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18 more days in paradise, part 5
18 more days in paradise, part 5
Here's the rest of this morning's post...
Scott beach, of course, did not disappoint.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519149055/" title="Scott beach John view wide by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2342/251 ... e3544c.jpg" width="500" height="281" alt="Scott beach John view wide"></a>
There were many turtles--at least six, right off shore.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519979226/" title="Scott John turtle rising by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2272/251 ... cd0ef6.jpg" width="500" height="490" alt="Scott John turtle rising"></a>
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519158221/" title="Scott John turtle 5 by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3209/251 ... 6b1c01.jpg" width="500" height="281" alt="Scott John turtle 5"></a>
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519986732/" title="scott turtle with grass by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2408/251 ... ea88ba.jpg" width="500" height="379" alt="scott turtle with grass"></a>
One very large barracuda, which John followed for too long, because it eventually turned around and charged at him!
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519152505/" title="Scott big barracuda 2 by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3116/251 ... 87828e.jpg" width="500" height="281" alt="Scott big barracuda 2"></a>
Even this turtle looked a little scared of Mr. Big Bad Barracuda, don't you think?
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519839582/" title="caneel turtle eye to eye by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3063/251 ... ce0143.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="caneel turtle eye to eye"></a>
We also found a very large, active ray with a jack:
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519976954/" title="Scott John ray and jack by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2192/251 ... aaee16.jpg" width="500" height="281" alt="Scott John ray and jack"></a>
a juvenile French angelfish that kept attaching itself to a jack (maybe eating some parasite off it?).
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519154791/" title="Scott John jack and sngel by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3004/251 ... 17f952.jpg" width="500" height="407" alt="Scott John jack and sngel"></a>
We found schools of tang and sergeant majors:
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519973660/" title="Scott blue tang by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2030/251 ... f694e5.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Scott blue tang"></a>
John found a disembodied lobster head (ouch!):
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519959014/" title="paradise lobster head by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3124/251 ... df300d.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="paradise lobster head"></a>
more angelfishes:
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519851738/" title="cp french angelfish by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2142/251 ... 9a383a.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="cp french angelfish"></a>
trumpetfish, and cowfishes. On the way back to shore I made the best discovery yet...an octopus eating a conch! It was soooooo cool. We hung around for about 30 minutes, but eventually our lack of movement attracted some other people, so we went away to give them a chance to see. Awesome!
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519119553/" title="octopus 16 by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2126/251 ... 46367d.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="octopus 16"></a>
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519156011/" title="Scott John octopus by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2099/251 ... 6b7923.jpg" width="500" height="281" alt="Scott John octopus"></a>
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519159605/" title="Scott octopus closeup by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2287/251 ... beab0c.jpg" width="500" height="281" alt="Scott octopus closeup"></a>
After drying off we went back to get our room keys. They upgraded us to 7F again! Could this day get any better?
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519819540/" title="C 7F interior by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2140/251 ... 7497e4.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="C 7F interior"></a>
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519002903/" title="c 7F view by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3070/251 ... 9c5398.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="c 7F view"></a>
Yes, because we went to dinner at Zozos. We had our favorite waitress (Phoebe), and the food was terrific. We started with the antipasto plate, and then I had the mahi, which was the same preparation as before--polenta croutons and an arugula goat cheese salad, and John had the lobster, which came with crab and some kind of orzo. We even ordered a dessert, which was zabaglione with blackberries. Everything was top notch.
Back to Caneel for stargazing from the huge private patio that comes with this room, and then sleep in the comfy bed. What a day!
