USVI-On-Line

My friend is coming down next week to STJ with a walking 1 year old (is that considered a toddler?).

I'd like to give her advise on which beaches to visit.

For instance I would say Maho and Vies are on top for their gentle water entry. Other great adult beaches seem to have baby negative points. For instance -
Honeymoon - steep entry and a hike.
Francis and Hawksnest- Steep entry
Cinnamon - sometimes rough.

How would you rank beaches by baby friendliness?

I think Maho and Hawksnest are good for children, at least I always see lots of kids there. They are close to the street, have areas where you can get shade and the surf isn't usually too rough.

Of course, I don't have children, so if anyone with children pooh-poohs my suggestions, I will not take offense.

Maho hands down #1 --- close to the road, shallow entry, lots of shade

Trunk is great early in the morning before the crowds --- shallow, nice soft sand and lots of shade

Francis is good in certain spots, a little rough under foot in a few

We found Cinnamon too rough and windy and too far from parking.

Salt Pond while calm has NO shade and the trek just is not worth it with tiny kids.

I am going to second Flip's recommendations and add:

Maho was best for us every trip.

We did Salt Pond when he was an infant. I carried that kid strapped to my body since the day he was born and was used to hiking/walking with him on all sorts of terrain and I thought I was going to pass out on the trip back up. It will be years until we visit Salt Pond again.

Hawksnest was fun when he was just over a year old because he liked playing right at the edge of the water on the far left side. The exposed rocks interested him greatly and he was totally content to pat at the rocks all day.

We also had a great day at Jumby that 1.5 yo trip. The shell-y bits and pebbles at the water's edge kept him occupied.

I don't like the steep entry/exit at Francis when carrying/helping a small child.

Hi-
We were last on STJ when our boys were 5 & 2 (toddler) and the best places for us were Maho (as you said), Francis, Trunk and Hawksnest. South shore beaches were a bit too pebbley (is that a word?). We brought a toddler life jacket (one with a crotch strap and back head flap) and kept it on him whenever he wandered into the water and it worked great. Since we were there in late January, the main issue we had to deal with was large swells - when waves were calm, we had no problems at all. One other tip: we used Huggies little swimmer diapers, but we also used a waterproof, snug swim pant (by iPlay available at swimoutlet.com) over the Huggies. That way the disposable one wasn't such a wet, broken-up mess when we changed him. Hope this helps!

Gibney might not be a bad option.

Also taking the clothing suggestions a bit further-- get the kid a rash guard.

That will keep them from getting sunburned.... http://www.swimoutlet.com/SearchResults ... GgodE1q08g

Yes- I totally agree with the rashguard suggestion!!! No matter now waterproof a sunblock says it is, it will not protect like a rashguard. It also takes the initial chill off when entering the water - and it doesn't sting for hours if it gets in the eyes!

I would list little Lamshur as #1 for toddler friendly. Of course it would depend on the wind direction. I have never been to StJ with a toddler. But given the calm waters I have always found there and the unlimited throwing rocks I would rate it at the top.