USVI-On-Line

My wife are going to be in St. Thomas the first week of November and want to do some snorkeling. We have heard we should go to Trunk Bay on St. John but I have also heard that underwater it is all but dead and destroyed and the beach is crowded. I have also heard about Turtle Cove and Honeymoon beach. Are there any tour groups that we should take? Is Trunk Bay really bad? Where should we go? I would like to hear from those of you who have been to the places that you recommend. Thanks.

Paul

We've snorkled both islands. On STT we enjoyed Saphire and Coki Point. On STJ, we have always had good days at Hawksnest. Trunk Bay can be very good also. One key to a great day at Trunk is to go on days when there are no ships in port. Another that helps is to get there early in the morning. There are probablly 10 or 12 other great snorkle beaches on STJ. In addition to what you will hear from others on this forum, I would suggest Cinnamon Bay, Maho and Waterlemon Cay.

Have fun

JIM

I'll second Saphire Beach. I actually saw more on Saphire than Trunk. I was at Trunk 2 weeks ago, and its not that bad at all, I just saw more life at Saphire. I liked Trunk, because of the underwater snorkel trail though.

Stj I like Maho, salt pond, chocolate hole,honeymoon and waterlemon cay

It sounds like you are staying on STT and just planning maybe a day trip over to STJ for some snorkeling? If that's the case, I might lean toward Hawksnest or Trunk Bay. Sure, the snorkeling trail at Trunk has seen better days, but it's still pretty nice and the beach itself is a "gotta see" in my opinion, despite the fact that it can get crowded. Besides, if you are day-tripping and don't have a car, Trunk has lots of facilities and a snack bar so you can pretty much hang out there all day. Hawksnest doesn't quite have the same level of facilities, but it's a spectacularly gorgeous beach, a shorter cab ride than some from Cruz Bay, and has pretty great snorkeling very close to the beach.

In addition to the other folks' comments...I gotta say I was really impressed with Cinnamon Bay Beach....facilities...food, parking...rentals....showers & restrooms as well as an awesome beach and damn good snorkeling around the little cay....pretty darn good "one stop shopping" and lots of room to spread out...

Also do a search on this forum on snorkeling and you will hit the jackpot if you feel like reading!

Photos of cinnamon....

Waterguy - how do you snorkel Chocolate Hole? How do you get to where you snorkel?

Ourtripnow - we love Trunk for all reasons mentioned. We have seen three HUGE tarpon at once around the cay, beautiful big angelfish and lots of other fish plus an octopus. We have also snorkeled the far left of Trunk and thoroughly enjoyed that. We snorkeled almost all the way to Jumbie on that snorkel.

I have rented Cygnus now called beach music it is on the water with a small beach. But now I go to the beach at the end of the bay you have to drive past pond bay to get there. I snorkel the left side on my way out and go around the point if it isn't to rough then cross the mouth of the bay and snorkel the other side on the way back in.
Tom

Thanks Tom.

Is it obvious where we could park and be able to get to the beach?

You drive right down to the beach there is a small parking area

I LOVE Trunk Bay for many many reasons...the snorkeling has always been good and on top of that...it really is just so damn beautiful... Fortunately every time we've been there have been no cruise ships. We've been lucky. We enjoyed Waterlemon Cay and saw several Turtles which was thrilling for my daughter. Its a little bit of a hike for those of you that like something a little more convenient. I think you will find something on every beach in St John. We all have our favorites...

How 'bout taking the Lind Point trail out to Salomon? No rental, no taxi. The reef between Honeymoon and Salomon is decent... saw my first eagle ray there.

If you want a really good snorkel in STT, go to Secret Harbor. Not only will you have a lovely beach to relax on and great snorkeling, there is a fantastic restaurant there for lunch or dinner.

If you go over to STJ, I agree that Trunk is a good choice (beautiful beach plus there are concessions and bathroom facilities). Just check the cruise ship schedule before you make the trek over and choose a day when there are no ships coming in to STT.

I'd have to say that if you want to spend a day on a nice beach, and snorkel on STT, then Coki is the beach I'd pick. There is Coral World if you need to entertain kids, and the beach is very nice. People often feed the snorkel fish (not I) there, so the schools of Tang and Sgt Major fish are HUGE and just off the beach in shallow water, before any currents or chop. The beach also has lots of food stands, and may or may not have beach waitress service. A nice place to spend a day.

Thanks for all the replies. My wife and I are going to be on a Princess Cruise the first week of November. We have three options for snorkel excursions. We can take a Champagne catamaran to an unknown location off of St. John, go with Capt. Nautica to Turtle Cove and two other locations, or a beach and snorkel expedition to Trunk Bay. Any suggestions for these three options or something else?

Cheers,

Paul