We are a family of 7 that need to find a nice beach to spend a day as a shore excursion at St. Thomas. Where can we go that has beach chairs, sand, snorkeling, and food/drinks? Thanks

Best bet is to avoid Meghans Bay...too crowded..I would take the ferry to St. John, jump on the bus and ask the driver to let you off....beaches are gorgeous..

Coki Beach is very nice and you can snorker right off the beach.

Try Coki Beach. You can snorkel right from the beach.

First, I would not sign up for a beach tour or taxi from the cruise ship. They pack as many people as they can into vans and your family might sit and wait up to 45 minutes for your "taxi" to fill up.The drivers have to pay a fee to enter the cruise ship area and this forces them to get as many people as possible into one van. Walk just outside of the cruise ship area and get your own van. Make sure to negotiate a price ahead of time. <BR>You have a choice of St. Johns or St. Thomas. You can take a cab to Red Hook and get the ferry there. There are great beaches in St. John, but you will lose time coming and going. Avoid Trunk Bay unless you love crowds. <BR>In St. Thomas, Magens Bay is a 10 - but it gets very crowded as does Coki. You can cab it to Sapphire beach which has fantastic snorkeling and a pretty decent restaurant.There are chairs to rent there as well. <BR>Speak with the shore excursion people on your cruise ship.They will know which hotels might welcome you for the day. Some hotels do this because cruise passengers bring in extra money for their bars and restaurants. I recently stayed at the Ritz in St. Thomas and there were several days when a few cruise passengers came in and used the beach. I have no idea if they paid or what but the folks on your ship will be able to tell you how to do this. <BR>A final choice would be to take a local boat excursion for snorkeling and a half day at the beach. There are several boats in Red Hook that do this. This is lots of fun, a little more private, but it can be costly. Your cruise ship excursion directors can tell you which captains are reputable. <BR>Hope this helps.....have fun!!

You can go it on your own - but taxis do charge per person per trip - or you can take the ships' excursion. Magen's Bay is a lovely beach and Coki does draw the cruisers for the snorkling. You can head to other beaches for lunch and swimming - some may restrict you to not using chairs on the beach. If you want to go to St. John, again carefully examine the ferry schedule to not miss the ship when it leaves. Trunk is a popular destination but if you go on your own, it'll be a $4 fee for admission plus the per person taxi fee. The bus, if it is even running, is not a reliable alternate. You might want to stop at Honeymoon or Hawksnest for the swimming and snorkling with proximity to Cruz Bay - but no chairs and no facilities. Cinnamon and Trunk are the only beaches, not hotel related, on St. John that offer what you want with chairs, etc.

Secret Harbor is a nice,usually uncrowded beach on St. Thomas. There is a nice restaurant and great snorkeling very close to shore.