St. Thomas excursion questions

[foolish-mortal]

This will be our first time going to St. Thomas. My teens really want a picturesque beach experience. I want to make sure we have chairs, drinks, food, and bathrooms wherever we go. Would you recommend Magen's Bay? Does it have all of those things available?

If we do Magen's Bay - would you recommend going on our own or taking a DCL excursion? Besides DCL making sure you get back (we're very careful when we go off on our own) are there other reasons to do DCL?

 

[auntlynne]

Magen’s Bay will have the things you need.

Is it the prettiest beach? To me, no. I much preferred the views from Lindquist or Sapphire Beach or Trunk Bay on St John - and the colors of their water. Magen’s is wide, but set back from the open ocean.

Magen’s Bay. An easy day at the beach. We’ve been several times while staying in the island.



Trunk Bay, a ferry ride to a different island. We did the same ship excursion to here from two different cruise lines last fall. And I don’t try it as DIY when it’s a short day in port. The hoops to get there and timing to get the ferry are too many for a limited time.




That said, Magen’s is often listed as one of the best beaches. And it is popular.

You should be able to visit as a DIY excursion. Here are the taxi fares from the pier Disney uses to various beaches. Typically, taxis are converted pickups, “Safari taxis.”

Admission to Magen’s Bay is $5 pp (over 12).

 

[ladyofthetramp]

We did Magen's. And saw sea turtles! We went through DCL. Area set up, chairs etc. Food, bar, gift shop, bathrooms. We had a great, carefree day

 

[auntlynne]

We did Magen's. And saw sea turtles! We went through DCL. Area set up, chairs etc. Food, bar, gift shop, bathrooms. We had a great, carefree day
View attachment 858991View attachment 858992View attachment 858993

What a difference sunlight makes on water color. Nice set-up DCL offered.

Did you have enough time at the beach? Or would you recommend DIY for those who would like more?

 

[ladyofthetramp]

What a difference sunlight makes on water color. Nice set-up DCL offered.

Did you have enough time at the beach? Or would you recommend DIY for those who would like more?

We were good with the amount of time. We snorkeled, swam, had beach pizza, drinks at the bar. It was very nice. When in St. Thomas, more is always better, LOL, but this really was a good amount of time.

 

[foolish-mortal]

Thanks all! I'm very interested in Trunk Bay but wasn't sure if I should venture that far when we've never been to St. Thomas before??

 

[auntlynne]

Thanks all! I'm very interested in Trunk Bay but wasn't sure if I should venture that far when we've never been to St. Thomas before??

I get that. First (maybe only) visit to a location, it seems odd to not even stop to see what’s close.

While I love St John and its various beaches, I have no problem recommending Magen’s Bay. Our last week-long land vacation in St Thomas, we visited Magen’s twice. And have only visited Trunk Bay as ship shore excursions or when staying on St John.

Besides the destination, we did the Trunk Bay ship excursion because it was so easy. They had a private ferry right by the ship and delivered us to the taxi and beach once on St John. After stopping by the little concessions, we just put our bags on the sand and went in the water until it was time to shower, change, and leave. It was 90 minutes of lovely water time. For some, that wouldn’t be enough.

If you want a longer time at the beach, stay on St Thomas - and probably just catch a safari taxi from the port.

It’s hard to go wrong in the Virgin Islands.

 

[Walterm]

Any thought on Secret Sands beach getaway on St Thomas?

 

[AZMermaid]

Any thought on Secret Sands beach getaway on St Thomas?

We are going on this in two weeks. I can report back

 

[Walterm]

We are going on this in two weeks. I can report back

So are we!…I guess we will find out together

 

[MomOTwins]

So are we!…I guess we will find out together

Following! Please report back on your experience if you don’t mind. I have been debating between Magens and Secret Sands. Ruled out Trunk Bay because it doesn’t include beach chairs and that is a must for me, and don’t love the idea of a water ferry (my son and I get super seasick on small boats).

 

[emmabelle]

Any thought on Secret Sands beach getaway on St Thomas?

We spent a week in St. Thomas years ago so I’ve been to quite a few of the beaches.

I always just take a taxi because you have control over the schedule.

@auntlynne agree totally with Smith Bay (Secret Sands excursion) and Sapphire being the most picturesque.

I’ve been Trunk Bay as well but we went during our land vacay so we had as much time as we wanted. It’s beautiful there as well.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

One warning is that the ferry to St. John's is a chunder express. Waters are frequently rough. So while the ferry iss easy, the ride may not be.

 

[DambFam]

We did Magen's. And saw sea turtles! We went through DCL. Area set up, chairs etc. Food, bar, gift shop, bathrooms. We had a great, carefree day
View attachment 858991View attachment 858992View attachment 858993

Did you do the excursion with the Skyride or just the bus to the beach?

