Cinnamon Bay Reviews

Get the latest news about the U.S. Virgin Islands Virgin Islands Daily News


Find Hotels in the U.S. Virgin Islands: St John, St Thomas, and St Croix, with complete unbiased reviews! Hotels.com


Click here for the latest Cruise Tour deals and Departures

Cinnamon Bay Reviews "We've spent a fair amount of time on this beach and love it."

When staying here it's incredible to have this beach only steps from where you lay your head for the night.

And it's amazing how few people hang out on the beach, like we have, from 8 -11pm just talking, listening to music and sipping drinks.

During the day this is one of the nicest and most scenic beaches on the island, with the houses up in the hills at Peter Bay on the left and views of Jost Van Dyke and many private yachts and sailboats out to the right.

It is especially good for families as it has full facilities, rents snorkeling gear and beach chairs, sells $3 beers all day and has plenty of room for folks to stretch out.

Along the beach are all sorts of cool spots to lay a blanket down. You can get shade, be near a little cave, be near a two person swing in the woods that overlooks the beach, just an abundance of choices of where to be.

Love it here.

Beautiful beach. coral reef not too far off the beach. nice facilities and restaurant ($$$).

One of the best beaches on all of St John

Cinnamon Bay is one of the most beautiful beaches in the world, and the added amenities of bathrooms, showers, small grocery store and restaurant is a great added value.

Also, the beautiful estate ruins are right across the street, and then right behind the ruins is a nice, easy trail that takes less than an hour and has little signs telling you about the area's history, flora, and other interesting facts.

If you are on St. John for a week or a day, this area should be at the top of your list!

The beaches here are gorgeous, the wide stretches of sand make for great beach fun. The snorkeling is amazing.

I decided I wanted a vacation, that I could get away and have some space of my own. Cinnamon bay was it.

Nice people, beautiful beaches,trails to explore and snorkeling.

The main town Cruz bay and other sections of the island had good restaurants and local markets.

Prices were good and had no complaints about the food or service.

The camp has a restaurant which I did have lunch and dinner. Food was good and did not have to venture far.

I did not rent a car and used the shuttles or taxis to get around. You do have to wait a little but it gave me time to relax and take it easy.

So if you want a nice setting and warm weather. Cinnamon Bay is the place.

We stayed in the one of the cottages (3B). I would call them row cabins.

4 real twin size beds in a 15' room with 2 concrete walls and 2 screen walls with privacy curtains. Concrete decks in the front and in the back, propane camping stove, charcoal pit, picnic table, cooler, dishes, 1 towel per person, sheets (I brought my own as well which was nice esp because their bottom sheet is not fitted), pillows (no blankets and didn't miss them).

We rented a small fridge for $7 per day, that was worth it. Our cottage was not damp or moldy and had good air circulation from the trade winds + an osculating fan.

The bathhouses were cleaned daily and always had TP and paper towels. Refreshing cold showers (may want to bring a sun shower if you have little kids).

Use the bath houses away from the main drag to the beach, less crowded and cleaner by the end of the day.

It is steps to the beach, and we could hear the waves at night.

The water is a dream and lots to look at when snorkeling.

The beach is very gradual into the water, so it is suitable for little kids too.

There are always shady spots available on the beach at the tree line. Chairs can be rented for about 7 bucks. I liked to lie on the warm sand.

There is mobile phone reception on the beach. No internet access (nice break from modern day communications).

We were there for 10 days (Feb 20-March3) and had very few problems with bugs.

The screens in the cabin were sound. Bring bug spray if you easily get bitten. Only our youngest had any bites.

Bring dish soap or Dr Bronner's (which works well for humans or dishes) and a sponge to do dishes.

We had the best time. The place feels safe and low key. Bring a padlock for the tiny safe in the cabin (big enough to hold passports and cash).

Service at the restaurant and front desk is on island time.

Take a trip across the island to eat at Miss Lucy's. They have real Caribbean fare. We went for lunch and it was quite, the food delicious.

Also at at Uncle Joe's BBQ in Cruz Bay. A local favorite and yummy.

We just returned from our first visit. We stayed for nearly two weeks in a

site with a tent and equipment provided by the camp.

We swam, relaxed on the beach, hiked, walked, snorkeled, took part in ranger led programs. It was a wonderful experience.

Camp staff are wonderful sources of information, pleasant and hospitable. Meals at the T'ree Lizards restaurant was reasonably priced and quite good.

Cinnamon Bay is about being outside, it is about looking out into that gorgeous ocean with the one(s) you love sitting next to you.

It is about sitting on the white sand at 8am by yourself watching nothing but a pelican swoop down and eat a fish swimming in the calm shallow waters.

It is the unexpected suprise of the underwater world when you snorkel about the crystal waters.

It is about sitting on an uneven picnic table next to the old beach store and intermittently watching the glowing plankton light-up the night- water.

So many nights we sat there, drinking rum, and laughing with other campers.

I loved that the shower stalls were very spacious and had no roof so you could see the trees, sun or moon .

Frankly, I have never ever camped in a place where the bathrooms were so clean and tidy but I do think it's the zen of the place and those guests who frequent Cinnamon Bay year-after-year.

It seems the visitors clean up after themselves and wipe out the sinks and leave the showers clean when they're finished.