Day 16
Up at 7:30 AM, and out on the deck. There were already people out swimming in the water, and boats sailing by on another beautiful St. John day. Back to Scott beach.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519971764/" title="Scott Beach sailboat view John by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2218/251 ... 4456fb.jpg" width="500" height="281" alt="Scott Beach sailboat view John"></a>
There were turtles as usual all around.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519839238/" title="caneel turtle 2 by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2340/251 ... 4ee72b.jpg" width="500" height="342" alt="caneel turtle 2"></a>
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519839776/" title="caneel turtle rising use by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2135/251 ... 1d3f16.jpg" width="500" height="475" alt="caneel turtle rising use"></a>
Today we decided to explore the far right side out to Turtle Point. On the way across the beach, there are always lots of big conch:
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519153385/" title="Scott conch by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3215/251 ... 7ea704.jpg" width="500" height="281" alt="Scott conch"></a>
The reef starts out with lots of small corals, plus schools of tang, parrotfishes:
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519981588/" title="Scott right side parrotfish by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2200/251 ... f2fd5d.jpg" width="500" height="281" alt="Scott right side parrotfish"></a>
trumpetfishes:
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519974362/" title="Scott fan coral and trumpetfish by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3266/251 ... aae2d2.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Scott fan coral and trumpetfish"></a>
Grunts:
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519156791/" title="Scott John right side grunts 2 by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3291/251 ... 60cbea.jpg" width="500" height="281" alt="Scott John right side grunts 2"></a>
snappers, etc. Further out the coral gets a lot bigger. I was sad to see that some of the really big elkhorns out there were snapped off and flipped over in the swells.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519154375/" title="Scott John brokel elkhorn by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2285/251 ... 4d41ee.jpg" width="500" height="281" alt="Scott John brokel elkhorn"></a>
Such a shame.
On the way back to shore we found a large ray:
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519980996/" title="scott ray on the move by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2300/251 ... bf1845.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="scott ray on the move"></a>
and another turtle:
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519150077/" title="Scott beach right side turtle 2 by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3028/251 ... fb6c19.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Scott beach right side turtle 2"></a>
We spent the late morning floating on rafts and reading books. Caneel is just so relaxing.
We got to go lunches from Caneel's beach terrace, which we ate on our deck. John had mahi mahi tacos:
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519045609/" title="fish tacos by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3149/251 ... 5910e6.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="fish tacos"></a>
and I had a chicken panini.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519021727/" title="chicken panini by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2253/251 ... c54b69.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="chicken panini"></a>
Time for more beach!
We headed over to Caneel Hawksnest, which we have not visited for the past couple of trips.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519829126/" title="Caneel Hawksnest beach by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3267/251 ... 19db05.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Caneel Hawksnest beach"></a>
It was smaller than I remembered, and the sand is really soft. Right away we found a turtle.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519833676/" title="Caneel Hawksnest turtle 6 by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2269/251 ... e894c7.jpg" width="500" height="376" alt="Caneel Hawksnest turtle 6"></a>
To the left of the beach, along the rocks, there are lots of corals:
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519829798/" title="Caneel hawksnest elkhorn 2 by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2313/251 ... b1e95a.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="Caneel hawksnest elkhorn 2"></a>
and fish, and the further out you go, the more interesting it gets. We found a big trunkfish hiding under a ledge:
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519832120/" title="Caneel Hawksnest smooth trunkfish by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3162/251 ... 681e54.jpg" width="500" height="309" alt="Caneel Hawksnest smooth trunkfish"></a>
An indigo hamlet:
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519012519/" title="Caneel Hawksnest indigo hamlet by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2286/251 ... 48770a.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Caneel Hawksnest indigo hamlet"></a>
some trumpetfishes and grunts. All of a sudden, the curse of the camera struck again, because my housing started leaking! I swam back to shore as fast as I could while holding the camera out of the water. Thankfully, only a few drops got in, and although the camera hiccupped at first, it worked fine after a few minutes.
Once back at the room I lubed up the sealing ring and tested it...it worked just fine, and did not leak again for the rest of the trip. Odd, huh?
After all of that drama, we headed in to town to go to the forum gathering. There were tons of people there--I don't think I met more than a handful. I talked with Ruth, Pia and Mr. Pia, Brenda, VickiH, Shopper3, Boatsrus, Captain and Mrs. Jay, NascarFan and his wife, Islandgirl and Cruzan Chris, a couple of lurkers (come out and post, lurkers!
)...I'm know I am forgetting some folks, sorry! I'm really bad at remembering names. John really liked talking with Captain John Brandi. I think we are booking his boat next trip.
