Cinnamon Bay

Cinnamon Bay is the longest beach in the Virgin Islands National Park, a wide arc of pale sand with a small cay offshore that snorkellers swim out to. Behind the sand, across the road, stand the remains of the Cinnamon Bay sugar factory, and a self-guided nature trail loops through the estate ruins and the forest that has grown back over them, past a Danish cemetery and the foundations of the works. Hurricanes in 2017 destroyed the campground that had operated here since the 1960s and eroded a great deal of the beach; both have been slowly returning, and archaeological material keeps washing out of the dunes as the sand shifts.

What you actually see

• The beach - the longest in the national park, with a cay offshore.
• The sugar factory ruin - the works across the road from the sand.
• The nature trail - a loop through estate ruins and regrown forest.
• The Danish cemetery - graves in the trees behind the beach.

When to go

December to April is the dry season. Mornings are calmest for snorkelling out to the cay. Winter ground swells make the north shore beaches rough for days at a time, which surprises visitors expecting Caribbean calm.

Honest expectations

Hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017 stripped the beach and destroyed the campground, and while both have partly recovered, the beach is narrower than it was and facilities have been limited or absent for long stretches since. Erosion continues to expose archaeological material, which must be left where it is. There are no lifeguards.

Nearby

Maho Bay is five minutes east; Trunk Bay is five minutes west.