“Paradise on a budget”

After falling in love with St. John in just one day, I had to find a way get back there as soon as possible!

At less than $60/night (for a tent, low season) we couldn't find a better deal than the Cinnamon Bay Campground.

We figured that staying at a campground would really allow us to feel the true beauty of St. John, without the amenities of home, to really feel like we're in another world.

I wouldn't consider myself an avid camper, but I do enjoy the outdoors.

We decided to stay in one of their tents, because we didn't have the gear to stay on a bare site, and didn't want to travel with it all.

They also have concrete cottages that are side-by-side, with electricity and a fan. We reserved tent #26, pretty close to the beach. The tents sleep 4, with 4 cots that come with linen and a pillow.

You also get a (4 gallon?) jug for water storage - you'll be drinking lots of water - and a good-size cooler.

Outside the tent is a gas lantern for light, a 2-burner gas stove for cooking, a charcoal grill, and a picnic table.

They don't provide any means of light, so I recommend plenty of matches, and a flashlight - it gets very very dark at night in some areas of the campground.

The only complaint we had about the tent was that it was too hot and humid at night (late May).

There were no winds at night, at least not in the woods, and even though there were plenty of vents in the tent, no breeze was going through. We sweat throughout every night, sticking to our sheets (which we were only under to protect ourselves from the bugs).

The on-site general store can be handy for occasional things, but also quite expensive. The warm beer is cheaper than the cold beer (which is $2.50/can), so you might want to buy the warm beer and a bag of ice and put it all in your cooler.

The on-site water sports rental was excellent, and at reasonable prices - $5 for all day snorkel gear, which you can take with you anywhere on the island, $5 for a raft to float around the bay (excellent way to spend the day).

The on-site (restaurant), and was a pretty good deal, and decent food. We never ate any other meal there.

The community bathrooms weren't that bad, but I would recommend using them as much as you can during daylight when there's less bugs. There are some very large bugs there at night!

The "cool water" showers weren't as cold as I expected, but still not warm, but you get used to it (again I don't recommend showering at night because of the bugs).

It wasn't until our last day that we even saw a donkey on the campground, but they never bothered us.

The beach itself is just absolutely fantastic. I think it's better than Trunk Bay, which is the most notorious, and most frequently visited by passing Cruise ship tourists.

The snorkeling here may not be as extensive, but the beach is longer, and just as nice, with all the same amenities.

They have payphones there which you can use to call taxis, but expect to wait up to 20 minutes if there isn't one there already (the ride into Cruz Bay is rougly 15-20 minutes).

Renting a jeep is well worth it (around $65/day),

especially if you want to (and you should) explore some of the distant parts of the island and secluded beaches.

Overall, I think the campground is an excellent way to spend time on St. John, but next time I would opt for a cottage, simply because of the fan!

* My ratings for this hotel 5 of 5 stars Value 3 of 5 stars Rooms 2 of 5 stars Cleanliness 3 of 5 stars Service

* I recommend this hotel for Young singles, Families with teenagers

“Good times if you enjoy camping”

My wife and I had a great time at Cinnamon Bay Campground. Having traveled much of the globe during our lives, we've done our share of camping.

We've been to St. John many times, even having stayed at the Westin Resort twice.

Cinnamon Bay, no Westin Resort, is still great value if you're into "roughing it". They have clean restrooms and above average lunch platters that let you avoid cooking all your food.

In fact, we didn't cook at all - only bringing bottles of juice and soda to drink on the beach (we'd break out the Cruzan rum after all the day-trippers left for the day!)

For dinners and happy hour, we went to Cruz Bay. $11 for two one-way on the safari bus ($22 round trip), but we were able to hitch a ride over half the time.

Obviously, we recommend the sites close to the beach.

More often than not, the front desk approaches customer service with a mañana attitude, but it's the island way, so relax and enjoy one of the best beaches and snorkleing locations on the island.

Nothing but good times here.

* My ratings for this hotel 5 of 5 stars Value 4 of 5 stars Rooms 4 of 5 stars Cleanliness 3 of 5 stars Service

* I recommend this hotel for Families with young children, Tourists

“Save your money and stay here!”

Okay, so this is not the Westin or Caneel Bay Resort. But it is wild, fun, easy-going place with one of the best beaches on the island (rough surf, at times).

We loved Cinnamon Bay, and enjoyed watching shooting stars at night and eating coconuts by day.

You'll meet other fun and adventurous guests.

Bring bug spray (Avon's Skin So soft apparently works great) to protect yourself at night and bring an easy going, carefree attitude during the day.

Enjoy the outdoor showers and enjoy every minute. And you'll be saving oodles of $$$, so you can enjoy lots of other stuff, like kayaking or other excursions.

We'll see you there next

year!

* My ratings for this hotel 5 of 5 stars Value 5 of 5 stars Cleanliness

* I recommend this hotel for Young singles, An amazing honeymoon,

Older travelers, Families with young children, Families with teenagers,

Tourists


Cinnamon Bay Reviews continued


San Diego Beaches and Adventures - enjoy great beaches!

Share your own beach photo's or stories with us!

Now you can share photos and stories from your own vacations from beaches that you have traveled in the Virgin Islands, and around the world!