Luna Vista Deja Vu Tour - Day 4
Posted: Fri Jun 19, 2009 6:30 pm
Day 4 June 18
Another beautiful morning greeted us as we began our day with a breakfast of hearty whole grain pancakes with bacon. Barney has quickly learned that guests in the villa equates to leftovers for Barney and joins us for most meals. Barney really liked pancakes.
As soon as we cleaned up the dishes, we headed into town for another day of diving in the morning and beach therapy in the afternoon. Diana questions the logic of getting up at such an early hour for a vacation only to eat a heavier breakfast. She is even less sure that it makes sense when you barely finish up before facing the winding, steep St John roads. It is of little wonder that she arrives at Cruz Bay with a heightened level of tension that seems to precede every dive.
Today’s diving was enjoyable with Terry as our guide. Today, we remembered to bring the dive computers. They were pretty pointless in the suitcase on yesterday’s dives. We explored the waters below Dog Island and found the heavier current to be challenging but not unmanageable. The second site was Cow Rock. Jim got to experience the Champaign Cork for the first time. There was minimal surge which limited the experience some, but it was still a lot of fun. We spent the remainder of the dive exploring the tunnels and canyons that divide this site into a series of mazes. The highlights of the dive were a large green eel relaxing out of his home and a HUGE lobster just cruising along in front of us. This guy could have made a dinner for several hungry tourists. Based on how nonchalant he was about our presence, he obviously understands that the best real estate for a lobster is in a National Park.
Following rinsing off, completing the dive logs, and the obligatory adult beverages, we headed to the beach with a momentary detour to the post office. We had to mail those wonderful post cards reminding everyone that we are here and they are not. It is not enough that we told them each a million times over the previous few months, since we are not at home to tell them ourselves, the picture post cards will have to suffice.
We passed Hawksnest’s overflowing parking lot and Gibney Beach having been there yesterday and proceded down the North Shore Road to Trunk Bay. Although always crowded, it was worse than normal after several days of less than sunny weather. Beachgoers who had been reluctant to enjoy the beach with scattered showers were obviously dealing with withdrawal and the expanse of the beach was littered with bodies. We glanced at Cinnamon’s nearly full parking lot and decided against more crowds. We continued on to Maho which was a perfect fit. There was only a scattering of beach goers including two donkeys relaxing in the shade. As we arrived, the usual group had formed around the donkeys. In spite of their scruffy appearance, St John donkeys have their own magnetism and always seem to draw a crowd. These two were no different and were basking in the attention of adults and children alike. One brave soul introduced them to Doritos that they were enjoying more than anyone who has ever appeared in a Dorito’s commercial. It is clear that the Donkeys have acclimated themselves to convenience foods just like we acclimate ourselves to an abundance of adult beverages.
We settled down with a sandwich to share from Deli Grotto and contemplated the biggest decision of the day. The only question to be answered was do we snorkel to the right or to the left. We donned our gear and headed to the left and followed the shoreline to just shy of the point. The water temperature fluctuated between being as warm as bath water to cool and then back to warm. Millions of small fish, fry, clouded the visibility but not so much that we missed the barracudas or yellow fins and other larger fish. We relaxed at the shore and headed in early since we had planned to meet up with SeaNile and her family, and Cypress Girl and her daughter, Little Cypress. Unfortunately, we were all on different schedules and the timing did not work out. They had eaten a very late lunch and we needed to do an earlier dinner in order to be ready for diving early the next morning. Fortunately, this is St John were nothing is really a problem and we still have tomorrow.
With our plans for dinner changed, we put together a quick meal of taco salads and relaxed in the villa in anticipation of Day 5 and more new adventures with diving and exploring the island.
DIANA
Another beautiful morning greeted us as we began our day with a breakfast of hearty whole grain pancakes with bacon. Barney has quickly learned that guests in the villa equates to leftovers for Barney and joins us for most meals. Barney really liked pancakes.
As soon as we cleaned up the dishes, we headed into town for another day of diving in the morning and beach therapy in the afternoon. Diana questions the logic of getting up at such an early hour for a vacation only to eat a heavier breakfast. She is even less sure that it makes sense when you barely finish up before facing the winding, steep St John roads. It is of little wonder that she arrives at Cruz Bay with a heightened level of tension that seems to precede every dive.
Today’s diving was enjoyable with Terry as our guide. Today, we remembered to bring the dive computers. They were pretty pointless in the suitcase on yesterday’s dives. We explored the waters below Dog Island and found the heavier current to be challenging but not unmanageable. The second site was Cow Rock. Jim got to experience the Champaign Cork for the first time. There was minimal surge which limited the experience some, but it was still a lot of fun. We spent the remainder of the dive exploring the tunnels and canyons that divide this site into a series of mazes. The highlights of the dive were a large green eel relaxing out of his home and a HUGE lobster just cruising along in front of us. This guy could have made a dinner for several hungry tourists. Based on how nonchalant he was about our presence, he obviously understands that the best real estate for a lobster is in a National Park.
Following rinsing off, completing the dive logs, and the obligatory adult beverages, we headed to the beach with a momentary detour to the post office. We had to mail those wonderful post cards reminding everyone that we are here and they are not. It is not enough that we told them each a million times over the previous few months, since we are not at home to tell them ourselves, the picture post cards will have to suffice.
We passed Hawksnest’s overflowing parking lot and Gibney Beach having been there yesterday and proceded down the North Shore Road to Trunk Bay. Although always crowded, it was worse than normal after several days of less than sunny weather. Beachgoers who had been reluctant to enjoy the beach with scattered showers were obviously dealing with withdrawal and the expanse of the beach was littered with bodies. We glanced at Cinnamon’s nearly full parking lot and decided against more crowds. We continued on to Maho which was a perfect fit. There was only a scattering of beach goers including two donkeys relaxing in the shade. As we arrived, the usual group had formed around the donkeys. In spite of their scruffy appearance, St John donkeys have their own magnetism and always seem to draw a crowd. These two were no different and were basking in the attention of adults and children alike. One brave soul introduced them to Doritos that they were enjoying more than anyone who has ever appeared in a Dorito’s commercial. It is clear that the Donkeys have acclimated themselves to convenience foods just like we acclimate ourselves to an abundance of adult beverages.
We settled down with a sandwich to share from Deli Grotto and contemplated the biggest decision of the day. The only question to be answered was do we snorkel to the right or to the left. We donned our gear and headed to the left and followed the shoreline to just shy of the point. The water temperature fluctuated between being as warm as bath water to cool and then back to warm. Millions of small fish, fry, clouded the visibility but not so much that we missed the barracudas or yellow fins and other larger fish. We relaxed at the shore and headed in early since we had planned to meet up with SeaNile and her family, and Cypress Girl and her daughter, Little Cypress. Unfortunately, we were all on different schedules and the timing did not work out. They had eaten a very late lunch and we needed to do an earlier dinner in order to be ready for diving early the next morning. Fortunately, this is St John were nothing is really a problem and we still have tomorrow.
With our plans for dinner changed, we put together a quick meal of taco salads and relaxed in the villa in anticipation of Day 5 and more new adventures with diving and exploring the island.
DIANA
We might be able to squeeze in one more two tank dive before we go "wheels up" Wednesday. 
Well, hopefully you did by the end of your trip? And if not it gives you a reason to go back..