Excerpted
from St. John Beach Guide ©
2006 Gerald Singer
Cinnamon is the place to go for beach activities and water sports.
Besides the regular swimming, sunning, snorkeling and picnicking,
Cinnamon offers windsurfing, kayaking, volleyball, and camping.
Cinnamon Bay is 3.9 miles east of Mongoose Junction on Route 20.
Park in the parking lot and walk to the beach, which is about
a quarter mile away over a flat and shady paved track.
There is a regular taxi bus service to Cruz Bay for
those without vehicles. (Call Neal or Ponche at Sprauve Taxi Service
for schedules at 776-6140.)
Cinnamon Bay is operated as a campground and offers facilities
designed to support the campers staying there. These facilities
are also available to the public. They include a small general
store carrying basic provisions, the T'ree Lizards restaurant,
a snack bar, lockers, restrooms, changing rooms, showers, telephones,
picnic tables and barbeque grills.
An activities desk offers snorkel trips, SCUBA, snorkel
and windsurfing lessons, day sails, cocktail cruises and National
Park activities such as the Reef Bay Hike and the Water's Edge
Walk.
Entrances to the Cinnamon Bay Loop Trail and the
Cinnamon Bay Trail are located across the road from the main parking
lot.
At the end of the road to the beach on your left
(west), you will find Cinnamon Bay Watersports where you can rent
sea and surfing kayaks, beach floats, windsurfers and sailboats.
Cinnamon Bay Watersports also offers windsurfing and sailing lessons.
On the east side of the track is an old historic
Danish building, which houses the temporary archeological museum
in the western part of the building and the Beach Shop on the eastern
side, which offers swimsuits, toys, souvenirs, snacks and drinks
as well as snorkeling equipment and beach chair rentals.
The temporary museum features Taino and plantation
day artifacts found at the Cinnamon
Bay Archeological Dig. The excavation site is just east of
the museum on the inland side of the dirt track.
Beginning snorkelers can explore the area around the rocks at the
eastern end of the beach or between Cinnamon and Little Cinnamon
Bay. The entrance into the water is easy and there are a fair amount
of fish and sea creatures to be observed.
Going a little further out, there is very good snorkeling
around Cinnamon Cay, the little island just offshore from the beach.
For advanced "Off the Beaten Track" snorkeling click
here.
Cinnamon Bay offers the best windsurfing on St. John. The winds
are relatively calm near shore, which is good for beginners.
As you go offshore, however, more advanced windsurfers will find
strong, steady winds, but without the waves that are usually
associated with forceful wind conditions.
Cinnamon is the only beach on St. John where surfers and experienced
boogie boarders can take advantage of the north swell that comes
in the winter.
On Sundays, locals organize pick-up volleyball games beginning
at about 11:00 A.M.
Want some seclusion? Try Little Cinnamon Bay.
When you get to the beach at Cinnamon Bay go left (west) and walk
to the end of the sand where you will pick up a narrow trail
that leads through the bush along the shoreline and over a section
of rocks, before emerging at the beach at Little Cinnamon.
The trail at the center of the beach leads to a National
Park Service controlled house and is off limits to the public.
At Little Cinnamon, snorkelers may find the remains of an old Cessna
aircraft that crashed and sank years ago. The propeller, the engine
and one of the wings are visible most of the year. The wreck is
in shallow water and can be found by snorkeling out from the eastern
portion of the beach between the old stone wall and the first set
of coconut palms.
See also "History
of Cinnamon Bay"
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