Magens Bay, St. Thomas

How Much It Costs to Get In

Entry is $7 per person for non-residents and $2 for U.S. Virgin Islands residents. Children under 12 go free. Parking is a separate $2.

If you are staying a while, monthly passes run $40 for a non-resident, $25 for a resident and $10 for a resident senior. A non-resident family pass is $70 a month, and every monthly pass includes parking. Weddings and vow renewals are quoted at $250.

One oddity worth knowing: the park's own FAQ page still renders placeholder text reading "$x per person" where the fee should be. The real figures live on its passes page. If the number matters to your budget, call 340-777-6300 and confirm before you go.

Hours and Getting There

The park runs 7:00 am to 5:30 pm every day, at 6200 Magens Bay Road on the north shore.

From the cruise docks it is a climb over the spine of the island and back down, so allow more time than the distance suggests. Most visitors arrive by shared taxi. Drivers set down at the concession stand near the middle of the bay, which is precisely why that stretch of sand is the busiest.

Driving yourself works, and the road up to Drake's Seat gives you the view of the bay that sells the island. Park, pay the $2, and remember the note on valuables below.

Why Magens Bay Is Famous

Geography. The bay is a near mile-long arc held between two steep headlands, so the Atlantic swell that hits the rest of the north shore never reaches it. What you get is a long white beach with water that stays flat, shallow and clear on days when Coki and Hull Bay are churning.

That shape is also why it photographs the way it does. Look down on it from Drake's Seat or Mountain Top and it reads as a single sweep of sand and turquoise, which is the image that lands on magazine lists year after year.

It is the answer most locals give to "what is the prettiest beach in St. Thomas", and the honest answer to that question depends on what you mean. Prettiest to look at, Magens Bay. Prettiest underwater, not close.

What the Water Is Actually Like

Flat, warm and shallow a long way out. There is no current to read, no drop-off to worry about and no surf to time. For small children, nervous swimmers and anyone who wants to float rather than snorkel, this is the best water on St. Thomas.

The bottom is sand for most of the bay. That is what keeps the water clear and the swimming easy, and it is also the reason the fish are not there.

Snorkeling at Magens Bay: The Honest Answer

Skip it. Or rather, bring a mask by all means, but do not plan your snorkeling day around this beach.

The centre of the bay is open sand. The rocky sides at either end hold some reef fish and the occasional turtle, and if you swim to the far edges you will see something. What you will not see is the density of fish that makes people talk about St. Thomas snorkeling.

For that, Coki Point has reef a few kicks from the sand and charges nothing to enter, and Brewers Bay has the seagrass where green turtles feed. If you want both in one day, Magens Bay in the morning and Coki after lunch is a common pairing, and our comparison of St. Thomas snorkeling tours covers the boat trips that reach the reefs neither beach can.

What to Bring and What to Leave in the Room

Bring reef-safe sunscreen, a hat and cash for the gate. Card acceptance at island kiosks is unreliable enough that cash saves an argument.

Bring water shoes if you plan to explore the rocky ends. Everything in between is soft sand.

Leave your valuables where you are staying. Break-ins at beach parking areas around St. Thomas happen in periodic waves rather than constantly, and the pattern regulars describe on the St. Thomas travel forums is the same everywhere: phones, wallets, cameras and jewellery taken from cars while people are in the water. If you must bring something, put it in the boot before you arrive at the beach rather than in the car park where you can be watched doing it.

You do not need to bring chairs, umbrellas or snorkel gear. All three rent on site.

Food and Drink

Fairchild's Bar & Grill sits on the beach, so a day here does not need packed lunches.

If you would rather cook, the park rents sheds fitted with BBQ grills, electrical outlets and picnic tables. That is how local families use the place at weekends, and it is a better day than a restaurant table if you have a group.

Beyond the Sand: Trails and the Arboretum

Most visitors never leave the beach, which is a waste of the entry fee.

The park holds a 3-acre arboretum of native and exotic trees, a fitness trail, and a hiking trail that takes about 1 hour 20 minutes. On a day when the beach is shoulder to shoulder with three ships in port, the trail is empty.

This is the part of Magens Bay that separates it from every other beach on the island. You are paying for a park, not a strip of sand.

Beating the Cruise-Ship Crowd

Two tactics, both simple.

Go early. The gate opens at 7:00 am and the ships do not disgorge passengers until mid-morning. The first two hours are the quietest of the day and the light is better for photographs.

Walk. Taxis set everyone down at the concession stand, and most people spread out perhaps a hundred metres from where they were dropped. The bay is close to a mile long. Ten minutes on foot in either direction buys you a different beach.

High season runs December through April, and on those mornings several ships call at once. If your schedule is flexible, the shoulder months of April to June bring the calmest water and thinner crowds.

Where to Stay Near Magens Bay

Almost nothing sits on the bay itself, which is deliberate. The park protects the shoreline, so accommodation clusters on the hillsides above it and in town.

Magens Point Resort is the closest named property on the north side, roughly 3.5 miles from Charlotte Amalie, with studio and one and two-bedroom units. Mafolie Hotel sits up the hill with the harbour view and works for travellers who want a car and a base rather than a resort.

Closer to town, Windward Passage Hotel is about 2 miles from the beach and Emerald Beach Resort about 3 miles, on its own sand near the airport. A scatter of villas and short-term rentals sit within a mile of the bay for anyone who would rather self-cater.

Staying on the north side changes the trip. You reach the beach before the taxis do, and you can go back at sunset when the day visitors have gone.

Is Magens Bay Worth It?

Yes for a swimming and sitting day, and yes if you have never seen it. Seven dollars is not much for a mile of protected beach with showers, a bar, trails and lifeguards.

No if you came to St. Thomas to snorkel and have one day to spend. The reef is elsewhere, and the beach that has it charges nothing.

The disappointed reviews almost all come from the second group: people who read that Magens Bay is one of the world's best beaches, arrived with a mask, and found sand. It is one of the world's best beaches. It is not one of the island's better reefs.