Date of Visit: April 2013 Definitely the most unique of the beaches that we visited while on our recent trip to STJ and STT, here are a few thoughts: Location: 5 out of 5 I bet that if done right, you could probably walk from the airport to the beach. I mean, it wouldn’t be a super close walk, but you could probably do it. Actually, if you’re carrying a lot of stuff, you might as well get a cab. The beach itself is located on the campus of the University of the Virgin Islands, but it’s not like you have to drive out of the way through the campus to get to it. There’s street parking along the beach, and I saw a parking lot too across the median. Amenities/Commodities: 4 out of 5 Not that bad of a place. There’s a little house that has a changing area/shower/bathroom in it, and it was clean and well-maintained. Looking for food or drink? While it doesn’t have a restaurant, two very entrepreneurial food trucks are usually set up, serving a mix of island cuisine and Americana. Want some Johnny Cakes stuffed with salted fish? Sure. Want some chips, burgers, or hot dogs? Yep. Want some roti? Yes I! There is not, however, a shop where you can buy sundries or rent watersports equipment, which is just as fine for me. There are, however, a lot of picnic tables in the area, and lots of open grass where you can set up canopies and the like. Ambiance/Seclusion: 3.5 out of 5 This is the thing, right? The beach itself is quite beautiful, and I saw that some of the boat owners who had moored their vessels in the bay had taken their dinghys to the beach, tied them up, and slept in hammocks up in the trees. All very idyllic, and the rocky and pebbly sand gives it a different touch and feel than any other of the beaches. But wait… what’s that noise, and what’s that coming down(or up?) Why, it’s the airplanes that land and take off from STT airport. If you time your visit right, you may not see any of the commercial airliners take off or land, but since we had quite a bit of time that day to spend at the beach, we saw maybe 6 or 7 commercial flights all land in succession, not more than 5 — 10 minutes apart from one another.(see my pictures) Locals only rating: 5 out of 5 I am happy to report that there were very few tourists on the day that we went. As a matter of fact, the fiancé and I might have been the only two non island dwellers. I saw a few older women swimming around, a few families having a bbq, and the most interesting part was watching two guys clean conch meat that they had previously busted out of shells. Being the inquisitive type, I wanted to see what they were doing, and they were very open about showing me the process — and get this, even gave me a taste of fresh conch. That stuff is going HAMMMMMM! Overall: 4 out of 5 Definitely worth a visit, especially if you have a child(or child like person) in your family who is fascinated by airplanes landing and taking off next to the beach. This isn’t the same intensity as what you would find at St. Barts or St. Maarten, but you’ll still get to see some airplanes. I particularly liked the fact that there were food trucks lined up on the street, and that it was visited by mainly locals on the day we went.
Davis T.
Place rating: 5 Irvine, CA
this is a beach ride next to the airport and to the university of the virgin islands. i guess because of this there are not many people so its virtually empty. its a really nice beach though with clear waters and the occasional fish jumping out of the water and some stingrays. no lifeguards on duty
