Magen's Bay with No Ships in Port

Travel discussion for St. Thomas
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TraumaQueen
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Joined: Tue Jan 31, 2012 3:28 pm
Location: Mississippi

Magen's Bay with No Ships in Port

Post by TraumaQueen »

Good afternoon forumites! Quick question for y'all.....

I've only been to Magen's Bay while on a cruise and my boyfriend has never been. We are staying 10 days on STJ in May and I was thinking about taking him over to spend some time there. How is it when there aren't any cruise ships in port? Are the vendors bad since business is low? Is there any day of the week better than others?

Or is it even worth it?

Thanks!
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loria
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Location: NY

Post by loria »

I guess i am in the 'why bother' school.........
< leaving on the 22nd of march...but too lame to figure out the ticker thing again!>
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TraumaQueen
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Joined: Tue Jan 31, 2012 3:28 pm
Location: Mississippi

Post by TraumaQueen »

loria wrote:I guess i am in the 'why bother' school.........
That's what I'm leaning towards. He says he doesn't care one way or the other, but I kinda want to show him. I guess we'll just see if the mood hits us while we are there. I definitely don't want to go while there are more than 2 ships in port.
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michigancouple
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Location: West Michigan

Post by michigancouple »

TraumaQueen,
If you're going to be around for 10 days I'd definately make one of them a Magen's Bay day. We are only on island 1 week and always look forward to a day at Magen's. It is beautiful. When you ask about vendors are you referring to people bothering you on the beach?.... because I have never seen anyone hawking stuff on the beach. The waitresses will bring you drinks if you want from the snack bar, but I've never seen anyone at Magen's bothering people. On our recent trip to Magen's I think there were 3 ships in that day. We got over to STT and to the beach by 10:00. We stayed until about 4:30. It was busy initially but it seems that the ship excursion people all started leaving by 1:00. After that, there were very few folks on the beach. I always stick a cheapo blow up air matress in my suitcase and take it to Magen's with me. I love to just float away the day on my raft. Watching the diving birds is fun. People watching is fun. The snackbar and giftshop are great. It's so pretty there, the sand is so white and the water so blue and always calm. Here are pics I took, if you're worried about crowds.
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Exit Zero
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Location: virgin islands

Post by Exit Zero »

A no Ship day can be spectacular at Magens - a picnic lunch or pizza from the concession - very few if any vendors ever - shade, sun, flat water- very much an idyllic beach day in the VI.
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jayseadee
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Location: New England

Post by jayseadee »

Magen's Bay was my first VI beach and I couldn't wait to share it with my husband on our first trip together.

I would work it in your 10 days.
janet
jimg20
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Location: Fayetteville, AR

Post by jimg20 »

How about this? Take a morning ferry over to RH. Take a taxi to Saphire Beach and spend the rest of the morning. Take a taxi over to Magen's Bay where you can get lunch and spend the afternoon. Even if there are a lot of cruisers, they will start leaving soon enough.

JIM
Man it's like some dream we live down here....

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TraumaQueen
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Location: Mississippi

Post by TraumaQueen »

Thanks everyone! You've convinced us to go for the day!

By vendors I meant the ladies wanting to braid hair and sell scarves. I may be getting my beaches mixed up. I certainly can handle the waitresses! We will go on either a Friday or Saturday and as of right now it looks like there won't be any ships in port those days.

More questions.......

The snorkeling there isn't very good, right? I know Coki has some decent snorkeling, but I can't remember if Magen's does or not. It won't hurt my feelings if it doesn't b/c I'll be forced to chillax!

Also, how much cash will we need to have lunch and enjoy some drinks? I'll look up the taxi rates.

One more for now......what time do the no see ums come out there and are they bad? Trying to think through what I'll need to take besides towels, cash, sunscreen and a blow up raft ;-).
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sherban
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Location: SE USA

Post by sherban »

Magens Bay Beach is very nice and I would def reccomend to anyone staying on STT...but if staying on STJ, I would say stick with STJ beaches they are awesome and closer, ...more convenient.

Remember there is an entry fee at Magens...which isn't a big deal but something to keep in mind.

When on vacation I value simplicity and don't want to be in a car much...
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michigancouple
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Location: West Michigan

Post by michigancouple »

I'm glad you've decided to go. I look at Magen's as sort of like a spa day at the beach. We pack our polar bear cooler with beer and ice and head to the beach. We rent the nice white chaise chairs ($10 each for the day. They run your credit card for a $25 each deposit but give you the slip back when you bring the chair back.) We get a nice lunch from the concession and enjoy eating it at our chairs. I float on my little blow up raft. We usually drag the chairs a little ways down the beach. We people watch. If we run out of beer we grab another from the concession. I think you have to have the chairs back to the chair hut by 4:00. We usually just give the raft to a little kid on the beach when we tire of it. Or you can deflate it and take it with you. You can freshen up a little in the showers if you want to. We grab a taxi to Red Hook and usually walk around there a little, sometimes get a pizza from Island Time Pub (yummy!) and then take the ferry back to Cruz Bay, ride on the top deck and watch the sunset while chugging our way back :)
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