Decisions, decisions

[Spring1onu]

Will be in St. Thomas on the Freedom and had plans to visit Sapphire Beach and Paradise Point. Then I learned there will be 6 other ships in port with us that day. So I'm debating on whether or not we should take the ferry over to St. John or book a day sail or just keep our plans. This is my first cruise and first time to STT so I guess I'm asking if local beaches on STT will be crazy crowded and if we should make alternate plans? Any advice? Thanks much!

 

 

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[Ms411]

Sapphire and Emerald Beaches generally are not crowded no matter how many ships in port, but, as more people have recently "discovered" those beaches (note all the posts this year on cruisecritic!), the beach-crowd situation may change at any time.

 

That's one of the reasons many people choose day sails - generally with a 6 passenger maximum. Some boating excursions carry quite a load, but because of Coast Guard limitations, there are many day sails with 6 passengers limits. It's best to reserve early if that's something you want to do.

[blue_water]

We were staying at Sapphire while 20,000 cruisers were on the island and it never got that busy as compared to Coki and Magens. The ferries from Red Hook to Cruz Bay St John were crowded all day. So I would be OK with going to Sapphire as it is beautiful and a nice spot to relax and admire the view of St John and Tortola. You can taxi or go through the ship.

Another option is to take a 1/2 day sail which wil be a snorkel at St John or else Honeymoon, another nice option, just depends on what kind of experience you want to have.

[Spring1onu]

We already have a sail booked with Kuralu for Tortola. I think we're just going to stick with our original plans to check out Sapphire and go to Paradise Pt. maybe we can get a taxi for the day and explore some other sights on STT. I figured trying to get to STJ might be a little bit of a headache too with the ships in port. We do like to explore a little on our own. My dude wants to snorkel as much as possible and I just want to swim and enjoy the beach - looks like Sapphire will meet both our needs! Thank you both for the feedback! :-)

 

 

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[blue_water]

Excellent choices! Sapphire is a gorgeous beach for both, and Kuralu is a very nice cat sail. For the Kuralu sail are you taking the Norman Caves/Indians/Willie T itinerary? Or the Jost, Sandy Spit, & Green Cay? And did you book that through the ship?

[mitsugirly]

When we were there last year in September, there were 4 ships in port with 3 of them being the biggest ships at the time (Epic, Oasis, Dream and another ship). It was not crowded at all. Only a small percentage of people that cruise are on these boards and don't have the information that we do on where to go. Therefore, a lot just take a ship excursion or go to Magens because that's the place everyone knows.

 

I wouldn't worry too much. Go and have a great time! It's an awesome beach and a true slice of paradise. :)

[Spring1onu]

Excellent choices! Sapphire is a gorgeous beach for both, and Kuralu is a very nice cat sail. For the Kuralu sail are you taking the Norman Caves/Indians/Willie T itinerary? Or the Jost, Sandy Spit, & Green Cay? And did you book that through the ship?

 

Hi :) for the Kuralu sail we are going to JVD. Not sure if Sandy Spit and/or Green Cay are part of that or not. I'm under the impression that it's just JVD, which is what we requested. So excited! I booked it directly with Kuralu :)

 

 

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[blue_water]

Great, you will love it - enjoy!

[Spring1onu]

When we were there last year in September, there were 4 ships in port with 3 of them being the biggest ships at the time (Epic, Oasis, Dream and another ship). It was not crowded at all. Only a small percentage of people that cruise are on these boards and don't have the information that we do on where to go. Therefore, a lot just take a ship excursion or go to Magens because that's the place everyone knows.

 

I wouldn't worry too much. Go and have a great time! It's an awesome beach and a true slice of paradise. :)

 

Hi Mitsugirly! After reading your review and looking @ your pics, I knew that we had to try Sapphire! I'm hoping that it won't be crazy crowded, but if it is - that's okay. We will make the best out of it. Besides, how disappointing can it be? Beautiful water, sand, an surroundings plus lounging and snorkeling when we want

[mitsugirly]

Hi Mitsugirly! After reading your review and looking @ your pics, I knew that we had to try Sapphire! I'm hoping that it won't be crazy crowded, but if it is - that's okay. We will make the best out of it. Besides, how disappointing can it be? Beautiful water, sand, an surroundings plus lounging and snorkeling when we want

 

I hope you have a wonderful day! :)

[blue_water]

We spent a week there and it never got that crowded, even on big ship days. You will enjoy it there. And there are also tons of reviews with videos and pics in the STT forum on TA.

[Spring1onu]

We would like to hit a few spots on STT, like beacon point (it's a must I get my pic taken with that huge bottle of Cruzan, haha) and of course to sample the strawberry/banana daiquiris and the mountaintop to get that lovely pic of Magen's. I've debated on whether or not to book a sunny Liston your and then head to sapphire for the remainder of our time on STT. But I'm wondering if maybe we could get a taxi for the day to take us to those places and then a drop off and return to sapphire. Any thoughts? Thanks in advance!!!

