usvi-on-line
First trip to St. John
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klikesfins
- Posts: 21
- Joined: Thu Jul 01, 2010 8:03 am
- Location: Bolivar Ohio
First trip to St. John
Greetings to everyone on this beautiful, dry morning on island. First of all I want to thank everyone for all the fabulous advice that can be found on this board. You have made a some what soggy trip fun.
We arrived on Monday and fortunately, that was dry. We are staying at Hawksnest and love the view. You don't need a radar to figure out that when you can't see St. Thomas, you are about to get rain. I can't even begin to tell all of you how much rain came down this week. All bays looked like "chocolate" hole. But the ocean is cleaning things up quickly. It is amazing how much power water has. The road in front of the Westin was closed for awhile, totally took out the blacktop. Also the same happened in front of Mongoose Junction. But the road crews here have been the best ever. The most work to be done is probably on the way to Coral Bay. Lots of mud slides.
We have eaten at Skinny Legs, my first pain killer.....more bleu cheese burger again today! Also our first time to the Beach Bar was yesterday, great food and friendly service. We had appetizers and sangria at La Plancha del Mar...will be back on Monday for a real dinner. There is a reason they are doing so well...they really know about food and prepare and present it quite nicely. We also were "trapped" inside Woody's during one of many extreme downpours. Fabulous Mahi sandwich and a fews beers later, the rain let us out. We will be back, without rain.
Beaches...soggy that they have been. We have sat under a regular umbrella at Francis, determined that the rain would stop any moment now. And we have been to Hawksnest, for 2 hours of sunshine. I don't know what the beach normally looks like there, but if you go to the right, facing the ocean, there is now a large divide from rain water that separates the very last part of the beach. We went down there and no one else crossed the divide. We had a mini beach all to our selves. Heading out to Jumbie today and probably Francis again. This will be our first snorkel day.
When I looked at radar this morning, I thought it was broken. Nothing large and green appeared anywhere. Bring on the sunscreen!!
We arrived on Monday and fortunately, that was dry. We are staying at Hawksnest and love the view. You don't need a radar to figure out that when you can't see St. Thomas, you are about to get rain. I can't even begin to tell all of you how much rain came down this week. All bays looked like "chocolate" hole. But the ocean is cleaning things up quickly. It is amazing how much power water has. The road in front of the Westin was closed for awhile, totally took out the blacktop. Also the same happened in front of Mongoose Junction. But the road crews here have been the best ever. The most work to be done is probably on the way to Coral Bay. Lots of mud slides.
We have eaten at Skinny Legs, my first pain killer.....more bleu cheese burger again today! Also our first time to the Beach Bar was yesterday, great food and friendly service. We had appetizers and sangria at La Plancha del Mar...will be back on Monday for a real dinner. There is a reason they are doing so well...they really know about food and prepare and present it quite nicely. We also were "trapped" inside Woody's during one of many extreme downpours. Fabulous Mahi sandwich and a fews beers later, the rain let us out. We will be back, without rain.
Beaches...soggy that they have been. We have sat under a regular umbrella at Francis, determined that the rain would stop any moment now. And we have been to Hawksnest, for 2 hours of sunshine. I don't know what the beach normally looks like there, but if you go to the right, facing the ocean, there is now a large divide from rain water that separates the very last part of the beach. We went down there and no one else crossed the divide. We had a mini beach all to our selves. Heading out to Jumbie today and probably Francis again. This will be our first snorkel day.
When I looked at radar this morning, I thought it was broken. Nothing large and green appeared anywhere. Bring on the sunscreen!!
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SOonthebeach
- Posts: 1707
- Joined: Tue Jan 19, 2010 10:01 am
- Location: Texas
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BuffaloGal
- Posts: 307
- Joined: Wed Oct 14, 2009 10:48 pm
- Location: Buffalo, NY
First Trip to St John
Good Morning! Sorry to hear everyone has been wading through a deluge of torrential rains. Let's hope all this is past history for a long while! Was interested in reading your report including Hawksnest.
