Beaches on Eastern Cruise

[lazarru]

Going on the Eastern cruise in 2 weeks, what are the best beaches to goto, either as offical excersions or not. We have a 3 & 5 yr old so we're likely just to go to the beach rather than try and do any excersions, especially since it seems most you have to be at least 5.

Thanks

 

[prymsu]

it was very easy to get to Dawns beach in St. Marteen on our own. We had three of us, and if I remember correctly it cost us 18 bucks one way by taxi. Then we rented two chairs and an umbrella for something like 12 bucks. The drinks and food there was reasonable. It was a very clean beach.

 

[jdm]

We are on your cruise, and we are also doing no formal excursions. We are planning to go to Orient (maybe bikini beach) in St. Martin and Magan's bay in St. Thomas. I got a lot of my information on the "ports boards" over at cruisecritic.com. We chose Orient because there is a water trampoline, it sounds fun and it's convenient to where we will be horsebackriding and touring the butterfly farm (a full day). This is a clothing optional beach, however and although I hear the majority of people are dressed, I will be preparing the kids for the possibility of nudity.

On St. Thomas we chose Magan's Bay. There will be 8 ships in Port the day we are there and I'm thinking Coki is a smaller beach and will most likely be packed. We wanted a beautiful, calm beach where we can relax. We are not snorkeling. There is a $3 per person fee which we don't mind paying. Also, my daughter's name is Meagan (I know, not speltled the same ), so she'd like to go there!!

Good Luck,
Jenn

 

[JimmyJackJunior]

We went to Dawn Beach too. Very nice beach that was not completely crowded as we here Orient Beach can get. It has a nice combination of a side that is good for snorkeling since it is protected and a more unprotected side for a little boogie boarding.

 

[TooPure4u]

My vote will always be for Trunk Bay on St John....if the disney excursion wont allow small kids, then I would go on my own. It is the most beautiful beach I have ever seen..... HTH

 

[ChrisnSteph]

Sapphire Beach on St. Thomas is beautiful. I don't remember the name of what resort we went to, but we just grabbed a van/taxi, told the driver we wanted to go the prettiest beach on the island with the less crowds, and that's where he took us. He dropped us off at the beach, came back for us about 3 or 4 hours later, took us for a tour around the island, stopped at the highest point on the island for a banana daquiri, then dropped us back off at the port. The cost was about 25.00 pp, and half that for the kids. It was a great deal compared to a similar excursion DCL offered.

 

[DOOGIERUNNER]

We've been to both Megans Bay and Saphirre on St. Johns. I liked Megans Bay better. Very pretty.

On St. Martin, once we hung by the beach near downtown. The other time we chartered our own cigarette boat through www.offshoresunsations.com and went over to Anguilla for the day. It was BEAUTIFUL. We're going to try to do it again on our next Eastern in 06.

 

[jdm]

Is there a Sapphire on St. Johns? I thought that Sapphire was on St. Thomas. We thought about going to St. Johns but we've never been to St. Thomas, looks like we'll be tendering (so a time crunch), and really didn't want to feel rushed. Just means we'll have to come back

Jenn

 

[Lloyd Dobler]

Sapphire is on St. Thomas and has (I think) the best snorkeling on the island, with Coki a close second. Either Coki or Magens Bay is a good choice for young kids, with Magens Bay being much, much bigger. Any of these are perfect for a beach day.

On St. John, I like Cinnamon Bay just a bit more than Trunk Bay, and it's usually less crowded. It's only a bit further from the ferry dock than Trunk Bay.

 

[TheWog]

We had a lot of fun at Great Bay beach in St. Maarten. Right there where the ships dock. You can rent chairs, umbrellas, water tramps, jet skis, etc. You can then return to the ship and shower, change and have lunch and then return on the water taxi. With the small children this may be perfect for you.

 

[Maria395712]