Trip report
Posted: Sun Jan 14, 2007 9:49 pm
We just returned from a wonderful 9 days at St. John. Wish we were still there! We stayed at La Jolla Caribe (posted a review) and loved it. The group consisted of my husband (T) and myself (R), our 3 kids (20(Jr), 23 (A) + 25(L)) and our good friend (C). The house worked out great and was perfect for our group. We arrived on Friday afternoon and were met by Christopher taxi. Gathered our luggage and welcome drink and headed out. Called the villa rep and Conrad Sutton's on the way to the ferry. Took Dohm's to Cruz bay and met Dest. St. John at the dock. Split up the group and half of us walked to Conrad's while the other half gathered luggage and met us there. Picking up the car went smoothly and we were on out way. Gerry (sp?) took us to the house and showed us around. We settled in to enjoy the view and sent the boys out for alchohol and a few staples. Being in St; John again was great!
The next morning we got up to go to the beach and realized that our bag with all of the snorkel gear( 5 new masks, 5 new snorkels and 5 pairs of fins)was nowhere to be found...panic! After a thourough search of the villa we called the water taxi and they suggested calling the National Park where we were dropped. We did and they said someone had mentioned there was a suitcase on the dock, but they hadn't brought it in. They said they would send someone out when they got a chance. We sent T and C to the dock. When they got to the dock, they found the bag rifled through, but intact! Only on St. John. Made our day. Off we went to Francis Bay for a great day of snorkeling. Stopped first at Cinnamon (no parking), Maho (Didn't see alot underwater.) Frances was great as usual and we spent hours in the water. The only unsettling part of the day was the 70 year old guy in the thong! But then everyone on the beach was taking a walk down to see. Back to the villa at the end of the day to fix dinner and relax. We're one of the families who brings our meat and it really works well for us. Everyone took a night to cook and we had some great meals.
Day 3 we headed to Cinnamon to try again. Found parking and unloaded. We jumped right in and snorkeled out to the key. Saw lots of fish, coral, even a shark. The shark was on the far side of the key, but the current was a little strong that day so only C, L and T went all of the way around. Back to the villa and C, L, A and R went into town to do a little shopping. Stopped a Starfish (staples and wine) and headed back to the villa. Last year we stayed in Chocolate Hole and while the road was good, the driveway was a little steep. Well, the road and driveway at this house were a little more nervewracking, but manageable. We took the north shore road home to see the overlooks and got onto our road (John Head Road) and headed up. Made it fine through the 6 switcbacks and were making that last turn into our road...oops not quite enough room, no problem. Stop back up a little and cut a little more. Oops! A little too much reverse and suddenly we're skidding backwards toward the drop off! Everyone stopped breathing and held on tight. The good news is we only lost the back two tires over the edge and hung up on the side rails. After we thanked God, We carefully climbed out and checked out our situation. No less than 5 different people stopped to offer help, but we were really worried about the car going all of the way over, so we called Conrad's. They sent a tow truck and we all held our breath while he hauled it back on the road. Conrad was great and even came out to make sure everything was ok. We had a Montero this trip and I think that I much prefer the Grand Vitara from last year. I think in the future, I would go with two cars (wranglers or grand vitaras) So now we've had two close calls, both with good endings, but we're getting a little concerned. Back to the villa for dinner and enjoying the fact that though we had a close call, everything ended up Ok.
Day 3. Off to Salt Pond Bay. After a scenic drive in, short hike (grumbling by the kids) we arrive. It's relatively quiet cosidering that we got a late start. Only about 10 or 15 other people. We settle in and are off to snorkel. We could spend all day in the water (3 of us are lifeguards and instructors.) On this trip we saw the usual fish, stingrays etc but also saw squid and eels. It was really neat. Hiked over to Drunk Bay and checked out the sculptures. Someone has a neat little shelter/house built out of rocks, driftwood complete with chair inside to relax! Back at the beach, we head back to the villa with a stop at Lilly's and Crabby's. We had been interested in renting a dinghy, but Crabby's were being rehabbed and wouldn't be ready for a few weeks. The next part of the trip was the worst thing! We were traveling back to Cruz Bay and came upon a large group of goats (mom's, dad's and babies.) We all stopped to let them clear out of the road, but the guy in front of us just couldn't wait. He proceeded to move ahead....and he ran over 2 baby goats!!! We couldn't believe it!! And then he just drove away. We couldn't believe it. We were all devasted. We stopped, but nothing could be done to save them. It was awful. We could not believe that someone could be so callous. It was a somber drive back to the villa, not a great ending to an otherwise great day.
