USVI-On-Line

Hi Everyone,
One week and we are off to STJ! Yeah! I just want to know what you think are the sunniest beaches with Full sun all day. We've been to STJ numerous times but the beaches we go to are usually more shade that sun other than Cinnamon and Trunk.

I frankly can't think of a shady beach but Maho, Frances, Salt Pond, Vie's and Lamashure are what I'd say are sunny beaches. Sometimes you may have to move as the sun moves around the beach but if you want full sun there's plenty of it.

I think Jumbie and Hawksnest (I love Hawksnest) are a bit shady. We are 9-5ers at the beach--I like to plant my A$$ and stay all day! LOL! We've never been to Maho or Frances definitely want to try them this trip.

Francis is my favorite beach - picnic tables in shade and plenty of sun! ALL sand, no rocks!

Sun 101:

By definition the NORTHshore and SOUTHshore beaches are always sunny while the sun is in the sky.

Because, as the sun moves from EAST to WEST the NORTH and SOUTH beaches get sun all day. There's no need to rotate cause the sun rotates across you.

Certainly there are beaches with more shade but generally speaking you're good on the sun pretty much anywhere ont he North or South Shore.

Just sayin....

Salt Pond always seems the most sunny and hottest
to "me" and it doesn't have alot of shade trees to get out of the sun or to run under in the occasional rain shower. The far end of Cinnamon ( to the right looking at the water)can also be very sunny & hot, My wife loves this spot and she grew up on the beach and loves the sun.

sunnest beaches on stj depends on time of year and cloud positions. yes the sun rises in east and sets in west but a lot more to know than sun 101. earth's orbit and tilt on her axis radically changes the sun's position latitude wise in relation to the earth and stj.

on 6/21+/- of each year the sun is on its northern most path over earth at the Tropic of Cancer which is 23.5 degrees N latitude (just north of cuba). stj is a little over 18 degrees N lat, so the sun passes North of stj and thus max sun to north shore beaches around that time. on dec 21st+/- sun's at southern most point over earth at 23.5 degrees S latitude (tropic of capricorn) which is way SOUTH of stj (rio de janeiro) and therefore stj's south shore beaches have max sun and north shore beaches have max shade.

my point is there is a lot of difference in sun patterns on stj between summer and winter. P-600, you will find on your trip next week, sun will be way south and there will be little if any shade on the south shore beaches. for more info sun's changing position over the earth see http://geography.about.com/cs/calendars ... winter.htm

that tells you where the sun will be BUT there's one other significant issue. you asked about SUNNY beaches. that will always depend on where the clouds are!
enjoy

papabou

Any beach with a more southern exposure is sunnier longer than the N shore. All Year.

exit, not if the beach is south of the equator. also, the shade on the beaches of stj is from vegetation along the beach. the angle of the sun (whether North or south of stj) determines if the shadows from the vegetation fall on the beach or the land beyond the beach.

granted southern exposure beaches north of the equator will have more days of less shade (from vegetation) because the sun will be south of the beach most of the year. the florida gulf along the panhandle for example is north of the tropic of cancer and the sun is always to the south so shadows all year fall inland away from the beach.

i'm in covington ga and the sun always passes to the south of our home but my back yard the past few weeks is full shade from tall pines in the yard of my south side neighbor, while in may thru july, i have full sun since sun passes above the trees.

nevertheless, the amount of sun ANY beach gets will be impacted by heavy cloud cover and "that's the truth"!

still papabou

St John is at 18' North of the equator - in over 30 years of living here I can truthfully say South facing beaches are sunnier.

exit,

you're right from about july 10th until early june. but during most of june and the 1st part of july the sun's path is North of 18 deg North latitude and therefore north of stj. on june 20/21, the sun reaches a path long the tropic of cancer at 23.5 deg North before beginning the journey back south.

if you had gone to a north facing beach on stj around june 21st on each of your years on stj, the shadows of the beach vegetation would have been away from the beach and conversely the shadows of lameshur's shoreline veg would have been toward and on the beach. the directions of shadows cast by the sun on stj are scientific facts like leeward and windward points on stj and their locations on stj change as things in the heavens change (location of sun or the direction of the wind).

it's raining and getting cold here in georgia. great time for a BS session about my favorite place, stj and because the sun is so far south now, if she's shinning tomorrow, there will be abundant shade on the much of the sands of each north facing beach with shoreline veg!

papabou

Guess I' ll just have to pack my sunscreen and beachchair and head on out to ponder the rotation of the universe here on a VI beach tomorrow like I do every day that I am not out sailing around the beautiful waters.
A fine day for a beach bum as usual.

you want to swap places? won't need sunscreen here for a few months but the drought has made all our big lakes hazardous for boating.

One other factor that I do not believe anyone has mentioned is that if the water is high, there is less beach ergo, less sun on said beach.

marcia,

we've got to tighten this string up and be more precise. when the water is high, there is only less sun on that part of the beach that is under water. the rest is just as sunny (unless of course it has become shaded due to the angle of the sun).

this is going to be a great year for stj lovers. correction, for those who love stj.

papabou