USVI-On-Line

What identifier do guests at Caneel have so that they are not stopped from going to and using all of the other beaches? Is there a wrist band or something? Just curious.

No wristbands. Probably by the beach towels.

We day-tripped to Caneel last Friday. Here's how it worked for us.

We drove up to the Caneel parking booth and the guy asked us what our plans were. We said we were day trippers, specifically interested in Honeymoon Beach. He gave us directions to "guest parking" and told us that any money we spent there would count towards the $20 parking voucher, specifically mentioning chair rental (this turned out not to be correct). He gave us a parking ticket to exchange for a voucher when we spent the $20.

We parked in guest parking and started hiking to Honeymoon. We didn't really catch the complicated directions we got from the parking attendant, but there were plenty of employees and cab drivers along the way to ask. None of these people looked like "security personnel" to me, but maybe they were. Everybody was friendly and we did not feel "watched."

It was at least a half-mile hike to Honeymoon from guest parking, probably more counting all the pathways we traversed from the parking lot. A pleasant enough walk, but with a couple of hills. Young people would have no trouble with it, but my husband's arthritic hip was hurting by the time we got there. We did not bring chairs, but had backpacks and snorkel bags. Along the way we were passed by employees driving little golf carts. They were offering rides to Caneel guests, but never to us. How do they know which ones are guests and which are day trippers? Apparently it is obvious to everybody. There are no wristbands or identifying stamps. They just know.

We got to the beach about 3:30pm. This was too late to order drinks from the drink cart. There was a concession stand, but they just had pop and bottled water to drink. We rented chairs ($5 each) and learned that chair rental does NOT count towards the parking voucher. "I wish that guy in the parking lot would stop telling people that," the chair vendor complained. Chair rental is managed rather haphazardly. They take your money, then wave you toward a pile of chairs, which you have to carry to wherever you want to sit. Nobody is paying any attention to how many chairs you take. Nothing was said about bringing them back. So people who are done with their chairs just leave them on the beach, where anybody can use them. As sunset approaches, the employees go out and round up all the chairs. So if you go, you might want to survey the number of abandoned chairs on the beach before you pony up money. The chairs are not lounge chairs, btw, but just upright plastic chairs of the type you see on the patios of cheap restaurants.

The beach is pretty, with drifts of powdery white sand and pleasant shady paths through the concession area. However, any sense of seclusion that might have been there previously has been completely blasted away by the concession stands and by the profusion of bright plastic kayaks stacked up in racks and dotting the water. And the local donkeys are kind of rude, possibly pissed off by the new concessions.

The water was extremely rough when we were there, but 3 of us managed to snorkel to the nearby reef on the right side. The reef is small but lovely with tons of fish. Saloman is the other direction, but with the waves and all we didn't feel like swimming over to the left side of the bay.

We started walking back to the parking lot. At about the halfway point there is a paved path leading to the beach bar on Caneel (not especially well marked - I just asked somebody). Although I'm sure that the staff could tell instantly that we were outsiders, they welcomed us graciously. We bought 4 fancy drinks at $10/each, and the waitress exchanged our parking ticket for a blue voucher (no need to go to the front desk, wherever that was).

Overall it was a pleasant experience. The beach was okay but nothing special. Amusingly, the people that we passed on our way to the beach just gushed about how BEAUTIFUL it is. After we got there, one of our party observed, "It's nice enough, but if these people think it's the most beautiful beach on the island they need to get out more." I was pleasantly surprised by how good the snorkeling was on that little reef to the right, but taken aback by the large waves. I wonder if it is always a rough water beach or if that was just the weather on that particular day?

The guests are id'd via the beach towels, which are a specific color. I mentioned this in my January report, but the only time we were stopped on property while staying at Caneel was the morning we tucked our towels into our snorkel backpacks for the hike over to Turtle Bay. We flashed our room key and continued on our way.

I hope my original comments won't put anyone off from visiting. It is a lovely place and they are very welcoming to day guests. You are simply expected to stay in the public areas.

Honeymoon is a NPS beach and you bring whatever you want with you. Caneel simply provides land access to it. I think the reason the guard followed us a bit was because we were originally heading towards a different path than most people take-- I was walking towards the way I know to get there from staying on the property.

