Jean:

It sounds as though you will be on STJ for 1 day? If that's the case, the National Park beaches on the North shore offer alot of variety and some amenities. These are reachable by taxi for a few dollars and include; Hawksnest, Trunk, Caneel and Cinnamon. Trunk has concessions and showers.

For lunch and shopping, walk around Cruz Bay and tour Mongoose Junction and Wharfside Village. Consider Mongoose Deli, Banana Deck, Joe's Barbecue or Rumbalaya for lunch. Truthfully, STT is built for the shopping, so you may find STJ lacking there.

Hope you enjoy your time on STJ, it's a great place to visit.

Joe

Id stop by Woodys for a cold one and some good food.
Very casual like shorts, It's small a few tables.
I was there 4 days ago..

Jean: Most of the beaches of St John are in the National Park- no umbrellas, chairs, drinks etc like you are probably thinking. The hotel beaches (Caneel and the Westin) will either not allow you to use their chairs or will charge you. If you want food, drinks, chairs and shade, I would recommend Magen's Bay on St Thomas. Also, in March, the beaches are probably going to have other people on them! Alternatively, you could try a day sail perhaps to Buck Island.

Thanks everyone--really appreciate your input. All the cruise boards say to head to STJ for the beaches via Red Hook from STT. From what I understand--Trunk does have everything I was asking about. Now I am confused about that because of above posts. Please clarify this for me. Thanks alot, Jean

Hello Jean,

Trunk Bay or Cinnamon Bay on St. John will have everything you asked for except the umbrellas (I can't think of any beach on St. John that has umbrellas), you can put your things under a tree and enjoy the shade there. Food and drinks will be concession style rather then restuarant.

If you want restaurant, more modern feel then you can go to one of the resort beaches Caneel or Westin.

Just wander around Cruz Bay and Mongoose Junction for shopping, lots of neat stores there and it is not a large area so you can easily window shop through and pick the stores that appeal to you for shopping at.

--Islander

Thanks so much Islander. Jean

You welcome Jean, however do note what East Ender said - if you go to any of the other National Park beaches besides Trunk and Cinnamon there won't be facilities so keep that in mind if you decide to beach hop to other beaches.

Have a great time.

--Islander

Getting married at Westin in June. I will have a group of 10-20 people. Any suggestions for group activities besides a sunset sail?

Can't wait till June!

MB

PS: Any suggestions for local bars/resturants?

Marcus, set this up as a seperate topic or new thread and you will get more responses.

Hello Marcus,

Congrats. Your group - will they always be hanging out together or do some have different likes and activities they want to do - even though you are traveling together for the wedding it can be a downer on a vacation when you are forced to do what the group wants to do all the time when you might have some other interest - so I would say send an e-mail or talk to all those attending and have them give you feedback on what interest them - give them choices too.

Things you could do; sightsee around St. John by car - you can take a day doing this; go hiking one day and hang on the beach after hiking; shopping in Cruz Bay another day, day trip to St. Thomas another day, day trip to the BVI's if interested, fishing for anyone who likes to fish, snorkeling and beach day, a beach picnic/party - bring your drinks, buy a cooler, bring food, chips, ect.

Nighttime - nice dinners and drinks, bar scene you can try Duffys, Skinny Legs, Woodys, Island Blues, there are others too.

--Islander

Thanks for the info Islander. My fiance and I are planning activities for the guys in the group, and the women in the group. I am sure all the women will have interest in shopping and exploring the island! I was thinking about a possible round of golf for the guys. What is the best golfing close to St. Johns? Are there any websites I can visit to book tee times? Any info is appreiciated.

Thanks,
Marcus

The Westin will allow you to use their beach and chairs at no cost, and will also serve you drinks on the beach. IMO, it's not one of the nicer beaches though. That doesn't mean it's a bad beach, it's just not perfection like Cinnamon or Trunk, or Hawksnest, or Jumbee, or.........

The list goes on and on.

Hello,

There is mini-golf on St. John 🙂

If you want to play regular golf you can go to St. Thomas' Mahogany Run.

http://www.mahoganyrungolf.com/

--Islander