When you have a chance, even after returning home, would appreciate hearing your observations of other beaches you visited and storm effects. Hope the sun will dry things out in short order! Have a great time today. Thanks.
When you have a chance, even after returning home, would appreciate hearing your observations of other beaches you visited and storm effects. Hope the sun will dry things out in short order! Have a great time today. Thanks.
The horror of being trapped at Woody's for hours 
Sounds like you are making the most of it.
Enjoy the nice weather and snorkeling today. You are snorkeling 2 of our favorite spots. Jumbie is a very cool snorkel along the left, and Francis of course for the turtles. At Francis - go right from the beach entrance and snorkel along shore until you reach the big cactus, hang a left and head in the direction of the buoy - guaranteed turtles there. Maybe you'll see "Charlie" at Francis, which is the biggest barracuda I have ever seen in my life.
Sounds like you are making the most of it.Enjoy the nice weather and snorkeling today. You are snorkeling 2 of our favorite spots. Jumbie is a very cool snorkel along the left, and Francis of course for the turtles. At Francis - go right from the beach entrance and snorkel along shore until you reach the big cactus, hang a left and head in the direction of the buoy - guaranteed turtles there. Maybe you'll see "Charlie" at Francis, which is the biggest barracuda I have ever seen in my life.
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msgcolleen
- Posts: 1497
- Joined: Thu Oct 05, 2006 8:33 am
- Location: Allen, Texas
Hey klikesfins! I'm sure we were at the same places at the same time this past soggy week! We spent hours at Woody's, Skinny's and the Beach Bar waiting for a break in the rain but had a blast talking to the locals about island living!
Hope you are enjoying a few sunny days. We left on Saturday right when things were getting back to normal.
Trip report soon come~
Hope you are enjoying a few sunny days. We left on Saturday right when things were getting back to normal.
Trip report soon come~
I've got 2 tickets to paradise~Pack your bags we'll leave tonight!
[url=http://www.TickerFactory.com/]
[url=http://www.TickerFactory.com/]
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klikesfins
- Posts: 21
- Joined: Thu Jul 01, 2010 8:03 am
- Location: Bolivar Ohio
Back from beautiful St.John. What a fabulous time we had!! You are all right, we will be back. Would have liked to keep reporting on island but we lost internet.
Because of the weather, we didn't get to snorkel as much as we would have liked. It was Monday before the water was clear again. We hiked around the bay and snorkeled out to the island at Waterlemon. That was great. We saw a turtle, giant lobster and one of the largest puffer fish I have ever seen.
Restaurants that have been closed for the season are opening back up. Anyone coming down now, will have a wider variety of options. We were quite happy every where we ate.
As for the debate of do you bring along food or not? We brought some, a couple of steaks from our local butcher, snack foods and spices. I am truly amazed at all that is available on island. Yes, things are more expensive than at home, but you don't have to worry about not finding something.
We have had a love relationship with the island of Bonaire for 20 years and it will continue. But I think we have found another spot in paradise to throw into the mix. Thanks again to everyone on the board for all your suggestions and ideas.
Because of the weather, we didn't get to snorkel as much as we would have liked. It was Monday before the water was clear again. We hiked around the bay and snorkeled out to the island at Waterlemon. That was great. We saw a turtle, giant lobster and one of the largest puffer fish I have ever seen.
Restaurants that have been closed for the season are opening back up. Anyone coming down now, will have a wider variety of options. We were quite happy every where we ate.
As for the debate of do you bring along food or not? We brought some, a couple of steaks from our local butcher, snack foods and spices. I am truly amazed at all that is available on island. Yes, things are more expensive than at home, but you don't have to worry about not finding something.
We have had a love relationship with the island of Bonaire for 20 years and it will continue. But I think we have found another spot in paradise to throw into the mix. Thanks again to everyone on the board for all your suggestions and ideas.