Coral Bay - Good Beaches /Short HIkes with Kids

[LandLockedBeachLover]

Hey all! As usual, working in a frenzy to come up with an uber-itinerary for our upcoming trip (woo hoo look at the ticker! ).

We are headed to the islands Aug 4-11. Staying on STT at the Marriott using points. I plan to take the car ferry to STJ for at least 2 days. One day in STJ is planned out for the Leinster/Annaberg Ruins/Waterlemon adventure and then Trunk and Cruz Bay for dinner (is Rhumb Lines still open?? Their website isn't functional). The next day we want to head to the Coral Bay side, as we've never ventured there.

Our kids are aged 12 & 13. Any suggestions on things to do / must sees? I was thinking Vie's beach and for sure lunch at Skinny Legs. Any other snorkeling sites (I know they're all good; would prefer no rocks) or any short hikes (less than 1 mi)? I think Ram's Head would make the kids (and me) angry in the heat....read too many trip reports on that one!

On Saturday, we're headed out again with Capn John to Baths and JVD - - can't wait!!

Other questions - - anyone ever took the ferry from Crown Bay to Water Island?? Worth seeing? Would kids be bored?

Any other ideas would be appreciated. Thanks!!

[augie]

Do the Drunk Bay hike from Salt Pond Bay. It's fairly short and flat, and your kids might jet a kick out of the "jumbies" there.

[Pia]

I'm 99.999% sure that Vie will be closed in August

Pia

[augie]

I'm 99.999% sure that Vie will be closed in August

Pia

So go to the Tourist Trap after the hike to Drunk Bay...

[loria]

I think that the Rams head hike gets a bad rap--sure it can be hot--but bring along water and go early--it's a short walk (some of it is a little steep) but it is a beautiful hike--just beware of the christmas bush along the way -- Also Brown bay is a great short-ish hike--that is shady.

[LandLockedBeachLover]

Glad I asked! Thanks for the suggestions on Drunk Bay / Tourist Trap!

[54b]

Agree with loria, Rams Head is really not that bad and if you can hike back up from Salt Pond to the parking lot, you can do Rams Head too. And once you get up on the ridge, it should be really windy, which helps. Plus, Cobblestone Beach is really neat, especially for kids, and there's an easy place to get in the water on the far right side to cool down.

I think your kids would also like Yawzi point between Great and Little Lameshur. Only trick is the road turns to dirt with some sizable rocks in it for a stretch getting over there. But it's easy to park and you walk out on Yawzi point or simply get in the water and snorkel it from either Lameshur beach (Great is rocky, Little is sandy).

[cocosmom]

We did a similiar trip a few years ago..STT for a cheap condo. We took the car over twice and the boat trip to Baths, Jost also. I suggest you hang at the Marriott one day & head over to STJ on the people ferry mid afternoon one day. That way you can shop, eat a nice dinner, hang at the bar or just walk around Cruz Bay and take the later ferry home without feeling sandy & rushed to catch the last car ferry. Riding at night on the people ferry was cool also.

[SOonthebeach]

I am listening intently! We will be there at the same time (staying on STJ with our 6 and 9 year olds). Definitely going to do Drunk Bay/Tourist Trap- have never done either. My kids are Reef Bay Trail vets so I am not worried about distance- but they do prefer limin' and shopping at Skinny's to a lot of hiking- apples and trees, you know.....

[LandLockedBeachLover]

Hey SOonthebeach -- I was thinking of the Drunk/Tourist Trap and Coral Bay trip on Tue Aug 10th (which is also my bday ). Perhaps we will see you then??

Thanks all for suggestions! We're vets on the passenger ferry, but the cab rides for 4 people are just killer!! So we're going to opt for the car ferry on both days. There's just too much to see in STJ to be "stuck" at one beach all day. Trunk has showers also so we can clean up (somewhat) prior to dinner in Cruz Bay. I think I've asked the question before on where else there are showers. Vie's was one, but apparently they are closed. Any other showers on the Coral Bay side of the world? Doesn't need to be anything other than something to wash off the sand.

[chicagoans]

Yes, the Ram's Head hike is great! Our kids did it at 9 and 11 with no trouble whatsoever - it goes fast. Then we did it again this last trip (ages 11 and 13) with Mr. Loria and Loria Jr, and the kids were having fun and chatting the whole way. Just bring some water and wear good shoes like Keens. And definitely bring your camera! The views are great.

You'll want to get there early when it won't be too hot. You can cool off in the water at Salt Pond Bay when you're done. Then after some beach time do the quick walk to Drunk Bay.

and a big YES to Tourist Trap! My kids loved the nachos and I loved the lobster rolls. yummm

[SOonthebeach]

LLBL- I am writing the 10th down! Maybe a morning hike then lunch at Tourist Trap is my thought By morning I mean 10 ish- we're not that early of risers!! Hope to see you there and wish you a happy bday!!

[LandLockedBeachLover]

Yes, no earlier than 10-ish for sure. I need to look at the timing on the car ferry to STJ, but I seriously doubt we'd make anything before 10a seeing as we're at least 30 min from the RH ferry!

Wish we could stay on STJ, but you just can't beat free on STT!

I think we're going to STJ also on Friday Aug 6 to do the Leinster trail / Waterlemon and then Trunk. So perhaps we'll see you there too!

So excited!!!

[SOonthebeach]

We want to do Leinster and Waterlemon too! Who knows- maybe we'll be on both trails at the same time! Getting excited about the planning!

[chicagoans]

Something else to consider: you can rent kayaks from Doug at Crabby's in Coral Bay. He'll drive them over to Princess Bay for you and you can spend a couple hours paddling around there. We enjoyed that. 2 years ago we rented 2 2-man kayaks for the 4 of us; if we did it again with the kids older we'd probably rent 4 separate kayaks.

And our FAVE day on our last trip was renting a dinghy! We rented from Calypso (they have the kind with the center console - easy to steer.) You take off from the dock by the Visitors Center and you can go all along the North Shore beaches, stopping wherever you like and tying up to a mooring ball. We made Waterlemon our final destination and stopped at lots of beaches on the way. Brought lunch from Deli Grotto and our snorkle gear. It was a great day! (We were with the lorias, which made it even more fun.) I'd highly recommend a full day dinghy rental.