Beach Bar sunset:
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519817826/" title="beach bar sunset by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2295/251 ... b495ef.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="beach bar sunset"></a>
Dinner was at La Tapa again. The food, as always, was terrific. The service was not as good as usual, but that's OK. I had a housemade mozzarella cheese which came with a balsamic reduction and some beets and greens. John had mahi seveche. We both enjoyed the mahi entree, which came with a bacon dill buerre blanc sauce and some jasmine rice. A cheese plate ended the meal. I ran into VickiH again when leaving, she was seated outside with her hubby.
Back to the room for books and stars. Another perfect day.
Scott beach, of course, did not disappoint.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519149055/" title="Scott beach John view wide by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2342/251 ... e3544c.jpg" width="500" height="281" alt="Scott beach John view wide"></a>
There were many turtles--at least six, right off shore.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519979226/" title="Scott John turtle rising by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2272/251 ... cd0ef6.jpg" width="500" height="490" alt="Scott John turtle rising"></a>
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519158221/" title="Scott John turtle 5 by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3209/251 ... 6b1c01.jpg" width="500" height="281" alt="Scott John turtle 5"></a>
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519986732/" title="scott turtle with grass by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2408/251 ... ea88ba.jpg" width="500" height="379" alt="scott turtle with grass"></a>
One very large barracuda, which John followed for too long, because it eventually turned around and charged at him!
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519152505/" title="Scott big barracuda 2 by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3116/251 ... 87828e.jpg" width="500" height="281" alt="Scott big barracuda 2"></a>
Even this turtle looked a little scared of Mr. Big Bad Barracuda, don't you think?
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519839582/" title="caneel turtle eye to eye by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3063/251 ... ce0143.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="caneel turtle eye to eye"></a>
We also found a very large, active ray with a jack:
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519976954/" title="Scott John ray and jack by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2192/251 ... aaee16.jpg" width="500" height="281" alt="Scott John ray and jack"></a>
a juvenile French angelfish that kept attaching itself to a jack (maybe eating some parasite off it?).
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519154791/" title="Scott John jack and sngel by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3004/251 ... 17f952.jpg" width="500" height="407" alt="Scott John jack and sngel"></a>
We found schools of tang and sergeant majors:
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519973660/" title="Scott blue tang by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2030/251 ... f694e5.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Scott blue tang"></a>
John found a disembodied lobster head (ouch!):
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519959014/" title="paradise lobster head by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3124/251 ... df300d.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="paradise lobster head"></a>
more angelfishes:
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519851738/" title="cp french angelfish by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2142/251 ... 9a383a.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="cp french angelfish"></a>
trumpetfish, and cowfishes. On the way back to shore I made the best discovery yet...an octopus eating a conch! It was soooooo cool. We hung around for about 30 minutes, but eventually our lack of movement attracted some other people, so we went away to give them a chance to see. Awesome!
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519119553/" title="octopus 16 by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2126/251 ... 46367d.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="octopus 16"></a>
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519156011/" title="Scott John octopus by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2099/251 ... 6b7923.jpg" width="500" height="281" alt="Scott John octopus"></a>
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519159605/" title="Scott octopus closeup by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2287/251 ... beab0c.jpg" width="500" height="281" alt="Scott octopus closeup"></a>
After drying off we went back to get our room keys. They upgraded us to 7F again! Could this day get any better?
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519819540/" title="C 7F interior by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2140/251 ... 7497e4.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="C 7F interior"></a>
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519002903/" title="c 7F view by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3070/251 ... 9c5398.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="c 7F view"></a>
Yes, because we went to dinner at Zozos. We had our favorite waitress (Phoebe), and the food was terrific. We started with the antipasto plate, and then I had the mahi, which was the same preparation as before--polenta croutons and an arugula goat cheese salad, and John had the lobster, which came with crab and some kind of orzo. We even ordered a dessert, which was zabaglione with blackberries. Everything was top notch.
Back to Caneel for stargazing from the huge private patio that comes with this room, and then sleep in the comfy bed. What a day!
