I took my tween daughter for a week over Christmas. We stayed in a cottage, which was not musty or particularly dirty. The service is slow and clearly unmotivated, sad to see so many people so unhappy and resentful at work. This was my third trip to Cinnamon Bay, though the most recent trip was more than 20 years ago. The campground has not changed one bit during that time. Sadly there is (still) no effort to recycle or provide any type of fresh or nutritious food in the store. The beach is lovely, not too crowded. The sand is nice, the water warm and clear. Minimal bugs. It seemed at least half the people there were only working on their tans (again, no change since the 80's and 90's!), and in fact spent the entire day facing the bushes rather then the ocean (north facing beach) in order to get maximum sun exposure! A lot of beer and music. However, if you walk to the end of the beach you can have more privacy.

The biggest disappointment was the snorkeling: coral bleaching has destroyed the beautiful reef. There are still fish around, but the ecosystem has suffered greatly, and it was very sad to see. We snorkeled in the Red Sea last year, and it was far better. They advertised ranger programs, but when we went for the 9:30 am walk, no one showed up to give it.

If you ONLY want a beautiful beach and warm water, and can put up with bad food (or bring your own and wash dishes in the laundry sink off the bathrooms every day), terrible service, and rustic accommodations, go for it. There were several large family groups, and it would be a lovely place to spend time catching up with relatives. We went to snorkel and were sorely disappointed.

Cinnamon Bay campground is a good, possibly great place to camp.

It is a unique camping experience, with a '60s feel, ex-hippie but unassuming.

We did not find the staff to be rude or disinterested just overworked. When we approached them and were friendly, they were friendly back.

We stayed for 8 nights in a canvas tent, serviceable, but not the Hilton. Hey, its camping Island-style! Many tents are under the natural canopy which makes them surprisingly dark inside, even at mid-day. Invest in a headlamp before coming to the Island, and bring as much dry food as you can pack if you plan on eating at the campsite (food at the site is very limited and very expensive). Linens and mattresses were clean, but a little scratchy, no problems there.

Mosquitoes (January) were almost nonexistent, sand fleas were brutal particularly on the grass at night. The propane stove and lantern worked great, and when we ran out of fuel they brought us a new canister in a very short amount of time. The lanterns attract roaches (yipes!), so if you want them to stay away, clean up after every meal and avoid making meals after dark. Showers were cool, not freezing, and the bathrooms were reasonably clean, about as good as National Parks in the US. The other travelers were talkative and friendly.

Teenaged son loved the place, snorkeling was fabulous, not as good as Belize, but as good or better than most, good hikes on the Island as well, though trails were steep. We spent half a day volunteering to do trail maintenance, which was hot and sweaty, but we also got a guided tour (thanks Jeff !) of some pretty nice sites, making it well worth the sweat-equity.

Taxis are also a bit pricey but a number of beaches and snorkeling spots can be walked to if you are up to it. Our favorite mode of transport was to taxi out in the morning and beach hop back (walking) during the rest of the day.

All in all, a good place to visit, liked it a lot, didn't fall in love with the place. We may go back, if only there weren't so many other cool places to go...

Outstanding location. Friendly staff. Decent canvas tents. Other guests are wonderful. Only complaints are the items sold in the convenience store and sold in the commissary.... so gross and mostly from Sysco foods and Kraft. I feel strongly that places that are rooted in their love and care for nature should embrace those practices in their business model. All fo the food was served on styrofoam or plastic and was from Sysco. The store featured all items that had likely been shipped in from VERY VERY far away. This is not sustainable and kind of depressing.

Going back was sorta like seeing a beautiful Christ Craft boat dry rot in someone's backyard.
This was my third trip to Cinnamon Bay Campground- staying in the cottages. I roomed in one of the cabins with a view of the beach. I had a view of caution tape wrapped around trees (about 20 feet in diameter) to prevent us from walking in a standing water pool that need desperately to be filled with some gravel or dirt. It appeared that it was dug out and most of the fill was just shoved in the edge of the mangroves.
Litter! Just in front of our unit I found about 40-50 nails mixed in with the gravel so they were very tough to see. I warned the neighbors with small kids to make sure that they keep shoes on at all times as these where not unique just to our cabin, but strewn out everywhere! On our third day I noticed that about 1/3 of a pound of nails where dropped (that day) at the base of the stairs heading up to the dining room. I reported this and they were never dealt with in the next 4 days. I guess they hoped they would decompose on their own or bury themselves. The other common sights were bottle caps, candy wrappers, metal pull tabs etc. I did see a guy with a leaf blower that randomly blew the stuff into bushes, mangroves or ??? I know it is not fun to rake up stuff, but if it is your job... basically the cabin area looked terribly dumpy, grungy and out-of-place for such a beautiful region as St. John. I would think that if a place is charging 140-180 per night for a relatively primitive cabin the smallest amount of upkeep is in order.
Erosion seemed to be a problem as well and definitely not addressed in several years- pipes that were supposed to be buried underground seemed to be exposed everywhere and the cement patios were worn away underneath the pads.
The beds were comfortable and the campground exchanged sheet s and towels every couple or 3 days.
The bathroom we shared with several cabins was almost always clean. Everyone seemed to do their part wiping out the sinks and cleaning up after themselves.
I did do a pass over to the tent cottages and the primitive camping and they were quite nice and what you would expect from a US National Park.
My husband and kids ate in the cafeteria only once and said it was a comedy of errors so we did not go back.
Mary, at he front desk checked us in and was quite nice and helpful- also very sweet to my children- my daughter found excuses to visit her like borrowing a stapler or getting another map. Another woman working evenings at the desk was also helpful and efficient- I feel bad to not remember her name. I really can't review any other service employees of the park as I never saw them work.
So to sum it up. If you are camping its great. If you want a cabin, stay at Maho Bay- they take a lot of pride in their grounds and restaurant,

Cheers!