So glad the Manta stuck around for you! How exciting that you all got to see him. It's always so much more fun to take about afterwards if everyone got to see it, so that no one feels left out. What memories you are creating for your Niece and Nephew :) From the markings, I'd say it is the same one ...

Eagleray Lover, so glad you got to see one also! Would you be able to post your video - I'd love to see it. OK, I'm sure others are wondering, so I'll go ahead and ask....how do you tell the sex of a manta ray? We were so dumbfounded after we saw ours that we just all looked at each other, made weir...

On-island this week and wanted to tell you about our day on Saturday. We'd already had some great snorkels at Maho and Francis and decided that since it was the weekend we'd head to the South side to get away from the crowds (not that it's been very crowded on the North side). I love Eagle Rays, and...

Yes, I'd be interested to know what kind of camera you used also. Awesome details!

Camera was a Canon D20. As expected, quality of photos is greatly affected by depth of water and how sunny and bright it is. No real secret to my photos other than the fact that I take tons and tons of pictures and then end up with a few good ones.

After hearing the forecast and watching the weather channel last night, we were prepared for today to be a “washout”. However, other than it being a tad windy (again!) it is a gorgeous day. We know we need a protected bay this morning so decide to head back to Francis. We start out by looking for ou...

Well, we only got 1 snorkel in yesterday, so we need to make up for that today :P . We are out the door and at Waterlemon by 7:00AM! So much for sleeping-in on vacation! We barely get started when my sister spots a free swimming eel. It isn't real big and I'm not sure what kind it is (Golden?) , but...

Today is Sunday and it's quite windy (again). We don't even check out Haulover North this morning since we are assuming it's too rough. The men have decided they'd like to attend the Emmas Moravian Church Service this morning. The girls don't feel like we have appropriate attire (at least that's the...

Check out Haulover North again – same thing, different day (i.e. still rough). So, decide that we’ll try to rent kayaks and paddle over to Whistling Caye. Every year I say that I’m going to do this, and every year for some reason or other, it doesn’t seem to happen. The wind isn’t quite as bad as pr...

We decide to head to Waterlemon again today (after, of course checking out Haulover North- still rough!) Twyla and I get in the water about 1/3 of the way down the Leinster Bay Trail - by the 3 mooring balls. We've had good luck with that snorkel before so we agree to meet the others somewhere down ...

Started our day once again by checking conditions at Haulover north. Still kind of rough. We decide to try Francis Bay. In 8 years of St. John trips, we have probably only been to Francis 2 or 3 times. Not sure why, but it has never been at the top of our list. We are practically the only ones on th...

Day 2 AM - Head to the South side and Great Lameshur. Some years, we hike the Tektite trail and enter the water far out in the bay. However, it is a bit rough today, so we just start from shore and decide not to go too far. I’m on a mission to find an octopus or an eagle ray, We see several squid ou...

Trip dates were July 1 – July 10. In the past we’ve gone down for a week, but since it’s such a hassle for us to get to the island (all day and then some!) we decided to stay a bit longer this year. It ended up to be a GREAT decision. This was our 8th trip to St. John. First 4 years were at Cinnamon...