18 more days in paradise, part three
18 more days in paradise, part three
Day 11
Time to say goodbye to Coral Cove and move to our next villa
coralcoveview by liamsaunt, on Flickr
coralcoveright by liamsaunt, on Flickr
On a Clear Day. This was another stay that we won in last year’s Friends auction (some of you might remember that we won this same prize in the prior year’s auction as well. We liked it so much we bid on it again this year). Beautiful views of Francis Bay from this house but oh so very, very dry
dryfrancis by liamsaunt, on Flickr
John and I left everyone at the house and headed into town to provision up for the next week. We may have decided to sneak off for some alone time in the middle of running errands. Dry Maho overlook
mahooverlook2 by liamsaunt, on Flickr
We went to lunch at Gecko Gazebo because it is one of the only places on island that we have never eaten at. We really liked it. Deviled eggs
sundoigdevilledeggs by liamsaunt, on Flickr
Chicken tacos
sundogtacos by liamsaunt, on Flickr
Shrimp Veracruz
sundigshrimpveracruz by liamsaunt, on Flickr
Spent the afternoon at pool beach
pooldrinks2 by liamsaunt, on Flickr
Sunset
saturdaysunset by liamsaunt, on Flickr
Day 12
Went to Maho
maho by liamsaunt, on Flickr
Blenny hiding
maho blenny by liamsaunt, on Flickr
Porcupinefish hiding
maho pufferfish 2 by liamsaunt, on Flickr
Octopus hiding behind a rough fileclam
maho octopus by liamsaunt, on Flickr
Indigo hamlet
maho indigo hamlet by liamsaunt, on Flickr
Trunkfish
maho trunkfish 2 by liamsaunt, on Flickr
True tulip being eaten by a hermit crab
maho truetulip by liamsaunt, on Flickr
No turtles today, which is really strange for Maho. For lunch we went back to Shipwreck Landing. Everybody ordered the same thing: tuna tacos. We cleaned them out!
shipwreck tuna by liamsaunt, on Flickr
We also ordered an appetizer special of oysters and scallops
sbipwreckscallops by liamsaunt, on Flickr
We went to Francis after lunch but the water was completely filled with jellies, both stinging and non-stinging. They were rolling up on the beach. We left and tried to end the afternoon at Trunk but there was no parking so we went to Cinnamon instead. Much silliness ensued
cinnamon clowns by liamsaunt, on Flickr
Back to pool beach
pool time by liamsaunt, on Flickr
Sunset
sundaysunset22 by liamsaunt, on Flickr
Day 13
Woke up to a rainbow
rain=bow 2 by liamsaunt, on Flickr
Spent the day here
gibneyts12 by liamsaunt, on Flickr
gibneyts by liamsaunt, on Flickr
Went snorkeling. Night sergeant
gibneynightsargeant by liamsaunt, on Flickr
Jacks
gibneyjacks by liamsaunt, on Flickr
Squid
gibney5squid by liamsaunt, on Flickr
Brain coral that looks like, well...
gibneybuttcoral by liamsaunt, on Flickr
Elkhorn
gibneyelkhorn by liamsaunt, on Flickr
Mermaid’s Chair
mermaid's chair by liamsaunt, on Flickr
We had sandwiches from Sam and Jacks on the beach for lunch but I forgot to take pictures.
Headed home for the sunset
mondaysunset5 by liamsaunt, on Flickr
Day 14
Boat day on Southern Hospitality. This was another thing I won in an auction, this time in a fundraiser to benefit the ACC organized by Joshua Vernon who runs the New England St. John Peeps facebook page (and he just moved to the island full time, lucky guy). The original auction was for a sunset cruise, but the owner let me apply the value of that towards the cost of a full day trip. The boat was super nice, with decent shade. Sometimes I find the ride on power boats jarring but this one was really smooth. I am guessing because of its larger size? I don't know much about boats haha. We had a great time and did lots of snorkeling.
We stopped at Peter Bay for some villa gawking on the way over to our first snorkel stop, Waterlemon Cay (our group request as we did not feel like hiking in):
presidio del mar by liamsaunt, on Flickr
This one is definitely out of our rental budget
Snorkeling was great at the Cay and there was no current today. Giant nurse shark, sleeping
waterlemon nurse shark3 by liamsaunt, on Flickr
Moon jelly
waterlemon moon jelly by liamsaunt, on Flickr
Squid
waterlemon squid 2 by liamsaunt, on Flickr
Fire coral
waterlemoncoral2 by liamsaunt, on Flickr
Stoplight parrotfish
waterlemonparrotfish by liamsaunt, on Flickr
Octopus
waterlemon ocotpus camo by liamsaunt, on Flickr
Next up, we went to Little Buck Island off St. Thomas to find turtles. (Captain’s suggestion) There were many turtles, and there were also many many tourists! Stupid tourists touching the turtles. It really made me mad so we did not stay too long.
buckislandturtle3 by liamsaunt, on Flickr
Big barracuda.
buckislandbarracuda by liamsaunt, on Flickr
buckislandturtle copy by liamsaunt, on Flickr
We then went around the back of the island where there was a sunken barge and many fish. There was nobody else over on this side, so we enjoyed it much more.
buckislandbarge by liamsaunt, on Flickr
buckislandneedlefish by liamsaunt, on Flickr
buckislandsnapper by liamsaunt, on Flickr
Then we went to Abi Beach Bar for lunch (my request)
abi by liamsaunt, on Flickr
The boat on the right in this photo is Southern Hospitality. Most people had mahi sandwiches. They were tasty. I forgot to take pictures.
