Frances is a great beach and one our favorites. Are you only there for a day?? There are so many beach to choose from.

My family has a condo on Sapphire and we usually spend one of our days on STJ.

Gibney Beach is a nice beach to try out and there is ample shade. Kind of a cool history too which you check out online. One of the downsides is the very limited parking. Here's some quick info I cut from the web: "Gibney Beach is 0.3 mile east of Hawksnest Bay or 2.1 miles east of Mongoose junction on Route 20. You will enter via the second driveway on your left after passing Hawksnest Beach. Limited parking is available in places where you can pull your vehicle completely off the road. Enter the driveway through the door in the iron gate and walk down the driveway to the shore."

My wife and I usually spend a day at Gibney during our annual trips to STJ. Francis Beach is nice too and Maho is fun, you can drive right up to the sand.

ENJOY!

Francis Bay is one of the nicest long sandy beaches on STJ. It's part of the broader Maho Bay, and so there usually are many sail boats moored in the area. There is excellent snorkeling towards the right-hand side, once you've come to the beach; if you are snorkelers, you won't be disappointed though it can be a long somewhat tiring swim if you go all the way out the point. Another plus is there is a porta-potty or two in the parking lot (but no other concessions or services). Parking usually isn't a problem.

Only drawback is that (in our experience) Francis Bay can have lots of noseeums, especially later in the afternoon.

What do you want from your beach? Your answer will help make the recommendation easier as STJ has so many options.

PS
We like Francis and always find turtles amongst the sea grass fields.

Soft sand, calm waters, and breath taking!

I'm on board with Maho, as well as Francis. Both have wonderful snorkeling, a short walk if any to the beach from the car, and Maho Bay campgrounds are between them if you want to check out Little Maho, as well.
We often replenish our drinks/food stuffs at the campgrounds while at Maho as it's a lot closer than having to drive back to town.
There are no showers/toilets or other facilities at Big Maho , so you might want to consider a different beach if that concerns you.
Trunk & Cinnamon have both eateries, and toilets/showers if you need those accommodations.
Have fun!
Smiles-
MJ

Ryn1 you said you are looking for "Soft sand, calm waters, and breath taking!"... that's pretty much all the popular beaches on St. John, many of which are on the Northshore. 😀 If you are renting a car on St. John or bringing one over from St. Thomas, you could stop at a couple beaches. Actually you could do that by taxi too. You didn't mention snorkeling in your beach wants but if you like to snorkel you might also consider Leinster Bay/snorkeling at Waterlemon.

--Islander