Sapphire or Coki to snorkel

[MPM]

My wife and I will be in St. Thomas and wanted to go snorkeling. We are considering a taxi to Saphire beach, or Coki beach. We want to avoid the "tour" thing, and large crowds if possible. Recommendations? Thanks!

[ukbballfan]

I love Coki! The crowds are dependent on how many ships are in port the day you're there.

[gonna go cruising]

I cant speak for Sapphire but love Coki. I am not sure this time how best to get there. We have always done Godfreys tour and he has dropped us there. This time we will just to Coki so am not sure how we will end up going there.

[richtersl]

Both are great snorkeling beaches. Coki is smaller than Sapphire and therefore tends to fill up quicker. If there are several ships in town you stand a really good chance of getting smacked in the head by someone's fins. :p I would definitely avoid Coki during the high season, which is from now until Easter. Every cruise ship that docks in town will have an excursion to Coki. Remember that. ;)

 

Sapphire is larger. The day we were there the water was calm but I have seen other photos where there were small breakers on shore. I don't know what the crowd situation over there is, though. We were there the end of April and it was quite nice. I haven't read any reports of it being overly crowded.

 

Your best odds of avoiding large crowds would be to grab a cab to Secret Harbour. The snorkeling is very good to excellent and you won't have an issue with crowds, even during the high season. It's a resort so there is a restaurant on the premesis. Shade is plentiful. It's about a 20 minute drive from Havensight.

[Dgonza]

I went diving at coki beach this past March. We left the ship and went straight over there. It was not crowded. It is a beautiful beach. We left sometime after 1pm and there were definately more people there, but it was not overly crowded. We had a great time diving!

[MPM]

Great info, I appreciate it! Is there a fee for using the beach at Secret Harbor? Has anyone else had experience snorkeling here? Thanks!

[nikita]

We are also trying to decide which beach to go to between those two. Which one has better facilities (restrooms, beach chairs, food service). Which one is further? We are docking at Crown Bay - not Havensite. thanks!

[richtersl]

Great info, I appreciate it! Is there a fee for using the beach at Secret Harbor? Has anyone else had experience snorkeling here? Thanks!

No fee at Secret Harbour for using the beach but they will charge you for chairs.

 

The only beach on St. Thomas that charges a fee is Magen's. The rest are free and even the hotel beaches are open to the public.

 

More info can be found in these threads:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=417231&highlight=secret+snorkel

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=379414&highlight=secret+snorkel

 

And on this site (scroll down the page a little):

 

http://www.*****/stthomas/beaches_stt/beaches.php

[MPM]

Thanks Linda, it looks like you have done all the work for me! I am kind of new at this, but I have spent several hours looking for info, and still didn't come up with as good of information as you put together. I think you have changed my mind about where I will be heading. It sounds like Secret Harbor has a little better accomodations than Sapphire, which I am sure my wife would appreciate. Thanks again for all your help!

[richtersl]

Sapphire is lovely but it's a shame that the restaurant is closed. For the life of me I can't figure out why they couldn't make a go of it...just pure mismanagement, I guess. :(

[pinky0121]

:o Silly question, but can we rent snorkel equipment from the beaches or must we rent from the ship and lug it with us for the day?

[The Islander]

Hello pinky,

 

Some of the beaches have watersports booths that rent snorkel gear. Which beach are you thinking of going to?

 

--Islander

*****

[pinky0121]

Hello pinky,

 

Some of the beaches have watersports booths that rent snorkel gear. Which beach are you thinking of going to?

 

--Islander

*****

 

 

Still undecided. A tour that we have signed up for will drop us at our choice of, Magens, Coki or Sapphire. Do they all offer snorkel gear for rent? Whichever beach doesn't rent gear will be placed on the bottom of our preference list!

[The Islander]

All three have snorkel gear for rent. Coki and Sapphire have good snorkeling, not much to see at Magens.

 

--Islander

*****

[OOM]

I read on the Princess Cruise thread that Coki was great snorkling and Sapphire was good. Is this an accurate statement as I thought it was the other way around?

 

Thanks

[The Islander]

Hello OOM,

 

As far as beach snorkeling... Coki is very good and Sapphire is good. ;)

 

--Islander