If you insist on freshly groomed sand and lounge chairs that obviously get replaced or refurbished annually, then you would never have a reason to leave the gorgeous white sand of Morning Star Beach by the Marriott Frenchman’s Bay. A waitress will cater to your every need as you recline under an umbrella, or you can take a stroll over to Coco Joe’s yourself to soak in the ambiance of a wonderful beachfront bar and grill to enjoy your snack. There’s even decent snorkeling right there.
If you want the best snorkeling, however, you need to step outside your comfort zone to take a trip to funky Coki Beach. We had our rental car until late afternoon on the day after we arrived in St. Thomas, and rather than return to the more pristine Magen’s Bay, we headed for the snorkeling of Coki Beach. After all, the warm water and snorkeling is what we came for.
Coki Beach is located next door to Coral World, which from what I can discern is primarily a place for people who don’t want to get wet to see the marine life from an Undersea Observatory 15 feet below the surface. All I know is that when I swam under the rope in search of an elusive turtle that Julie saw on two separate dives, they threw me out.
The empty parking lot of Coral World tempted me, but we ended up parking on the street. The area looked very much like a third world despite construction projects. I had brought my laptop computer in case we found free internet somewhere, but I left it locked the trunk.
When we got out of our car, a big local wearing a tattered tank top and shorts greeted us with a smile. “Welcome to Coki Beach,” he said in that unique Caribbean accent. He said he would take care of us, walking us through an opening between buildings to the beach. Pointing to a guy who rented old, soiled lounge chairs with broken straps and a shack where an old Rastafarian sold organic smoothies, he gave us the lay of the land. I slipped the guy a couple of bucks, although he really had provided no service. I figured maybe he’d watch out for our car, for which I felt a bit of trepidation.
I put on my mask and snorkel and immediately waded out in the water. Since we were the only ones on the beach other than the locals mentioned above, Julie waited with our stuff. The snorkeling was amazing, the best I’d seen anywhere in the Caribbean other than Roatan. When I returned for Julie to take her turn, I told her I had a feeling I should get the computer out of the trunk before she swam, and she asked me to get her purse, too.
As I arrived where I could see our car, I noticed three locals, each wearing white tee shirts and non-descript shorts surrounding it. Unmistakably, one was about to jimmy the lock while the other two were on lookout. At first, they just observed me, but when they saw I was indeed heading to the car, the two lookouts scattered. The third guy tried to look nonchalant as he wandered off last, but he was guilty as sin, or at least he would have been had he been given an extra couple of minutes. It’s a good reminder to never forget when traveling that no matter who smiles at you and makes you feel welcome, you are a stranger in a strange land, and the locals will generally not be on your side against their cousins.
After a couple of hours, we bought a smoothie. The Rastafarian said he charged $7 because he only used fresh fruit, and if we wanted rum in it, he would charge $8, no matter how much rum was in it. Then again, rum is pretty cheap in St. Thomas, and we had arrived early in the morning, so we ordered the virgin pineapple and banana version. The Rastafarian added a couple of juices, one of which was definitely coconut, and blended them all up. As I watched him prepare my drink, a local policeman came up and told the Rastafarian that he could not operate there. The Rastafarian argued back that he had permission from some local government official, and they went back and forth. In the end, the policeman left, and I had a feeling this same argument took place every day. This definitely wasn’t Pinkberry.
We had a fun day of snorkeling. A highlight for me was a squid I happened to see dart at a fish from his hiding place in the sand, but there were great varieties of tangs, butterflyfish, parrotfish, grouper and many others. (Our underwater photos, as usual, are terrible, but click on them and you can see turtles in the enlargements.) If you insist on great snorkeling rather than simply good, Coki Beach is the place to go on St. Thomas.
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