Sapphire Beach, St-Thomas
by Lise - an avid cruiser
(Written in St-Thomas, USVI)
November 17, 2008
Today we are docked in St-Thomas at CrownBay Center Pier, which is new, to us anyway. It is about 10 minutes by taxi to downtown depending on the traffic. There are not many stores at this pier compared to the Heavensight pier.
We were going snorkeling to our favorite spot in St-Thomas, Sapphire Beach which is on the other side of the island. It costs $11.00 per person one way to get there and takes about 30 minutes. It's a very nice beach, quiet and the snorkeling is also pretty good mostly on the left almost at the end in front of the condos.
They rent snorkeling sets, $5 for 1 hr, $8 for 2 hrs and $10 all day. Chair rental is $7 with not time limit. Soft drinks and beer are sold on the beach. There used to be a restaurant but I think they closed it.
The scenery is very beautiful there. It was a bit windy so the ocean was not that calm but snorkeling was very good anyway. We saw a family of small squids :)
As we were leaving, a local told us that the dark water in the middle of the beach (a bit on the left of the equipment rental shack) is seagrass and there are about 5 turtles and a couple of stingrays living there. You're almost sure to at least see a turtle.
There are always taxis at this hotel so we got one right away and was back on ship around 1:30 just in time for late lunch! (can't miss that!)
Tomorrow is our last day at sea and then we will be anchored at Princess Cay in the Bahamas.
And then it's over until our next cruise!