Day 4, we got up today wondering what would happen today. We were a little apprehensive, but headed out to Waterlemon. Jr stayed home (didn't want to hike today) so we packed lightly and headed out. Waterlemon was crowded! But we hiked all of the way to the tire and headed to the key from there. The current wasn't as strong as last year, so it was an easy swim around the Cay. Saw a huge barracuda and lots of fish. Decided to swim in b/c we wanted to try spotting starfish and stingrays, so C, L and A brought the gear and hiked to the beach where we would meet them. As we got closer to the beach, there were more and more starfish and a few turtles. C came back in the water and T got out. C and R snorkeled all along the shore to the parking lot.. lots of great fish, stingrays and coral. Have lots of pictures, but don't know how to post them on here. Will keep trying. Stopped at Annenburg and checked out the ruins and headed back to the villa. We were psyched...no problems today! We broke the trend! More later on the rest of the trip. Sorry this is so long![/img]
The next morning we got up to go to the beach and realized that our bag with all of the snorkel gear( 5 new masks, 5 new snorkels and 5 pairs of fins)was nowhere to be found...panic! After a thourough search of the villa we called the water taxi and they suggested calling the National Park where we were dropped. We did and they said someone had mentioned there was a suitcase on the dock, but they hadn't brought it in. They said they would send someone out when they got a chance. We sent T and C to the dock. When they got to the dock, they found the bag rifled through, but intact! Only on St. John. Made our day. Off we went to Francis Bay for a great day of snorkeling. Stopped first at Cinnamon (no parking), Maho (Didn't see alot underwater.) Frances was great as usual and we spent hours in the water. The only unsettling part of the day was the 70 year old guy in the thong! But then everyone on the beach was taking a walk down to see. Back to the villa at the end of the day to fix dinner and relax. We're one of the families who brings our meat and it really works well for us. Everyone took a night to cook and we had some great meals.
Day 3 we headed to Cinnamon to try again. Found parking and unloaded. We jumped right in and snorkeled out to the key. Saw lots of fish, coral, even a shark. The shark was on the far side of the key, but the current was a little strong that day so only C, L and T went all of the way around. Back to the villa and C, L, A and R went into town to do a little shopping. Stopped a Starfish (staples and wine) and headed back to the villa. Last year we stayed in Chocolate Hole and while the road was good, the driveway was a little steep. Well, the road and driveway at this house were a little more nervewracking, but manageable. We took the north shore road home to see the overlooks and got onto our road (John Head Road) and headed up. Made it fine through the 6 switcbacks and were making that last turn into our road...oops not quite enough room, no problem. Stop back up a little and cut a little more. Oops! A little too much reverse and suddenly we're skidding backwards toward the drop off! Everyone stopped breathing and held on tight. The good news is we only lost the back two tires over the edge and hung up on the side rails. After we thanked God, We carefully climbed out and checked out our situation. No less than 5 different people stopped to offer help, but we were really worried about the car going all of the way over, so we called Conrad's. They sent a tow truck and we all held our breath while he hauled it back on the road. Conrad was great and even came out to make sure everything was ok. We had a Montero this trip and I think that I much prefer the Grand Vitara from last year. I think in the future, I would go with two cars (wranglers or grand vitaras) So now we've had two close calls, both with good endings, but we're getting a little concerned. Back to the villa for dinner and enjoying the fact that though we had a close call, everything ended up Ok.
Day 3. Off to Salt Pond Bay. After a scenic drive in, short hike (grumbling by the kids) we arrive. It's relatively quiet cosidering that we got a late start. Only about 10 or 15 other people. We settle in and are off to snorkel. We could spend all day in the water (3 of us are lifeguards and instructors.) On this trip we saw the usual fish, stingrays etc but also saw squid and eels. It was really neat. Hiked over to Drunk Bay and checked out the sculptures. Someone has a neat little shelter/house built out of rocks, driftwood complete with chair inside to relax! Back at the beach, we head back to the villa with a stop at Lilly's and Crabby's. We had been interested in renting a dinghy, but Crabby's were being rehabbed and wouldn't be ready for a few weeks. The next part of the trip was the worst thing! We were traveling back to Cruz Bay and came upon a large group of goats (mom's, dad's and babies.) We all stopped to let them clear out of the road, but the guy in front of us just couldn't wait. He proceeded to move ahead....and he ran over 2 baby goats!!! We couldn't believe it!! And then he just drove away. We couldn't believe it. We were all devasted. We stopped, but nothing could be done to save them. It was awful. We could not believe that someone could be so callous. It was a somber drive back to the villa, not a great ending to an otherwise great day.
Day 4, we got up today wondering what would happen today. We were a little apprehensive, but headed out to Waterlemon. Jr stayed home (didn't want to hike today) so we packed lightly and headed out. Waterlemon was crowded! But we hiked all of the way to the tire and headed to the key from there. The current wasn't as strong as last year, so it was an easy swim around the Cay. Saw a huge barracuda and lots of fish. Decided to swim in b/c we wanted to try spotting starfish and stingrays, so C, L and A brought the gear and hiked to the beach where we would meet them. As we got closer to the beach, there were more and more starfish and a few turtles. C came back in the water and T got out. C and R snorkeled all along the shore to the parking lot.. lots of great fish, stingrays and coral. Have lots of pictures, but don't know how to post them on here. Will keep trying. Stopped at Annenburg and checked out the ruins and headed back to the villa. We were psyched...no problems today! We broke the trend! More later on the rest of the trip. Sorry this is so long![/img]
