St John: Trunk Bay vs. Honeymoon Beach

[ajtraveler66]

We are going to narrow down our excursion plans in the next few days (NCL Encore--Feb 2020 -- Will be at port on Wednesday, February 12)

 

The excursion to St John (Champagne Catamaran) looks great....and it goes to Honeymoon Beach.  Then I see another excursion to St. John which will go to Trunk Bay.

 

Both excursions look tremendous to me.  There is food and drink on the way back on the Honeymoon Beach excursion.  But apparently none on the excursion to Trunk Bay.

 

Best beach wins.  Food is not a factor.  Your comments, please.

[blue_water]

What is a “best”  beach to you? A beach with amenities that attracts many of your fellow cruise mates? Or a beach with no amenities (other than food/drinks perhaps) where few of your fellow cruise mates will be? Both are beautiful, just depends on what you like. We would avoid Trunk and go to HB and Salomon Bay with a lunch and towels, but that is our idea of the “better” beach of these two.

 

One other comment regarding taking STJ excursions through the cruise line, the Champagne cat is the only cruise line excursion we would ever consider for this port. Otherwise a self-excursion to Trunk, HB, or Cinnamon is very easy, and you can include an island tour.

 

Tons of info in this forum on both beaches, good luck! 🙂

[Ms411]

Honeymoon has amenities, too, including chair rentals.

 

Does the Trunk excursion include snorkel equipment? 

 

Honeymoon Beach is next to Solomon Beach and is a short swim around a small point or a short hike along the shore. That beach will be less crowded than either Trunk or Honeymoon if you want to get away from the crowds.

 

You may have more beach time on the Trunk excursion.

 

[blue_water]

Thanks MS411, I’ve only seen mention from STJ condo renters of a food/drink stand at HB. With chair rentals at Honeymoon at least Salomon is an option, but folks looking for a beach with fewer of their cruise mates will now need to go further out to enjoy a quieter beach...

 

We’re seeing beaches on other islands as well that have historically been less-frequented by day visitors become an attractive option for them because amenities are provided by the cruis line or the local tourism board. I’m sure the phenomenal growth of cruising is bringing much revenue to these islands, but changing the way longer-term visitors/spenders choose their vacation destinations as a result.

The landscape is changing!

 

[Ms411]

Yes, things have been changing for a long time, and social media is making things change exponentially faster and is increasing the herd mentality for many destinations and activities. It's also making it more difficult to discover new things because everybody is recommending the same things.

 

[Beachnut53]

Does the ships Champagne Cat tour have a place you can change to dry clothing for return trip after snorkeling?