blue_water

Coki is a smaller beach and so it is the most crowded beach on cruise ship days. A very busy vibe with a mix of couples and families, “canned” music, and vendors vying for your business…If you want busy Coki is it. Sapphire is a bit larger bay and home to a few condo resorts. There is a beach bar, live music, food and rentals. This is our choice for gorgeous views, the live music and a less crowded vibe. So not a “party atmosphere”, but a lively and fun spot. You can read reports from recent visitors in previous posts…

Agree with crewsweeper’s recs. Cinco de Soles is also an amazing shop for so many other things…Be carefuI, you will not leave empty-handed!

I just realized you are a group of 15! For a group that large I would suggest Lindbergh Bay and the Emerald Resort, Magens Bay, or Sapphire Beach. I don’t think you would be happy at Secret Harbour with that large a group. AA Divers rents Lounges/umbrellas at Secret Harbour, and the lounges/umbrellas as well as the space for day visitors is limited. So if you do choose SH, rent your lounges/umbrellas well in advance, especially if your ship arrives later in the day. Read their cancellation policy…(if they will rent that many to you)… https://www.aadivers.com/ Magens Bay is the other calmest option, but we’re not fans of the facilities and the crowd there. Lindbergh can also be calmer, while gorgeous Sapphire can be calm or rough, depending. Sapphire is always our first choice. Alternatively we’d choose Lindbergh over Magens just for the better facilities for the adults… But if calm water is your highest priority then Magens…

Yes as Ms411 said you can go as a self-excursion or on the ship excursion. And the Red Hook ferry is the best option. Going on your own is much preferred because you are not tied to a group and the queue coming off the ship, and just have much more flexibility. Taxis and ferries are very reliable, you just need to take a return ferry from STJ that gives you a couple hours to get back to the dock. The taxis are the open-sided, safari pick-up truck type… Taxi from Havensight (WICO) to Red Hook ferry terminal = ~$10/pp, Red Hook ferry to Cruz Bay = $8.15/pp, taxi to Trunk = ~$6/pp, Cinnamon = ~$7/pp. You can also take a nice island tour and then get dropped at a beach for ~$25/pp. That also eliminates the taxi cost to a beach, you just pay the return taxi to Cruz. The taxi driver will let you know you have the option of getting off at Trunk, or continuing on for the tour. So the total roundtrip cost from Havensight to a beach on STJ is ~$50 - $55/pp, ~$68 w/ the island tour…From Crown Bay add ~$2 for the roundtrip taxi..

This is a link to a description to the more popular beaches of the BVI that I posted 5 years ago if you want to review it. Pricing and some other info may have changed, but the beach descriptions are still current…One difference is ships now provide excursions to Long Bay, Beef Island. So that is not the “locals” bay as it ounce was, at least when ships are in port. And Nigel is back at Smuggler’s Cove, not sure about Patricia, she was amazing!

Do a bit of research on the BVI, or look at a map. You will see there are several islands and four - 5 main islands, Tortola being the busiest. A good recommendation for you really depends on the cruise ship calendar. So looking at your Dec 13 arrival,I see your 3,600 pax ship is in port 7 - 5, and a 4,000 pax Disney ship is there 7:15 - 6. You also have the Sea Dream anchored in White Bay, Jost overnight but they don’t arrive until after you depart Tortola. So a busy day on Tortola. Many of your fellow passengers and those from Disney will be getting transported to CGB, the busiest beach in the BVI. Others will be taking ship excursions or going on their own to VG or Jost. Although the Baths on VG are a unique sight/experience, I would not recommend going there on a cruise, do that when you return for a land or week sail visit so you can avoid the crowds. Plus that involves a hike unless you choose an arrival by boat… There are gorgeous beaches on Tortola that many day visitors never experience because they head to White Bay on Jost, or the Baths on Virgin Gorda. So if you would love a gorgeous beach that has some amenities, is reasonably easy to get to, and is not the most crowded that day, I would suggest Brewers Bay. Brewers just has that old Caribbean charm, and is not as busy as CJB, and easier to get to and back from that Smuggler’s Cove. Shared safari taxi is ~$9/pp and it’s a beautiful ride there and back!

