francis bay

We made a late afternoon visit to this beach and had to park at the end of the trail area but is was still an easy walk to the beach. Parking here also gave us the opportunity to take the trail back to the car which we were very grateful for. The beach was beautiful like many of the others in St. John, wide and sandy with plenty of spots for shade to get out of the hot sun. The trail was very nice and gave us the opportunity to see ducks and other sea birds wading in the pond as well as some ruins that we had read about. Definitely a beach to visit and don't miss the trail.

White sandy beaches and pretty good snorkeling here. Bring sunscreen as the sun gets blazing hot. Also watch out for fire coral - my husband got zapped by something floating in e water- recommend rash guards!

A perfect beach for swimming and snorkeling with the advantage of being a bit farther east on Rt. 20 from the more popular and therefore, more crowded beaches. The rocky, pothole nightmare of a dirt road can be avoided by parking on the north side of the road (about 10 spaces available) near the restored stone building. From here there are two choices to access the beach either a 0.2 mile walk down the rocky dirt road, or the 0.3 mile walk on the Francis Bay Trail passing the ruins of a once elegant residence. The path leads directly to the end of the rocky dirt road to the beach, or it can detour a bit onto a planked walkway through a scrubby mangrove forest to a salt pond. There are a few benches for quiet observation of a healthy bird population before ending at the beach.The beach offers plenty of shaded nooks among the mangroves. The soft white sand leads to a gradual entry into the clear and usually calm water, though strong winds can narrow the beach and stir up the sand. This is a good beach for beginner snorkelers to "get their feet wet" with sea turtle sightings almost guaranteed.

We went back repeatedly because of the wide, long sandy beach, with plenty of shade so you don't grill yourself.One of the best swimming beaches on the island because the water is generally very calm.

Francis Bay is incredible!!! It is a large bay with very easy access from the parking area (although you need to get there by 9:30 am or so for a good parking spot). The snorkeling is quite good, especially for rays and turtles in the center of the bay.

The beach at Francis Bay is reached either by a dirt road requiring a high clearance 4WD vehicle from the end of the paved Mary Creek road or by the short, easy 0.5 mile (0.8k) Francis Bay Trail that departs from a parking area also located at the western end of the Mary Creek road. The trail is very worthwhile as it takes one through tropical scrub forest, past ruins of a great house, a saltwater pond and an area of mangroves. The trail emerges at the northern end Francis Bay Beach which, being a bit off the beaten path and well protected, is generally uncrowded and quiet with warm, very calm waters making the bay a picturesque and popular anchorage for sailboats and an excellent beach for small children. Off most of this beautiful, long strip of white sand beach, the bay’s bottom is sandy with turtle grass lacking rocky, coral outcroppings so the snorkeling is different here than at many other beaches. Here one will see many large schools of juvenile fish and goat fish searching along the bottom amongst the turtle grass. Francis Bay is also one of the better places on St. John to spot sea turtles but chances of spotting one are best early, before most day trippers arrive. However, if you are looking to snorkel with colorful reef fish, there are rocky headlands with coral outcroppings at either of the far ends of the beach that support reef communities. We really enjoyed this peaceful, picturesque beach and bay as well as the trail to reach the beach.

Good views and nice sandy beach with fairly good snorkeling. Good shade available. Can park close to beach.

Calm waters, soft white sand, a little bit of snorkeling (not the best) and a fun boardwalk through a tunnel of mangroves that goes by a pond with beautiful ducks and other birds.

We hiked from the trail at top and then on Boardwalk through the mangroves. Beach was great, shade available but waves were huge.

This is the perfect beach if you want to snorkel with turtles. Our family was here two different times and both times we spent hours snorkeling with the turtles. Crystal clear water allows you to see to the bottom and clearly see the turtles feeding on the sea grass.

We visited this beach three times during our one week vacation to St John. Our stay was at the end of January, when the ground seas were up; most north shore beaches were not suitable for the kids. Francis was calm and serene. My son learned to snorkel here, and saw his first sea turtles and Rays in the sea grass in the bay. We also got to see a nurse shark here. The beach is wide, and mostly flat with not much pitch. There are lots of areas with shade and picnic tables if you get there early. If you drive, you must have 4 Wd or you would like get stuck in the dirt trail that leads to the beach. Snorkeling is good to the right of the beach, but middle of bay offers sea grass for turtles, etc.Worth the drive from town ( we did it three times!)

Francis Bay is a lovely long stretch of beach. We come for snorkeling and not laying on the beach. Snorkeling around the rocks to the left you will see beautiful coral and lots of fish. We did not swim out far enough in the center to see more.We found lots of conchs.Nice beach.

All the beaches on st john are beautiful, but I have chose this one as my favorite because:-short distance from parking lot to sand-fewer people-plenty of space mangroves to water-nice long beach for walkingthere are no chairs to rent, so bring your own along with a cooler!

It's a little out of the way, so, it's less crowded. It's really nice with a fairly wide beach for St. John and awesome water. Wish I could have spent more time there.

Smaller beach with parking. Good path to see unique crab life and ruins. Liked how unique it was andn o beaches crowded.