We have only snorkeled around Waterlemon once, way back during our very first visit to St. John. That was the first deep crossing that our daughters (then ten and thirteen years old) had ever made, and they were a bit spooked when the bottom fell away, and you could no longer see anything but deep blue water. There were no currents at the time to speak of, though, which I now understand to be blind luck. I don't recall our circumnavigation (CCW, as it happened) as being very special in terms of coral or sea life, which, along with the long hike from where we left the cars, might explain why we haven't repeated it. There were nine of us, and we might not have known or taken the time to explore the waters around the Cay in depth, which are from other accounts very nice.
One place that I like to snorkel, with wonderful soft and hard corals, is on the point around and into Turtle Bay, from the west. It is a lengthy snorkel from Hawksnest, and a somewhat shorter one from Caneel. It is, I understand, a very short snorkel if one happens to be staying at Caneel and on that bay, but we have yet to spring for that. I had never encountered currents on the snorkel from Caneel before, but two years ago with my daughter's husband, heading to Turtle Bay was absolutely exhilarating; it was as if we were flying above the corals, swept along by the current. Individual waves modulated the current, so the experience alternated between short pauses, and soaring in high-speed bliss through an underwater wonderland. The trip back, however, was very challenging, and at times we felt that we were losing ground despite full fin exertion. It easy to see how being in this sort of situation could get the better of one.
Reflecting on the seemingly sporadic nature of the times when the going gets tough, and Teresa Rae's deep record of one scary snorkel in ten at Waterlemon, a few things occurred to me; among them: the primary driver of currents is the tides. The trade winds will produce a bias in surface currents from east to west, but tides are the wild card. Along large land masses, tides can be amplified by the extended topography, and the results can be dramatic (think Bay of Fundy). For small islands in the middle of the ocean, such as St. John, there are no long coastlines to focus the tides, and the resulting water level rise and fall are quite modest (think of the sand where we write our messages for the Spice Cam). Just because the water level doesn't change much, though, doesn't mean that the currents aren't affected, especially in spots where they are focused by the local topography. Everywhere, there are two high and two low tides per 24 hours, with low currents at the times of low and high tide, but strong flows three hours either side of these times. A smooth snorkel out to Waterlemon might simply be a matter of fortunate timing during the day. Another basic fact, though, is that tides are much larger during a new or a full moon, when the gravitational pull of the moon aligns with that of the sun. For an island like St. John, the water level rise and fall, while larger during a new or a full moon, is still pretty small, but the same increase in the local currents could be substantial. On the mainland, long stretches of populated coastline (I'm thinking of the Jersey shore) publish the tides in the newspaper every day for swimmers and boaters to use, but on St. John, determining the tides takes a bit more digging, and the casual visitor will not be aware of them. NOAA publishes tide data and forecasts for only one spot on St. John, via the research station out at Lameshur Bay. Here is a link to their website; it displays tide data, forecasts of tide levels, and the difference between the two:
http://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/data_m ... Data%0D%0A
They seem to think that "St. John" needs an "s", and their graphing utility there can be a bit frustrating to use. I haven't been able to change the data sample rate to see more than a month at a time, but the twice a month increase in tides due to the sun aligning with the new and full moon is readily apparent.
[Edit] Reading through the thread again, I see where Lisa did mention an association with the moon. Bear in mind, though, that a full moon and a new moon both amplify tide strength, so the bad times to try exposed snorkels occur evert two weeks, and persist for several days either side of those dates.
A cautionary tale: After a year of working with Eric Lambert, a great builder on St. John, I was startled to find him the subject of an article in the Virgin Island Daily News. He had been scuba diving for lobsters in the waters near Chocolate Hole, alone (!), when the spotter on a friend's boat lost sight of him after he surfaced. Currents then swept him to a spot a mile and a half south-east of Dog Island (!), where he was found by a Coast Guard helicopter before day had ended. Had he still been in the water when the sun went down, who knows how things might have turned out. He had drifted nearly three miles with the currents, and had he not been found near Dog, the next landmass in that direction would have been Venezuela. Bear in mind that Eric has been living and diving on St. John for over thirty years; none of us have even remotely as much experience in these waters as he does. Article here:
http://virginislandsdailynews.com/news/ ... z1gc6ENsvk
So here are a few of my takeaways:
* Just because you have snorkeled somewhere once or more before, and "it was easy", doesn't mean that it will be this time.
* Avoid all challenging snorkels for a few days either side of a full or new moon.
* Snorkeling in the protected waters close in on many of St. John's bays gives one the impression that the sea is a placid medium. Extended snorkels along exposed islands and promontories can be an altogether different experience, with strong currents that may exceed the skill of even very proficient swimmers.
* While we all tend to giggle at the cruise ship folks that flood into Trunk Bay with their goofy yellow vests, you should be using an inflatable snorkel vest for any challenging snorkels. I have never owned or used one, but I am now going to buy several.
* If, at any point in a snorkel, you experience a new-found feeling of blissful soaring in the direction you are headed, stop right away, and get back to shore with as low-effort a path as possible (even if it isn't where you put in). For that matter, at any sign of an unexpected current of any substance, terminate the snorkel.
* Do not snorkel alone, and if your buddy becomes tired, you both need to head back.
* Sheer rocky cliffs and thick scrub vegetation (think Whistling Cay, site of a recent death) may not offer any realistic chance to go ashore and rest up when strong currents are encountered.
* The "don't fight it, tread water, or swim parallel to the shore" advice that helps with very local rip currents on straight mainland beaches may not help if you are experiencing a tidal current that is pulling you out to sea.
This post began as a "gee, our one time snorkeling Waterlemon was fine", but then morphed into something more serious. I have heard of occasional snorkeling deaths on St. John over the years, but never really "got it"; I had assumed that it wasn't the level of snorkeling challenge, but rather preexisting medical conditions, inexperienced or out of shape snorkelers, etc. I never understood that I was taking significant risks during my more adventuresome snorkels. Perhaps we need a sticky new thread on snorkeling safety here, and on Trip Advisor, that will help people understand the potentially deadly difference between a recreational and a risky snorkel, and how to recognize dangerous conditions.
All the best,
Kevin