Thanks to everyone for the responses. I will feel much more comfortable having learned this information. I typically hike to Salomon from the NPS and snorkel to Honeymoon and for me, that's no big deal.... but I certainly won't expect that my 73 year old Mom would want to make that hike.

Does anyone know if the trail that continues to Salomon (one of my favorites) is steep? It can't be much further. My mom is accustomed to walking a couple miles / day but she doesn't do hills very well. How steep are we talking? As I said, I certainly wouldn't want her hiking that trail from the NPS to Salomon.

Liamsaunt: sounds like the snorkel that Coconuts talks about would have been nearly impossible with the current you encountered. Had you not had access to that trail, it sounds like the swim back would not have happened. Am I understanding that correctly? I wouldn't want my daughter (who is not an avid swimmer and is a beginning snorkeler) to get scared and panic. Currents can do that sometimes!

This was our experience when we parked at Caneel on July 13th. We pulled up to the gate and received the white parking voucher from the attendant and proceeded to the second parking lot as instructed. While at Honeymoon the gentleman at the "hut" said that all purchases were valid towards the Caneel parking charge. We rented a few chairs and floaties for our daughter and her friend and he wrote down the charges on our white parking voucher. Upon our exit we presented the white voucher to the gate attendant who happily took the ticket, raised the gate and thanked us for coming. The parking situation may fall into one of those quirky St John Almond Joy or Mounds things. Sometimes they feel like a nut, sometimes they don't.

The beach is pretty, with drifts of powdery white sand and pleasant shady paths through the concession area. However, any sense of seclusion that might have been there previously has been completely blasted away by the concession stands and by the profusion of bright plastic kayaks stacked up in racks and dotting the water. And the local donkeys are kind of rude, possibly pissed off by the new concessions.

Nevermind my questions about how to get there...

Lind point trail is the other way it was mentioned a couple of times

mdcoles1 wrote:

The beach is pretty, with drifts of powdery white sand and pleasant shady paths through the concession area. However, any sense of seclusion that might have been there previously has been completely blasted away by the concession stands and by the profusion of bright plastic kayaks stacked up in racks and dotting the water. And the local donkeys are kind of rude, possibly pissed off by the new concessions.

Nevermind my questions about how to get there...

I don't think too many people would use the word secluded and Honeymoon Beach in the same sentence for quite some time now. In fact, some likely go there for the people watching and the activities, and if they have kids, likely there may be some there they can play with. That said, "not secluded" was still pretty good in June.

Looking one way...


...then the other

Mid-morning, February 7, 2013 there were a few people on the beach... some day trippers were dropped off near the west end beach from time to time, and people were nested in the shade, but the beach was still pretty inviting.

I really like Salomon/Honeymoon beaches. Some of the best water clarity I've ever had snorkeling was off this side of the island. I could snorkel all day with great water clarity!

Again, does the trail that leads from Honeymoon to Caneel extend to Salomon? If so, it can't be much further unless it heads back uphill. Does anyone know? Remember, I need to keep this relatively flat and safe walking for my mom.

Yes it does - about 7 minutes and you do walk up a short hill when leaving Honeymoon

Pia

Thanks, Pia.
If it's a short hill and a safe steady entry down to Salomon, we can do it no problem.

We went to honeymoon beach for the first time last year while on a cruise stop in st. Thomas. It was great for us since it was protected from the northern swells which made trunk and cinnamon unswimmable, and it has easy, quick and cheap access to cabs. It is also very pretty and very close to cruz bay. If I had my own car, I would probably go elsewhere rather than pay the $20 parking fee. By the way, last year it was only $5 per person to cab from the ferry dock, so you may want to just skip the parking fee and cab instead.

petepie wrote:By the way, last year it was only $5 per person to cab from the ferry dock, so you may want to just skip the parking fee and cab instead.

The taxi is $20 round trip for 2 people. So unless you're traveling solo, no savings. And if you park in the lot you get 2 "free" drinks in a lovely beach bar. I thought it was $20 well spent, and glad I finally got around to trying this. I'd like to go back again sometime when the waves aren't so high and snorkel around to Saloman.