USVI-On-Line

I'm not much of a writer but I do enjoy sharing my photos. I'm new to flickr and I haven't figured out all the how's and why's yet, but here it goes:

We traveled to STJ the Sat after Thanksgiving from Newark NJ on a direct flight. This was the first time we flew direct and I hope to do that again, it was nice! We arrived to the Westin property around sunset, delighted to be back twice in '08.



The new time share units are nice but we did not buy.

One of our very first days we decided to go to Trunk late in the day. After our snorkel we noticed a couple getting married on the beach. We stayed a respectful distance but I did snap a pix. The woman who married them asked us to be their witnesses and we were more than happy to comply ! I got to tell her we were there celebrating our 30th anniversary and were honored to do so.



The snorkeling conditions were not all that good on the north shore so we ended up on the south side. We left both Cinnamon and Honeymoon due to this. Jumbie and Francis were good and we finally decided to go to Waterlemon even tho it looked rough from the walk in. We went to Salt Pond a couple times and Lameshure too. We saw octopus on 2 different occasions at Salt POnd. That made my trip! The 2nd time he put on a beautiful show for me!




This guy was tucked into the ledge out in the rocks in the center of salt Pond:

There was LOTS going on out there and its a great place to snorkel.

We saw lots of healthy sea life. This was my debut of an underwater housing for my little canon powershot. I still have much to learn about underwater photography but I enjoyed it immensely! FUN!



More underwater etc...









I have several fish, coral, sponge,etc. that I am having trouble identifying. Can anyone offer suggestions?



This guy was probably 4 ft long and stayed put in 20 ft of water.
My ID book suggests he's a mutton snapper, but he's supposed to be in deeper water.
He was quite impressive!

The most impressive thing about this one beside his markings were his bright yellow/orangish eyes:


I think this could be a honeycomb cowfish:



Rose coral?


What is that on the coral?




Squirrelfish?


WE had a fantastic time on island. Due to this forum we met Sandy and Mel and I introduced myself to Ron and Ruth. This forum is an interesting new way to meet people! Very cool meeting you all! and Thanks once again Sandy for our photo!

We went to the Beach Bar a couple times for the Sunday nite music and that was fun. I have a clip of some music from there that I need to figure out how to post. We only ate at a restaurant once and we chose Waterfront Bistro. Everything about it was perfect, and I will definitely return. We got take out from Candi's twice, chicken and ribs and tasty side dishes. Good food at a very reasonable price. We got sandwiches from Deli Grotto as well as BAked in the sun,and took our lunch to the beach everyday. The food selection at Starfish/Starfish Gourmet met all of our needs for cooking or BBQing daily. Picked up some steaks a couple times and thought the quality was good. Nice to get Josephine's greens there too. I took my own granola for b'fast and that lasted nearly the entire trip.I got spices at St John spice at the beginning of the trip . I know I was in there 2 or 3 times. Such a great store!


That last day comes and it's time to leave. Ten days recharges my batteries and I was ready to come home. This was our first small plane experience from STT to San Juan. It was fantastic and I won't hesitate to do it again!




I was told this is Culebra:


Landing in San JUAn:

I am not sure why my photos are so small but I will go ahead and post this. Anyone who wants to see all of my photos can go here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/34079437@N05/3185310494/

Hope you enjoyed my pix!

Carolyn

Very cool photos! It was great meeting you guys also, hope to see you again!

Sandy

Wow, beautiful!! I love your pictures.

I think the bride and groom were very lucky to have you and your wife as witnesses. 30 years--I think you will bring them good luck. Did you exchange contact info to keep in touch?

Gina

Thanks Sandy. If our son ends up in DC for grad school we will have to visit! Do you have any idea why my photos are so small? Did I link to the wrong page or something like that? EH!!!!

Gina...thanks. No we didn't exchange info but I think I could get it if I tried. I have a card from the woman who married them, and she has the info. I also felt good about being their witness...it just seemed so right. All I know is that they were from CA, and he had lived on STJ years ago and said that whenever he got married he would do it there. Was an absolutely gorgeous evening and they seemed as if they were so much in love!

TWO Octopus (octopi?)! You are so lucky. Great pics. Thanks for the report!

Carolyn, did you bring your pictures over from the thumbnail view or the full view?

Great photos.. I enjoyed looking at them! Thanks.

Thanks for sharing your photo trip report Carolyn, beautiful! I love a photo-story.

I'd love to know the name of the white colored fish with the dark fins and tail. They are so playful in the water - I laugh out loud when I swim with them!!! Is it a type of angel fish? I can never find it in my guide. Does anyone know?

Your comments on the Westin piqued my interest. We're thinking of buying a timeshare at the Westin and would love to hear from anyone out there who owns one or is thinking about it....I haven't waded into it all yet....

Only 50 more days 'til our full month on the island....
Woo Hoo!!!

I thot I was posting from only place I could BUT perhaps I was in the wrong mode...didnt work!

Carolyn wrote:I thot I was posting from only place I could BUT perhaps I was in the wrong mode...let me try another here:




well that didnt work!!!hmmmm?

your code should end with .jpg - get rid of what comes after it ?v=0 should be removed

great trip report! which powershot do you have? how did you like the housing?

i think the white fish with the black markings is a spade fish. they are so much fun! i've always seen them at hawksnest and caneel.

MaryBeth that worked !!!wonder why that is getting picked up when i copy the image address???



Kim...I not sure but maybe it is a pompano? Also about the Westin timeshares...talk to DCPhoto, she is an owner. This is not a good time for us to buy but I would not rule it out in the future.

cool

Loved the pictures! I hope my Canon Powershot A720IS can come close to the same results. If it doesn't I will just have to come back and look at your pictures!

Did your underwater housing have a flash diffuser? Did you set the white balance for underwater manually?

Thanks for posting your images.

gimpiegirl...i have the SD600...it's teeny/tiny! and I LOVE the underwater housing. I followed the instructions to a T and not one drop of water entered it.

also the picture I have of a spadefish shows bars on its side and this fish didn't have bars




I have a note to myself that it could be a longfin pompano?

ifloat, you will get good results w/ your camera! Yes, mine had the flash diffuser and I did use the underwater setting, but I still had to take the pix into photoshop to adjust the levels. Some I used the auto balance and others I did manually.

Thanks for taking time to write as well as your compliments