USVI-On-Line

Has anyone on this forum ever tried a platform tent or bare campsite at Cinnamon?What was it like camping in the tropics with a tent?I have stayed at the cottages before and it can get a bit warm in July with one fan over the bed.Now as for myself,I could tuff it out in a tent,but my wife..."notta!" Parafins...

I've never done it, but we've spoken to many people who have. There are a lot of people that start out going to Maho Bay Campground and move to Cinnamon Bay due to access to a better beach and a more free-form environment. If you like camping, this is pretty convenient with water, showers and toilets a short walk. Our one week at Maho Bay taught me that my lover will not tolerate walking to a toilet. Our camping gear fills the back of Ford Explorer, so doing a baresite would be a lot of work.

If you want to be right on the beach, I think this is a great option. I discussed going the Cinnamon Bay route with my daughters for our Spring Break trip. "What, no swimming pool?!" Maybe Concordia would work for us?

Cheers, RickG

Funny...My wife seems to be like your better half Rick.Why is it that women hate walking a distance to a bathroom? You and I would look at it as hey,we are in paradise who cares? Parafins..

Well, I got in trouble of going like a man and skipping the walk. She thought it unfair. Funny, it did cut into her drinking. We have been doing inexepensive villas when its just us. At least their's a toilet! We do a couple of camping trips a year with no facilities. They create less whinging than Maho did.

I tell ya, if things get tight with the economy, Cinnamon Bay baresites with no vehicle may be my speed!!

Cheers, RickG

Hi,

My Wife and spent 3 nights camping at a bare site in Cinnamon a couple of years ago. It was in February so we had pretty cool nights while we were there. Someone had left a big blue tarp already rigged up at our site so we were able to leave the fly off our tent all night (even when we had rain showers) We caught a taxi out from Coral Bay with our tent and gear when we first got there. Ended up catching a taxi back into town to stock-up on groceries. But the camp store had a good supply of staples and the restaurant on-site was very good. Had dinner at the Cinnamon Restaurant one night. They had a bartender and live music as well as a several course meal. We rented a car for a couple of days to explore the island better. In the winter the surf at Cinnamon can be pretty big so we had to go to the other side of the island to do any snorkeling. The water at Cinnamon is usually very calm and flat in the summer.
The campground showers are walled but with no roof and there is no hot water. But even the cold water is not really that cold. We usually only showered at night right before bed. We looked in a few rental tents that were unoccupied while we were there. They had metal cots and mattresses with linen and cooking equipment provided. The rental tents were canvas and many looked a little worn from all the rental use. We much preferred our small backpacking tent that we knew would be clean. Do keep any eye out for the Donkeys while you are there. The wander through camp at times and have been known to get into food stores if they are left open. A closed airtight container for food should help. Some campers actually put up barriers with sticks lashed to trees to keep donkeys out of their campsites. Our site was more up on a hillside (about 75 yards from the beach) and we never had any donkeys coming up the trail to our group of sites while we were there. If you don’t mind camping and cold water facilities Cinnamon is a very economical way to go. Bare campsites were under $30 per night when we went.

If you wanted to rent a tent, and were willing to spend a little more, I would suggest looking into Maho Bay Camp. A little more upscale with a lot more amenities (hot water, electricity with fans at your tent, etc. They too have a great restaurant on site with a wonderful view. Some of their tents even have a bay view as well.

Hope this helps,

Joe and Cathy

I hauled my gear down twice last year for baresite camping. 10 nights in January and 12 nights in late May/early June. They were vastly different experiences....

In the off season, I found the tent/baresite side of the campground to be basically deserted. Only a handful of the sites were occupied. If you want to get away from people and have great beach access, this is certainly the most economical way to do it.

Of course, its more humid in the off season. But this makes the cold water showers all that much more refreshing!!

The lack of humans cut out the donkey population completely, so you only have to hide your food from the mongoose!

And the walk to the bathroom does cut down on my late night drinking...but my liver thanks me!