 

 

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[blue_water]

My idea of a perfect day on STT is to taxi first to Sapphire and enjoy the day there, then head back to the ship and shower (if you need to) then walk to the tramway that takes you up to Paradise Point for the amazing view of the harbor and a fun drink or 2. Taxis are readily available at the pier and at Sapphire and prices are reasonable.

 

We''ve been to STT on cruises and stayed there for a week recently and we liked Mountaintop our first visit. But since it was rebuilt it's just more commercial-looking in our opinion. We drove there last April and although the view of Magens is nice (the banana daiquari wasn't as good as I remembered it but that may be me) but I prefer PP because there's more there to enjoy (surfboard shots for the girls, Bailey's Bushwacker, and a great staff).

[Spring1onu]

Just wanted to report back and let you know that we pretty much spent the majority of our day @ Sapphire and couldn't have been happier! It's absolutely beautiful and the staff were wonderful! We ended up having sunshine and no rain - thank goodness :) we even got to see a lemon shark (he was just over a foot long) swimming along the shore...very cool! I would definitely visit this beach again and again - IT'S BEAUTIFUL! We never made it to Paradise Point, although we intended to - I'm sure we will visit again and that's on our to-do list :) thanks for the input guys!!!

 

 

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[blue_water]

Glad to hear you enjoyed Sapphire! Too many folks have been posting negative comments based on vague input they received somewhere and it's not even close to what it's really like. We'll definitely stay there when we visit STT for another week stay.

[dvan68]

Has the bar/restaurant reopened at Sapphire? Or is it still just the pizza place that will deliver?

[Spring1onu]

Has the bar/restaurant reopened at Sapphire? Or is it still just the pizza place that will deliver?

 

I could be incorrect, but *believe* it's the bar/rest that is in operation. We didn't order anything to eat or drink but a couple of the staff came to make small talk and see if we were interested in ordering anything. Mainly the paper menu they gave us consisted of drinks and some food items. Hope this helps!

 

 

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[Spring1onu]

Glad to hear you enjoyed Sapphire! Too many folks have been posting negative comments based on vague input they received somewhere and it's not even close to what it's really like. We'll definitely stay there when we visit STT for another week stay.

 

It was a really fun day, so pretty and relaxing! We are already discussing a land vacation to any of the ports we visited! LOL! It is really a slice of paradise....and PLENTY of soft sand w/o rocks to swim in or bury your toes in the sand. We would love to go back and check out some of the local restaurants....we passed several that looked very cool!

 

 

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[blue_water]

yes we had some great nights at the various spots on Red Hook, best evening spot in STT.

 

Dvan, the Sapphire Restaurant has not re-opened, there's a small Banana Cabana located by the condos that serves a good burger and mahi sandwich as well as beers, etc. And the restaurant behind the Village and the a pizza shop take orders from the beach. Plenty of choices (for us anyway)

[mitsugirly]

Just wanted to report back and let you know that we pretty much spent the majority of our day @ Sapphire and couldn't have been happier! It's absolutely beautiful and the staff were wonderful! We ended up having sunshine and no rain - thank goodness :) we even got to see a lemon shark (he was just over a foot long) swimming along the shore...very cool! I would definitely visit this beach again and again - IT'S BEAUTIFUL! We never made it to Paradise Point, although we intended to - I'm sure we will visit again and that's on our to-do list :) thanks for the input guys!!!

 

 

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Glad to hear you had a great vacation. I believe it is a slice of paradise as well. It is probably our favorite port on the eastern side. I would go back in a heart beat.

[sunnysideup]

Are unbrellas and loungers available for rent on Sapphire beach?

[mitsugirly]

Are unbrellas and loungers available for rent on Sapphire beach?

 

I know that others stated that you can rent chairs. I'm not sure about the umbrellas. We didn't rent either because we spent most of the time snorkeling and there are sea grape trees there to sit under for shade. Although no matter where we go, we do not rent chairs because we spend most of the time in the water and when we want to get out and rest, we usually just sit on our beach towels. :)

[blue_water]

Are unbrellas and loungers available for rent on Sapphire beach?

 

Yes lounges, water floats, snorkel gear and other items are available but I don't remember seeing umbrellas at Sapphire. We spent a week there and all of these were included with the room but as others have said there are some shaded areas if you can get there early enough to grab one. Shouldn't be a problem as it's not that crowded. Coki has very little shade and umbrellas are available there.

 

Nice to be able to get in the shade when the sun is hot! There are a couple of trees that provide a good-sized shaded area for a family.

[mitsugirly]

Here is the link to the web cam that is on Sapphire Resort to show you the area we stayed at (which was right there by the trees right past the volleyball net). Plenty of shady areas. (view during the day of course because it is a live cam)

[mitsugirly]

Oops, I forgot the link: http://www.sapphireinthesun.com/