Day 16
Up at 7:30 AM, and out on the deck. There were already people out swimming in the water, and boats sailing by on another beautiful St. John day. Back to Scott beach.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519971764/" title="Scott Beach sailboat view John by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2218/251 ... 4456fb.jpg" width="500" height="281" alt="Scott Beach sailboat view John"></a>
There were turtles as usual all around.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519839238/" title="caneel turtle 2 by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2340/251 ... 4ee72b.jpg" width="500" height="342" alt="caneel turtle 2"></a>
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519839776/" title="caneel turtle rising use by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2135/251 ... 1d3f16.jpg" width="500" height="475" alt="caneel turtle rising use"></a>
Today we decided to explore the far right side out to Turtle Point. On the way across the beach, there are always lots of big conch:
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519153385/" title="Scott conch by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3215/251 ... 7ea704.jpg" width="500" height="281" alt="Scott conch"></a>
The reef starts out with lots of small corals, plus schools of tang, parrotfishes:
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519981588/" title="Scott right side parrotfish by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2200/251 ... f2fd5d.jpg" width="500" height="281" alt="Scott right side parrotfish"></a>
trumpetfishes:
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519974362/" title="Scott fan coral and trumpetfish by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3266/251 ... aae2d2.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Scott fan coral and trumpetfish"></a>
Grunts:
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519156791/" title="Scott John right side grunts 2 by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3291/251 ... 60cbea.jpg" width="500" height="281" alt="Scott John right side grunts 2"></a>
snappers, etc. Further out the coral gets a lot bigger. I was sad to see that some of the really big elkhorns out there were snapped off and flipped over in the swells.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519154375/" title="Scott John brokel elkhorn by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2285/251 ... 4d41ee.jpg" width="500" height="281" alt="Scott John brokel elkhorn"></a>
Such a shame.
On the way back to shore we found a large ray:
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519980996/" title="scott ray on the move by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2300/251 ... bf1845.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="scott ray on the move"></a>
and another turtle:
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519150077/" title="Scott beach right side turtle 2 by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3028/251 ... fb6c19.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Scott beach right side turtle 2"></a>
We spent the late morning floating on rafts and reading books. Caneel is just so relaxing.
We got to go lunches from Caneel's beach terrace, which we ate on our deck. John had mahi mahi tacos:
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519045609/" title="fish tacos by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3149/251 ... 5910e6.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="fish tacos"></a>
and I had a chicken panini.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519021727/" title="chicken panini by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2253/251 ... c54b69.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="chicken panini"></a>
Time for more beach!
We headed over to Caneel Hawksnest, which we have not visited for the past couple of trips.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519829126/" title="Caneel Hawksnest beach by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3267/251 ... 19db05.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Caneel Hawksnest beach"></a>
It was smaller than I remembered, and the sand is really soft. Right away we found a turtle.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519833676/" title="Caneel Hawksnest turtle 6 by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2269/251 ... e894c7.jpg" width="500" height="376" alt="Caneel Hawksnest turtle 6"></a>
To the left of the beach, along the rocks, there are lots of corals:
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519829798/" title="Caneel hawksnest elkhorn 2 by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2313/251 ... b1e95a.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="Caneel hawksnest elkhorn 2"></a>
and fish, and the further out you go, the more interesting it gets. We found a big trunkfish hiding under a ledge:
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519832120/" title="Caneel Hawksnest smooth trunkfish by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3162/251 ... 681e54.jpg" width="500" height="309" alt="Caneel Hawksnest smooth trunkfish"></a>
An indigo hamlet:
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519012519/" title="Caneel Hawksnest indigo hamlet by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2286/251 ... 48770a.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Caneel Hawksnest indigo hamlet"></a>
some trumpetfishes and grunts. All of a sudden, the curse of the camera struck again, because my housing started leaking! I swam back to shore as fast as I could while holding the camera out of the water. Thankfully, only a few drops got in, and although the camera hiccupped at first, it worked fine after a few minutes.
Once back at the room I lubed up the sealing ring and tested it...it worked just fine, and did not leak again for the rest of the trip. Odd, huh?
