St. Thomas to Trunk Bay??

[ThisFemmeKat]

Ok so we are going to St Thomas on our trip next week. And Everyone has said to go to Trunk Bay on St. John. We have our own snorkel gear and want to go snorkeling. But I dont want to pay a huge excursion price. I like finding a good deal but with good quality too. Someone told us about snorkeling down a trail?? with things being marked underwater?? Heck if I know. But I am running out of time since we leave on nov 6th. and this thought just came up.. any tips or ideas would be great. Also, the ability level of our group varies alot. we have a few that arent great long distance swimmers or anything.. kinda outta shape.. lol

[qshari]

I highly recommend Trunk Bay! It is really great for snorkelers of all abilities and the beach is reaaly nice too. If you feel comfortable you could do this without booking an excursion through the cruiseline. You would need to catch the redhook ferry to get to St. John's and then taxi to the beach. It would probably save you some money and give you more flexibility on when you have to leave. Whatever you decide have a great trip. You can probably find more specifics on the Virgin Islands port area of cruise critic.

[monobrow1]

Honeymoon Beach next to Caneel Bay is awesome if you can find it

you will be almost alone

[monobrow1]

Go to the Caneel Resort and park in public parking area they have a smooth walking trail to Honeymoon Beach, and their bar/grill is open to the public so you can even walk back and get lunch or a drink. This beach is great for a relaxing day of sunshine, water, and sand, minus the crowd.

[audcc77]

We are also going to Trunk Bay.

 

You will probably get moved over here, but this link was very helpful:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1196166

 

I've even gone so far as to look up menus of some restaurants here since I know we will not be going back to the ship for lunch.

 

Enjoy your cruise ... :)

[kicia]

We also prefer Honeymoon Beach over Trunk Bay but for a first timer Trunk Bay is good. There is a marked snorkeling trail. Take a taxi from the ship to Red Hook. Take the ferry from Red Hook to St. John. Take a taxi from the ferry dock to Trunk Bay. Just remember to look at the times of the ferries and allow yourself plenty of time to get back to the ship. The traffic in St.Thomas after 4 PM is horrendous and is pure gridlock on both sides of Havensight. We love St. John.

[sd63]

We were just there one month ago. Caught a taxi from ship to Red Hook ferry. $10/pp. Buy a ferry ticket, round trip, $12/pp. Catch a taxi at the ferry dock in St. John for $6/pp to Trunk Bay. Go as soon as your ship docks and you will have plenty of time. Take the ferry back from St. John 3 hours prior to your ship departure because of traffic. The snorkeling is directly off the beach maybe 30 yards. There are 3 buoy's that identify the snorkeling area and an underwater "trail" which consists of arrows to direct you to the next buoy. Snorkeling was very good for just off the beach. Saw several colorful fish and there were a couple of stingray next to the beach.

[hubofhockey]

Ok so we are going to St Thomas on our trip next week. And Everyone has said to go to Trunk Bay on St. John. We have our own snorkel gear and want to go snorkeling. But I dont want to pay a huge excursion price. I like finding a good deal but with good quality too. Someone told us about snorkeling down a trail?? with things being marked underwater?? Heck if I know. But I am running out of time since we leave on nov 6th. and this thought just came up.. any tips or ideas would be great. Also, the ability level of our group varies alot. we have a few that arent great long distance swimmers or anything.. kinda outta shape.. lol

 

It is very easy to get to Trunk Bay on your own. Just get a ferry schedule ahead of time. When you leave the ship, just get in the line for taxis and ask them to take you to the ferry port. Once you are there, purchase ferry tickets. From the ferry docks in St John, the open air taxis wait for groups of people and head to Trunk Bay and the various other beaches. It's just as easy on the way back. Just leave yourself enough time to make the next to last ferry back to give yourself some cushion. Trunk Bay and St John are great. You will see people following the snorkling trail. Easy.

[abitaturbodog]

Check out the ports of call boards for St. Thomas and do a search. There are a bunch of threads about hownto get to St. John on the cheap. We did it a few years ago and it was worth it!

[jkloni]

Have you been to St. Thomas before? We've been to St. John several times and it is wonderful. Trunk Bay twice and we chartered a boat with Captain Nautica (16 of us) the last time and they took us to 2 other beaches on St. John.

 

Also, the price to do it on your own is about the same as with the cruiseline (maybe $5 less). But the big plus was you had more time on St. John and at the beach.

 

But if you've never been to St. Thomas, maybe consider enjoying that island first.

 

Kathy

[Relayer]

We went to Trunk Bay a couple of years ago. It was not a perfect day but we are very glad we made the trip. Windy conditions made the snorkeling less than great.

 

The downside was that our total out of pocket for taxis to the ferry, cost of the ferry, a taxi to Trunk and return ended up at about $45/person. Not horrible but it took a LONG time getting there and back. Maybe 1.5 hours each way +. Our time at the beach was limited to about 2 hours tops.

[cubswin2016]

Everyone talks about taking a taxi from the cruise to Red Hook and then taking the ferry over to St John's. Has anyone taken the bus? I'm on the Caribbean Princess in February and understand they will dock at Crown Bay. Is it easy to take the bus from CB to Red Hook? How long does it take?

[abitaturbodog]

Yes, it's easy to take the bus. You just have to know where to catch it. We couldn't find it on the way to Red Hook, but was able to ride it on the way back to the ship. My memory is not very good, I'd suggest going to the St. Thomas board on the Ports of Call boards for complete info on finding the bus stop.

[lnew1gd1]

Everyone talks about taking a taxi from the cruise to Red Hook and then taking the ferry over to St John's. Has anyone taken the bus? I'm on the Caribbean Princess in February and understand they will dock at Crown Bay. Is it easy to take the bus from CB to Red Hook? How long does it take?

 

Depending on traffic, it is a good 20 to 30 minute taxi ride from Crown Bay to Red Hook. Bus will be longer becuase of frequent stops to pick up passengers. Just spent a week in St John and ferried back and forth to St Thomas a couple of times using both Crown Bay and Red Hook as ferry ports.

 

The ship usually has an excursion to St. John. I would check that out. Might save you some time and trouble.

[B and C Blake]

Honeymoon Beach next to Caneel Bay is awesome if you can find it

you will be almost alone

 

Ahhhhh YES Honeymoon Beach!!

 

We took the Champagne Catamaran Snorkel to Honeymoon Beach.

I felt like I was in heaven!

Awesome private beach. If not mistaken you need to boat or walk trails to get to it, LOL

I told my DH He needs to change careers and become the park ranger there .... The rangers house sits right on Honeymoon Bay!:D