ST. THOMAS — Althea Gumbs and her husband, Bruce, have owned Oceanfront Beach Rentals on Coki Point Beach going on 16 years now. Everyday the St. Thomas couple and a handful of employees are there to serve up chaise lounge-style chairs and extra-wide umbrellas to the beachcombers from St. Thomas’ hotels and resorts, and cruise ship visitors.
But after nearly two decades in business, a tourist complaint to the media is forcing the Gumbs, who own the Oceanfront Beach Rentals, and two other local chair rental operations in Coki Point to make better accommodation for beachgoers who bring their own chairs. Mrs. Gumbs said if a solution is not reached that allows the businesses to pre-place their chairs to accommodate tourists, their operations will not be sustainable.
A Michigan couple reportedly told a local St. Thomas paper they were longtime visitors to the island. According to the paper, the couple complained that the beach was overcrowded, and they were not permitted to place their own chairs in preferred spots along the beach.
Within hours, the V.I. Department of Sports, Parks and Recreation reacted. “Responding immediately to complaints from longtime visitors that appeared in local media on Wednesday about the practice of renting beach chairs at Coki Point, Sports, Parks and Recreation Commissioner Nominee Calvert White called a meeting Wednesday morning at the department’s office on Sub Base on St. Thomas to address the issue,” said Mr. White in a written statement Wednesday evening.
Local businesses were told that, among other things:
- Vendors are not allowed to place beach chairs on the beach unless the chair has been rented.
- Vendors may not tell residents or visitors that they are not allowed to sit at any specific place on the beach, as the entire beach is public.
In an interview with the VI Consortium, Mrs. Gumbs said business owners were informed that police or other authorities would go to Coki Point regularly to ensure the rules were being met. If violations are found the business will be cited. After three citations, the government may revoke the company’s business license and seize the inventory of chairs and umbrellas, Coki Point business owners were told.
“I do not want to be terminated, so I will do what I am told,” Mrs. Gumbs said. “But between this being a public beach and a commercial tourist operation, it is hard.”
Coki Point’s popularity among local residents and visitors inevitably creates conflict.
Coki is one of St. Thomas’ distinctly “local” beaches. The beach does not sit within the confines of a hotel or resort. It is located on a narrow spit of land extending out from Smith Bay toward Thatch Cay, next to the Coral World water park. And because of its accessibility, Coki’s white sand and blue waters are part of local residents daily lives.
Crime and open-air marijuana use has been a long-running issue, but visitors love Coki Point too. It rates a 4.0 on TripAdvisor’s “Traveler Overview.” A currently featured review is headlined: “Best beach on the island and perhaps in the Caribbean!”
The February 2016 TripAdvisor review goes on to say “ … You can rent full lawn chairs and umbrellas, GREAT fruit/alcohol drinks, you can feed the beautiful colorful fish that will come up to your waist high in the water (if you have dog biscuits), calm, GORGEOUS waters and beautiful white sands!”
But the beach is small. And on the heaviest tourist days, having beach chairs readily available is crucial to businesses like Mrs. Gumbs’s Oceanfront Beach Rentals, she said.
Consider: During the height of the tourism season, four cruise ships or more cruise ships call on the West Indies Co. dock in Havensight and Crown Bay. On Tuesday – when the Michigan couple complained about their lack of access to their favorite spot on the beach – cruise ships carrying as many as 11,931 passengers docked at Havensight and Crown Bay.
Over just a few hours, taxi and safari drivers delivered droves of tourists to Coki Point, 10 to 20 people at a time. Those visitors expect to wait for prime spots along the beach, chairs and umbrellas at the ready.
If chairs are not in place and ready to be rented, many cruise ship travelers get back on the safari or taxi and go to another beach. “There are other beaches. Soon the taxi drivers will starting taking people to another beach,” Mrs. Gumbs said.
Mr. White emphasized, “ … All public beaches in the territory are under the jurisdiction of the Government of the Virgin Islands and are under the jurisdiction of the Sports, Parks and Recreation Department.” The department “ … is committed to ensuring a safe and enjoyable experience to locals and visitors on all public beaches. Disregard for the rules and regulations will not be tolerated,” he said.
Mrs. Gumbs said days when only a single cruise ship is in St. Thomas, “I could understand that you could leave the beach a little empty, compared to a three-ship day and a five-ship day. It’s off-season right now so we have ships on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, one or two sometimes on the Monday, but on Tuesday it’s usually two, sometimes three.” Mrs. Gumbs said there needs to be a compromise and resolution. She said her business along with the two other operations need to be able to put out a certain amount of chairs, even if it’s without the umbrellas, which she said blocks the view from the water, so that when customers come the chairs will be ready, and employees could quickly grab the umbrellas and install them.
At the emergency meeting were officials from the Virgin Islands Police Department, Department of Licensing and Consumer Affairs, the Office of the Governor, Department of Property and Property, Sports, Parks and Recreation, and the manager of Coki Point beach.
Share On Facebook
Tweet It
