"St.John Trunk Bay Beach & Snorkel" REPORT - Cruise Line Fans: Cruise Forum, Reviews and Chat From Real Cruisers

LuLu · 03-01-2009, 03:32 PM

"St.John Trunk Bay Beach & Snorkel"

Ships Excursion - 4 1/2 Hours

Ours was from 10:30 AM -- 3:00 PM and every minute was enjoyable!

A nice big tour boat picked us up directly at the ship ... actually, between our ship and another ... just steps away. The 45 minute ride to St.John was lovely as always ... various spots of interest were pointed out along the way. Bottled water, canned Cokes, etc. were sold.

Air-conditioned minibusses were ready and waiting for us when we arrived in St.John. It was a short pretty ride to Trunk Bay (about 15 minutes). We stopped twice briefly for "photo opts".

Trunk Bay was GREAT! White soft sand - "Fish-Bowl" clear calm blue water - Immaculately Clean!

Those who wanted to snorkel were given equipment and directed to the "Underwater Snorkel Trail" ... which we've done before and is quite nice.

This time we headed immediately for the beach. Chairs could be rented but no umbrella was needed -- ample shade. The snorkel trail area looked a bit crowded ... but the beach really was NOT. We were there for two full hours. The snack bar had beer, etc.

The return trip was fun! Everyone on the tour boat was laughing and talking. Also, they now had some very tasty rum punch for sale!

My DH loved this excursion because there was NO waiting for taxis or having to worry about the ferry schedule -- absolutely NO down time whatsoever!

We had a WONDERFUL day!

houch · 03-01-2009, 06:35 PM

LuLu,
This sounds wonderful. I have yet to get to ST John. Had one booked tour cancelled for lack of sign ups, bummer. I'm not much good at snorkeling but would have loved to have spent 2 hours at the beach. Maybe someday......

canarymoon · 03-01-2009, 07:16 PM

Wow - so glad to hear this was a great day, AND that the water was clear!
My ONE trip to Trunk Bay followed closely n the heels of a tropical storm. the water was very shoppy, and nycg bttin cabd abd itger sukt was suspended in the water. Part of the sorkel trail was even closed, due to dangerous waves near the rocks

I filly intend to return some day, and hope to have a day like the one you describe, Lulu.

Thanks for posting this!

MD11F · 03-01-2009, 07:56 PM

Nice trip LuLu. I loved St John's and Trunk Bay when we were on the Crown Princess in 2006. We also went to Caneel Bay, Cinamon Bay and the Old Sugar Mill.

LuLu · 03-19-2009, 01:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MD11F

Nice trip LuLu. I loved St John's and Trunk Bay when we were on the Crown Princess in 2006. We also went to Caneel Bay, Cinamon Bay and the Old Sugar Mill.

Agree with you for sure!

Honestly, we've never been anyplace on St.John that we didn't like very much!

Joy · 03-19-2009, 04:36 PM

my friend, Cynthia, owns the snorkel gear at Trunk Bay...........funny, but the 5 times I have been there, she wasn't working on those days......when you see her again, tell her that JOY says hello

I have a cruise booked in May, but not heading Eastern this time

canarymoon · 03-20-2009, 09:44 AM

Son and family are spending a week on St John this week. I toll him to be sure to go to Trunk Bay while there.

travelmom · 03-29-2009, 04:56 PM

Thanks for the post, LuLu. We are debating this one... we really want to tour the island and even possibly hike a bit though and can't decide between a booked ship excursion and heading out on our own. Ship docks in St. Thomas (Royal Car.) at 8 am and we would like to be off and running by 8:05 am to beat the crowds and the mid-day sun/heat.
Pros/cons to booking with cruise line vs. doing it yourself as you have been there several times?

canarymoon · 04-01-2009, 08:30 PM

If you want to go to Trunk Bay - or any place on St John, for that matter, I find it more convenient to go through the cruiseline, because it is on a separate island.
However, there are others who are comfortable with taking the ferry over, and can probably give you details on that.

LuLu · 07-09-2009, 06:26 PM

Per Canarymoon, yes, you certainly go to St. John from St. Thomas on you own. If you want to be there all day, that's the way to do it! On land trips that's the way we did it.

My DH liked this one because we had no downtime whatsoever waiting for the ferry or taxis. The full excursion was fun -- no waiting! He hates to wait!