My other two favorites are Salomon and Maho.

Little Lamshur for sure. But you need a 4 wheel drive or similiar. We were the only ones there and the coral is pretty good.

I love maho and honeymoon

Just got back from Gibney an hour ago so that one for sure. . . . and then probably Francis. I like the quiet ones.

how do you get to gibney. I have always wanted to find it but seem to run out of time. I will be on the islands for a couple of weeks in january and I think it would be the perfect time to find it

Thanks all for the suggestions. We won't have a 4 wheel drive, so I guess we have to be careful fgetting to some beaches.

I'm going to be taking a poll, so keep the suggestions coming.

Connie,
You really should purchase the book "St. John Beach Guide". It's available on this forum. It is a wealth of beach information.

And while waiting for your copy, you can taste the free appetizer:

http://www.stjohnbeachguide.com/

Chriss,

Gibney: travel east on North Shore Road to an iron gate on your left that would read "Oppenheimer." if some of the letters were not missing.

You should start looking for the gate after you pass Hawksnest. I guess Gibney used to be part of Hawksnest. The two entrances, Hawksnest and Gibney (Oppenheimer) are very close.

Park along, but off of, the road here and walk through the door in the gate, then along the path to the beach.

Lex, that's a great website. Gives me something to do on this boring day at work.

Eagles...i do have that book.... Just wanted to get an idea of what beaches people on this forum like.

See Blu's directions but want to add that in January Gibney has very little beach left due to the high surf from the "Christmas Winds" etc

Pia

Honeymoon, Hawksnest and Jumbie. Gibney is a really pretty beach but there is not a whole lot of beach going on so others appeal to me more.

I have to go with Jumbie and Little Cinnamon (not the tourist Cinnamon but little Cinnamon), Jumbie is great because there are only 4 parking spaces for the beach so you have to get there early and there is very rarely more than 8 or 10 people on the small beach. Little Cinnamon a bit of a hike through a very roughed out trail, including climbing a bit over rocks and downed trees but worth the hike. We've been there every year and only one time was there anyone on the beach but us and they came by a dinghy.

Connie: Since you're going to be based on STT, I'd suggest you look into either a day sail, cat or powerboat deal. There are numerous available, catering to anywhere from four to fifty passengers depending on your druthers with all else inbetween. Many of them "park up" at two or three STJ sites (some not easily accessible by road access.)

If your druthers is to just take the car barge and drive over to STJ, then hit every beach en route. Jumbie early AM, segue into (and not necessarily in order) Cinnamon, Trunk, Lillie Maho, Maho, Salt Pond. So many and so little time but every beach on STJ has its own special place and time - as do the STT beaches.

Try not to regiment your schedule too much. Cheers!

Salt Pond is not one of my favorites (i can explain why if anyone cares), so keep that in mind when i say that I think Salt Pond (if you really WANT to go there) is a destination in itself due to the hot hike in and out. I don't really see it as a "stop along the way" kind of beach.

What's the level of receptiveness like for someone who might want to land a dinghy at Peter Bay?

The 2 of us had Little Cinnamon to ourselves. Very beautiful- if you want to make the hike. Also, we like Francis.

BUT, it depends on what you want from a beach. Like Blu says, Salt Pond not the most beautiful but guaranteed a tan and a great beach for snorkel beginners. All are great in their own way.

Salomon also one of our favorites but also a bit of a hike.

Salt pond has a great snorkel area out at the rocks you see in the middle of the bay. Not for beginners as is a fair amount of swimming to get there. Watch the right side (looking from the beach) if there is any surf as it tends to push you towards to rocks pretty quick.

You can enter from the south side of the beach. Watch for urchins.

There is also a sea turtle in the bay to check out.

Salt pond was one of my most interesting days this last trip. I had an interesting time with the local population and can share some thoughts if anyone is interested.

Ric

My reasons for not feeling akin to Salt pond are pretty basic....

It was a really hot day.
We hiked in and carried things.
I have fair skin and burn easily.
Shade was nowhere to be found and the place was BLAZING
SP has those little burrs in the sand that prick you and stick to your towels, etc
Going into the water was little relief because the water was thick with salt - not refreshing at all
So, now I'm burnt with no sight of shade, have burrs in my skin, and can bathe in a salty paste for relief - oh joy!
Coming out of the water made me feel like I had been through some kind of dehydration process with the sun and the salt
After all that, you get to hike BACK up to the car.

But, we did see the 2 turtles and the stingray who seemed to be their friend!

We did see that some smart visitors brought those pop-up beach cabana tent things. That might have helped us.

(sigh) I always say never to shun anything after just one try. Maybe I'll try it again now that I have learned to love SPF50 and zinc.

The most fantabulous place was WATERLEMON CAY...we saw hundreds of colorful starfish, sea turtles, spotted rays, colorful fish, fauna, flora...the best snorkeling memory I have yet!