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Hi Group,
Just returned to Seattle this morning and felt I should post something. We left St. Thomas yesterday and flew to Charlotte, NC through the mess that was going on in the Atlantic due to the storms in Florida. Needless to say, the flight was ROUGH. But to the pilots credit, he did an masterful job of handling the plane. This morning we left Charlotte, NC at 8:00 am, and flew for 5 hours, arriving in Seattle at 10:00 am.
We were on St. John for 2 weeks from August 13th to the 27th. The weather was not normal. It was unusually hot, mostly in the 90’s in Coral Bay. Also it was rainier and stormier than usual, but all in all – BEAUTIFUL.
Mostly it was snorkel trip for us. Most days we snorkeled at 2 locations per day, for 3 to 5 hours. Here is a partial list of the beaches that we snorkeled at:
Little Lameshur
Salt Pond
Haulover Bay North
Francis Bay
Little Maho (twice)
Maho (at least twice)
Cinnamon
The East Wall of Gibney
Hawksnest
Waterlemon (twice)
Trunk (4 times)
Jumbie
Henley Cay
Smuggler’s Cove (Tortola)
The Baths (Virgin Gorda)
The Reef between Johnson and Friis Bay
Coki Beach (twice)
It was unbelievable what we saw this trip. Here is a partial list:
At least 8 Turtles – 1 of them eating a Moon Jelly
2 Nurse Sharks
An Octopus
Squid
Lots of Moon Jelly’s and other Jellyfish
Numerous Baracuda
Clouds of Minnows (and other small fish) that at times were so tightly packed they would obscure the bottom
At least 2 Dozen Stingrays
A bunch of Tarpons
Sergeant Majors, Parrotfish and more different varities of fish than I can even name
Unbelievable coral formations
We stayed at Casanita overlooking Friis Bay and loved the place (I’ll post a review later).
Ate at a few places including Skinny’s and Uncle Joe’s Barbeque.
Went to Beverly’s in Havensight and bought a diamond ring for my wife from Jack. This is our second diamond purchase from Jack.
For us it was the trip of a lifetime. I’ll post more details after I get unpacked and settled in.
John
Hello John, welcome back :),
Thanks for part 1. You definately saw a lot snorkeling. Wonderful. I am staying tuned for the other parts of your trip report (tu).
--Islander
Thanks for the report! Wow, what a trip! I look forward to your updates once you're settled. We were there in June, but with another couple that didn't do much in the way of watersports, so never got to snorkel much. We're going next June (by ourselves) and will be doing more snorkeling then. Where did you see the best coral formations? the most critters?
Thanks,
WW
Don't worry, Woo, I will give you all the dirt on where to snorkle on St. John.
This is my 3rd snorkle trip to St. John and I've learned a lot. And I plan on sharing everything I've learned.
This year the North Shore Beaches were incredible. Even Trunk was awesome. At Trunk we saw huge schools of minnows and small fish that were so tightly packed that when you swam through them, you couldn't even see the bottom (it was eerie). And then at the outside of those schools you could watch Tarpon, Jacks, and Baraccuda dart into the school in search of prey. It was incredible.
Also, there is very little coral damage due to hurricanes on a lot of the Northshore Beaches.
The thing that is different this year, is that the water is exceptionally warm. You can snorkle all day without getting cold, if that's what you want. The downside of the warm water was that some of the snorkeling areas had more algae growth that I had seen in the past. Of course, I could be wrong, but it seemed that Waterlemon had a lot more growth that it did 2 years ago.
JFP
John, I would love your opinion of the snorkling at the Baths specifically. We're on our way back down in Nov for the 4th time and have snorkled quite a bit around STJ but this will be our first day-trip to visit the Baths. Is it worth packing the snorkling gear to visit there?
This is the 2nd time I've snorkled at The Baths. The Baths are good for 1 snorkle in a lifetime. To be honest the snorkle is not as good as most places on St. John.
However, because the batholiths (the BIG rocks) can be as large as a house, The Baths are not to be missed if you have a chance to get there. Also, The Baths are incredibly beautiful. Mostly you snorkle over white sand like at Coki Beach, so the snorkling is pretty. The snorkle is a little different than a normal coral snorkle because the fish don't stay near the bottom, they'll feed almost to the water's surface on the rocks.
Also, the other thing that makes The Baths worthwhile is that they have a trail through the rocks. The rocks are naturally piled upon each other. Do not miss this trail. You won't believe it. These rocks are piled upon each other is such a way that voids the size or rooms are created. The scope of the place is indiscribable.
But like I said, if you're just looking for a snorkle, don't waste your money - St. John has a dozen better snorkles (although, I did see an octopus at The Baths). The only reason I went to The Baths is because my teenagers really wanted to see it.
I hired Captain John and I highly recommend him.
If you go to The Baths, you can also stop at The Indians, and the Caves, and maybe snorkle the wreck of the Rhone. That would be an awesome day of snorkling.
Thanks so much! Yes, as a former geology major, I definatley want to go there but I wondered about the snorkling. We'll still debating how to get there from STJ (party charter verses private motor boat) so maybe this descrip of the snorkling will affect our decision. Only 8.5 weeks to go!
Karrie,
Well if you're a geology major, then The Baths are a MUST. I'm not a geology major, but I can appreciate a BIG rock when I see it. From a geology standpoint, The Baths are a must do.
And don't get me wrong, The Baths are BEAUTIFUL, I just don't think they're the best snorkle. But you will see fish and some coral.
As far as a party charter vs. private boat. In my mind it's a price issue. With a Captain it'll be about $500, but you can stop at lots of places. On a party boat, I think it's about $100 per person.
For me, I had a 13 year old teenage son that I did not want to expose to a party boat. All I needed was to take my son to the Willy T, so he could watch women earning T-Shirts. No Thanks.
JFP
But that could have been such a bonding moment.... hahaha. We took our kids when my son was about 16 and he did enjoy the bikinis...We do like to party but most of them don't spend enough time at the Baths and we've been to many of the party spots they go to. We did find one, I don't remember, not with me now, that looked hopeful. Hubbie wants to chat with folks so I doubt we'll rent a boat on our own. We did a party charter on St. Martin last year from the island to Anguilla and had a blast so we're still thinking.
