Cinnamon Cay

[LarryJT]

We will be on St. John next week. I'm putting together a loose plan for beach
visits and I'm wondering why nobody talks about snorkeling Cinnamon Cay? This will be our 5th visit to ST John, we've done Waterlemon, great experience. Are there issues with Cinnamon? Currants , boat traffic?

[Beesmom]

We tend to snorkel around Cinnamon Cay at least once a trip. I have never had any problems with current, and I'm not exactly a triathlete.

[AquaGirl]

Good question - I've not seen much info on this spot either. We had an enjoyable snorkel at Cinnamon Cay on our trip 2 years ago. No problem with currents or boats and an easy swim out to the Cay. We started around 4pm, so not many people there.

The coral seemed nicer on the right side (as you are on the beach looking at the Cay). There are some very shallow areas, so take care to notice how to "back out" of an area if needed. We saw a nice variety of fish and a school of ~30 little squid (2 inches long). Other sights of note were a huge Gray Angelfish, a 2 foot long Mutton Snapper, a very pretty Schoolhouse Snapper and an octopus hiding in the rock. We plan to do this snorkel on our trip in June this year as it was easy and enjoyable, plus the beach is so beautiful there.

I want to share a serendipity we experienced at Cinnamon that day. We quickly packed up after our snorkel because it was late and I was a bit cool being wet, plus we were hungry. When we got back to the villa and were rinsing our gear, my hubby noticed that one of his booties (for his fins) was missing. Arrgh - he was an unhappy camper! Probably fell out of the snorkel bag in our hurry to get packed up. Our villa was on Gifft Hill, so it was a little bit of a drive to get back to Cinnamon. We retraced our steps and found the bootie in the sand. It was so pleasant on the beach with a nice breeze so we hung out there for a little while. We almost never go on the beach at night on STJ. Then we noticed some sparkles in the little 6 inch high waves hitting the beach. We looked closer and found it was phosphorescence in the water. It was such a delight to see the bits of light in the water.

Happy trip planning!

[nikkiki]

Then we noticed some sparkles in the little 6 inch high waves hitting the beach. We looked closer and found it was phosphorescence in the water. It was such a delight to see the bits of light in the water.

I just squee'd like a little kid! Has anyone else ever seen this in St. John? How amazing!

[AquaGirl]

In our 4 trips to the USVI and 4 to the BVI, we had never seen this delightful sight. I would also be interested in knowing if this is a seasonal thing or happenstance? It was in May 2 years ago. Thanks!

[JJShaw]

We have snorkeled around the key...and Im a big chicken with rough and deeper water, but it was fine wasnt as deep or rough as I thought...but we have seen the phosphorescence in the water...we were not in the water at night.. (as I said I'm chicken) ..but we have stayed at Cinnamon bay 3 times so being there at night was possible..we saw it in June 2 times...and we were there in April one yr. but I dont recall seeing it then...but It was very neat to see

[54b]

I think the simplest answer to your question is that there just isn't that much to write home about.

It's a pretty good clip to swim all the way out and around for comparatively less of a payoff than what you'd see snorkeling other STJ hot spots. Even the books (Feet-fins, Off The Beat Path, etc.) will tell you the more popular snorkeling spot at Cinnamon is off to the right side towards Maho.

That said, I still like to snorkel it when I'm at Cinnamon and regardless of what you see, it's still great exercise that doesn't feel like exercise because you're at one of the most beautiful beaches in the world.

Keep calm and snorkel on.

[david@va.beach]

The beach area is great i think the east end is a good place to snorkle around to the little pocket cove on the otherside. our favorite snorkle spots are elsewhere.

[Teresa_Rae]

That is one of my favorite snorkels because I always get caught in one of those mesmerizing swarms of tiny fish as far as the eye can see. It typically happens on the east side of the cay or on the side that is closest to the beach (southwest-ish).