Hansen Bay Beach — Attraction in Karatta

Of several different snorkeling areas we visited on St. John, Hansen Bay Beach was by far my favorite. Do yourself an enormous favor and plan a day there!

The bay truly has something for everyone. The beach alone is a nice, quiet destination for those not into snorkeling, with white sand and access to beach chairs if desired. It’s an easy place to set up an outpost for the day and discover what the water has to offer. Furthermore, the property owner, Thalia, has planted a line of palms post -hurricane that should mature quickly into wonderful shade trees. It was clean, very well maintained, and she is very informative and gracious. Unlike other beaches, there is no fee, however donations are accepted, and we happily paid considerably more given our fantastic experience.

Entry to the water along the beach is placid and tranquil, with about an eighth mile of unobstructed, sandy access. While we do not have children, if we did, this is the place we’d feel secure bringing them to, and encountered another family with a toddler clearly enjoying the calm.

For those who snorkel, the sea life in the bay seemed more abundant there than all of the prior bays we went to. We encountered Caribbean reef squid, trunkfish, barracuda, hawksbill turtles, lobsters, and an enormous, inquisitive spotted eagle ray that circled us multiple times before heading for deeper water. And of course there were also parrotfish, squirrelfish, and urchins galore.

The terrain was varied and interesting -- from the very shallow rock formations to the deeper sand and sea grass areas towards the middle of the bay. We were instructed head in and along the left where we could explore coastal areas ranging from a very shallow two feet deep to rockier formations and pinnacles twenty plus feet deep. Coral seemed to be healthier here as well, and we saw sea fans, elkhorn coral, brain coral, and other forms we had not seen elsewhere.

After rounding a rocky point to the left, we headed across the center of the bay toward the right side, where the depth grew to thirty or more feet. It was calm and easy to swim, with good visibility to the sandy bottom spotted with turtle grass patches. Evidently, this area used to be the location of the “Taco Bar” boat, which has been moved elsewhere to protect the coral in the area. While I definitely like the idea of a drink (or five) while floating in a beautiful bay, I was very grateful to essentially have it to ourselves, with only a few other small parties on the beach or in distant boats (and without the noise that typically comes with a floating bar.)

Hansen bay deserves far more attention than it gets -- and I hate to write that because I want it to remain the perfect, somewhat hidden gem that it is. All the same, Thalia is waiting to make your visit splendid, and the smaller, personal touch she gives the place deserves more foot traffic. So please, make the trip out there and give yourself a surprise to contrast with the bigger, more developed beaches. Great things come is...

Hansen beach is absolutely my personal favorite in the island. It happened to the the first spot visited on my island vacation and after snorkeling multiple bays and beaches on both the north and south side of the island; this is where we kept coming back to....in fact, it was the only place we visited three times during our week and a half stay on St John...including the last place we went to. After a terrible experience over a day and a half on St Thomas (both Air bnb and beach related), we found our way right back to St John, and right back to Hansen beach.

The parking area feels super safe and is located right off the long (very clean and well kept) sandy beach. This privately owned stretch of paradise is donation only (which we MORE than gladly did) and the woman who owns it greets you kindly with each visit. Chairs and picnic tables are nicely spaced throughout and kayaks were cheap (only $10 an hour), but we never got the chance to use any of it because the snorkeling was SO GOOD.

To the right side you will find a small rocky patch that comes out a bit and eventually leads around to another secluded stretch of sand where we did see a few boats and larger groups enjoying the sun. No matter though, because Hansen beach bay lives is to its name and there is a large grass bed a bit off shore in the center of the bay. This area was littered with green sea turtles, stingrays, schools of fish, and the occasional large barracuda. Other gems like giant conches can be seen down on the bottom. My favorite area though all lives to the left side. This rocky point is home to a shoal of reef squid that look to be at least twenty members strong, and is created by a landscape of brain corals, elk horn coral, fungus coral, star coral, sea fans, sea plumes, and tube sponges. There are countless long spined sea urchins, parrot fish, wrasses, sergeant majors, snappers, groupers, squirrel fish, bar jacks, butterfly fish, trunk fish, and the list goes on and on. I also saw some porcupine fish, a cow fish, octopus, and a few Atlantic spade fish, a French angelfish, and a spiny lobster.

If you venture out far enough on this side you will also come to what might have been the coolest part of my trip...stumbling onto a large, awe inspiring, ancient looking reef. This area was quite deep, but it was worth the journey (which I found while trailing a giant balloon fish from shallower water).

I know I am leaving things out, but trust this, if you go, and even if you just comb the shore looking at the shells, rocks and coral that have washed up; you won’t be...

We were regret not finding this beach sooner into our trip!!! Next time, this beach will be our default, go-to beach. I have been to many beaches in my lifetime, and I have snorkeled at many of those beaches, but Hansen Beach is my favorite…easily. The quality of coral, plant life, fish, and sea creatures was superb. My family saw turtles, stingrays, and TONS of fish. When we arrived, we were greeted by friendly people who explained how the beach works. The beach is voluntary, honor system, donation based. After being so impressed by the beach, we added to our original donation before we left. The beach is (well-behaved) dog friendly. There are picnic tables, portable toilets (a/k/a porta potties), umbrellas, etc. available for beach guests at a first come, first serve basis. There are kayaks, paddle boards, etc. available for rental. When we were there (a weekday in late May), only a handful of other people were there, making the beach feel very intimate and not touristy at all. We recommend Skinny Legs and/or Miss Lucy’s while you’re on that side...