Info about beaches

AnyTing · Post by **AnyTing** » Tue Apr 17, 2007 10:07 am

There are many STJ beaches I haven't made it to yet. I try to add a couple of new ones on each trip. Here are some I haven't been to yet and am thinking about trying in May. If anyone can share any info. about what makes any of these beaches a good pick, I'd love to hear it:

Honeymoon
Jumbie
Brown Bay
Vie's
Salt Pond (no, I haven't been to Salt Pond!)

Thanks for any info!

liamsaunt · Post by **liamsaunt** » Tue Apr 17, 2007 10:12 am

Honeymoon is a great beach easily reachable by an approx. 10 minute walk on a wide flat trail from Caneel's parking lot. The beach is wide and very smooth sand, with lots of palm trees for shade, plus picnic tables and charcoal grills. Snorkeling is good on both sides of the beach, and if you go to the left you can snorkel around the point to Solomon.

One caveat: go early if you want the beach to yourself. Catamarans from STT arrive at about 10 AM.

lavender · Post by **lavender** » Tue Apr 17, 2007 10:16 am

Honeymoon is spectaculor. Go to Caneel park in their visitor's lot and follow the path/road over to Honeymoon - pick a spot and enjoy. Beautiful, beautiful beach. It can get busy when the daytrippers come over from St Thomas but that has entertainment value in itself.

Jumbie is small and has a secluded feel - great snorkeling to the left - beautiful small beach.

We have not been to Brown Bay or Vie's - Brown Bay I think is a "snorkeling" beach not a sand beach - Vie's I heard is beautiful but make sure you pay her!

Salt Pond - in my opinion - is not a great beach for laying in the sun and enjoying the sand - tons of little burrs in the sand and not beautiful pristine sand. HOWEVER, the snorkeling there is great - go out from the beach and head to the left you can follow the coral formations all the way out of the bay - then head over to the middle and work your way back in - great, great snorkeling there! Also it is fun to walk over to the Blue Cobblestone Beach on the path to Ram's Head - never made it to Ram's Head but love the cobblestone beach on the way.

Enjoy your trip!!

lovestj · Post by **lovestj** » Tue Apr 17, 2007 10:16 am

We have been to all of the beaches that you listed. Jumbie is nice - Just walk down the stairs and you are there. Salt Pond is great snorkeling - but no shade - it is hot. Vie's is beautiful. Enjoy the drive out there and plan on stopping for a snack. Her garlic chicken is to die for. Make sure you go on a day that she is open. You will get a kick out of the chickens.

She charges a couple of bucks to use her beach....but when we went, we were the only people there all day. And the view from that beach is incredible. Have fun exploring.

mbw1024 · Post by **mbw1024** » Tue Apr 17, 2007 10:20 am

BIG fan of Honeymoon in case I haven't mentioned that like 50 times already

SuefromMA · Post by **SuefromMA** » Tue Apr 17, 2007 10:23 am

Hi, Vicky!

I second liamsaunt - LOVE Honeymoon!!

The walk from Caneel is an enjoyable coastline walk. Just remember to bring water, as the walk is not undershade & the hot sun does tend to make you thirsty and dehydrated.

We are hoping to try Vie's Beach this trip (next week) - so, maybe I can fill you in on some first hand experience when we return.

Jorge will be happy to hear - I was not overly impressed with Salt Pond. (I know that this beach is HIS favorite! - and he doesn't want it to over-run with "tourists"). Anyway - the beach, itself, was quite arid & had more of a desert feel than a tropical feel. We didn't have a great snorkeling experience there - but, have heard MANY others have. So, in short, Salt Pond's draw seems to be the snorkeling - not the beach (in my opinion).

The beaches that we are hoping to hit that we haven't seen yet are:

Maho
Gibney
Vie's Beach - Hansen Bay for snorkeling
Haulover North for snorkeling
Little Lampshur for snorkeling

Will be revisiting our favorite haunts:
Honeymoon
Cinnamon
Francis
Trunk (only spent an hour of so last trip - late in the day & loved it - will try to spend more time on this trip)

Love all of this "sharing"!!

cypressgirl · Post by **cypressgirl** » Tue Apr 17, 2007 10:34 am

My 2 cents. Honeymoon is my all time fav. The best part is haveing a nice lunch at Caneel Bay (the shrimp cobb salad is to die for),and then going to Honeymoon to relax and swim. Jumbie is the deserted beach I discovered while swimming aroung the point from Trunk, only to discover there are stairs leading to it. It is very nice, but small. I go to Salt Pond to snorkel and that's it. Not a very pretty beach IMHO. Vie's is on my must do list (mainly for the garlic chicken). Can you tell food is a big part of my vacation?

Pia · Post by **Pia** » Tue Apr 17, 2007 11:00 am

I'm surprised so many people like Jumbie as it has always been covered with so much seaweed the times I have been there - but that is what makes STJ so special to each of us

Pia

Randy in MD · Post by **Randy in MD** » Tue Apr 17, 2007 11:12 am

My, oh my... So many beaches, so little time. My wife and I were married on Honeymoon so it's our favorite and we never take a trip to St. John without spending a day there. The snorkeling at the rocks between it and Solomon is terrific. There's lots of shade under the Seagrapes... Jumbie is another great little beach with some shade and more good snorkeling. Vie's is fun as the beach is beautiful and she is a treasure to meet. The predicament is always the same: Go to the old favorites or try something new. Solution: try not to ever go home...

sea-nile · Post by **sea-nile** » Tue Apr 17, 2007 11:43 am

We liked Honeymoon too. We were the only ones there. We hiked from Gallows point and it wasn't too bad.

jmq · Post by **jmq** » Tue Apr 17, 2007 11:46 am

Hi Sue - Gibney preview.

If you hit Vies, make the swim out to and around Pelican Rock on your left out in Hansen Bay

chrisn · Post by **chrisn** » Tue Apr 17, 2007 12:56 pm

Another Honeymoon lover here. Definitely a fave! Beautiful, gorgeous. A must visit!

Bug · Post by **Bug** » Tue Apr 17, 2007 1:29 pm

Big GIBNEY fan here. The beach is just soooooo pristine. This is a "must stop" on our day with a dingy as parking can be a problem!

Bug

SuefromMA · Post by **SuefromMA** » Tue Apr 17, 2007 10:57 pm

Thanks, jmq!

You must have been getting "my vibes".

Last night - couldn't sleep - so, what was I going to do?? Cruise the forum & re-read your last trip report (going deep into the OLD forum archives) to get "re-acquainted" with your snorkeling trips on The East End. Smiled, again, remembering your "brave" daughter getting that great shark photo off!

Thank you for the lovely Gibney photos - so wonderful going back & knowing that we will have new places to explore.

Love the fact that you are still such a frequent poster & reader - even though you are defecting to Europe next month. You must be getting excited!!

We are thinking of maybe trying Barbados next April - but, will feel that we might be missing out on all the VI chatter & buzz. But, you have proven that this forum & a trip to "another land" are not mutually exclusive!

jmq · Post by **jmq** » Wed Apr 18, 2007 9:01 am

Thanks Sue - you have a good memory. I've actually heard a lot of whining lately from the family re this horrible late winter/early spring weather, we were in STJ/Virgin Gorda exactly one yr ago, the Switzerland trip seems too far away, etc.

You never know if a semi-random trip back to the VIs might happen so you got to keep up.

Trip planning is weird for me - intensive research 6-9 months out hammering out an itinerary, securing accomodations, flights etc. then it quiets down to the point I hardly think about it again til a month or so prior and I almost have to re-aquaint myself with it all over again.
JMQ

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