Mageens beach St thomas OR Trunk beach St John?

[Gixer]

I am really having trouble deciding which excursion to do on the port day at St Thomas - I cant decide between Mageens beach on St Thomas or Trunk beach on St John - which excursion would you do and why? which one is the most beautiful beach?

 

[Mom24Princesses]

I am really having trouble deciding which excursion to do on the port day at St Thomas - I cant decide between Mageens beach on St Thomas or Trunk beach on St John - which excursion would you do and why? which one is the most beautiful beach?

The are both worth seeing so you will need to re-book an Eastern so you can go to the one you miss the first time.

ARE YOU ADULTS ONLY?
IF KIDS # OF AND AGES?

They reason I ask is that you will spend more time getting to Trunk Bay BUT it is soooo worth it. Trunk Bay is a US National Park. It is natural and completely undeveloped. We went to Coki Beach on St. T with our 4 DDs last April and really like Coki for good snorkeling. IF?WHEN we can do a Eastern we will take them to Trunk.

I am torn between booking an excursion and going to Trunk on our own. You'd see more of both islands on you on AND a lot of people do it EVERYDAY from cruise ships, but it is a little bit of a hassle. BUT once you got to Trunk you'd have more freedom.

 

[SweetSpot]

Magens Bay is beautiful. It's a bay though so no waves and not much to see if you want to snorkle. It's great for little kids because there aren't rough waves. We loved it there. Trunk beach is also amazingly beautiful with great snorkling. It is a hike by ferry and taxi or bus. I was happy that I went there and have seen St. John and really loved the ferry ride but wouldn't waste the time travelling again. Don't regret doing it but again the time getting there and back takes away from time on the beach. Coki beach is also a consideration. It's a beautiful beach with very easy snorkling close to the shore. My kids loved this beach very much. Coki and Magens Bay are also very easy to get to on your own by taxi so booking an excursion isn't necessary. Just be aware of the time and give yourself adaquate time to get back to the ship because the roads get crowded in the afternoon.

 

[Brucemcc]

Magens Bay was beautiful, we were there last month, calm beach, nice sand, problem was there were 6 ships in port that day and within 1 hr the place was packed solid. Was not comfortable, we had a family of 6 right on top of us as they arrived later in the morning,there simply was no room anywhere so they decided the 3 ft between us and the next couple was the only option, they were probably on a ship run excursion, looked like most people showed up in large groups. We simply left the ship and caught a cab to and from the beach for $8 US each way, $32 for my wife and I in total, our 12 month old was free.Way cheaper and we were there probably close to an hour before the place got over run.Odds are we wouldnt do it again simply because of the over crowding.Would definately check ahead of time to see how many ships would be in port at the least.

 

[Gixer]

Thanks for your replies - your opinions are really helpful

I think the Trunk bay option may suit us better taking into consideration the crowds at Mageen - we have 2 kids age 11 & 9 but both are snorkel enthusiasts so trunk may be better?

Also - Im now looking at the ST Thomas Island tour and wondering if we should do that instead and have a beach day on St Marteen? We only want 1 beach day as we will have another at CC - its so difficult trying to choose!

 

[Indea88]

I agree about Magens bay being crowded.Although I met a few interesting people because of the closeness! The Beach was perfect for my three year old, small waves. I took the Disney excursion with my DS13 and DS3. My DH was on a fishing charter and I choose this because of the ease of the excursion. I really wanted to go to Trunk Bay,have always wanted to see St. John. Next time!!
We were entertained by a 2 foot iguana while on the beach,some extra entertainment Also, I believe you have to take a ferry to Trunk and with my 3 year old I'm not up to the adventure quite yet

 

[Mom24Princesses]

Thanks for your replies - your opinions are really helpful

I think the Trunk bay option may suit us better taking into consideration the crowds at Mageen - we have 2 kids age 11 & 9 but both are snorkel enthusiasts so trunk may be better?

Also - Im now looking at the ST Thomas Island tour and wondering if we should do that instead and have a beach day on St Marteen? We only want 1 beach day as we will have another at CC - its so difficult trying to choose!

I vote Trunk.

You have FORCED me to bring out the pictures.

Trunk Bay 6/5/06

Trunk Bay 6/5/06

Trunk Bay 6/5/06

Made while snorkeling looking back at Trunk Bay 6/5/06. Yeah, we were a little ways out.
That water was incredible. You can see straight through it.

