One day on St Thomas- what to do?
 

I'll be in St Thomas on a cruise ship in January with my husband & 2 kids, ages 3 & 4. We're looking for some ideas as to what to do as none of the cruise excursions really appeal to us. We'd love to do either a sailboat trip which would be appropriate with the kids or just go to a nice beach for the day. We've been to St JOhn several times on vacation so we are just considering taking the ferry over there for the day and maybe going to Hawksnest. I think that would be very doable on our own but I just want to make sure we'd have enough time for the taxis & ferries & all that. Do you know where can I find a ferry schedule on line? Are there any beaches on St Thomas that are just as nice so we could avoid the whole ferry thing with the kids. Facailities would be nice (esp food), but not mandatory. My husband hates crowds so we'd love to go somewhere that all the other cruise passengers won't be at. Thanks for your suggestions!

we really like Sapphire Beach -- great snorkeling, nice for swimming and sunning. you can rent snorkel equipment and lounges, but must bring your own towel. it is on ocean side, but sheltered from the strong waves by St. John and Jost Van Dyke.
for the kids, you may enjoy Coral World (one of my favorite places -- see the fish without getting wet). we spend a week in St. Thomas almost every January, and stay at Sapphire, and plan a day trip to Coral World, and also like shopping, the Great House on St. Peter Mountain and looking at Magan's Bay. If you want a sailboat trip, I recommend reserving in advance; there are sailboat trips available from the Sapphire Marina.
Sapphire is on East end of island -- east of Coral World and Coki Beach.
when anayone in my family takes a cruise, they always spend at least half a day at Sapphire.

Here are the ferry schedules:

http://tinyurl.com/ylpnao

How busy the beaches are will depend on how many ships are in port that day. You could go out to Secret Harbour which is usually pretty quiet & has nice calm water. Just take a taxi there. There's also a restaurant. Or you could go to Elysian Beach Resort for a nice little beach with restaurant available.

You could also take the Atlantis submarine trip which you and the kids should enjoy. Atlantis is based at the main Cruise Ship Dock, Havensight.

I agree about Sapphire Beach being wonderful. I don't know how busy it gets with ship passengers but it's really pretty.

Just an FYI here, the restaurant and bar at Sapphire beach has closed. Apparently, the owners ran into back tax issues with the gov't.

We were on a cruise last December and I booked my own trip through Shoretrips.com. We went snubaing on St. John. We had to get our own transportation over there, but it is beautiful with wonderful beaches. The ferrys run often, but must take cab from ship to ferrys. Worth it.

You can check which ships will be in port here http://www.vinow.com/general_usvi/cruiseship/
This will help you determine if the beaches might be crowded. Personally I would take the ferry to St Johns. If the ferry schedule doesn't work for you on your return to Charlotte Amalie, you can return to Red Hook and taxi it back. Or go to Magen's Bay. I was there two weeks ago on a day that had 3 ships in and it wasn't crowded at all. www.Shoretrips.com is a good for booking your own excursions, and so is www.portcompass.com.

For kids 3 and 4 years old, I'd definitely plan Coral World. Coki Beach there is a nice beach for swimming and snorkeling, even if it can get busy at times. Magens Bay is gorgeous but heavy with cruise ship folks. To avoid crowds, you could go over to STJ and either go to Hawksnest or Cinnamon if you want some facilities. Hawksnest has no food, but Cinnamon has a snack bar. Cinnamon is not as busy as Trunk. Trunk Bay of course has facilities but is the primary cruise ship scene. If you opt to go to STJ, I'd stop at Mongoose Junction for a little shopping and pick up a picnic lunch at the gourmet deli and then to Hawksnest for some beach time.