usvi-on-line
Quick trip report from 4/20-4/29/12
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mindehankins
- Posts: 3014
- Joined: Fri Mar 06, 2009 8:21 am
- Location: Western NY State
Columbia, this is the second time we've rented kayaks at Maho. Their office opens around 10am. We rent a 2 man, and I can't remember what we paid but it was less than $100 for full day. Maybe $50-$60? There is no dry box. The attendant gives a decent paddling lesson and gives you the easiest route to where you want to go. We paddled through Francis, looking for the manta, around Mary's Point to the rocky beach, then across Fungi Passage to Whistling Cay, then back to the Mary's Point beach to eat our lunch, then back through Francis Bay (looking for the manta again), and back to Maho. We took our time everywhere, and still arrived back at Maho with an hour or so to spare.
Last time we rented for 1/2 day, did both snorkels but felt sort of rushed.
The one thing we'd do differently is ASK the attendant at Maho if he thinks it's a good day to snorkel out there. I wish we'd done this trip on a better day, cause both snorkels were terrific last night, and not this time. Still a fun day!
Nic, if you have any questions, feel free to PM me. Although I'm wordy, I'm probably leaving alot out.
Toni, he is
Last time we rented for 1/2 day, did both snorkels but felt sort of rushed.
The one thing we'd do differently is ASK the attendant at Maho if he thinks it's a good day to snorkel out there. I wish we'd done this trip on a better day, cause both snorkels were terrific last night, and not this time. Still a fun day!
Nic, if you have any questions, feel free to PM me. Although I'm wordy, I'm probably leaving alot out.
Toni, he is
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mindehankins
- Posts: 3014
- Joined: Fri Mar 06, 2009 8:21 am
- Location: Western NY State
Mar, we got a park-sleep-fly at a really crumby Microtel for $80, out of Buffalo, flew through Newark to STT. It was good to get several hours of sleep before the trip, but a yukky motel.
I don't know why I booked us through JFK last year. It probably was my only option, since we always book so close to our trip.
I don't know why I booked us through JFK last year. It probably was my only option, since we always book so close to our trip.
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ColumbiaSCTraveler
- Posts: 528
- Joined: Mon Apr 18, 2011 9:33 pm
- Location: Columbia, SC
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mindehankins
- Posts: 3014
- Joined: Fri Mar 06, 2009 8:21 am
- Location: Western NY State
Columbia, you're welcome. If I was a better photographer or writer, I'd write better trip reports. I am kind, and compassionate, and have a great memory of anything I've ever read about St. John, so I hope I can help the forum with those traits.
Next post will be the day I got to meet Manny and what we believe was a lemon shark.
Just choosing the pics and loading them to tinypic has taken up all of my evening tonight. Hopefully, Manny story will be tomorrow!
Next post will be the day I got to meet Manny and what we believe was a lemon shark.
Just choosing the pics and loading them to tinypic has taken up all of my evening tonight. Hopefully, Manny story will be tomorrow!
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mindehankins
- Posts: 3014
- Joined: Fri Mar 06, 2009 8:21 am
- Location: Western NY State
Second to last day of vacation, and we hadn't seen the manta I'd been waiting since November to meet, so we picked up Sam & Jack's (she knew my order by this time) and headed back to Francis today. Blaine settled in right at the beach entrance, in the sea grapes, for the day, and I headed in to snorkel, as was the routine every other day except for our excursion. I headed across the bay from West to East, and then 1/2 way out to Mary's Point and back, picking my head up to scan the beach every 5 minutes or so. I knew if the manta showed up, I'd see reactions on the beach.
Thank you, Lord, I looked up to see pointing, and was pretty sure what that meant, so I headed in that direction. Suddenly, I saw him, swimming away from me, but I was still feeling grateful to have seen him.
I didn't chase because I'd seen pics of people mobbing him, and didn't want to take a chance of hurting him. But then he turned, and slowly came directly at me. I'm pretty sure my heart stopped at this moment. I can't even express the joy!
This shot was taken with the camera against my chest, as I lay as flat as a board atop the water, so as not to touch him. No zoom involved. He was less than a foot from me. He then did two more slow laps around me, and left.
I'm pretty sure this picture is so blurry because of the tears in my eyes!
I got out of the water at this point, to find Blaine out of breath. He'd been looking all over for me, cause he didn't want me to miss the manta visit. He was so happy when I told him I was there, I saw it! I've got proof even As I was excitedly telling him, a taxi dropped off a load of passengers at the entrance to the beach. One lady stared in disbelief at the water, and exclaimed "Oh. My. God. AND THERE HE IS!" Just like magic, she'd shown up at Francis, and the manta was right there waiting.
Not 5 minutes after exiting the water, I heard shouts from the East end of the beach "Shark! Shark!" and saw people pointing and running toward the water. The shark was Westbound at a moderate pace, so I grabbed my mask and ran into the water and laid down just in time to catch this shot
Thus concluding one of the more exciting 10 minutes of my life
We left the beach around 3, and made our nightly stop at Starfish, then home to chat at the pool, grill up some dinner, read and retire early.
We spent our last day on island at Francis, as well. Blaine even got in the water a couple of times, hoping the manta would come along. He's a military brat and has lived everywhere and seen everything, so he doesn't get as excited about stuff as I do. I promised him if the manta came along while I was in the water, I'd get out and guard our stuff and let him enjoy this tour, but it wasn't to happen. We had yet another beautiful day at Francis, where we spent about 50% of this vacation.
