Absolutely wonderful place to stay while on St John. It's the only lodging we found where you could…read moreactually stay in the Virgin Islands National Park, which made it that much better. They have different type of lodging options, whether you want to camp and bring your own gear, stay in one of their tents, or rent out one of the cottages. We stayed in the cottages, and we really enjoyed it. The room was spacious - we had two people, but you could easily have at least 4 people without an issue. Ours had a BBQ on the balcony as well as a refrigerator, so you can make your own food if you want. Only downside is that the rooms don't have bathrooms, but the shared bathrooms aren't too far of a walk so it's not that much of an inconvenience. This location is set up so if you never wanted to leave during your stay, you wouldn't have to. They have their own restaurant with a daily rotating menu with new themed specials. The food is a little pricier, but taking into account that you're in a national park and don't have to leave your lodging, it's reasonably priced. Portions are also very generous, so you could share with another person if you wanted to. The restaurant is open for breakfast and dinner, and they have a food truck closer to the beach for lunch. Food truck was just alright - I would only eat there if you wanted to stay for the day. If you're heading out, I'd grab food somewhere else. They also have a great general store with various food, supplies, and souvenirs, and the front desk can send any mail for you as long as you provide the stamps. The beach here is beautiful and great for either laying out or going in the water. They also have a stand by the beach to rent snorkel gear, kayaks, etc. Plenty of ruins to see as well as a couple really nice trails right across the street. While you can't call for a taxi, Cinnamon Bay is right on the main taxi route so it's easy to go out to the street, find one driving by, and flag it down. So if you don't want to get a car and want to go other places on the island, it's quite easy to get around. Highly recommend staying here for a great time in the Virgin Islands National Park.

ACCOMMODATIONS: Cinnamon bay is a great place to stay in the Virgin Islands if you're looking for:…read morecamping-like or camping accommodations, well-priced accommodations, and more remote accommodations. We enjoyed our time here. Transportation is quite a cost (going back and forth between Cruz bay and other beaches or St Thomas). Staff was friendly, food was good, beach was great, and rentals were convenient and competitively priced. Also I want to note that the bathrooms are impressively clean and nice. I would definitely call this more of "glamping" if you're staying in one of the "eco tents" or "cottages". BEACH/FOOD: The beach here is always rather empty and sunset is beautiful. There are also food options for breakfast, lunch, and dinner (though they can be expensive). The options are limited in having only a few choices per meal, but they typically do have a meat and vegetarian option. PARKING/TAXIS: there is a parking lot but I think that most people taxi in and out. Taxis can be called by the front desk at night and come by often during normal "beach hours" (9am-4pm). BUGS: We traveled here in March and the bugs were present but not terrible. Definitely bring spray. STORE: The store has limited hours (I forget exactly, but maybe 10-6- definitely check my memory). It has limited items but some essentials: food (some meal items/fruit/ice cream/snacks), sunscreen, hats, postcards, alcohol, t-shirts). Don't expect many options though of each category. WIFI: they've got it, but only in some areas. Specially, the dining patio and front desk area. ONE "RANDOM" RECOMMENDATION: try the canned "painkiller" from the shop. It was a great drink and cost effective (if you're going for tipsy). If you're lucky, the bartender out at the bar will give you a cup of ice and top it with some nutmeg to make it fancyy. Enjoy!

Beautiful beach with crystal-clear, lovely water and breathtaking scenic views. The atmosphere is…read morepeaceful and perfect for relaxing or enjoying nature. However, the bathrooms were a bit scary and could definitely use improvement.

We tried Trunk Bay first but parking was a nightmare so we headed on down (up, down, up down) the…read moreroad to Maho Bay. We found a parking spot in a lot and only had a short walk to set up our camp in some nice sun/shade. There are a lot of kids and families here, so expect playing, screaming, etc. but eventually they have to eat something so you'll get some nice quiet. We snorkeled right in front of where we were sitting and saw sea turtles munching on the sea grass. So cool. The beach is not super wide but it's enough to plunk down a chair and have a little shade. Perfect. Water is calm. It's the first place we saw donkeys on the island. We loved it.

This beach is AHHHMAZING 10/10…read more So thankful and grateful I was able to spend an entire day here at this beach on the island of Culebra Sand is soft, water is clear and not too cold Entrance is $2, you can rent a chair and umbrella, there is a lifeguard on duty There are vendors selling drinks, food and souvenirs This was a day well spent!

