staff is very nice.

 

After spending about 5 hours at the beach enjoying the water and the beach bar, we had our taxi driver drop us off in Charlotte Amalie to do some souvineer shopping(my youngest DS has to get a shirt from every port we visit). We spent about an hour shopping then easily caught a taxi back to the ship. Taxi back to the ship from shopping was $4 pp.

 

You will love Emerald Beach. The water and beach were both clean. The water was calm...even when there was a storm in the area.

 

Here are some additional photos of the beach/hotel when we stayed there this summer.

 

Beach Restaurant and Bar

 

 

 

View from our balcony

 

 

The Beach

I believe Princess docks at Crown Bay not Havensight and is only a 5 minute taxi ride to Emerald Beach.

Thanks for the great info!! :) Emerald Beach here we come...just have to wait for Feb/12 to get here though!!

Pat

I believe Princess docks at Crown Bay not Havensight and is only a 5 minute taxi ride to Emerald Beach.

Sorry...I didn't take note of where you were coming from. I've never docked in Crown Bay...but I'm assuming there is also an attendant there to help with taxis. Although Crown Bay is very close to Emerald Beach...Don't walk there. The drivers are CRAZY and there is little to no shoulder to walk on. Not worth your life for $4-$6.

Does Emerald Beach have any chairs and unbrellas for rent? We are a fair skinned couple looking for a beach that has both...love the beach...hate sunburn!! :D

Chairs at emerald beach were $5. Palapas are $7.

So how far is this from Havensight and taxi cost? Or was that mentioned? And can you just walk onto the BW property and rent a chair/palapa? Do they sell daypasses for use of facilities - or just open to anyone?

I too was interested in Sapphire beach but lots of mixed reviews so far! (snorkelling great - facilities not so good?)

At Emerald - the beach is open to anyone. Chairs, Palapas, and water toys are owned by Best Western. Each time we were there, there was a guy on the beach who would help you if you wanted a chair. If you want to sit on the beach - no charge.

One other thing that we really liked about Emerald compaired to other beaches...we felt safe. No one hassled you (like at Coki). Our belongings were fine just sitting on our chair when we were playing in the water. We stayed at Sapphire Marina this past summer and had the opportunity to experience several beaches. This was the only beach we didn't worry about our belongings at.

Taxi from Havensight to Emerald was $6 pp. It took about 15 minutes since we dropped off people in Charlotte Amalie first.

Thanks Dawn for the great info!

I too was interested in Sapphire beach but lots of mixed reviews so far! (snorkelling great - facilities not so good?)

It's a beautiful beach with good snorkeling but yeah, the facilities are not topnotch.

That being said...I don't understand people complaining that $20 round trip pp is too much for a taxi ride to a basically free beach. If you book a ship's tour it's more, if you book a higher end all inclusive, it's much more.

When we walked through the hotel lobby area (with construction stuff laying around) and out to the beach, DH said, 'this is heaven'. It's like that.

If they ever get the Sapphire hotel complex up and running, it's not going to be a $20 return cab ride any more, it's going to be a $75 pp all inclusive. Enjoy it while you can.

It's a beautiful beach with good snorkeling but yeah, the facilities are not topnotch.

 

That being said...I don't understand people complaining that $20 round trip pp is too much for a taxi ride to a basically free beach. If you book a ship's tour it's more, if you book a higher end all inclusive, it's much more.

 

When we walked through the hotel lobby area (with construction stuff laying around) and out to the beach, DH said, 'this is heaven'. It's like that.

 

If they ever get the Sapphire hotel complex up and running, it's not going to be a $20 return cab ride any more, it's going to be a $75 pp all inclusive. Enjoy it while you can.

People complain about taxi rates in St. Thomas because they are so high compared to the other ports on a cruise. On our last cruise we all took a taxi to a beach for less than one person's fare in St. Thomas. When you have 4 or 5, it gets ridiculous. On top of that, you are not in an air conditioned van going only to your stop--you are in an open air mini train that crams people in and can make multiple stops. It is quite a scam!

We love Sapphire Beach, but would go to Emerald since we are docked at Crown Bay, except for the snorkeling. We don't need fancy facilities, but just sitting and looking at the water is not what we do. We snorkel and the snorkeling at Sapphire is great.:) Emerald Beach looks very nice, though.

The fare is $8pp each way, Sapphire is worth the fare.