USVI-On-Line

Good morning/afternoon/evening,

Not sure how one overlooks what may be STJ's largest beach, but for whatever reason, Cinnamon Bay just hasn't been a high priority visit on our previous trips to the rock (6th time soon come). We did spend one short afternoon there a few trips back, but only stayed long enough for me to snorkel around the cay while my wife read and worked on the tan. Needless to say, I'm quite sure we didn't do Cinnamon justice and that changes soon as we've committed a whole day to C-Bay on this upcoming trip in June.

So please take me to school on everything Cinnamon Bay...how do you get the most of a day there? Some specific questions:

1) If you get there early, is there a preferable location on the beach to set up camp (good shade, view, proximity to facilities, etc.)
2) Any tips on lunch? I know they have a restaurant and a snack bar.
3) Snorkeling tips? Obviously there's the big cay in the middle and Little Cinnamon out to the left (heard mention of the downed plane), but I've also read a little about renting a kayak and paddling out to Johnson's Reef...that sounds fantastic, but fairly advanced as well. Would love to hear from someone who's done it.

And anything else anyone would like to add. I'm all ears.

As always, thank you in advance,
54b

Hi 54b! I always enjoy reading your posts! We have only been to Cinnamon twice. We snorkeled around the cay and saw tons of fish including a 4' tarpon. The second time was in March and was a little rough. I had recent surgery on my elbow so I sat out the snorkeling by my husband saw a nurse shark out towards the cay. I think he went over to Little Cinnamon but didn't see the plane. We ate at the grill there and it was underwhelming. Mostly burgers and fish sandwiches. Not bad but not great. I would pick up sandwiches at DG or Sam and Jacks if I was staying all day.

We loved Cinnamon Bay beach, we found a nice spot over to the right from the "main area"...found a nice little spot under the bushes with some shade.
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I liked having bathrooms and showers nearby and food and stuff if needed.

I also enjoyed snorkeling around the little cay, it was nice. We also did the trail up the mountain last time, that was alot of fun, but we were staying in Catherineberg that year so we did a big loop, from the bottom up the trail to the top and then down the road to Cinnamon Tarn in Catherineburg...


I didn't go look for the plane last time, maybe I'll take thie kids out to find it this year...sounds like fun!
http://goo.gl/maps/UK2ZS

I just sent you an email..

Thank you, thank you...

Donna...you read between the lines perfectly on the lunch question...in fact I should have just said, "better to bring or eat there"...we usually take DG sandwiches along. I've tried Sam & Jacks once and I like them, but I want to say they don't open until like 9am and we usually like to get an earlier start than that. Could be wrong though.

Sherban...let me first say, I have 3 of your maps saved as bookmarks. I don't know where you find the time, but really appreciate those...especially that one of St. Thomas. We're doing the STT rental car, Cost U Less stop and Car barge for the first time this trip and that map is a great help. Also appreciate the pics of Cinnamon...that's a great shady spot that we'll look for.

And thank you for the email, JJ.

You're right, 9:00 opening for Sam and Jack's. We're on the beach by then.

54b wrote: Sherban...let me first say, I have 3 of your maps saved as bookmarks. I don't know where you find the time, but really appreciate those...especially that one of St. Thomas. We're doing the STT rental car, Cost U Less stop and Car barge for the first time this trip and that map is a great help. Also appreciate the pics of Cinnamon...that's a great shady spot that we'll look for.
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Thanks for the positive feedback, I'm a very visually oriented person...it all started as an idea of mine to be more efficient when "squirreling away" information for trips to foreign places...rather than keeping a bunch of links in Internet Explorer I decided to try using Google Earth to consolidate and save the information for the next time I might want to research that foreign place again...it started as my personal information filing system! Later I moved from Google Earth to Google Maps and that was more user-friendly for non-tech people, and also eliminated the need for the Google Earth program. I got alot of help on the STJ villa map..many people contributed over the years. The maps matured as I learned...the Aruba version is probably the slickest one...https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=21 ... 652f8012c7
...but thanks for your praise, that (and my personal efficiency gains) are the only rewards!...cheers!

54b and Minde, you obviously don't have 2 sons in college. I am lucky if I can get them out of bed by 10. I, of course, am up at 6:30 reading on the deck. Dad goes in their rooms and beats them with pillows to wake them up.