Our next stop was the backside of Little St. James (Liam’s request)
littlestjames tang by liamsaunt, on Flickr
lsjhogfish by liamsaunt, on Flickr
Spanish hogfish
lsjhogfish copy by liamsaunt, on Flickr
Juvenile yellowtail damselfish
lsjdamselfish by liamsaunt, on Flickr
And then we went to Lovongo Cay (Caili’s request). We first snorkeled over by the dock
Indigo hamlet
lovongohamlet by liamsaunt, on Flickr
fire coral
lovangofirecoral by liamsaunt, on Flickr
lovongodockfish by liamsaunt, on Flickr
Baby jacks
lovongodockfish3 by liamsaunt, on Flickr
And then at the Captain’s suggestion we boated over to the side of the Cay, where we swam with three eagle rays!
er8 by liamsaunt, on Flickr
er7 by liamsaunt, on Flickr
erduo by liamsaunt, on Flickr
We rode up top for the ride back to St. John
southernhospitality by liamsaunt, on Flickr
Super fun day!
Time to say goodbye to Coral Cove and move to our next villa
coralcoveview by liamsaunt, on Flickr
coralcoveright by liamsaunt, on Flickr
On a Clear Day. This was another stay that we won in last year’s Friends auction (some of you might remember that we won this same prize in the prior year’s auction as well. We liked it so much we bid on it again this year). Beautiful views of Francis Bay from this house but oh so very, very dry
dryfrancis by liamsaunt, on Flickr
John and I left everyone at the house and headed into town to provision up for the next week. We may have decided to sneak off for some alone time in the middle of running errands. Dry Maho overlook
mahooverlook2 by liamsaunt, on Flickr
We went to lunch at Gecko Gazebo because it is one of the only places on island that we have never eaten at. We really liked it. Deviled eggs
sundoigdevilledeggs by liamsaunt, on Flickr
Chicken tacos
sundogtacos by liamsaunt, on Flickr
Shrimp Veracruz
sundigshrimpveracruz by liamsaunt, on Flickr
Spent the afternoon at pool beach
pooldrinks2 by liamsaunt, on Flickr
Sunset
saturdaysunset by liamsaunt, on Flickr
Day 12
Went to Maho
maho by liamsaunt, on Flickr
Blenny hiding
maho blenny by liamsaunt, on Flickr
Porcupinefish hiding
maho pufferfish 2 by liamsaunt, on Flickr
Octopus hiding behind a rough fileclam
maho octopus by liamsaunt, on Flickr
Indigo hamlet
maho indigo hamlet by liamsaunt, on Flickr
Trunkfish
maho trunkfish 2 by liamsaunt, on Flickr
True tulip being eaten by a hermit crab
maho truetulip by liamsaunt, on Flickr
No turtles today, which is really strange for Maho. For lunch we went back to Shipwreck Landing. Everybody ordered the same thing: tuna tacos. We cleaned them out!
shipwreck tuna by liamsaunt, on Flickr
We also ordered an appetizer special of oysters and scallops
sbipwreckscallops by liamsaunt, on Flickr
We went to Francis after lunch but the water was completely filled with jellies, both stinging and non-stinging. They were rolling up on the beach. We left and tried to end the afternoon at Trunk but there was no parking so we went to Cinnamon instead. Much silliness ensued
cinnamon clowns by liamsaunt, on Flickr
Back to pool beach
pool time by liamsaunt, on Flickr
Sunset
sundaysunset22 by liamsaunt, on Flickr
Day 13
Woke up to a rainbow
rain=bow 2 by liamsaunt, on Flickr
Spent the day here
gibneyts12 by liamsaunt, on Flickr
gibneyts by liamsaunt, on Flickr
Went snorkeling. Night sergeant
gibneynightsargeant by liamsaunt, on Flickr
Jacks
gibneyjacks by liamsaunt, on Flickr
Squid
gibney5squid by liamsaunt, on Flickr
Brain coral that looks like, well...
gibneybuttcoral by liamsaunt, on Flickr
Elkhorn
gibneyelkhorn by liamsaunt, on Flickr
Mermaid’s Chair
mermaid's chair by liamsaunt, on Flickr
We had sandwiches from Sam and Jacks on the beach for lunch but I forgot to take pictures.
