Magens Bay poses several challenges and tremendous opportunities. It is time to put the stakeholders in a room and figure it out. The Magans Bay Authority is stuck in the old economy. Their primary revenue stream has been cruise ship passengers paying user fees for years. On big ship days overcrowding, noise and trash can be overwhelming there. It also likely caused more environmental damage than all the boats in the Virgin Islands.

That business model is dead. Yes, we will see the return of a few ships over the next few years but nothing at the level prior to COVID. On the other hand, those guests on the charter boats and visiting yachts represent a tremendous value to the local economy. These are multi-day overnight visitors that spend money while they are here. They support marine jobs, retail jobs, the restaurant industry, etc. It is time that the Authority put together a management plan that works for everyone. Magens should be set up like a National Park Bay. There should be twenty or thirty pay moorings for boats under sixty feet. These could be priced at $50 a night, $30 for the mooring, and $20 for the user fee. A designated anchorage area further away from the beach for larger vessels should be set up. No additional anchoring, no jet skis, no wakeboards, or water skis. A dinghy/small boat access channel should be set up to allow beach access. A tie line for tenders just offshore as well. Pretty much a carbon copy of the park's usage plan at Maho/Francis in St John.