 

[SweetSpot]

Thanks for your replies - your opinions are really helpful

I think the Trunk bay option may suit us better taking into consideration the crowds at Mageen - we have 2 kids age 11 & 9 but both are snorkel enthusiasts so trunk may be better?

Also - Im now looking at the ST Thomas Island tour and wondering if we should do that instead and have a beach day on St Marteen? We only want 1 beach day as we will have another at CC - its so difficult trying to choose!

If you use St. Maarten as a beach day you will find that Orient Beach is the most beautiful beach but be warned it is on the French side and there may be some nudity.

Snorkling is definitely better at Trunk Bay and I would do that as a ship run excursion since there is a ferry involved and time is tight in St. Thomas. I think that's why we liked Coki Beach so much we could do it on our own, it was close to the ship, it wasn't over crowded and the snorkling was good. Not as good as Trunk Bay but still wonderful.

 

[logan1_2000]

we've been to St. Thomas 3 times, and been to St. Maarten 3 times by ship (with another weeklong stay on St. Maarten). Agree that Trunk Bay is really a schlep, but we did it once, but it ends up being a total of 4 hours of round-trip transit--or at least when the Magic docked over at the new dock instead of havensight in April 2005 it took that long. Did it ourselves, as we did for magen's bay and as we have done for orient beach (the 9 & 11 yr olds, if mature, will be fine, DS was 9...I told him about it ahead of time, he knew in advance that girls dont have what boys have, and the rules were no giggling and for goodness sake no pointing--and if he saw anything that he was curious about he should just quietly ask me. there was one "hey dad, look..." moment, but as I replied, "I'm way ahead of you, yeah, incoming at three o'clock").

island tour--you mean something educational or cultural instead of a beach? semi-kidding. semi. that's got to be your call. but indeed, if you want to snorkle, magen's bay will not be ideal, and trunk is a schlep. I've also read many endorsements to go on your own to cinnamon (sp?) bay for snorkling, but again, that's over to st. thomas. we enjoyed getting the view of the island on st. thomas when we rode in the open air cab to magen's bay--you go to and through charlotte amalie, then up and over the mountain in the center of the island--awesome views and photo-ops -- on the way. both of these islands are ideal for going on your own as they have a decent amount of infrastructure, so getting a cab back is no problem--though traffic on st. maarten scares me from going over to the french side capital, marigot, into the afternoon--my fears after staying on the island for a week and sitting in some serious backed up traffic around 4 in the afternoon. but orient bay, though on the french side, is near enough to the port that it was not a worry to me at all.

my plans for my next eastern--on RCCL next spring--beaches both days, though I also want to see a thing or two in charlotte amalie so I will make it early to the beach and then back into downtown--got to be up early for immigration anyway, and compared to my usual weekday, when I'm up at 5:15, getting up at 6:15 or something like that for customs is still "sleeping in".

good luck and enjoy--disney magic on the eastern is my all time favorite combo of itinerary and ship of all of my cruises to date.

 

[Jeanne B]

I would vote 100% for Trunk, especially since your kids are snorkel enthusiasts. If you decide to stay on St Thomas rather than making the trip to St John I would suggest Sapphire Beach or Secret Harbour Beach Resort, both are great snorkeling beaches. I enjoyed Sapphire for the views but SH is a quiet beach and the water there tends to be calmer than Sapphire but it's in a cove so the views aren't like what you get at Sapphire.

Okay, you forced me to pull out a few of my pictures also...

Trunk Bay...

A turtle we spotted at Trunk (but on the last day of our 10-day vacation so if you see one you're lucky!!)

Sapphire Beach, St Thomas...

Secret Harbour, St Thomas...

 

[Gixer]

What beautiful photos! Thanks for posting them

Well I have made my mind up at last and am going to do the Trunk beach excursion, and if there is time the cable car ride.

Still unsure about what to do at St Marteen though!

 

[kctwinmommy]

Here's a view from abaove for Magens Bay:

I don't know why the above one keeps coming up as a link! I have the correct code there, I did the same thing below and I've done this 1,000 times! Argh!

