Hiking to Mermaid’s Chair St. Thomas, USVI

St. Thomas is a beautiful Caribbean island with a lot of different beaches to explore. While it is mostly a beach and shopping destination, there are a few hikes to do here if you want to get out and see a different part of the island. One of the best ‘hikes’ is down to Mermaid’s Chair St. Thomas. I put quotation marks because it’s not your typical hike (more on that in a second).

The Mermaid’s Chair trail is located on the tip of the west side of the island. It’s an area with a small (and often empty) beach and a rocky coastline that leads to another section of land. Exploring further will lead you to some tide pools on the very end with views of Little St. Thomas, West Cay and Salt Cay. It’s a fun thing to do in St. Thomas that’s a little different than the usual beach lounging.

As you can see in my little map above, there’s a small, skinny part of the island before getting to the part that looks like a claw. This strip of sand is what connects the two sections and you’ll likely want to go when the sand bar is more visible.

There’s a small beach on both sides of the sand bar, both of which were empty when we hiked down. We saw an occasional hiker, but most people seemed to come down, walk around a bit and then leave. It’s a pretty quiet and secluded spot.

When to Go

There’s two things you’ll want to keep in mind when hiking to Mermaid’s Chair in St Thomas. First of all, you’ll want to go at a good time of day, usually early morning or later in the afternoon. This trail is in the direct sun with no shade throughout your walk. It’s also downhill on the way there and uphill on the way back. So you’ll want to keep that in mind when you head back because it will be tougher on the way back.

If you go in the morning when it’s cooler, it will be hotter when you have to hike up. And if you go in the late afternoon, you’ll get the heat on the way down and hopefully a little less sun when you go back. But this is an island, so just expect heat.

The second thing you’ll want to keep in mind is the tide.

Mermaid’s Chair connects a smaller section of island, so you’ll want to make sure and go during low tide so that you can walk across the sand bar. I think during high tide, it will still be there, but the water will be higher and you might have to wade through it. There are rocks that you’ll need to get over and around which could be a scramble if you wait until they’re covered with water. It’s easier (and prettier) to go when it’s low tide.

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Where to Go

You’ll definitely need a car to get over to the west side of the island as it’s about as out of the way as you can get on St. Thomas (though still only about 30 minutes from the capital). As I mentioned before, this ‘hike’ is not really a hike and that’s because the trail is actually along the paved road in a private neighborhood.

The trail starts at the entrance of the Preserve at Botany Bay. You can put in ‘The Preserve at Botany Bay’ into your GPS and it will take you right there. I’d recommend using the Google Maps app, as it’s usually better about finding places and trails than your regular Maps App. Google Maps finds it right away.

So why a private residence? Beaches in St. Thomas are all open to the public, no matter where they are located. The beach at Mermaid’s Chair happens to be located within a private neighborhood, BUT since they are open to the public, they will allow you to enter and walk (‘hike’) down to the beach. You aren’t allowed to bring your car into the neighborhood unless you live there (or–I’m assuming–have permission to visit someone there).

Parking:

The road around Botany Bay is pretty narrow and parking can be a situation. There’s a very small section of dirt that fits maybe 3 cars where you can park alongside the road just past the corner. We decided to go pretty early in the morning and lucked out with that space being open. Otherwise, you’ll likely be parking half on the road, half off. But like I said, the road is pretty narrow and it’s not a great spot to park.

However, when we came back from our hike, there were quite a few more cars that were parked halfway in the road. I don’t know if you can get a ticket for something like that or not, but we were glad to have gotten one of the few spots OFF the road. Unfortunately, there just isn’t any other option.

Check-in:

To get inside the Preserve at Botany Bay, you will need to check in at the front entrance. There’s a guard there who will take your picture, hand you a map, and let you through the gate. You’ll also need to check back out when you return and take a nice, sweaty return photo.

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Hiking to Mermaid’s Chair in St. Thomas

Once you get inside the gates, you’ll take a left and just start following the paved road. The majority of the ‘trail’ is actually just walking along the private road. They give you a little map at the gate, but it’s got neighborhood roads and things on it that were a little confusing. The path is marked in red so it looks straight forward but it also has a lot of little grid lines that aren’t streets. But the streets and grid lines look the same, so it’s hard to tell which is which. I marked the actual streets below in dark blue:

The Path

Anyway, once you start on the path, get on the sidewalk and you’ll be following that for a little ways. There’s a neighborhood cul-de-sac on the right that you’ll pass pretty quickly and then you’ll get to a fork.

For the first fork in the road you’ll come to, you’ll want to keep to the right and continue following the sidewalk down a ways. You’ll see a ‘beaches’ sign at some point too to know you’re on the right street. The road forks again and you’ll want to take a left to get to Mermaid’s Chair. (If you’re wanting to go to Sandy Bay Beach, here is where you would take a right instead.)

At the 3rd fork, you’ll see a sign that says ‘Mermaid’s Chair’ and ‘beaches’, so you’ll stay straight/to the right. You can start to see the water here and the smaller islands up ahead.

