Most photo ops on Maho and Cinnamon. Those are my two favs all around. Maho has the best sand. Cinnamon has the best memories... Waterlemon for snorkeling.

Hawksnest and Trunk were too crowded and not my favs.

I love STJ and love all the beaches for different reasons, but those are the ones that stand out.

Teresa

If I could only visit one place in St. John, I would pick Waterlemon Cay.

cinnamon ticks all my boxes....thats a purely personal choice,no objectivity at all!!

after that??? leinster bay of course!!!! for one reason only lol

allez les bleus!! :OP

Hi Blu
Hawksnest is tops for me that is where my wifes ashes are. Then its maho so quick and easy to relax. Salomon would be next then watermelon.finaly Francis

Leaving crowds out of it and based on your objectives,

I'll add my .2

Hawksnest - Beauty, Bueaty, Bueaty, Tropical Appeal, Snorkeling
Trunk - Same as above
Honeymoon - Gorgeous beach, snorkeling
Solomon - Tropical Appeal
Cinnamon - Big gorgeous beach

And here's the rest of the top 12

Francis - Good snorkeling, appealing beach
Jumbie - I love this beach but I can't pinpoint why. Jumbie vibes maybe?
Gibney - Pretty and appealing but not a whole lot of beach going on there. Nice vegitation lines.
Caneel - Appealing
Leinster - Away from it all beach
Maho - Good Snorkeling, pretty but not my favorite.
Waterlemon - Great Snorkeling but I'm kind of a sand girl

Bluwater:

All are beautiful! And to make choices more difficult, here's some more to think about--

Not on your list is Salt Pond, Lameshur & Little Lameshur. These are all on south shore with good snorkeling. These could be done in a day stopping at one of the south shore restaurants for lunch. (Miss Lucy's, Shipwreck, Island Blues all have good views & good food.) Salt Pond & Lameshur are rubble-type beaches (rocks/coral). Little Lameshur is a white sand beach.

If you go to Salt Pond, consider the short hike over to Drunk Bay to look at the "art", and to build your own "art". Drunk is not really a place to swim or snorkel. It's just a short hike from Salt Pond. Usually rough surf, big rocks/coral and lots of "stuff" that's washed up in storms that people build things with on the beach. It's a most interesting area.

Liz

My Top 5:

Leinster Bay (Snorkeling)

Where else can you see all this in a single afternoon:

Stingrays
starfish
turtles
barracuda
small shark chasing school of fish
40 mph swimming human being (my 19 year old daughter *) after being told by me I just saw a shark underwater.
* I raised her on Martha's Vineyard, she's still a little worked up about Jaws, so I cut her some slack.

Maho (Best vista)

Trunk Bay (for swimming, sunsets and strolls after 4pm, of course take bug spray)

Hawksnest (I just love it there)

Cinnamon (amazingly long beach, plus all the rental toys if you're into that)

- Murf

Chrisn...i agree with you on Jumbi.

Trunk was so crowded the day we were there that we couldn't find a parking space. We went down the road a little bit and were able to get 2 of the 3 parking spaces across the street. Walked down the wooden steps and very surprised at how pretty it was. The only people there were just us 9. Did a little snorkeling..not perfect, but really cute little fish and very shallow.

Blu

Consider some of the beaches off the beaten track. Salt Pond Bay has great snorkeling, not many people (no cruise ship passengers come this far), some shade, and a lot of natural beauty. Lameshur Bay is a bit out of the way to get to, but worth it. Nice sandy beach, shade, very private, decent snorkeling. Neither of these have facilities anywhere close to Trunk Bay (well, basically no facilities), but neither have the crowds either. Both are really beautiful and still very natural.

I've only been to Waterlemon on STJ. While it isn't the typical beautiful beach (rocky, not very big, etc.) I think the underwater show was the most beautiful! And we liked that it wasn't crowded.

Cinn beach and Big Maho are the best !!!!!

Thanks everyone!!!

I asked because we can only take the dinghy to North Shore beaches. We have been to Hawksnest, Trunk, Cinnamon and Maho...

We have visited Salt Pond, but I didn't like it. I know others LOVE it...but it is too salty, hot and dry for my taste.

Trying to make a list of must-visit beaches for the dinghy ride. I'm sorry we'll miss some of the best South Shore beaches, but the dinghys cannot go past Waterlemon.

Hey Blue

You have to snorkel Waterlemon its a great snorkeling day

Gobucs

Blu,

If you are taking a dinghy, then I would definitly go to Waterlemon Cay, Francis, Leinster, Honeymoon, and Maho.

Waterlemon Cay has great snorkeling but be aware of the current and go with it around the Cay.

I wish I was there.

We took a dinghy last week and were delighted to find that the crowds were very thin at Trunk so early in the AM (we saw maybe 5-10 people). Furthermore with no people in the way, we were able to go right up to the beach (at the far end as indicated by the bouys, of course). We'd been to Trunk before, but this was a nice way to see it. We worked our way around some of the less crowded beaches at our leisure.

Blu,
If you're taking a dinghy, ask about visiting Henley Cay. You can't get there by car!
See you soon!
-Ruth

Ruth,

Thanks for that tip. I've never heard of it.

See you very soon!

Blu,
We just snorkeled at Henley Cay. It was very nice. Everyone in our group enjoyed it. If you take a boat trip go to Sandy Spit. The snorkeling was great and the area is gorgeous.
We enjoyed our day at Trunk. It was beautiful. We went on a day when no ships were in. I don't know how you can go wrong with any of the STJ beaches. They are all beautiful.

my five favorites 1) maho beach 2) jumbie beach 3) honeymoon beach 4) cinnamon beach 5) gibney beach