Cinnamon Bay Campground Reopens Five Years After Hurricane Devastation

Nearly five years after hurricane devastation, Cinnamon Bay Campground (U.S Virgin Islands) reopened; employees and campers are thrilled!

According to a report, the campground concession was awarded to CinnOpCo, backed by Bloomberg co-founder and philanthropist Tom Secunda, in April 2019.

The rebuild was delayed for nearly a year while CinnOpCo collaborated with the National Park Service to mitigate asbestos found within sewer lines.

Cinnamon Bay Campground’s staff, as well as its first guests, were equally thrilled at the prospect of reopening the beachfront hotel nearly five years after the eco-resort had been severely destroyed by hurricane Irma.

The newly-reopened resort and campground has 50 eco-tents and a queen bed. Twenty of these eco-tents include bunk beds to accommodate families. There are 31 bare campsites. At the western end of the property are 40 cottages. Still, in construction, these cottages can accommodate four persons when they open for guests’ use in early April.

While the number of cottages available at the new Cinnamon Bay is similar to before, the layout of the buildings has been altered.

Building 10 at the westernmost end could not be rebuilt due to its proximity to the beach.

It was also determined that Buildings 1 and 3 were located on top of sensitive archaeology, said CinnOpCo managing director Adrian Davis, so they also could not be rebuilt.

As a result, there are currently 40 cottages in seven buildings. Six buildings comprise four cottages on the first level, two on the second level, and one building has four cottages located on the second level and none on the lower floor because of its location in a floodplain.

A majority of Cinnamon Bay employees hail native to the Virgin Islands or have lived in the area longer than ten years, according to Davis, who was previously the manager of Maho Bay Campground and Concordia Eco-Resort. The resort currently employs 40 to 50 employees.

Prior Cinnamon guests will notice the slightest change, like an asphalt walkway between the site’s bare areas and eco-tents for more convenient transportation of suitcases and more accessible accommodation.

“You’ve got a generation of people who’ve been coming to Cinnamon for 40 or 50 years and at this point, climbing to that first tent way out on the point is harder than it was so many years ago,” said Davis. “We tried to bring them to flatter areas closer to the bathhouse.”

Nighttime events will entertain guests, such as games and talks given by Virgin Islands National Park interpretive rangers.

There is also a store offering standard camping equipment and a limited assortment of food and beverages as well as sustainable products such as organic cotton towels, shirts and sweatshirts, sun shirts and caps made of recycled plastic bottles, as well as wood notecards and postcards made from seed paper that can be planted to grow flowers.

“We’re doing our best to be as sustainable as we can,” said Cinnamon’s CiCi Davis, who was busy overseeing the opening of the store on Monday morning. “If an item is available locally, we’ll use it.”

Locally-made soaps, ice creams, and popsicles are available at the store, along with beverages from St. John Brewers and Leatherback Brewing.

For more information about Cinnamon Bay, visit www.cinnamonbayvi.com.