Magens Bay Beach

Magens Bay is the beach that put St. Thomas on postcards. The bay is a nearly closed horseshoe on the island's north shore, sheltered by two green headlands, so the water inside stays flat, clear and gentle even when the open Atlantic beyond it is lively. The sand runs for roughly a mile in a pale curve backed by coconut palms and sea grape, the water deepens slowly, and the swimming is easy enough for small children and nervous swimmers. It has long been named among the most beautiful beaches in the world, and unlike many famous beaches it lives up to the billing. A public beach managed by a local authority, it charges a modest per-person entry fee, which pays for the lifeguards, the changing rooms and showers, the picnic pavilions and the upkeep of the grounds. Food, drinks, chairs, umbrellas, paddleboards and kayaks are available at the beach, so you can arrive with nothing but a towel and sunscreen and have a full day. Most visitors reach it by taxi or rental car over the winding Route 35 from town, and many do so as part of a scenic drive that also takes in the island's high lookouts.

The best way to use Magens Bay is to decide what kind of day you want. Early morning, before the cruise-ship crowds and the tour vans arrive, the beach is quiet and almost cool, the water is glassy and the far end of the sand is nearly empty. Walkers and swimmers share it with a few locals and the pelicans that work the shoreline.

By late morning on a ship day the middle of the beach fills with chairs and umbrellas, the beach bar gets busy and the atmosphere turns festive. If you prefer calm, arrive early or stay late, because the light in the last two hours before sunset is the softest of the day and the beach thins out again.

The swimming area is the main attraction. A roped zone with lifeguards keeps boats away from swimmers, the bottom shelves gently over sand, and the visibility is good enough to see small fish around your feet. Snorkelers will find more life near the rocky edges of the bay than in the middle, but this is not a reef-snorkeling beach, so treat it as a place to swim, float and play rather than to hunt for turtles.

Kayaks and stand-up paddleboards are easy to rent, and paddling along the shoreline is the best way to see the bay's heart shape and the green hillsides that frame it. Families like it for the shallow water, the facilities and the shade under the trees, while couples tend to walk to the quieter ends of the sand.

Practical planning makes the day smoother. Bring cash in case card machines are slow, wear reef-safe sunscreen, and pack a hat because shade on the open sand is limited. There is a hiking trail near the bay that climbs through tropical woodland, and the road up from the beach leads to some of the best viewpoints on the island, so pairing the beach with a scenic drive makes sense.

If you are on a cruise day, the taxi ride from the port takes a while on a busy road, so build in buffer time before your ship departs.

A guided beach-and-scenic-drive outing handles the transport and gives you a few hours of sand time with an easy return, which is a sensible choice if you do not want to negotiate fares or drive the narrow, left-hand-traffic roads yourself. Whichever way you arrive, treat Magens Bay as an anchor of a St. Thomas trip rather than an optional extra: it is the island's calmest, prettiest swim, and a half day here resets any itinerary.