Happy to see you back Ms411!

Correction to my post above, there may well be sargassum present late-August, just no way of knowing. So it is smart to plan for the worst case. Our favorite beach is Sapphire, but that beach is more vulnerable to sargassum than Magens and SH…

The sargassum is generally less of a problem in the summer months in most areas of the Carib, and returns again in March or April…Secret Harbor is also one of the more protected bays…

If you are on Carnival you will dock at Havensight, as usual, right? 😄 So you’ll have a $20/pp round trip taxi, plus ~$9 lounge rentals at Sapphire or another East End beach, and not much different for Magens, Lindbergh (aka Emerald Beach)… Sapphire, Secret Harbor and Lindbergh all have all the amenities you want…Our all-time favorite beach is Sapphire, they will soon have a new restaurant to compliment the beach bar, etc…But I think the Emerald Beach Resort and SH probably have the best restrooms and restaurants…

I understand your frustration. And if they shortened the minimum height they probably should have contacted all booked guests with that information. Although not the same experience, at least she was able to do the Encounter… I was expecting something far worse, but I guess the moral of the story for the OP and others is double-check everything as you get closer. Thanks for sharing…

Please elaborate for the OP? Good feedback helps!

You are obviously asking about the DD on Cozumel and we’ve not been there. We have a home in the Riviera Maya and there are 4 DD sites here (Maroma, 2 in Puerto Aventuras, and Akumal). I can tell you we took our great niece to the Akumal DD and she loved it. She and one other girl booked the Royal Swim and had the entire pool to themselves. So they had multiple experiences and she even had an extra 30 minutes learning to train younger dolphins. A family had booked the encounter and they also had a lot of time to experience the dolphins. Other locations are busier so we took her to this location because it is usually much less busy… So the DD sites we’ve been to have all been very clean with professional staff, and you do get one-on-one time with the dolphins. Of course many will advise not to use these types of facilities because the dolphins are captive. But I’m sure the up-close experience is something to remember…

A good question for residents and frequent visitors on the TripAdvisor STT forum! 😉

For anyone planning a day on STJ from Red Hook, the ~cost is - Red Hook ferry <—> Cruz Bay = $8.15/pp each way, taxi to Trunk =$6/pp, Cinnamon = $7/pp. You can also take a nice island tour and then get dropped at a beach for ~$25/pp. That also eliminates the taxi cost to a beach, you just pay the return taxi to Cruz. So the total cost from Havensight to a beach on STJ is ~$50/pp, ~$68 w/ the island tour…From Crown Bay add ~$2…

Yes same here, the islands of the BVI are always my first choice. We too never metMitch unfortunately. There are many other excellent charter outfits like Patouche, Kuralu, and Aristocat to name a few, and I know Joe at Patouche also offered custom, private charters on a powerboat if you want to try him too…

Yes that was already shared here welter. Capt. Malcolm had worked with Ocean Magic but has his own business and that is one of the charters Caribbiana is looking into.

Chrislo is just looking for the taxi fare to Red Hook…

$10/pp each way…Just hop one of the shared safari taxis going that way to get that “group rate”. The taxi coordinators and drivers will direct you…

Nice day that, maybe you can also stop for drinks at the Willy T or Pirate’s Bight! 😉

This is the contact info I was given back in 2019, but it may not still be valid based on Eaton’s May 25 post. OMMitch@hotmail.com 303-725-6696 This looks like Captain Malcolm’s new outfit - https://sunshinepowerboats.com/

You’d need a private charter to hit both areas. See the link above in regards to a Capt. Malcolm. You can also look for feedback on the BVI TT forum - http://www.traveltalkonline.com/ubbthreads.php/forums/7/1/british-virgin-islands.html

Yes…You want to take advantage of the credit so hopefully you can get quick feedback from regulars on those snorkel spots…

We’ve not taken this particular excursion, nor have we snorkeled at the spots you hit - Turtle Cove (Buck Island), and HB on Water Island. Honeymoon Beach has been pretty calm when we’ve been there, it just tends to get crowded if there are already folks there who ferried over. I’m sure others can share more useful feedback. If nothing soon, try posing this question on the TripAdvisor STT forum as that is an active forum…