Beaches w/ 5 ships in port

Last year when planning our day in St Thomas we looked over the great info here on the different beaches (many thanks to blue_water and others) and narrowed it down to Smith Bay or Sapphire. We chose Smith Bay and, since we were the only ship in port, it was not crowded at all and lovely!

Would like to try Sapphire this year but am wondering what to expect with 5 ships in port (one of which is the Allure). Do you think it will be packed?

One idea we are entertaining is to take a taxi to Sapphire and if too crowded head over to Smith Bay. From what it sounds like we would need to arrange in advance for the driver to return for us at Smith Bay if we did that. Are taxis readily available from Sapphire and would they be ok with the short trip over to Smith Bay? Also, if we stayed at Sapphire is it easy to find a return taxi to back to port when we are ready to leave?

Thanks for any info you can provide!

With five ships in port there is a good chance that all the popular beaches will be crowded. Smith Bay would probably be the best choice due to the lack of food and drinks there.

If you do go to Sapphire there are taxis waiting when you are ready to leave. If its Smith Bay then try to get the taxi to come back for you but if you walk out to the road you would probably be able to flag down a taxi.

beautifulbill,

Thanks for the response! I think you're probably right in that all of the beaches are going to be crowded unfortunately. I think we were a bit spoiled last year being the only ship in port on that day! Might be best to pick one with very few amenities or at least go into it knowing that we're going to have lots of company..lol

The swimming beach will probably be crowded at Sapphire, but you can takeyour lounges away from that and find a nice shaded spot where you can still order drinks and food and walk to the swimming area and the restrooms. Sapphire is gorgeous!

http://www.sapphireinthesun.com

But yes for a beach where you can lime with perhaps no fellow cruisers and a handful of land-based visitors and residents we'd look at Hull Bay. Just the one beach bar/restaurant and no lounge rentals that I know of. And it can be rougher on that coast depending on the weather. You'd have to find a taxi to take you there, one going to Magens may drop you after the others, not sure as we haven't taxied to Hull. But a nice spot to relax with a cold one and your significant other! ;)

http://www.hullbayhideaway.com/

Sapphire has a very long beach. Much easier to accommodate crowds than many of the other (smaller) beaches. If there are too many people right in front of the buildings, just walk down the beach a bit. BTW, this is the same advice given for Magens on a busy day. ;)

blue_water,

Had to look up what "lime" meant in the context you used it! And Hull Bay looks like a nice place to do just that! lol.

We're still debating on how important (or not) having access to loungers is to us but looks like throwing a towel down somewhere may be our best bet for less crowds. The taxi situation makes me a bit nervous though. Not so much getting there as getting back.

We went to Brewer's on Tortola (loved it!) based on a lot of info gleaned from your posts (thank you again). Since we were the only ship docked not many were heading there so had to a taxi at the higher fare with just the 2 of us which was fine. We arranged for our driver to return but knew we had kind of a safety net with the info that Nicole's could always call for us if the driver was a no show.

Do you think that's a possibility at Hull Bay? Is there a phone number we could call ourselves for a taxi to come get us?

O2B,

That is a great point that the larger beaches may still be a good choice and may feel much less crowded than a smaller beach. I think we would be fine with it being crowded as long as we could have some space somewhere that isn't wall to wall people! Sounds like we may be fine at Sapphire too!

Decisions... Decisions..

How do you find out how many ships will be in port for that day??

lizzyandrew,

There are a couple of different sites. The one I use is this one: http://www.cruisetimetables.com/#destports

Click on the port you are interested in and then click the date you want to see. Hope this helps!

I'm sure Hull Bay HIdeaway would be able to call a taxi if necessary, just call/email them to confirm that is an option. But drivers are very good at returning for you, especially if you pay on the return. Getting a ride there without going for a ride is the trick...

But yes, Sapphire has space to spread out and you should be able to find a shaded spot away from the busier swimming section and it's a short walk to the swimming area of the beach. Relax with the gorgeous island views and a mahi mahi sandwich and cold drink from Banana Cabana! Doesn't get much better than that! ;)

How do you find out how many ships will be in port for that day??

www.cruisett.com is another good site. Just search by each port to see what other ships are in port with you, or by your ship name to see all of your ports by date.

To see where you are docked in St Thomas (Havensight or Crown Bay) the cruise ship schedule at vinow dot com is helpful.

If your ship is docked at Crown Bay, you are only a short walk from the Crown Bay Marina where you can catch a short ferry to Water Island. We did this once when St. Thomas was inundated with cruise ships and loved Water Island. The beach was almost deserted so take some food with you. We even took our snorkel gear (although the water was clear, we saw mostly fish, not much coral).

If your ship is docked at Crown Bay, you are only a short walk from the Crown Bay Marina where you can catch a short ferry to Water Island. We did this once when St. Thomas was inundated with cruise ships and loved Water Island. The beach was almost deserted so take some food with you. We even took our snorkel gear (although the water was clear, we saw mostly fish, not much coral).

Would not recommend Honeymoon Beach on a heavy ship day or even a light ship day today. Not just the folks from the ships, but excursion operators drop their pax there as well. Just a very busy spot!

lynncarol: You were lucky to experience Honeymoon Beach before the new bar/hot spot opened. They actively encourage visitors and there is plenty of food, drink, and noise. As Blue says, it is extremely busy now, even on a quiet day.

You could also look at going to Secret Harbour. They have a public side of the beach where you can rent chairs and snorkel gear from a dive shop. We went there with 4 ships in port 2 years ago and we were pretty much the only people there from the cruise ports. There is a resort there, so there will be people there, but we were not crowded at all. The resort has a beach bar that you can order food and drinks from as well. The snorkeling was pretty good there too.

Bringonthesun,

Thanks for the suggestion! That looks like a really nice beach too! The 5 ships in port thing has me a little worried so good to know there may be places to escape "people like me" :D

We are still in the planning stages but have added Secret Harbor to our short list!

It's not unusual for St. Thomas to have 5 ships in port plus many on land vacations. Not really a major cause of concern. Enjoy!

Yes 5 ships days are not uncommon. To put this crowded beach question in perspective, we rent a condo on Sapphire and we've driven to other beaches on 1 ship days and on 5 ship days. On a 5-ship day we would definitely avoid Magens and Coki, and maybe Secret Harbor because it's such a small beach. But you could try SH as it is a nice, calm bay and a nice beach. Just get there early to rent umbrellas as the public beach area is not shaded and they often run out of them. You can also reserve lounges/umbrellas online through the dive shop -

http://www.aadivers.com

http://www.aadivers.com/view_cam.php

The Secret Harbour Resort does have a nice restaurant on the beach, so if you prefer that over a beach grill both SH and the Emerald Beach Resort in Lindbergh Bay offer that.

Like Hull Bay, Elysian Beach in Cowpet Bay (near SH) would be a great choice for a less crowded beach with a small beach grill/bar and a restaurant. The beach isn't quite as nice as Sapphire or SH but there are boats moored there and you probably won't find fellow cruisers there. I believe you can rent lounges there but MS411 or another regular there can answer that.

Having said all that we found Sapphire to be very comfortable on the heavy ship days. The beach section away from the dive center in particular is quiet.

Bluewater, please do not post what I can answer.

Bluewater, please do not post what I can answer.

Yes maa'm! Just recognizing your input here and thought you - or someone else - might have that answer. But I won't do that again! :eek:

I'll IM one of the owners there and ask her just to satisfy my curiosity.

Thanks!