usvi-on-line
Trip Report 3/1-3/8
Trip Report 3/1-3/8
Sad to be home, but happy to talk about a great trip
Day 1-Smooth arrival, picked up by Gallows Point, thrilled by the place, picked up car at Cool Breeze(all went smoothly, quick trip to market, and then a snorkel at Gallows til it got dark. Snorkeling good, day and night views from Gallows-beautiful!
Day 2-Francis Bay - good snorkeling, several rays, no turtles though. Snorkeled to Little Maho and Maho.Beautiful and good snorkeling. Dinner at Morgan's Mango. Husband had tuna and I had Mahi Mahi. Good, not great! The best part of day was the first glimpse of those north beaches again. Takes your breath away!
Day 3-Charter with Lion in da Sun. They were able to set us up with a group of 4 others by email. Weather report was good so we set off and got through customs at Tortola. Starts to drizzle. Head to the caves first. Interesting snorkel-rain increases. Willy T's for lunch and hopefully rain will stop. Pours and clears up for a few minutes so we head off. Indians snorkeling was great, but made it only one time around until we had to leave due to the heavy rain. Headed back and had a half day instead of whole. Disappointing cause I think the we could have spent a lot of time at the Indians in better conditions. Advice-bring something warm and dry,even if forecast is great! Fun time anyway and great charter company!! Snorkeled back at Gallows when stopped raining. It was great-saw an octopus, turtle, cowfish and much more.
Dinner-Waterfront Bistro. Great!! Tuna for hubby! He prides himself on being a tuna afficionado and he thought it was terrific. I had lamb 2 ways and it was very good.
Day 4- Haulover North I think. Well, the side with the path to the beach. Great snorkeling- best coral that we saw on this trip. Best weather of trip, too. I may be getting days mixed up
Day 5 Oh no, the winds are up. North Shore beaches closed for snorkeling so headed up to Little Lameshur. Snorkeling was very good! Lovely place-Salt Pond Parking lot looked very crowded that day. Ate at Skinny Legs. Good hamburgers, great vibe. Have to say, after reading the posts, I was happily surprised by the bathrooms. Better than I expected! A stop at Trunk Bay for sunset and a beautiful wedding on the beach. Tacos at Surly Cantina -beef asada best, chicken very good, fish taco nothing special. Very reasonable and the people were very nice.
Day 6-Still windy so went to Maho. Water not too rough, but when we tried snorkeling-the sand was too churned up to see anything. When we turned back, hubby saw a nurse shark. Chicken on beach laid an egg and beachgoer was going to take it home to eat that night. Beautiful day at beach even though no snorkeling.Went to BB and heard great band-Spiritual Rez. Thanks for the rec from the board. 2 for 1 beers- only 3 bucks.
Day 7- First to Hawksnest so we can head back to car if rains. Clears up so we head to Honeymoon and Solomon. Honeymoon a little busy so off to Solomon. Pretty good snorkeling, started to rain so we kept snorkeling and snorkeling and...finally had to get out and try to hide under tree and get soaked. Oh well, still beautiful spot to be in. Dinner at XoXo's. Sat at bar for beautiful views of St Thomas. Dinner was just good-not close to Waterfront Bistro. Has the osso bucco and the shrimp. Bruschetta appetizer we didn't like and another we did which I can't remember. Maybe we just didn't order the right things, because others we met raved about it.
Day 8-Snorkeled early AM at Gallows. Returned car and took 11:15 ferry to CA for 2 pm flight. No problem making it. Being a nervous nellie I followed the forums info on tipping the porter and they whisk you through check in, customs and security. Definitely worth the price.
Random thoughts- Loved Gallows for view and the ability to walk to dinner and bars and not worrying about driving at night! Waited a few days to go to Waterlemon and then the weather didn't cooperate. Don't wait!Loved the pelicans-well loved everything. Thanks for reading this long winded trip report. It allowed me to relive the week.
Day 1-Smooth arrival, picked up by Gallows Point, thrilled by the place, picked up car at Cool Breeze(all went smoothly, quick trip to market, and then a snorkel at Gallows til it got dark. Snorkeling good, day and night views from Gallows-beautiful!
Day 2-Francis Bay - good snorkeling, several rays, no turtles though. Snorkeled to Little Maho and Maho.Beautiful and good snorkeling. Dinner at Morgan's Mango. Husband had tuna and I had Mahi Mahi. Good, not great! The best part of day was the first glimpse of those north beaches again. Takes your breath away!
