What are your top ten beaches and WHY?

Travel discussion for St. John
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traveler22
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Post by traveler22 »

It's one of Caneel's 7 beaches
cptnkirk
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Post by cptnkirk »

Which beach at Caneel is Scott and do ya have to be staying there to use it. Heard it has really good snorkeling. I've used the public beach at Caneel were the big boats come in pretty good snorkel to the right towards the point whats the name of that one.
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liamsaunt
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Post by liamsaunt »

Captain and Islandchef, Scott is one of the beaches at Caneel. It is not a public beach, you are supposed to be staying there to use it. Some people have said they've gone walked over to Scott when not staying at the resort, but you are taking a good chance that security will ask you to leave.
I have seen it happen more than once.

You could get there by water though! I have seen captains drop people off on Scott beach before by bringing their dinghy in pretty close to shore and then the people get out and swim the rest of the way in. There's no place to moor and you can't bring your dinghy up on the beach either.

If you are a strong swimmer you can get to Scott via the water from via the public beach. Swim out along the right of Caneel beach, and around Cottage Point. Continue on past the tiny Paradise Beach, and the next beach you come to is Scott. There's good coral and fish all the way over. John and I have done this swim before in reverse and found it easily doable with fins.

If you can't get to Scott Beach, I have also always had good luck spotting turtles at Francis, on the right side of the beach--out by the boat moorings, and at Waterlemon, again on the right as you are approaching the cay. We've also found turtles out at Cinnamon and Trunk cays, in the middle of the bay at Salt Pond, at Little Lameshur out where the rocks stick up from the water, and at Maho.
It's like looking in your soup and finding a whole different alphabet.
cptnkirk
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Post by cptnkirk »

Thanks liamsaunt from one snorkeling addict to another knew you would come thru with some info. Can't wait to do Blue Cobblestone in May :D
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islandchef
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Post by islandchef »

THANK YOU LIAMSAUNT!! :D
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lbrlwyr
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Post by lbrlwyr »

Denis Bay -- a bit of a hidden gem and definitely my favorite. You will likely be the only person there most days.
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patches&itchy
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Post by patches&itchy »

Def going to try Gibney in November and will look for the gate! Thanks for the picture. We love Jumbie so I've got a feeling we will love Gibney too!

Where is blue cobblestone??? Do you go thru Salt Pond to get to it???

Has anyone been to Denis?? We found it last time but was very rocky!
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Pia
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Post by Pia »

Islandchef - send me a PM and we'll make arrangements to meet and I'll take you straight to a turtle :)
I see them everday at Maho - a few weeks ago I took one of our friends out that was visiting us and his response was "how the he** do you do that!!!!" I lead him straight to the huge turtle that is at Maho and has 3 Remora's attatched :)

Pia
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Ondine
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Post by Ondine »

Top 10 beaches: maho,maho,maho,maho,maho,vies,maho,maho,saltpond,maho. :D
Why: No words, I believe when you find a favorite beach you can just walk onto the beach for the first time, and just "know", some subtle energy on top of the obvious beauty.

Pia: which side of maho do you snorkel to see the turtle?? I would love to know!
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soxfan22
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Post by soxfan22 »

My top 10:

1. Maho
2. Maho
3. Maho
4. Leinster - never been here and not seen turtles
5. Oppenheimer/Gibney
6. Trunk
7. Salt Pond
8. Francis
9. Cinnamon (would be higher if not for the wind)
10. Honeymoon

I would also throw Drunk Bay in there as a "Must See", though certainly not a "beach" in the traditional sense of the term.
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Noreen
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Post by Noreen »

Love them all, especially Vie's and Salt Pond. I guess we'll have to visit more often to come up with 10! Also love Hawksnest, Honeymoon, and Scott from our first trip, when we stayed at Caneel.
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Neeners
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Post by Neeners »

I've only been to STJ once (so far!), but I fell in love with Maho. The water was clear, warm and calm. I saw turtles every time I was there. I'm not sure if that's usual or not. I can't wait to explore more beaches, but I will definitely be visiting Maho again at least a few times :).
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lbrlwyr
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Post by lbrlwyr »

Re: Denis Bay -- As soon as you get off the trail, that area of beach can be rocky, but if you walk about 50 yds down the beach towards the "privately owned" area, it is quite beautiful and not rocky at all. Just be sure to respect to property rights of those who own the property and don't go beyond the tree line.

Erc
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Chet
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Post by Chet »

1. Maho
2. Jumbie
3. Dennis (via Jumbie)
4. Little Lameshur
5. Francis
6. Maho
7. Brown
8. Maho
9. Gibney
10. Maho

And let's not forget all the "off the track" beaches: Klein, Ditliff, Hart, Monte, Europa, Haulover...
When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.

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CHM
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Post by CHM »

1. Maho
2. Francis

My two favorites but they are all amazing! :D
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