Hello Heidi,

You can get the small propane cannisters at the campground or at St. John Hardware.

November is our rainiest month, and typically the bugs are out and about after the rain, particularly mosquitos. Late December and January dry up a lot compared to November though. Rain or not, I'd say be prepared for mosquitos and sand flies by using repellent.

--Islander

Here is a review with some tips from a few months ago by Cathy about staying at Cinnamon Bay.

I stayed at Cinnamon last November in a bare site and in a tent cabin in March. I just used a sarong for a towel, lighter and dried quickly. I'd pack a compactable soft cooler, can pick up ice and propane cannisters at the campground (a little pricey) but found I really didn't cook much. Bring at least one large heavy trash bag to store your stuff out of your tent (please don't forget to pack your rain fly like I did). You'll see the people who have stayed there before have an intricate arrangement of tarps and ropes to do a canopy system. One idea I loved was a couple who had the glow-in-the-dark sticks and hung them outside their tent... that way we could see the path to our site... gets dark early. I loved my magnetic tent light to read by. You'll love it, my only decision last fall was whether to walk around to the right or left of the tree to get to the beach... 28 steps! The beach is abandoned at sunrise, it's all yours.

I went camping iat a bare site at Cinnamon bay a few years ago for about a month. It is a great place. The bathrooms are relatively nice (the showers have a pulldown chain to conserve water) and no matter where you are, your close to the beach. If your planning on snorkeling, its nice to snorkel around the kay in the bay. Also, bring something to keep water in to rinse with and drink.
I was there in the summer, and at night the ghost crabs came out. I don't know if they are there in the winter too, but they are about the size of a football (as i remember) and they scratch at the tent. And the donkeys- we had to put up ropes with cans on them so they wouldn't come in our site and eat our food- but if you are up the mountain a bit more i doubt this will be a problem.
Bug-wise, there were little gnatty things in the sand that bit at your ankles...maybe bring socks...i just scratched at them and it all felt better, but you should definately bring loads of stuff to keep them far away as possible, like repellent, a citranella candle, and anything else you can think of.
Oh yeah, and tarps helped keep our stuff dry and acted as a nice canopy over our picnic table.
If youve checked out the website, then your probably familiar with the fact that they have rentable kyacks, a general store and a restaurant on site.
I think I've told you all I can think of. I hope something in this rant is helpful.

Heidi

Cinnamon Bay is great- some folks cook, some don't- we love to cook and will rent their stove and lantern for an extra 3$ per day- not bad.

The bugs, in my opinion, are always bad whenever we have been there- definitly bring good bug spray and forget the natural lemongrass stuff it is worthless.

The hardware store, as Islander says is good for all kinds of things as well

We will be there Dec 15- Jan. 6th- first time in a bare spot- we have used their tents previously.

karla

Thanks all for your advice. I'll pack the bug spray.
Heidi

Hi,

We are also going to be camping at Cinnamon Bay for the first time. A few questions:

Are there pay phones for phone cards?

We rented a jeep for the last three days of our seven night stay. Is this a mistake? Should we have a jeep for the whole week?

Also, should we worry about our stuff getting stolen out of our tent during the day while we're gone? Any thoughts/advice?

Thanks!
Anne

There are pay phones at the camp ground which should take your phone card info.

We have never rented a car- the 2 of us hitchhike without any problem and meet all sorts of great people along the way.

There is a pretty good honor code in the campground, but I rent a small locker there and put in my cash, plane tickets, credit cards and passport- I think it is a 25 dolllar rental and you get a key.