We’ve already moved on to South America, but I still haven’t told you about a couple of our favorite beaches during the cruising portion of our trip. Here’s one:
Just about every Caribbean cruise seems to stop in St. Thomas. The higher duty-free allowances for US citizens have turned the capital port of Charlotte Amalie into a giant shopping mall, full of pushy vendors and sunburned tourists.
It’s never been my favorite port of call, and I expected we’d stay on the ship most of the 7 times we were scheduled to stop there.
On the first visit, we bypassed the shopping scene and headed straight for Magen’s Bay, which was nice, but crowded. The taxi driver who drove us back to the ship suggested that next time we try Sapphire Beach instead. Two weeks later, we took his advice and took the longer (and slightly more expensive) cab ride to the eastern coast of the island, not sure what to expect.
Here is what we found at the end of that cab ride:
Observe the beautiful white sand and crystal blue (sapphire?) waters. Just beneath is some of the best snorkeling I’ve seen in the Caribbean.
Notice the relatively few number of tourists, nearly outnumbered by the resident waterfowl. (ducks escaped from a nearby aquarium during a past hurricane)
There are lounge chairs & floating mats for rent (plus kayaks and windsurfing boards), and nearby food and drink stands, too. The whole place has a wonderfully laid-back vibe, with no vendors except for a wandering bartender from a nearby restaurant.
The only thing this beach doesn’t have is clean bathrooms. You see, there used to be a full-blown restaurant, bar and gift shop here, but when it closed due to legal problems the bathroom maintenance went with it. Still, skanky bathrooms are a small price to pay to keep throngs of tourists away from our little paradise.
We ended up coming back to Sapphire 3 more times in October & November. We probably would’ve gone back there every time, but one night our Maitre’d suggested we try Emerald Beach instead.
Could it really be any better than this?
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No wonder they call it Sapphire Beach. It might be the most pristine looking water I’ve seen. I’m sure the pix don’t do it as much justice but they’re good nonetheless.
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