Eventually the trail turns into two paved lines and from here you’ll know you’re almost there! The trail leads to an open paved circular area where you can see views of the rocky coast below and the nearby islands. We saw two huge iguanas here but one looked like it was about to chase us off so we didn’t admire the view long.

Off to the left is a stairway that leads you right on down to the beach. While it’s rocky at the very bottom, there’s a sandy beach area to the left and to the right you can see the sandbar.

The Beach

You’ll notice pretty quickly that there are no amenities and very little shade here. The beach to the left has enough of a sandy area to put a towel down and you can get into the water as well. There are some rocky areas but you can find enough sand to hang out for a bit.

To the right is where you’ll find the sandbar of Mermaid’s Chair. There are a few rocks to scramble over and the sandbar was pretty rocky as well with lots of dead coral scattered around. We had taken our shoes off to get in the water after hiking but needed them back on for this part.

Once you get past the rock and the coral, there’s a slightly larger beach on the connecting part with a lone palm tree. There’s a little more sand to spread out here but it’s still small and secluded. When we arrived, we thought that this was it. I had read about this hike beforehand but really didn’t know what we’d find at the end besides a rocky coast and sandbar. We looked around a bit but everything is sort of overgrown vegetation and rock, so we thought that there wasn’t anything more to see.

Luckily, some other people had come down after us and we saw them disappear through the shrubs and ended up following their path.

The Tide Pools

We didn’t see it the first time, but along the edge is a very feint trail that takes you along the rocks and eventually straight into the bushes. The ‘path’ through the plants is more or less clawing your way through branches until you reach the other side.

But once you do, you come out to…more rocks. And again, you want to keep pushing forward even though it doesn’t look like much. There’s a bit of sand but it’s mostly covered with rocks and I’m not sure you could throw a towel down here. Scramble over a few more rocks to the very, very end and you’ll finally reach the tide pools of St. Thomas.

The tide pools are shallow pockets of water trapped within the rocks that have created a little pool. The water is still and they’re fun to sit in while the ocean waves crash around you. (There’s some tide pools in St. Croix as well!)

You’ll definitely want to have your shoes on or water shoes if you get in the tide pools here because they are pretty rocky. We didn’t end up getting in because the weather started to turn a bit while we were exploring. But it’s a great place to check out and for some reflective photography.

Another reason to go when the tide is low–I’m not sure what these pools would look like with more water or even if this area would be very accessible.

The Return Hike

Since we had already scrambled all over and were fairly sweaty and dirty, we decided to climb up the larger hill just to see what there was to see before going back. One side is more of a slick sheet of rock, which wasn’t the best idea because it started to rain while we were checking it out. But the top of the hill does give you a nice view from higher up, though the path down was non-existent.

The weather kept changing on us so we decided to start heading back and it actually ended up in our favor. The return hike is a little rough since most of it is uphill and it started raining pretty decently once we were back on the road.

We were soaking wet but it was better than being in the direct sun. The hike back took just under 40 minutes. We checked back out at the entrance, took nice ‘after’ photos looking like swamp rats and were on our way.

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What to Bring to Mermaid’s Chair St. Thomas:

I’d suggest bringing some of the following for this St. Thomas hike. You don’t want to bring too much, but you’ll want to have a few things to be prepared.

• Sunscreen – you’ll be walking in direct sun for most of the hike with little reprieve from the heat.
• Water shoes – or tennis shoes you don’t mind getting wet. (These water shoes are both!)The sand bar is pretty rocky as well as the tide pools, so you don’t really want to go barefoot. We kept our tennis shoes on and it was fine, but water shoes might be helpful.
• Swimsuit – best to wear it as there are no facilities to change into it!
• Dry pack – These things are essential for when you’re around water or in tropical weather when rain is unpredictable. I like knowing I have a safe place for camera gear, phones and keys that won’t get wet!
• Light Weight Beach towel – I love traveling with a light weight, quick dry beach towel. They can be shoved in a backpack easily, or attached to the bottom. They dry quickly and are sand free!
• Water – Make sure you have plenty of water for while you’re there and the hike back up!
• Snacks – We like to have some granola bars, fruit, nuts or chips to refuel.

Things to Know:

1. There are no facilities at either Mermaid’s Chair or Sandy Bay Beach. No bathrooms, showers, chairs, nada.
2. Drones are NOT allowed here.
3. No glass (glass is usually not allowed on any beach).
4. Pets are not allowed.
5. Don’t rely on having phone service here because you likely won’t.
6. You can visit Botany Bay from 7:00am to 5:00pm.

Optional Extended Hike:

There is a private beach in this neighborhood as well called Sandy Bay Beach. It’s in a smaller cove to the right of Mermaid’s Chair. So if you feel like walking a little further and checking out another beach section, you can take that second fork to follow the path down.

You’ll eventually want to take a sharp left (like 30º angle sharp) on the street to get to the beach stairs and down to the sand. Since it’s on private property and you have to hike a ways to get there, it’s likely to be very empty when you go (if not entirely). It’s a little secluded spot with enough space to spread out and calm water to swim in.

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