More great news today folks! The National Park Service (NPS) has officially reopened Hawksnest and Honeymoon beaches! As you may remember, the NPS announced that the Virgin Islands National Park was “closed” following hurricanes Irma and Maria. Here’s what they had to say about the reopening on their Facebook page:
“We are delighted to announce that Hawksnest Beach and Honeymoon Beach are officially open! Vault toilets or port-o-potties are in place. A huge amount of debris was removed from the beaches themselves and park divers removed submerged debris from the swim areas. Even so, continue to be cautious when swimming anywhere in park waters. As you well know, a lot of “stuff” ended up blowing into the water around here!”
They also clarified that Trunk Bay is not officially open, nor are any of the other beaches within the National park. Here’s what they had to say about that:
‘Howdy all. Just to clear up a rumor. Trunk Bay is NOT officially open yet. We are doing a bunch of work out there, some of it with heavy equipment, and you can best support us by sticking to Honeymoon and Hawksnest for now. The faster we can freely work on Trunk, the faster we can get it open for folks to enjoy.”
As of now, the only way to access Honeymoon is by boat (they have been working to secure the mooring field) or by foot via the Lind Point trail. You still cannot access Caneel or the beaches via Caneel’s main entrance. We have been told, however, that if you hike in via the Lind Point trail, you can exit through the Caneel gate.
Thanks for the great news!
Do they anticipate opening more beaches between now and mid January?
They’re working hard on Trunk now so that should reopen soon I would think.
Great news!!! Looking forward to hitting Honeymoon in less than two weeks.
Are those current photos (I hope) or are they from before the Hurricanes?
Yes. Both taken this week.
That is such great news. We just booked our flight for April.
Susan asked my question and I love the answer. So nice to see the greenery coming back. Makes me feel much better about my decision to come for the last week of February again. Thanks to all those working so hard to clean up and prayers for all who are hurting so much. (Hope Tuesday’s with Ted is still going when we are there!)
Is there any news of how Sloop Jones is doing out on East End?
Great news.
What have you heard about Cinnamon?
We went to Cinnamon last week and the Park Ranger on site there told us the beach was open and we could stay until sunset. There were two other people there. But it’s a total mess (probably the worst natural destruction on the whole island from what we saw) and no place for kids or folks looking for the old place.
The ranger may have stated it is open, but the National Park Service has not officially reopened Cinnamon. As of today, only Hawksnest and Honeymoon are open.
Will Coral Bay and its infrastructure be open and roads etc cleared up by January 8? We are renting a place from Airbnb for one wee kand don’t know if anything functions, the airport at St Thomas? We paid in full and are getting impatient. So sorry the island suffered so much…
The roads are clear. As of today, Coral Bay does not have power.
Is Coconut Coast Villas open and operating?