What an incredible beach, the views, the blue water it was a little windy, but that helped keep us…read morekind of cool cause it was a very warm day! The food in the drinks were great and it was just a beautiful location one of the most beautiful beaches I've ever seen! Can't wait to go back!

FYI the campground is currently closed but you can camp at your discretion. There is no running…read morewater in the showers, fortunately there's a running sink by the main entrance bathrooms. But you're camping so who cares. My husband and I laughed our tent all the way from NY for this unforgettable experience of being feet away from the ocean. I can imagine when the campgrounds are open they must be better taken care of. Overall we had a blast and recommend others to try it out. Also really enjoyed all of the chickens and baby chicks.

We initially paid for two nights when we first checked in. After this, we decided to stay two more…read more We were told to pay on our way out. On the second day, we returned to our campsite from the beach to find it completely stripped. There were marks on the ground from our tent having been dragged a very long distance. We went to the office and no one was there. The doors were locked and our tent was visible through the glass. The office had all of our contact information. The woman who checked us in (and as we found out later, stripped our campsite) did not speak English. She had all of our contact information on the form (which was in Spanish), including our phone numbers and email addresses. Clearly she did not understand what was going on and instead of contacting us or even just approaching us at the campgrouns, she chose to wait until we were at the beach to take all of our belongings and leave for the day. We were left with no food, water, tent, clothes, medixation, etc. that we needed. We waited for hours for her to come back, but she never did. There is no contact information for their office listed on the signs. We had to pay for transportation back to the town and find a hotel late at night. The next day, another employee let us take our belongings back and apologied for the other staff's lack of understanding/communication. This is when we noticed they had completely destroyed our backpacking tent (entire inside ripped out and several supporting poles broken in half) and that we were missing clothes and had other items damaged beyond repair. All of this aside, there is no more drinkable water here. Only one shower nozzle works (always a VERY long line). And the main bathrooms were only open on two days for a couple hours. They really let this place go downhill which is very disappointing, as my family always enjoyed it in the past. We recommend the hostel, which is the same cost as camping $30 AND comes with showers, working restrooms, clean sleeping areas, and staff that wont harrass you and treat you like total dirt. Save yourself the stress and enjoy your vacation.