In the afternoon, there were two boys playing in the water with a ball that was so neat! It skipped over water like a stone skips, and it looked like a blast.
A google search for water skip play ball turned up lots of options. http://www.waverunnerball.com/ If we went with kids, we'd definitely buy one of these!
Every last day on the beach eventually ends. We stopped at Deli Grotto to get coconut crack bars to freeze and take home
Then we cleaned up and headed toward Frank Bay to P&Ps by the Sea. I'm intruigued by local places, and am always on the lookout for something I cannot find at home. I'd heard about this place for quite some time, and thought it sounded great. I called a day ahead and asked for a dinner reservation after confirming that they had a boring option for Blaine
It wasn't hard to find P&P, though we'd never driven this way before. It's a trailer, basically. Very rustic.
We arrived before our reservation time, so we sat and had cold Diet Cokes. I thought I'd had too much sun, because these three birds came running through the courtyard, that looked liked they'd been designed by Dr. Seuss!!! Except for stopping to peck at bugs, they ran all over single file, to our extreme amusement.
We had a so-so dinner, my first St. John disappointment. We stopped at Frank Bay to take a couple of pics of our last sunset, and then went home and to bed.
Travel home the next day was long but uneventful. This trip was very different from our three previous. I'm going to try to gather my thoughts and make a last post of what we did that was different.
Thank you, Lord, I looked up to see pointing, and was pretty sure what that meant, so I headed in that direction. Suddenly, I saw him, swimming away from me, but I was still feeling grateful to have seen him.
I didn't chase because I'd seen pics of people mobbing him, and didn't want to take a chance of hurting him. But then he turned, and slowly came directly at me. I'm pretty sure my heart stopped at this moment. I can't even express the joy!
This shot was taken with the camera against my chest, as I lay as flat as a board atop the water, so as not to touch him. No zoom involved. He was less than a foot from me. He then did two more slow laps around me, and left.
I'm pretty sure this picture is so blurry because of the tears in my eyes!
I got out of the water at this point, to find Blaine out of breath. He'd been looking all over for me, cause he didn't want me to miss the manta visit. He was so happy when I told him I was there, I saw it! I've got proof even
As I was excitedly telling him, a taxi dropped off a load of passengers at the entrance to the beach. One lady stared in disbelief at the water, and exclaimed "Oh. My. God. AND THERE HE IS!" Just like magic, she'd shown up at Francis, and the manta was right there waiting.Not 5 minutes after exiting the water, I heard shouts from the East end of the beach "Shark! Shark!" and saw people pointing and running toward the water. The shark was Westbound at a moderate pace, so I grabbed my mask and ran into the water and laid down just in time to catch this shot
Thus concluding one of the more exciting 10 minutes of my life
We left the beach around 3, and made our nightly stop at Starfish, then home to chat at the pool, grill up some dinner, read and retire early.
We spent our last day on island at Francis, as well. Blaine even got in the water a couple of times, hoping the manta would come along. He's a military brat and has lived everywhere and seen everything, so he doesn't get as excited about stuff as I do. I promised him if the manta came along while I was in the water, I'd get out and guard our stuff and let him enjoy this tour, but it wasn't to happen. We had yet another beautiful day at Francis, where we spent about 50% of this vacation.
In the afternoon, there were two boys playing in the water with a ball that was so neat! It skipped over water like a stone skips, and it looked like a blast.
A google search for water skip play ball turned up lots of options. http://www.waverunnerball.com/ If we went with kids, we'd definitely buy one of these!
Every last day on the beach eventually ends. We stopped at Deli Grotto to get coconut crack bars to freeze and take home
Then we cleaned up and headed toward Frank Bay to P&Ps by the Sea. I'm intruigued by local places, and am always on the lookout for something I cannot find at home. I'd heard about this place for quite some time, and thought it sounded great. I called a day ahead and asked for a dinner reservation after confirming that they had a boring option for Blaine
It wasn't hard to find P&P, though we'd never driven this way before. It's a trailer, basically. Very rustic. We arrived before our reservation time, so we sat and had cold Diet Cokes. I thought I'd had too much sun, because these three birds came running through the courtyard, that looked liked they'd been designed by Dr. Seuss!!! Except for stopping to peck at bugs, they ran all over single file, to our extreme amusement.
We had a so-so dinner, my first St. John disappointment. We stopped at Frank Bay to take a couple of pics of our last sunset, and then went home and to bed.
Travel home the next day was long but uneventful. This trip was very different from our three previous. I'm going to try to gather my thoughts and make a last post of what we did that was different.
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EagleRayLover
- Posts: 1474
- Joined: Sat Feb 12, 2011 8:56 pm
- Location: St. John -WooHoo!!
Your trip report is great Minde!! And well you and I have already discussed the manta but damn you are one lucky young lady!!!! I am getting a tad bit jealous since I haven't heard much about him and we have only twelve days and I think they may be hiding!! But I am so happy for one who have seen them!
Leslie, Kids Night In Babysitting
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ColumbiaSCTraveler
- Posts: 528
- Joined: Mon Apr 18, 2011 9:33 pm
- Location: Columbia, SC
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Charlie2001
- Posts: 82
- Joined: Wed Jan 20, 2010 6:03 pm
- Location: NC