After all of that drama, we headed in to town to go to the forum gathering. There were tons of people there--I don't think I met more than a handful. I talked with Ruth, Pia and Mr. Pia, Brenda, VickiH, Shopper3, Boatsrus, Captain and Mrs. Jay, NascarFan and his wife, Islandgirl and Cruzan Chris, a couple of lurkers (come out and post, lurkers!
)...I'm know I am forgetting some folks, sorry! I'm really bad at remembering names. John really liked talking with Captain John Brandi. I think we are booking his boat next trip. Beach Bar sunset:
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519817826/" title="beach bar sunset by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2295/251 ... b495ef.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="beach bar sunset"></a>
Dinner was at La Tapa again. The food, as always, was terrific. The service was not as good as usual, but that's OK. I had a housemade mozzarella cheese which came with a balsamic reduction and some beets and greens. John had mahi seveche. We both enjoyed the mahi entree, which came with a bacon dill buerre blanc sauce and some jasmine rice. A cheese plate ended the meal. I ran into VickiH again when leaving, she was seated outside with her hubby.
Back to the room for books and stars. Another perfect day.
It's like looking in your soup and finding a whole different alphabet.
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Kentuckygirl
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Teresa_Rae
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Hi Tom, the public beaches at Caneel are Honeymoon and Caneel Bay beach. Scott Beach, Paradise Beach, Caneel Hawksnest, and Turtle Bay beach are reserved for Caneel guests. In addition, you must be at least 13 years old to visit Scott Beach and Paradise Beach.waterguy wrote:Becky
What beaches can non guests use. I've hiked to honeymoon and solomon.
Tom
Just like all other beaches in the VI, I would imagine that you could approach any of these beaches by water. They won't let you beach a dinghy, but you could tie up to a mooring and swim in. We saw a couple of boats doing that while we were at Scott.
We did see a couple accessing Scott Beach in a very unusual way, but that is a story for tomorrow's report (the last one
).It's like looking in your soup and finding a whole different alphabet.
This will probably rub a few people the wrong way, but so be it. When we visited last July, we got confused when looking for Honeymoon and found ourselves on the completely opposite side of the resort, on Scott Beach. Curiously, the signs then didn't say "Reserved for beach guests only," but rather "Chairs reserved for beach guests only." This tells me that Caneel contemplates non-resort guests accessing these beaches. However you aren't supposed to go marching across Caneel proprty - there are signs to this effect but we didn't see them until we were on the beach. Oops. We hung around for an hour, no one said anything and we just spread our towels on the sand.
By the looks of all the people not sitting in chairs, we weren't the only ones. I'm of the mindset that if you look like you belong and act like you know where you're going, you can venture anywhere. Better to beg forgiveness than ask permission and all that.
That being said, I wouldn't do it again. Once we realized we weren't supposed to be on resort grounds we felt like intruders. Fortunately, the hotel appeared to have very low occupancy, so I don't think anyone cared.
Is Salomon considered private too?
By the looks of all the people not sitting in chairs, we weren't the only ones. I'm of the mindset that if you look like you belong and act like you know where you're going, you can venture anywhere. Better to beg forgiveness than ask permission and all that.
That being said, I wouldn't do it again. Once we realized we weren't supposed to be on resort grounds we felt like intruders. Fortunately, the hotel appeared to have very low occupancy, so I don't think anyone cared.
Is Salomon considered private too?
Wow - Scott needs to be renamed Turtle Beach.
alw - agree with your observations and there are different takes on this, all understandable. First time we went to Scott no problems, there only a short time, basically spent it in the water. Second time we were shooed away but that was our fault - we brought too much stuff with us and it looked like we didnt belong, although it was way off season and there was NOBODY there. Probably depends if another Caneel guest drops a dime on you (understandable) or who is working "security" that day.
alw - agree with your observations and there are different takes on this, all understandable. First time we went to Scott no problems, there only a short time, basically spent it in the water. Second time we were shooed away but that was our fault - we brought too much stuff with us and it looked like we didnt belong, although it was way off season and there was NOBODY there. Probably depends if another Caneel guest drops a dime on you (understandable) or who is working "security" that day.
When we come to place where the sea and the sky collide
Throw me over the edge and let my spirit glide
Throw me over the edge and let my spirit glide