Such a BEAUTIFUL BEACH - highly recommended beach... also with a gift shop with souvenirs and…read moresnacks and more   - - -   June, 2025 Visit   - - -   Short Review,   Cinnamon Bay Beach...   ... has an island you can swim / snorkel to... many fish to see closer to the island   ... has a view of Great Thatch, British Virgin Islands   ... has indoor facilities... gift shop, snack bar (indoors and outside), campsites   ... not crowded       - - - Additional information: - - -   My wonderful wife planned a relaxing trip for us to St. John's, US Virgin Islands (just east of Puerto Rico), in June, 2025; we had a great time... such a beautiful island!     We snorkeled two beaches on St. John, and we enjoyed them both.   Cinnamon Bay Beach stuns you with its beautiful colors... the beach has light tan sand, helping make the water is a light green-blue color... stunningly beautiful!!     - - - Why Cinnamon Bay Beach - - -   Most of St. John is a National Park and most of the northern part of the island provides a nearly continuous beach... nearly continuous because peninsulas that extend into the water separate each beach from the other.    We looked at the map and read the reviews and picked Hawksnest and Cinnamon Bay beaches  because they looked more likely to have slightly smaller crowds, as cruise ships apparently visit other beaches (at least when we visited).  When we visited we were not alone and it was also not crowded.   Both are within a couple miles of each other, so while they are similar in overall look and feel - similar color of the water and sand, similar plants, etc., they are unique in what you can see underwater when you're snorkeling, and unique in the views from the beach.     - - - Taxis to and from - - -   To get to and from Cinnamon Bay Beach, you can drive or take a taxi.  The taxis on St. John, at least the ones we saw, are all trucks, with the driver in the cab, and the passengers sitting, open air, in the back... on benches with a roof over our heads.  The taxis run all day and will stop at multiple beaches to drop off and pick up passengers along the way.      - - - Cell / Mobile service - - -   Cell phone service is present, but the signal is a bit weak - 1 to 2 bars of signal strength.      - - - The beach - - -   Even if you never get in the water, the scene is beautiful... the water color is such a beautiful shade of blue...   Enya's "Caribbean Blue" (from 1991 album "Shepherd Moons") was playing in our heads, and was surely inspired by waters like these...   The sand is light and soft   Beautiful green trees and plants along the beach.     - - - The view from the beach - - -   Cinnamon Bay Beach is a beautiful beach and view of the British Virgin Islands' (BVI's) Jost Van Dyke in the distance and Great Thatch island closer... both BVI; St. John's Whistling Cay is visible, closer to the left, and Mary Point, closer to the right; Cinnamon Brach curbs east, and out into the water to a point that becomes Maho Bay and we stayed within Cinnamon Cay..     - - - The water... snorkeling - - -   On any given day, the water quality and aquatic life are things you cannot control.  The day we visited water quality and aquatic life were both goo -  the water was so clear and we saw so many fish, especially as we snorkeled out toward the island... which is much closer than it looks.. 5-10 minutes of calm to quicker leg kicking should get you there.     - - - Snorkeling - what we saw - - -   While snorkeling we were blessed to see: ⁃            a stingray swam by right as we started out !! ⁃            many more parrotfish-like blue-green-purplish fish and others ⁃            on the way back in, two squid!!     - - - Back on the beach - - -   We enjoy laying back and relaxing... and taking photos of our feet as they point toward the sand + surf... and we captured another one here on Cinnamon Bay Beach.   What a great afternoon!     - - - The surf, the lack of on St. John - - -   We have been blessed to visit the Caribbean a couple times and have noticed that there is not much surf, not many waves. On an early trip someone explained that the Caribbean is just at a position in the ocean that the rides are not small; brief internet searches suggest the tide only varies a few inches to a foot or so... such small changes don't lead to many waves. You'll likely see and enjoy hearing waves "lapping at the shore," but you're not likely to do much body surfing... if you have a boogie board, while you could bring it on your flight, you'll likely be better off leaving it at home. - - - Gift Shop - t-shirts, hat pins and more - - - - - - Thank you - - - Thank you to all the park team members who maintain Cinnamon Bay Beach, and to the taxi drivers getting us visitors to and from the beach! ----- ----- -----

Full disclosure I didn't actually swim at this beach but I spent an hour or so here because it's…read moreactually a huge beach! The internet says it's one of the most famous ones and I can see why - the water is crystal clear, bright blue (as are most of the other national park beaches lol). It's spacious though, and in addition to the beach itself, there is a snack vendor area where you can buy lunch (like sandwiches and drinks), and a gear rental place for snorkeling etc. They also have a small restaurant adjacent to the campground cafeteria area which does breakfast and dinner (but not lunch). They have pretty clean bathrooms and showers too, and the most parking of all the beaches that I went to. They even had an info booth; the lady there was fairly knowledgeable about the park although I don't think she was an actual ranger (she wasn't in the ranger outfit). There's also a little area right at the entrance to the beach that is part of some ruins, it's a nice photo op spot. Overall this is a great beach! Def recommend.

One word: unbelievable. This national park is a hidden beauty and it's a shame it's so far away; I…read morewould visit it more often if I could. We hiked Lind point trail since it's walking distance from the ferry and stopped by honeymoon beach- absolutely stunning beach with clear water and white sand- great for snorkeling. We also went to trunk bay beach- the water was very choppy, and wind gusts were high so the snorkel trail was closed. Otherwise the views were beautiful and would definitely recommend.

We were relaxed and together, although it rained, we enjoyed our trip we found the people very nice…read moreeager to please, and taught us a few things about their culture, their lifestyles and their struggles so I really did appreciate being there and just taking a minute to be with my other half