 

[lklgoodman]

We did the excursion to Secret Sands in 2019, so it's been awhile. There isn't any restaurants near it, but our host had a cooler with drinks. I don't remember if he had snacks or not. We went right after breakfast, so we weren't hungry. There were picnic tables though. It had nice clean restrooms with showers for rinsing off the sand. Best part about this excursion was that they only allowed 1 cruise ship excursion at a time onto this area of the beach. I don't remember how many people were on our excursion, but we weren't crowded at all. It was a nice relaxing day.

 

[AZMermaid]

We went on Secret Sands a couple days ago. We thought it was great if you’re looking for a chill beach day through Disney- which we were!

We took an open air taxi. There was a cattle call feeling to the line up and walk out, but it ended there. We were fortunate to be on the first taxi. There were about 50 people on this excursion- 2 or 3 taxis full. Once there, we got a short run down that drinks and snacks were included but remember to tip. It wasn’t aggressive.

There were chairs set up for us and we dragged some in the shade of the trees. There were no umbrellas. Once there, the crowd dispersed and it never felt crowded. We got 2.5 hours of beach time. Towards the end, a basic food truck was there for hot dogs and such. I think this cost extra. The restrooms were very nice. On the way back, we stopped briefly to take a pic of the ship. We were dropped off on the mall side so there was a short walk back to the ship. We actuallly went the other way and did the sky ride and got lunch on top/ very good! I’d recommend this excursion and do it again!

 

[Walterm]

We went on Secret Sands a couple days ago. We thought it was great if you’re looking for a chill beach day through Disney- which we were!

We took an open air taxi. There was a cattle call feeling to the line up and walk out, but it ended there. We were fortunate to be on the first taxi. There were about 50 people on this excursion- 2 or 3 taxis full. Once there, we got a short run down that drinks and snacks were included but remember to tip. It wasn’t aggressive.

There were chairs set up for us and we dragged some in the shade of the trees. There were no umbrellas. Once there, the crowd dispersed and it never felt crowded. We got 2.5 hours of beach time. Towards the end, a basic food truck was there for hot dogs and such. I think this cost extra. The restrooms were very nice. On the way back, we stopped briefly to take a pic of the ship. We were dropped off on the mall side so there was a short walk back to the ship. We actuallly went the other way and did the sky ride and got lunch on top/ very good! I’d recommend this excursion and do it again!

Thanks for the info. You have perfect timing…our cruise starts tomorrow!

 

[Chrislovesdisney]

I thought the Magen’s Bay excursion through DCL was great because there was a reserved section of the beach for us, with plenty of chairs and nearby amenities. I’m not a huge beach goer, so i appreciated not having to figure out on my own how to get what was needed for the day. The beach was lovely and you can swim out fairly substantially, from my memory (I’m used to the Atlantic Ocean beaches with strong waves in US northeast). I’d say if you’re looking to spend literally the whole day at the beach, it won’t be long enough. But the excursion seemed long enough for us, and dropped us off in the heart of the market shopping district which was a lot of fun (and then a short walk back to the cruise). I can’t speak to
How Magen’s compared to other beaches on the island.

 

[Jessica Rust]

We went on Secret Sands a couple days ago. We thought it was great if you’re looking for a chill beach day through Disney- which we were!

We took an open air taxi. There was a cattle call feeling to the line up and walk out, but it ended there. We were fortunate to be on the first taxi. There were about 50 people on this excursion- 2 or 3 taxis full. Once there, we got a short run down that drinks and snacks were included but remember to tip. It wasn’t aggressive.

There were chairs set up for us and we dragged some in the shade of the trees. There were no umbrellas. Once there, the crowd dispersed and it never felt crowded. We got 2.5 hours of beach time. Towards the end, a basic food truck was there for hot dogs and such. I think this cost extra. The restrooms were very nice. On the way back, we stopped briefly to take a pic of the ship. We were dropped off on the mall side so there was a short walk back to the ship. We actuallly went the other way and did the sky ride and got lunch on top/ very good! I’d recommend this excursion and do it again!

What time did your excursion leave? We’re going this summer and want to do exactly what you did. Just anxious about having enough time to get up to the top and get back to the ship.

 

[AZMermaid]

What time did your excursion leave? We’re going this summer and want to do exactly what you did. Just anxious about having enough time to get up to the top and get back to the ship.

Hi! There were two options if I remember right. We did the early one. I can't remember the exact time, maybe 9ish. We had plenty of time! We shopped after the sky ride/lunch. It’s all pretty close so you could easily adjust as needed. There wasn’t any real line for the sky tram either way- maybe 4-5 parties. One tip- bring a backpack for towels if you go straight to the skyway. We used the beach bag and it got heavy and awkward!