Day 3-Charter with Lion in da Sun. They were able to set us up with a group of 4 others by email. Weather report was good so we set off and got through customs at Tortola. Starts to drizzle. Head to the caves first. Interesting snorkel-rain increases. Willy T's for lunch and hopefully rain will stop. Pours and clears up for a few minutes so we head off. Indians snorkeling was great, but made it only one time around until we had to leave due to the heavy rain. Headed back and had a half day instead of whole. Disappointing cause I think the we could have spent a lot of time at the Indians in better conditions. Advice-bring something warm and dry,even if forecast is great! Fun time anyway and great charter company!! Snorkeled back at Gallows when stopped raining. It was great-saw an octopus, turtle, cowfish and much more.
Dinner-Waterfront Bistro. Great!! Tuna for hubby! He prides himself on being a tuna afficionado and he thought it was terrific. I had lamb 2 ways and it was very good.
Day 4- Haulover North I think. Well, the side with the path to the beach. Great snorkeling- best coral that we saw on this trip. Best weather of trip, too. I may be getting days mixed up
Day 5 Oh no, the winds are up. North Shore beaches closed for snorkeling so headed up to Little Lameshur. Snorkeling was very good! Lovely place-Salt Pond Parking lot looked very crowded that day. Ate at Skinny Legs. Good hamburgers, great vibe. Have to say, after reading the posts, I was happily surprised by the bathrooms. Better than I expected! A stop at Trunk Bay for sunset and a beautiful wedding on the beach. Tacos at Surly Cantina -beef asada best, chicken very good, fish taco nothing special. Very reasonable and the people were very nice.
Day 6-Still windy so went to Maho. Water not too rough, but when we tried snorkeling-the sand was too churned up to see anything. When we turned back, hubby saw a nurse shark. Chicken on beach laid an egg and beachgoer was going to take it home to eat that night. Beautiful day at beach even though no snorkeling.Went to BB and heard great band-Spiritual Rez. Thanks for the rec from the board. 2 for 1 beers- only 3 bucks.
Day 7- First to Hawksnest so we can head back to car if rains. Clears up so we head to Honeymoon and Solomon. Honeymoon a little busy so off to Solomon. Pretty good snorkeling, started to rain so we kept snorkeling and snorkeling and...finally had to get out and try to hide under tree and get soaked. Oh well, still beautiful spot to be in. Dinner at XoXo's. Sat at bar for beautiful views of St Thomas. Dinner was just good-not close to Waterfront Bistro. Has the osso bucco and the shrimp. Bruschetta appetizer we didn't like and another we did which I can't remember. Maybe we just didn't order the right things, because others we met raved about it.
Day 8-Snorkeled early AM at Gallows. Returned car and took 11:15 ferry to CA for 2 pm flight. No problem making it. Being a nervous nellie I followed the forums info on tipping the porter and they whisk you through check in, customs and security. Definitely worth the price.
Random thoughts- Loved Gallows for view and the ability to walk to dinner and bars and not worrying about driving at night! Waited a few days to go to Waterlemon and then the weather didn't cooperate. Don't wait!Loved the pelicans-well loved everything. Thanks for reading this long winded trip report. It allowed me to relive the week.
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nothintolose
- Posts: 1960
- Joined: Mon Aug 07, 2006 10:36 pm
- Location: New Orleans, LA
haulover north
hi nothintolose, we snorkeled on the left, as advised in feet, fins and four wheel drive book. It was not rough at all.Best, Ellen
Thanks for the report! We planned a day on the water to snorkel the Indians, Caves, Lunch at Willy T's etc but had to cancel due to high winds and chop. We're anxious to do that next year.
Sounds like you were really great at making the best of your vacation - even though the weather was pretty unsettling - nice job!
Sounds like you were really great at making the best of your vacation - even though the weather was pretty unsettling - nice job!
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hoosierdaddy
- Posts: 920
- Joined: Tue Jan 20, 2009 11:53 am
- Location: Indiana
Willy T
Funny you should say that. I didn't know that was a tradition. The sun was shining for about 5 minutes and the water was a gorgeous shade of blue. A woman jumped off and I was so tempted, but felt self-conscious. Next time I will have a drink and then jump. Do it for me when you go. Have a great time! Ellen