Where do I begin....first of all, if this is any indication, I had booked 14 days stay here and the…read morefirst night was nearly in tears after seeing what I had actually booked. I slept here the first night out of necessity and then booked another place (no refunds here) for the rest of the stay. The owner here is very nice, that is undeniable. But that is where my positive comments end. She had said in emails it was "rustic"....I thought of rustic as holding some degree of charm....this was very nearly a shanty town. I was supposed to have a cabin for the length of my stay, I was shown a "room" with a nasty bed and more nasty smell that was meant to be temporary until I could get that cabin four nights later, I declined that, instead i was given a mattress in the middle of the woods with some screen wrapped around it and tattered blue construction tarp hanging from the tin "roof"in the event of rain. The mattress was disgusting, trash lay around edges, including a tube of antibiotic creme and some band-aids....soooo nasty. The "kitchen" was a room w/ a couple burners bolted to the wall, the area around the burned covered w/ old food and ants. No sink, just a wash tub to clean your dishes outside w/ a hose. The bathrooms I was told didn't have outlets, I wasn't told they had NO ELECTRICITY at all. Nothing did except the "gatehouse" which was a spare little building with a pseudo office in it, the only secure place to put any belonging- I chose not to take my chances. There are two campgrounds on the island- either one I would have been delighted to stay at now that I have seen them- THEY are rustic, this place was very near a scam. Unless you're there for a night or two and can deal w/ all the old junk strewn about the property and the lack of any facilities waaaay up on this road, please don't book this- there is a reason the website speaks of NO REFUNDS...everyone would want one. As I said Elsa, the owner was a very nice lady, and she did warn me it was rustics- I think she is not truthful about what she is providing and even w/ the great "deal" I got, it was not someplace I would ever stay.

The boating experience was delightful. The company paid attention to detail and the crew was…read moreamazing. Great quality food, drinks and activities. I would especially recommend Captain Ron and Chef Max.

DO NOT RECOMMEND We sailed with Festiva in the BVI's the…read moreweek of November 22, 2025. This review comes four weeks after completion of our trip due to the conversation we've been attempting to have with management. This was our third trip with this company. We were returning guests that brought friends along to join us in what was one of the best holidays we had ever taken; unfortunately, this was not the case this time around, not even close. I honestly don't know where to begin as there are so many things to mention. From the start Captain Tyrone was aloof, dismissive and uninformative. The first 24 hours onboard we had an alarm, like a smoke detector or carbon monoxide alarm, going off every 30 minutes. We woke up First Mate Compton to address the situation, since Tyrone was not on the boat and no where to be found, and were told there was nothing he could do about it. After a sleepless night, once our captain returned in the morning, we asked three times for the situation to be rectified. We were brushed off, told it was a bilge pump, told to try turning off the AC the told, "it's a boat, it makes noise. We owned a boat, this was not normal, it was an alarm, neither one of our crew cared. Only after writing an email to Tammy in the office was the situation addressed. Tyrone simply disconnected the alarm, which we found out later was a high water alert, and had to be in good working order to legally be underway on this vessel. After getting annoyed about the fact we had to contact management with our concern Tyrone proceeded to be argumentative and rude through the rest of the week. We moored around Tortola for 3 nights, at least 2 more than we should have, so, we're guessing, Tyrone could sleep at home, since he was off the boat every one of those nights, all night. Not only did we have no way of reaching him, he disappeared with the dinghy, our only way of getting off the boat if there had been an emergency since there was no life raft. We did not go to any good snorkel spots, stopping at maybe 4 over our entire week. We were told half way through our trip that we could not go to most of our anticipated bays and beaches because the anchor was broken. Why were we on a catamaran with a broken anchor? Or was this just an excuse out of sheer laziness? This was not the only thing malfunctioning on the boat; we had broken cupboards, no shower off the back, torn seats, and general uncleanliness. Our meals were very basic, mostly sandwiches for lunch and a bag of chips for snacks. Compton did make a couple of lovely dinners, but the service was not what we expected, not what was advertised and not what we paid for. Our captain told us we could not get more Baileys as requested, "once it's gone, it's gone" was the answer we got. This was not our previous experience, we are dumbfounded that this could even be the same company. The other two couples on the boat were great. We only just met when we boarded and had a great week with them, thank goodness. They were in the same situation as us, returning customers who brought friends. They, too, were regretful and embarrassed they brought along others since this vacation was nothing like the one they had experienced in the past. There were many other little, and not so little, things that occurred, this post could go on and on, but I'll leave it here, for now. After returning home we all wrote separate letters to Tammy expressing our disappointment. A week later we got a blanket email back from her stating that she received a very different story from the crew, that we had been difficult to please, and essentially called us liars, all 8 of us. Interesting that she received similar letters from guests that started as strangers, had sailed with them before, had genuine concerns with service and safety and she still chose to dismiss and insult each of us. We have now written a lower, as a group, to the "higher ups" and marine agencies that regulate safety on the water. We presently await their response. We will be review posting again accordingly.