St. Thomas Port Excursions - Trunk Bay Beach and Snorkel OR St. John Champagne Catamaran Sail

[jlasala]

We're considering 2 port adventures in St. Thomas... the Trunk Bay Beach and Snorkel OR St. John Champagne Catamaran Sail and Snorkel. Has anyone here done both of these? Or have you done one and would you recommend it? I'd love more information. For both of them it looks like you only get 1 1/2 hours on the beach, but it may be that it's enough and it's nice that it's all taken care of for you. Another option is just to take a ferry to St. John and then a taxi to Trunk Beach. Any thoughts? I've seen positive reviews for both.

 

[dolly25]

We couldn't decide either. I had wanted to do the champagne catamaran but my husband couldn't figure our why we are on a cruise, get off and cruise to an island. I looked into taking the ferry on own. So we said screw it and we are going zip-lining. I can't find much about the zip line. Good luck.

 

[jlasala]

I was looking at a zipline excursion in San Juan, but it was already sold out. The beaches and snorkeling in St. John are suppose to be so nice, I think we're going to stick with one of these.

 

[Funky Chicken]

Trunk Bay is beautiful. We did the DCL snorkel excursion last year.
Next time we plan to take a cab to Red Hook and ferry over ourselves. A little riskier than a ship excursion
but it avoids the long ferry ride from Charlotte Amalie on open water. We had a very rough ride last time and the Red Hook ferry is a shorter smoother ride. YMMV

 

[Jerzee73]

We couldn't decide either. I had wanted to do the champagne catamaran but my husband couldn't figure our why we are on a cruise, get off and cruise to an island. I looked into taking the ferry on own. So we said screw it and we are going zip-lining. I can't find much about the zip line. Good luck.

Have stayed in St Thomas in excess of 25 times. Never thought of zip lining & never spoke to anybody who had. If you want to do it just for the sake of ziplining, fine, but the only views would be of the harbor & you can get better views just taking a ride to Magen's Bay or elsewhere on the island.
Not a giant St Thomas fan, but use it as a home base to visit St John & the BVI.
Magen's Bay can be nice, although crowded where the entrance is. This is where most cruise ship people go.

 

[BuzzLightyearInTampa]

Trunk Bay is my favorite beach I've ever been to. It is beautiful, serene and the water is crystal clear, which offers great snorkeling from the beach. And the best part is that, because it's in a national park, there are no annoying beach vendors. It truly is a slice of paradise. When we've been, we always had young child with us, so we use the DCL excursion. If it were just adults, I'd opt for the longer stay by going it alone.

 

[jlasala]

Great to know. Thanks everyone. One more piece of info would help. If anyone has done the Champagne Cat tour - I was wondering if it's too much of a party boat for kids. I see a few have taken kids on it, but with the free drinks on the return trip it seems like it could get too rowdy for kids. When I read reviews on trip advisor it seems that way, but when I have seen a few reviews by parents with kids, it seems OK. Any personal experience here?

 

[saintrob]

Trunk Bay Beach is beautiful - when we were last in St Thomas we went on a DCL excurtion over to St John and did an island tour in an open top mini bus.

 

[dolly25]

Have stayed in St Thomas in excess of 25 times. Never thought of zip lining & never spoke to anybody who had. If you want to do it just for the sake of ziplining, fine, but the only views would be of the harbor & you can get better views just taking a ride to Magen's Bay or elsewhere on the island.
Not a giant St Thomas fan, but use it as a home base to visit St John & the BVI.
Magen's Bay can be nice, although crowded where the entrance is. This is where most cruise ship people go.

Thank You.

 

[The Federico Family]

Our friends charter is amazing! We met them down there in Septemebr! Check them out! You won't be disappointed ! Look on trip advisor and FB! Motor Yacht Cinnamon Bay! https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=958195430871789&id=342701432421195

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

I have done trunk bay and honeymoon bay, it is very good but note "for experienced" snorkelers only, good swimmers, as you put your gear on, on ship and jump off into the water, there is one set of slippery steps but as the boat doesn't dock you have to go down and put your flippers on in the sea. No private changing facilities. Honeymoon bay is better to get on and off,

 

[Alexle2007]

We did the Trunk Bay excursion and absolutely loved it!!!! The beach is gorgeous! DS 8 was in the water the entire time. I wish we were going there again but our April Fantasy cruise stops in San Juan sadly.

