Beach on St. Thomas & St. Marten

[LoveMyDisneyCats]

Looking for advice on best beaches with kids for St Thomas and St Marten...ideally not topless/nude as I'll have 9 & 12 year old DDs. Also have littler ones so looking for just nice area to kick back. Not sure if we should do one of the excursions or just go on our own. We've always just walked around the towns on past cruises. Thanks!

 

[DisneyDudet]

If you want to avoid the nude/European sunbathing beaches, stick with the Dutch side of st Maarten. The French side has a lot of nude beaches or ones that allow it. There is a public beach right as you get off the little ferry boat (like $5 round trip or something). It's pretty with a view of the ship. They charge you for a chair/umbrella but you can spend time there for free if you don't rent any of those.

On St. Thomas, my absolute favorite beach I've ever been too (to me, it slightly beats out CC for beauty) is Magen's bay. It's a private, family owned beach. There is an excursion offered through the Port Adventures usually. You even get a stop at an outlook to take pics. It's just gorgeous to me. They don't allow nudity and have a great set of rules. There's even a small beach house with toilets. There's a gift shop, bar, and small counter service restaurant as well.

On St Thomas, you can even use your cell phone without a crazy charge since it's a US territory!

The Eastern is my favorite itinerary because of Magen's Bay and 3 sea days!

 

[TXDCLfan]

Looking for advice on best beaches with kids for St Thomas and St Marten...ideally not topless/nude as I'll have 9 & 12 year old DDs. Also have littler ones so looking for just nice area to kick back. Not sure if we should do one of the excursions or just go on our own. We've always just walked around the towns on past cruises. Thanks!

In St Thomas we hit up Coki beach nice and clean with some small waves to play in also the snorkeling is good down at the far end

 

[TXDCLfan]

If you want to avoid the nude/European sunbathing beaches, stick with the Dutch side of st Maarten. The French side has a lot of nude beaches or ones that allow it. There is a public beach right as you get off the little ferry boat (like $5 round trip or something). It's pretty with a view of the ship. They charge you for a chair/umbrella but you can spend time there for free if you don't rent any of those.

On St. Thomas, my absolute favorite beach I've ever been too (to me, it slightly beats out CC for beauty) is Magen's bay. It's a private, family owned beach. There is an excursion offered through the Port Adventures usually. You even get a stop at an outlook to take pics. It's just gorgeous to me. They don't allow nudity and have a great set of rules. There's even a small beach house with toilets. There's a gift shop, bar, and small counter service restaurant as well.

On St Thomas, you can even use your cell phone without a crazy charge since it's a US territory!

The Eastern is my favorite itinerary because of Magen's Bay and 3 sea days!

Magens Bay was previously owned by Arthur Fairchild, who gave most of it as a gift to the Municipality of St. Thomas and St. John in 1943 for use as a public park. The far Western portion was donated by Fairchild's nephew's widow, Christine Wheaton, in 2002. The beach and surrounding park are currently administered by the semi-autonomous Magens Bay Authority. The services provided by the Authority include lifeguards, parking, showers and bathrooms. There is a snack counter, bar and souvenir shop. Beach chairs, floats, windsurfers and small sailboats can be rented. The Authority is a self-sustaining entity which funds its operations through a per-person entrance fee (currently $4.00 for visitors and $2.00 for locals), parking fees, and payments received from the park's restaurant and rental concessions.

 

[fortheloveofmm]

St Thomas ~ Magens Bay is beautiful and Coki beach tends to get a bit busier since its a free beach. If you have time go to St John via Red Hook. Its very easy to do on your own and amazing beaches!

St Maarten ~ Theres a great beach right at the port with lots of restaurants/bathrooms available (depending on what chairs you rent) or Maho beach is great if you want a bit of excitement as you watch the airplanes land and take off just feet from the beach. Its really quite a sight

 

[Stitch'sCousin]

Be aware that on St. Maarten there are some concerns about water pollution in the Great Bay which is the beach right next to the cruise ship dock. You can check out a discussion here: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1133887

 

[luvndizny]

You said you also have 'littler ones' who will be with you? As in more kids that are younger than the 9 and 12 year old? The reason I ask is because we did Trunk Bay (St Thomas excursion) and LOVED IT! But we also snorkeled the whole time we were there too. (My daughter hung out on the beach for some of it.)

If we ever go back to St. Thomas- we are doing Trunk Bay again.

 

[Silverfox97]

You said you also have 'littler ones' who will be with you? As in more kids that are younger than the 9 and 12 year old? The reason I ask is because we did Trunk Bay (St Thomas excursion) and LOVED IT! But we also snorkeled the whole time we were there too. (My daughter hung out on the beach for some of it.)

If we ever go back to St. Thomas- we are doing Trunk Bay again.

Trunk Bay is in St John. You board a ferry in St Thomas and go to
St John.

It is by far our most favorite place we've ever been to. Can't wait to go back to St John in March!!!

In St. Maarten, I recommend Maho Beach. Bernard's Tour does a Maho Beach tour only for $25/pp from 11-2. The beach is nice, water glorious, everyone is clothed, but the planes!!! There's nothing like watching those incoming planes

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[nikkistevej]

In St Maarten we did Little Divi Bay- it was awesome!! Not alot of people there, and no one bothered us.

 

[twentytoez]

Bump

 

[1Winston]

If you had to pick between St. John/St.Thomas or St Marten which would you pick>? We are a beach family.
Thanks

 

[Silverfox97]

If you had to pick between St. John/St.Thomas or St Marten which would you pick>? We are a beach family. Thanks

ST JOHN all day long 400 times over!!

Look up Trunk Bay and Cinnamon Bay - absolute beauty!

Honestly, St John is a Caribbean gem We go there on our eastern cruises and just spent 9 days there in June so any questions ask away!

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[1Winston]

ST JOHN all day long 400 times over!!

Look up Trunk Bay and Cinnamon Bay - absolute beauty!

Honestly, St John is a Caribbean gem We go there on our eastern cruises and just spent 9 days there in June so any questions ask away!

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Thank you! have you cruised in jan or feb to these destinations?
Cheers

 

[SteelersLover]

I cruised the Eastern May 31 with DS9 and niece 10. We stopped for an hour at Maho beach in St Maarte. Then had the driver take us to Mullet Bay beach. Very quiet not crowded and absolutely beautiful. There was a beach bar that rented chairs / umbrellas $15 for 2. And sold food and wifi $2 per hr.

On St Thomas we did Magens Bay. I was unimpressed. Its nice but you see better in Clearwater Fl. I did appreciate that there was security, transportation, and rentals at Magens.

 

[cozmo]

We did the legendary kon-tiki excursion in St Thomas. It is a boat ride with a steel drum band and other activities, and then about 60-90 minutes at some beach. Was very laid back there and we enjoyed it a lot (fairly reasonable prices). We picked it because of the price and it departs from right next to the Fantasy. I do hear Magen's Bay is pretty nice, though....

 

[Silverfox97]

Thank you! have you cruised in jan or feb to these destinations? Cheers

No we have not; multiple times in March & June and our 9 night stay in St John was last month.

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[Silverfox97]

On St Thomas we did Magens Bay. I was unimpressed. Its nice but you see better in Clearwater Fl.

X2. Unimpressed also.

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