Good Morning! Trip Advisor recently ranked their 2021 top 25 beaches in the World and in the Caribbean and I think you’ll notice some familiar views on both of those lists!
Oh, Maho Bay….It remains one of the most beautiful places in the world by my standards. And Trip Advisor’s users tend to agree. This beautiful white sand beach teeming with wildlife and incredible views has climbed above the infamous Trunk Bay to rank number 14 in the world and number 5 in the Caribbean region on the popular travel site for 2021.
The storms of 2017 were unkind to the entire island of St. John, but they were specifically mean-spirited to Maho Bay. There was a period of time following Hurricanes Irma and Maria that I was unable to drive past Cinnamon because the devastation of the beauty at Maho was too much for me to bear.
It was the first beach I went to when I moved here. The first place I swam with a sea turtle. I used to paddle board over from Cinnamon Bay and just sit and stare at the the beautiful fluffy palms and Maho trees that clouded the water front with their golden green hues.
Like many things, the beauty of this beach has bounced back and the word is out about the incredibly majestic half moon bay and guaranteed turtles while snorkeling.
Trip Advisor users rank Maho in the best of the best for beaches to enjoy while spending time in the Caribbean. It is also ranked the number one activity on St. John! The recent development of nearby concessions make Maho a super convenient beach day with food, drink and water sport rental availability on site.
But, by far, the main attraction of Maho Bay are the sea grass beds that attract the most popular creatures of the sea. Turtles. Here, you can simply sit on the beach, watch the water for a little green head to pop up and swim on over to watch the turtles leisurely eat their lunch 🙂
What Trip Advisor users are saying about Maho:
It has all the right stuff for a perfect day at the beach – food trucks, drink stands, water sports rental, calm water, and soft white sand to name a few.
Maho is a beautiful white sand beach known for the snorkeling with sea turtles. We saw countless turtles and an octopus while snorkeling just off the beach.
Wide, gentle sandy beach. Ideal for kids. Ample trees for shade in the early to mid-day but not late day. Went on 3 short snorkeling tours in different directions. Saw a sizable nurse shark. Saw 2 turtles , one quite large with large remora and 2 smaller.
We found this beach as we tripped up the shoreline on St. John. It ended up our most favorite beach that we’ve visited. The snorkeling was outstanding from the perspective we saw more underwater life than any previous spot ever. Even saw some Barracuda and an Octopus. But, by far, the exciting part was all the turtles that go and feed ff the Sea Grass. As we waiting for a parking spot, a local told me to just go out about 50-100 feet and open your eyes. Boy, was he right. It was so cool seeing our first Sea Turtles.
Also making the list for the Virgin Islands were Trunk Bay at number 13, Honeymoon at number 14 and The Baths at number 19.
Maho is also one of our favorite beaches. We like visiting it on our way back from a long day of snorkeling the east end. A great place to have a late lunch and enjoy the calm waters of Maho. We have spent many hours floating in the shallow grassy areas taking photos of the turtles.
Please stop hyping Maho. You are turning it into Margaritaville.
Maho had so many cars parked half in the street you could not get by. Major traffic jam!!! So sad to see
Never snorkled before our last trip.
My first turtle sighting (at Maho) took my breath away.
But I agree , I’m not very good at “sharing” and even back then we saw some idiots picking the turtles out of the water. It would be nice if it was still a nice secret.
Pam, if you see that in the future please call the park rangers @ 866-995-8467.
Yes, I think the additions the Maho are nice and add some fun, but am truly worried for the future. The more people, the more activity and possible disruption to the Turtle’s environment. Also too many people make the water murky and obstruct your normally excellent view when snorkeling.
I hope someone is monitoring.
Agree