 

[Jerzee73]

You really can't appreciate the true beauty of Trunk Bay by just taking a boat over & snorkeling around. It is beautiful & it's beauty is much more appreciated when driving to it & seeing it from above. Beautiful yes, but extremely touristy. One of the major benefits it has are the bathrooms & showers, that aren't all that nice.
There are other beaches that I think are less touristy & really nice, St John has many different beaches. Personally taking the ferry from Red Hook & then renting a jeep for the day is the best idea, if you have 4 or 5 people. Very easy to find your way around the island, since there is basically 1 road outside the town. Roads are exciting though, curves & steep while driving on the left. Basically, can get from the far end of the island back to the ferry dock in 20 minutes. There is no traffic!
I like very quiet St Francis Bay & have recommended Skinny Legs on the far side of the island for lunch.

 

[VS85]

I did the Champagne Catamaran excursion in October. You take a 20 minute bus ride to where the boat is docked and then sail over to a small beach in St. John - the ride is about 40 minutes. Then you have an hour and a half to snorkel, lay on the beach, or stay on the catamaran. The snorkeling wasn't too thrilling, but I did see lots of fish and a sting ray (no turtles). I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen, and the sand on the beach was as soft as powder. I wish the time on the beach was longer, but the time we had and the money we spent on the excursion was absolutely worth it.

I didn't find the ride back to St. Thomas to be an overly-party atmosphere. There were lots of families (I was there with my cousin) and it was actually kind of relaxing. Most people were pretty wiped from the snorkeling. The crew is really welcoming and they do bring out the rum punch and champagne and nibbles and encourage everyone to have a good time. Most people were sipping their drinks and enjoying the view. Nobody was wasted or anything. I think they knew that the excursion was from a disney ship so it would be a little more tame, rather than say a group of twenty-somethings off Carnival.

I would not hesitate to book this excursion again if I ever went back. The boat is clean, the crew is really friendly, and the gear is well maintained. The food and drink on the way back was a welcome sight - I forgot how much snorkeling can work up an appetite. Don't be fooled by "champagne" in the title though... It is not a luxury yacht

Whichever you choose, I hope you have a great time!

 

[TAK]

I just want to echo what VS85 said above. That was our exact experience with the Champagne Catamaran sail. I love catamaran sailing and thought the ride there and back was beautiful. And Honeymoon beach is a slice of paradise.

My husband snorkeled but I did not, and rode the dinghy to the beach. Easy. I played in the waves. Crystal clear water. We're most likely taking the excursion again, we liked it so much.

 

[Bree]

We also did the Champagne Catamaran. The beach was awesome, but snorkeling not so much. It was crowded because there were 6 boats there. My kids and I saw nothing and my DH saw a fish. Next time I will probably just go to the beach or hire a private tour.

 

[MrRay]

You can find our experience with the Champagne Catamaran tour here ... To sum up though, we saw a few turtles and had a great time swimming and didn't think the trip back was rowdy at all... The tour does happen pretty early in the day, I think we got back to the ship shortly after noon.

 

[tigger2002]

We took a taxi, really an open air bus, to Sapphire Beach and it was beautiful and great snorkeling.

.

 

[Jerzee73]

We took a taxi, really an open air bus, to Sapphire Beach and it was beautiful and great snorkeling.




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For the truly adventurous, the best snorkeling I've seen on St. John can only be reached by renting a car. Completely on the far side of the island from the ferry, that goes to Cruz Bay. The snorkeling is close to Coral Bay, where Skinny Legs is for lunch, drinks, & some shopping for souvenirs. Best spot is Haulover Bay, where you'd have to park on the street & maybe walk a 100 yards thru the trees. People at Skinnys could give you exact way to find it. Hurricane Hole is also pretty good. These places don't have sandy beaches, more like stones or rocky. Have to find a sandy opening where you can jump in to the water, where there aren't sea urchins. This is good stuff, but you should be a good swimmer (although once you're in the water, everything is extremely close) with a bit of adventure. Usually you'd be the only people at either location. Places like Trunk Bay or Honeymoon Bay aren't in the same league, but they are easy to reach & have Sandy beaches.

 

[TAK]

OP, what's your main focus for the excursion -- beach or snorkel? I think that might help narrow down your decision.