I can only imagine you must have come right after a big storm and a North swell as this sort of situation at Magens is almost unheard of. Totally unusual!

WE HAVE BEEN MANY TIME OFF THE CARNIVAL SHIP IN JAN OR FEB AND WE STAYED 10 DAYS IN MARCH AND THIS WAS A FIRST THAT IT WAS EVER LIKE THAT. LOOKING FORWARD TO VISITING AGAIN IT IS SUCH A BEAUTIFUL AND FRIENDLY PLACE. WOULD LOVE TO LIVE THERE

I only went once and had a bad experience with the visuals. I said I would not go back but have since been coaxed into giving it another chance. When we went it was in the morning, around 9:30 a.m. until around 12:30 p.m. When we first got there it was a little breezy, cloudy, and a little rain but a lot of drizzle. The overall views are pretty amazing, but what shocked me was how "brown" the water was and how the waves could almost knock you over. It stayed like this the entire 3 hours. I have to say I still found it amazing walking along that beach and looking at the hills/mountains all around. It was quite impressive. I just figured there was no way that little light rain could churn up the water so much and that Magens water was just not worth it. Immediately after Magens we went over to Smith Bay. Now this is the water I wanted to see! The views were great and the water was just so incredible I couldn't stop raving about it. Long story short after discussing this day with some locals and voicing my negative opinion of Megans at the time, I was told about how easily the water can get churned up. I'm not saying Magens can get as clear as Smith Bay, but after talking to others and seeing plenty of pictures of Magens I do know the water can be much calmer and clearer than when I saw it and would definitely love to go back and will be going back in a couple of months.

That being said, do any of the locals or frequent visitors know if there is something about Magens that just causes waves and the churned up water easier than other beaches? I just know I have read some others that had negative thoughts and reviews on Magens, but I think they just caught it at a time similar to what I saw and will never give it another chance. I just want to reassure those that might have had a one time bad experience with the water that it can be quite stunning (and of course reassure myself).

Overall and on a daily basis Magens Bay is probably the calmest water in ST Thomas - there are some days when a North swell will bring some waves - Secret Harbor whiches faces SW is a good calm choice those days.

Give megan's another chance. The wind / swell was most likely coming form a weird direction, especialy since you state that "mith Bay (lindquist?) was calmer. Look at a map. The Megan's beach is at the base of very large bay and protected at the neck by a big island. Takes just right mix of moon, swell, wind and storm to bring in legit waves. I can't explain the brown part , because the vast majority of the bay is sandy and seagrass free. However I have been at megans durring some strong winter swell. I can rembemer onetime three years ago when we boogie boarded all day on 2-3 ft sets. Your taxi driver should know if the conditions at megans are rough.

Brown water is a result of run-off water from the surrounding hillsides after a heavy rain, usually.
There are times when we have ground seas that create large surf and churn up the water.
Magens Bay is normally a drop dead gorgeous beach.
If one side of the island has these conditions with the ground seas, the other side will likely be calm.
As for brown water - best to stay out of it until the bay flushes itself out as runoff has all sorts of contaminants.
There are so many beaches to choose from.

I did want to make sure I made clear it was not really a horrible "brown". It was not like Lake Michigan. It was just different for most of the Caribbean, and I am sure it was just the exact timing we were there because I have seen other pictures where it is much more clear. In about 2 months I will give it a couple more tries. What Alana mentioned about the runoff does make sense, especially since there was rain and the bay seems much more surrounded by runoff type hills/mountains compared to the other locations we visited (Smith's, Sapphire, by the Ritz and by the Best Western). Can't wait to see it on a calm and clear day!

magens bay is normally flat and clear, but when there are storms, either runoff or odd swells can blow her skirts around. i'd give her another try too! it's where i learned to swim because of the lack of waves. i'm such a scaredy-kat. *-)

Why are you yelling?

Lovely_Star wrote:
Why are you yelling?

lol, must be excited