Headed home for the sunset
mondaysunset5 by liamsaunt, on Flickr
Day 14
Boat day on Southern Hospitality. This was another thing I won in an auction, this time in a fundraiser to benefit the ACC organized by Joshua Vernon who runs the New England St. John Peeps facebook page (and he just moved to the island full time, lucky guy). The original auction was for a sunset cruise, but the owner let me apply the value of that towards the cost of a full day trip. The boat was super nice, with decent shade. Sometimes I find the ride on power boats jarring but this one was really smooth. I am guessing because of its larger size? I don't know much about boats haha. We had a great time and did lots of snorkeling.
We stopped at Peter Bay for some villa gawking on the way over to our first snorkel stop, Waterlemon Cay (our group request as we did not feel like hiking in):
presidio del mar by liamsaunt, on Flickr
This one is definitely out of our rental budget
Snorkeling was great at the Cay and there was no current today. Giant nurse shark, sleeping
waterlemon nurse shark3 by liamsaunt, on Flickr
Moon jelly
waterlemon moon jelly by liamsaunt, on Flickr
Squid
waterlemon squid 2 by liamsaunt, on Flickr
Fire coral
waterlemoncoral2 by liamsaunt, on Flickr
Stoplight parrotfish
waterlemonparrotfish by liamsaunt, on Flickr
Octopus
waterlemon ocotpus camo by liamsaunt, on Flickr
Next up, we went to Little Buck Island off St. Thomas to find turtles. (Captain’s suggestion) There were many turtles, and there were also many many tourists! Stupid tourists touching the turtles. It really made me mad so we did not stay too long.
buckislandturtle3 by liamsaunt, on Flickr
Big barracuda.
buckislandbarracuda by liamsaunt, on Flickr
buckislandturtle copy by liamsaunt, on Flickr
We then went around the back of the island where there was a sunken barge and many fish. There was nobody else over on this side, so we enjoyed it much more.
buckislandbarge by liamsaunt, on Flickr
buckislandneedlefish by liamsaunt, on Flickr
buckislandsnapper by liamsaunt, on Flickr
Then we went to Abi Beach Bar for lunch (my request)
abi by liamsaunt, on Flickr
The boat on the right in this photo is Southern Hospitality. Most people had mahi sandwiches. They were tasty. I forgot to take pictures.
Our next stop was the backside of Little St. James (Liam’s request)
littlestjames tang by liamsaunt, on Flickr
lsjhogfish by liamsaunt, on Flickr
Spanish hogfish
lsjhogfish copy by liamsaunt, on Flickr
Juvenile yellowtail damselfish
lsjdamselfish by liamsaunt, on Flickr
And then we went to Lovongo Cay (Caili’s request). We first snorkeled over by the dock
Indigo hamlet
lovongohamlet by liamsaunt, on Flickr
fire coral
lovangofirecoral by liamsaunt, on Flickr
lovongodockfish by liamsaunt, on Flickr
Baby jacks
lovongodockfish3 by liamsaunt, on Flickr
And then at the Captain’s suggestion we boated over to the side of the Cay, where we swam with three eagle rays!
er8 by liamsaunt, on Flickr
er7 by liamsaunt, on Flickr
erduo by liamsaunt, on Flickr
We rode up top for the ride back to St. John
southernhospitality by liamsaunt, on Flickr
Super fun day!
It's like looking in your soup and finding a whole different alphabet.
Re: 18 more days in paradise, part three
thanks for posting Becky, I always love your reports!
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- Posts: 345
- Joined: Sun Nov 04, 2007 7:47 pm
- Location: Raleigh,NC
Re: 18 more days in paradise, part three
Love,love,love your pictures.Thanks for putting the name of the fish also.
Beach Creecher
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- Posts: 93
- Joined: Sun Aug 31, 2014 12:08 pm
Re: 18 more days in paradise, part three
That second villa looks nice. The boat trip pictures are great. I like the other side of Lovongo better than the dock side. Sometimes there is a current and captains are reluctant to go.
Re: 18 more days in paradise, part three
Always love your reports!
Trip report 2009
http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/f ... highlight=
Trip report 2008
So good, so good, so good!
http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/f ... highlight=
http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/f ... highlight=
Trip report 2008
So good, so good, so good!
http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/f ... highlight=
Re: 18 more days in paradise, part three
oh my, what fun you had. If you need another niece I would be willing to fill that role! I don't each much..........tuna.
- islandjo2010
- Posts: 406
- Joined: Thu Sep 10, 2009 8:58 am
- Location: KC, MO
Re: 18 more days in paradise, part three
Your view from On a Clear Day doesn't look so nice during the day with all the "brown", but at night the sunsets are Gorgeous! Things should be greening up with the rain St. John is getting from the tropical storm... praying it will get only rain and not terribly high winds.
Extraordinary, swimming so close to a Manta and a few days later you're swimming with 3 Eagle Rays!!!
Thanks again for sharing your beautiful photos of what had to be an Amazing Trip!
Extraordinary, swimming so close to a Manta and a few days later you're swimming with 3 Eagle Rays!!!
Thanks again for sharing your beautiful photos of what had to be an Amazing Trip!