St. Thomas’ Magens Bay is widely known for its white-sand beach and its turquoise waters
CHARLOTTE AMALIE,
ST. THOMAS,
U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS:
Legend has it that Sir Francis Drake regularly anchored in Magens Bay with its spectacular white-sand beaches.
The 16th-century British privateer also reportedly hung out on the hillsides above Magens Bay in order to spot approaching Spanish galleons filled with gold and silver.
Today that spot on the north side of St. Thomas above Magens Bay is known as Drake’s Seat and is a tourist attraction. There are a handful of parking places, plus a beer-swilling donkey. It’s a regular stop for cabs and tourist buses.
Even from nearly 1,500 feet above, the waters of Magens Bay are a Navajo turquoise beyond belief. The British Virgin Islands fill the horizon.
But Magens Beach is probably the biggest tourist attraction on St. Thomas, a one-time haunt for pirates like Blackbeard and Capt William Kidd.
The beach has been declared one of the 10 most beautiful in the world by National Geographic and it frequently appears on other lists, too.
Magens Beach is long and narrow. The sand is pebble-free, eye-poppingly white, powdery, sugary.
The water is remarkably calm because of the two peninsulas that form the elongated horseshoe-shaped bay that faces the Atlantic Ocean. Coconut and palm trees line the back edge of the beach.
It is a swimming beach with no reefs, the bottom flat and sandy. It is a great beach for families.
It is the most-visited beach in the U.S. Virgin islands, and that includes St. Thomas, St. John and St. Croix. It is the most photographed beach on St. Thomas and its longest.
On my first visit to Magens Bay in the late 1960s, I tried surfing. I dragged a heavy, oversized board across the sand and into the gin-clear waters. There were modest waves. I paddled around until I noticed dark shadows down below. Sharks.
I reported my find, only to be told that it was late afternoon and they typically come in to feed. Somehow I didn’t find that reassuring.
But the banana daiquiris ashore eased my shark fears. They were invented 60 years ago on the island by the late bartender Sonny Bernier.
Today the beach offers watersports rentals, a restaurant, bathrooms, showers and, on weekends, crowds of locals who party to amplified music. It can be crowded and noisy. It gets 500,000 visitors a year.
It is the only St. Thomas beach where admission is charged by the nonprofit Magens Bay Authority. For nonresidents, it’s $4 for adults and $2 for children 13 or older. There is a $2 parking fee. Proceeds fund beach operations. It is an $8 cab ride from Charlotte Amalie.
In 1946, islander Arthur S. Fairchild donated 500 yards of beach and 50 adjoining acres of forest and grass to the municipality of St. Thomas and St. John. The forest grove contained rare and unusual trees he’d planted.
Today they are part of a small arboretum behind Magens Bay Beach. There are mahogany, genip, turpentine and manpoo trees, among others.
Additional beach frontage and acreage was added in 2002.
A 1.25-mile hiking trail winds through a 319-acre tract owned by the authority, the Virgin Island Department of Planning and Nature Resources and the Nature Conservancy.
The trail starts in a mixed-dry forest and drops 500 feet into a moist-tropical-forest ecosystem before going through a mangrove swamp to the beach. It is popular with birders. The 250-year-old trail follows a route by early Danish settlers who established sugar cane plantations in the late 1600s.
The parties are working to develop a management plan to protect the preserve, the bay and the surrounding corals that provide critical fish habitat. For information on the nature preserve, call 340-773-5575.
You can also camp at Magens Bay Beach, but advance reservations are required. For information call 340-777-6300 or go to www.magensbayauthority.com.
Nearby is a real St. Thomas landmark: the Odder Delite in Rosendahl. It specialties in milkshakes, laced with Virgin Island rum from St. Croix (it’s about 40 miles to the south).
Magens Bay is one of 44 St. Thomas beaches. Others include Sapphire Beach on the eastern coast and Coki Beach on the north side. Sapphire Beach is very popular with windsurfers and snorkelers.
Coki Beach is equally special and it is home to Coral World Ocean Park, a major tourist draw. Its east and west ends with reefs are popular with snorkelers. The main attraction is the dome-shaped observatory in the water. For information, call 888-695-2073 or go to www.coralworldvi.com. Admission is charged. Special programs are offered.
All the beaches on St. Thomas, except Magens Bay Beach, are free to the public.
St. Thomas is one of the most-visited cruise ports in the Caribbean. It offers an array of resorts, restaurants and lots of shops. It is the biggest tax-free, duty-free hub in the Caribbean and a very civilized port.
The result is traffic jams, hustle and bustle and lots of people in very small spaces. When there are no cruise ships in port, you can enjoy St. Thomas at your leisure.
Charlotte Amalie — named after a Danish queen — wraps around its very pretty harbor. Old warehouses now house duty-free shops.
There are two main shopping streets, Waterfront Highway and Main Street, with mini-malls and side alleys.
The city, flanked by three steep hills, is home to the largest collection of colonial architecture in the Caribbean. Walking tours are offered in Charlotte Amalie.
Brick-red Fort Christian with its landmark clock tower was built by the Danes in 1672 and now houses the Virgin Islands Museum. The fort is a national historic site.
Blackbeard’s Castle, a watchtower, sits above downtown Charlotte Amalie. It was reputedly used by the pirate to spy on ships he planned to plunder. It dates to 1679.
Attractions include Emancipation Park, Georgian-style Frederick Lutheran Church, the mint-green House of Legislature, St. Thomas Synagogue and the 99 Steps on Government Hill. Danish engineers tried to lay the original city out in a grid pattern that was not practical at all. The island covers 31 square miles and has 52,000 residents.
The islands are known for water sports and boating. Charlotte Amalie is home port to one of the largest charter fleets in the Caribbean.
The islands were discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1493 on his second voyage. He called the islands Las Virgenes.
Later, the Spanish, English, French, Dutch and Knights of Malta followed. The Danes arrived in 1671. Within 10 years, 50 sugar cane plantations were established. The Danish West India Company established plantations on neighboring St. John in 1717 and bought St. Croix from the French in 1733.
The city was established as a tax-free port and a protected harbor by the Danes. Twice it was captured by pirates. It was originally called Tap Hus or Beer Hall.
Slavery was abolished on the islands in 1848.
The United States acquired the islands in 1917 from Denmark for $25 million. That included St. Thomas, St. John, St. Croix and 65 other islets.
An interesting musical note: The Mamas and the Papas used to hang out on St. Thomas in 1964.
English is spoken, although motorists must drive on the left. The American dollar is legal tender. No passport is needed.
The Atlantic lies to the north and the Caribbean Sea to the south. Temperatures are generally in the 80s in the day and in the 70s at night. The islands get trade breezes from the east. It has a West Indies vibe.
For tourist information, call 800-372-8784 or go to www.usvi.net.
Bob Downing can be reached at 330-996-3745 or bdowning@thebeaconjournal.com.
