St. John for a "select few"??

[snorkelqueen]

Okay now I'm pissed off. In my recent post I asked if Ditteff Bay was still open to us common folk and I was directed to a website that was selling lots to "a select few". My husband says that is why he won't come to St. John again. I almost agree. How dare people close beaches to only a select few? I think Mr. Rockefeller is turning in his grave - wasn't this to be a NationaL Park? Yet again developers will distroy a place that was paradise for "all of us". I guess I have to find another island.

[ready4paradise]

Hey Snorkelqueen,
Don't let them get you down. We are part of the select few that gets St. John. We have to fly all night from California to be able to get there during the day. Don't worry, be happy! Just look at your ticker and think it is only days away. And you know there are other beaches, our favorites are Maho and Francis. Have a good time!

[Pete (Mr. Marcia)]

When you find that other island, would you please share?

Almost 2/3 of STJ is National Park land. So, this other island will have to have only 1/3 open to development to match STJ.

This other island will also have to have no chain restaurants or stop lights.

On this other island, we will need to be able to drive on the left because...well...it's fun and different.

Oh, and this other island will need to have Ruth, Ron, Conrad, Gladys, Allen, Demetrius, etc...or, at their equivalent.

We stayed in the Fish Bay area for about our first 8 visits. We remember Ditleff when it was raw and we saw it this past May under development. It saddens us, too. But, it is not a part of the National Park. The developers did not take it from "us." It is theirs to screw up as they see fit.

We are thankful for the 2/3 of the island that is protected and I think you will be hard pressed to find that elsewhere.

[Anthony]

Yes it was always (well, last several decades anyway) privately owned - I think mostly by board members of Dow Chemical. They could have given it to the park at some point but never did, and now the surviving heir/s are developing it.

[PSUWethr]

It does suck cause Dietliff was a nice quiet beach...I look at it this way, the people who can afford those monster houses are most likely the one who complain about everything and just don't "get" the island way of life. It is like Peter Bay. Even if I could get to the beach from land I don't think I would like to hang out with those people anyway since they are all around me here at home.

There is still enough of St. John to enjoy even with the monster development. I just hope they practice good environmental controls to prevent mudslides into the ocean!

[piscesgirl0314]

When you find that other island, would you please share?

Almost 2/3 of STJ is National Park land. So, this other island will have to have only 1/3 open to development to match STJ.

This other island will also have to have no chain restaurants or stop lights.

On this other island, we will need to be able to drive on the left because...well...it's fun and different.

Oh, and this other island will need to have Ruth, Ron, Conrad, Gladys, Allen, Demetrius, etc...or, at their equivalent.

We stayed in the Fish Bay area for about our first 8 visits. We remember Ditleff when it was raw and we saw it this past May under development. It saddens us, too. But, it is not a part of the National Park. The developers did not take it from "us." It is theirs to screw up as they see fit.

We are thankful for the 2/3 of the island that is protected and I think you will be hard pressed to find that elsewhere.

DITTO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Good luck with that snorkelqueen!!

[Exit Zero]

Since the houses built in Ditleff will very likely be Rental Villas and and Forum members and other visitors will be the people renting them ---- why would the cycle of building and and gated properties stop?
How many posts have we read here about 'renting a villa where we can walk to a beach" ??
The building will continue since the market supports the concept ! - newer and bigger rentals, more amenities, more privacy, and I doubt anyone who reads this Forum regularly would deny that the development of STJ over the last 15 years is fueled and driven by the rental villa customer - very few of the "homes" built now are meant to be 'lived in' - as the above poster mentioned you are the 'select few ' - ----- --- it is the residents of these islands that feel the effects of restricted beaches the most, as the gates and walls go up and the natural and pristine places we played on growing up are now gardened palaces that don't want to see a local even park a car near the house and then call the police about suspicious persons.
Guess the easiest way to get to Ditleff now will be in a rental car, socks and sandals,a funny hat, and a call out of "Hey Y'all - Is this the way to Trunk Bay??"

[Berlingirl]

Snorkelqueen...I get your drift also. However, it's no different than any waterfront anywhere in the world really. Try buying lake, river or oceanfront property anywhere. Better bring a boatload of money. We're at the top of New England here and we're also priced out of even the consideration. We also have very little access to public beaches. We are lucky we have Acadia National Park http://www.nps.gov/acad/index.htm within an hour of us. This was another generous gift from the Rockefeller family to the United States. We enjoy Sand Beach there year around.

That said, there are islands around the world still undeveloped and remote. The book 501 MUST-VISIT ISLANDS doesn't even feature STJ. STJ is high on our radar but still low on a lot of the rest of the world! So for us...life is good as long as we can still find a parking spot within sight of Big Maho!

[PA Girl]

I am curious, if the property has been privately owned for decades did the owners allow people to drive in and cross the land to visit the beaches?

Or did people just knowingly trespass?

[Anthony]

I am curious, if the property has been privately owned for decades did the owners allow people to drive in and cross the land to visit the beaches?

Or did people just knowingly trespass?

I don't think there was ever anyone around to stop you from going out there.

[Pete (Mr. Marcia)]

We all were trespassing. There used to be a chain across the entrance with a "private property" sign.

[PA Girl]

Husband and I just talked about this type of thing over the weekend.

For many years, we would picnic at a certain spot located in privately owned land. We trespassed across the property to reach a creek.

We did this under the "it is easier to apologize later than ask permission first" reasoning. It is a popular spot and lots of people did the same thing.

Fast forward a couple years and there is a chance we might have the opportunity to buy this property.

The first thing I said to husband was "What about access? Would you be ok with people trapsing by all day, every spring, summer and fall weekend?"

His answer, which after serious consideration, was no, he would not want anyone doing the exact same thing we did for years.

It is interesting when the shoe is (potentially) on the other foot.

[Exit Zero]

The chain and sign were relatively [ 5-7 yrs.or so ] recent - for many years just hiking down a dirt trail into arid cactus land to swim and fish and play on the the beach where it seemed no one would ever consider trying to live, since your cistern would be dry most of the year, it didn't feel like trespassing, but over the years the houses started being built around it in Fish Bay and Rendezvous and the trail became a dirt road , and things progressed from there - once it became possible that a water truck could reach and supply the property and the owners realized they could finally sell this land, things really took off and lots were designated and signs and chains came into the picture.

[iowaguy]

Snorkelqueen--If you want to snorkel Ditleff, it is not very hard to swim out there along the rocks from Klein Bay beach. You can still presumably use the beach up to a certain point----just no land access. Or, you can drive a little further along the south shore and hike down to Reef Bay, which IS national park.

Yes, it would have been nice if Ditleff had become a park. It would be great if the national park service or a private preservation entity had sufficient funds to buy these important parcels. We should be appreciative of the work they have done to acquire the Maho beachfront, which could have suffered a similar fate.

There are lots of islands with more remote, deserted beaches than St. John. Try Eleuthera as just one example. It just doesn't have, for me, a lot of the other qualities that St. John has.

[RickG]

It would be great if there was a public beach access easement with a couple of parking spaces. I don't know the status of that. You can check out the beach access easement info at http://www.czm.dpnr.gov.vi/documents/public_access.html

There's a permit status database, but I don't see anything from Ditleff.

http://czm.dpnr.gov.vi/ - click on the Permit Center tab and then the Permit Status tab. There's an interesting list of permits there with some familiar projects listed.

Cheers, RickG