And the cable car ride I'm guessing that you're talking about:

 

[O2BONDCL]

We have been to both Magan's bay and Sapphire Beach on St.Thomas. We did both beaches on our own by getting a taxi and then telling the same taxi driver to return at a certain time. Both times the taxi driver's were on time. Our favorite beach is Sapphire Beach. Much less crowded than Magan's Bay and the chair and umbrella rental is much easier at Sapphire. We thought the water was beautiful and there was a snack bar there. It was kind of expensive, but there was also a little store where you could buy snacks and drinks. The man who operated the store was extremely nice.

Sapphire beach gets our vote and its really simple to get there and get back. The ride is also very easy and you get to see a bit of the island.

 

[eph94]

Here's a view from abaove for Magens Bay:

I don't know why the above one keeps coming up as a link! I have the correct code there, I did the same thing below and I've done this 1,000 times! Argh!

That really is odd. The picture comes up if I quote you!

We're doing the Eastern soon. Decisions decisions decisions!!

 

[kctwinmommy]

That really is odd. The picture comes up if I quote you!

We're doing the Eastern soon. Decisions decisions decisions!!

That's funny! In my other thread with Carnival Glory pics, the first set all came up. Then I needed to edit something I wrote, and only 2 of the 3 came up!

 

[kctwinmommy]

I wanted to add a picture I downloaded today from Magen's Bay. This is actually on the beach. I guess it's hard for me to picture about all the crowds people talk about, since this is how it looked our entire day!

 

[solotraveler]

Wow, Trunk Bay looks awesome!!

How much trouble is it to get there from St Thomas? For our upcoming Eastern we really want to see St John and were going to go via DCL because we were worried about the timing issue..but if we could do it on our own and save some cash (and not worry about the group) that would be great!

 

[Mom24Princesses]

Wow, Trunk Bay looks awesome!!

How much trouble is it to get there from St Thomas? For our upcoming Eastern we really want to see St John and were going to go via DCL because we were worried about the timing issue..but if we could do it on our own and save some cash (and not worry about the group) that would be great!

Who is in your party?

When we were staying in St. Thomas last summer we rode the ferry over with a BUNCH of people from Texas off of a Carnival ship. They were family groups with lots of kids.

STEPS:
Get off the ship ASAP.
Get a taxi to Redhook Ferry ($8/9)
Buy a ticket to ride to Cruz Bay, St. John (Leaves on tha hour)($5)
When you get to Cruz Bay you will have many offers for transportation. Tell them you want ot go to Trunk Bay. If you want to stop to take the famous picture above TB tell them before you leave. You will probably be on a covered bench-seat in the back of a pick-up truck. ($8/9)
Trunk Bay is a few dollars. Tell driver what time you want to be picked up. There will be many drivers but this seems to be the norm.
The site below states that the ferries are leaving Cruz Bay on the hour too. Last summer it was on the half hour???? It is a twenty min ride.
You can get a ferry from the Charlotte Amalie Waterfront but I don't think it is in walking distance and they do not run as often.

http://www.st-thomas.com

Check in advance on how many ships are in St. T on the day you are to see how crowded it is. We did not have bad traffic and we were there on a busy day. Plan to catch the 2:00 ferry back to be safe.


It sounds a bit much BUT MANY PEOPLE DO IT SUCCESSFULLY EVERY DAY! My sister and her family did it in 2005. They had 2 DDs in tow 13 & 17. The key is travel light and plan to go as early as possible. Cruz Bay is a great place to walk around, eat and shop.

 

[eph94]

The key is travel light and plan to go as early as possible.

Would taking three sets of masks, snorkels, fins, and snorkel vests, plus towels be too much to lug around for this trip? I usually throw it all in one big mesh divers backpack/duffel.

 

[mousefamily]

What beautiful photos! Thanks for posting them

Well I have made my mind up at last and am going to do the Trunk beach excursion, and if there is time the cable car ride.

Still unsure about what to do at St Marteen though!

We went on the Eastern in Jan. and after we returned I read about a little island off Orient Beach in St. Martin. You can get there by ferry and it is suppose to have great snorkeling and beautiful beaches. We went to Orient Beach with our 8 year old and he never noticed or picked up on any nudity (and it was around). He was much too busy playing in the sand and the waves.

Next year though, we will try this little island. It is also fun to watch the planes land at the airport. We rented a car and drove around the island and had a great time.