Pic's Pics and Report - Beaches & Snorkeling vol. 3
Posted: Sun Jun 28, 2009 7:00 pm
Vol. 1: http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/f ... hp?t=12715
Vol. 2: http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/f ... hp?t=12759
Featured beaches/bays:
Pelican Rock & Long Bay
Vie's/Hansen
Francis (cloudy)
Cinnamon
Francis (sunny)
----- Pelican Rock & Long Bay -----
We drove to the end of East End Road and visited Long Bay. This is not a pretty beach, but if you want to snorkel around Pelican Rock and don't want to swim all the way from Vie's, this is a much closer entry point to the rock. We parked the jeep by the fence on the grass and walked through a short path to the beach (there is a "No Parking Here" sign at the beginning of the path, so we parked away from it). There is a house near the path and we weren't sure if we were trespassing on someone's property. As we were walking on the beach we saw a man outside the house - we waved at each other, so I guess it was okay.
It was one of those half overcast and half clear days and I wished the sun had been out more for this snorkel.
First, we swam over to and around Pelican Rock.
A lot of gorgonians and corals around the rock
We saw a turtle swimming away from us. Its rear right flipper was chewed off and the shell around it was a little messed up. We thought it could've been either a shark bite or a motorboat accident.
We followed the turtle away from Pelican Rock and came to nice reefs in fairly deep waters. It was neat to see Blue Chromis here and there flickering in bright blue.
And there was a large school of Blue Tangs.
Overall, we really enjoyed this snorkel. We want to go back on a sunny day to see things more closely.
----- Vie's/Hansen -----
By the time we got to Vie's from Long Bay, the day had gotten much brighter. We snorkeled the left side over to the beach next to Vie's.
Gray Snapper among Gorgonians
Banded Butterflyfish and Bluehead, before turning bluish
We hadn't seen a lot up to this point. We were in the waters at the beach next to Vie's and, suddenly, a huge school of juvenile fish appeared from nowhere - and so did some Bar Jacks. Those juvies were bigger than what we normally call "fry" (school of tiny fish) - does anyone know what kind of fish they are? Are they simply "more grown-up versions" of the fry? The way they swim and quickly turn is a bit more dynamic than that of the fry. It was very fun to be surrounded by them.
Fry (shiny skinny ones) and below them, the bigger fish
Closer look
Bar Jacks were munching on them
Barracuda and Mutton Snapper, lurking
After snorkeling and hanging out at Vie's beach, we were hungry so we had a mid-afternoon snack, Vie's garlic chicken and conch flitters. It was just a perfect day for us.
----- Francis (cloudy) -----
It was a wet overcast day and skeeters were pretty bad there.
We walked all the way to the right side of the bay and got in the water immediately. No sun means I would get cold in the water quickly - and I did. So, we didn't swim out as far as we normally do. However, we finally found our first octopus on this trip. We can almost always count on Francis for these sneaky creatures.
At first, it looked like this. It seemed to be pretty alert to us.
We swam away for a few minutes to let the octopus relax. When we came back, it was a little more exposed but never completely came out of its den.
Octopus with crab shell
Yellowtail Snapper
Red Hind
Does anyone (Maggy?) know what kind of fish this is? It was about 4 inches long and was lying flat on the shallow bottom almost camouflaged. We watched it very closely and it never swam away.
We didn't snorkel for long - it just wasn't an ideal day for snorkeling for me. I got so cold in the water and didn
Vol. 2: http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/f ... hp?t=12759
Featured beaches/bays:
Pelican Rock & Long Bay
Vie's/Hansen
Francis (cloudy)
Cinnamon
Francis (sunny)
----- Pelican Rock & Long Bay -----
We drove to the end of East End Road and visited Long Bay. This is not a pretty beach, but if you want to snorkel around Pelican Rock and don't want to swim all the way from Vie's, this is a much closer entry point to the rock. We parked the jeep by the fence on the grass and walked through a short path to the beach (there is a "No Parking Here" sign at the beginning of the path, so we parked away from it). There is a house near the path and we weren't sure if we were trespassing on someone's property. As we were walking on the beach we saw a man outside the house - we waved at each other, so I guess it was okay.
It was one of those half overcast and half clear days and I wished the sun had been out more for this snorkel.
First, we swam over to and around Pelican Rock.
A lot of gorgonians and corals around the rock
We saw a turtle swimming away from us. Its rear right flipper was chewed off and the shell around it was a little messed up. We thought it could've been either a shark bite or a motorboat accident.
We followed the turtle away from Pelican Rock and came to nice reefs in fairly deep waters. It was neat to see Blue Chromis here and there flickering in bright blue.
And there was a large school of Blue Tangs.
Overall, we really enjoyed this snorkel. We want to go back on a sunny day to see things more closely.
----- Vie's/Hansen -----
By the time we got to Vie's from Long Bay, the day had gotten much brighter. We snorkeled the left side over to the beach next to Vie's.
Gray Snapper among Gorgonians
Banded Butterflyfish and Bluehead, before turning bluish
We hadn't seen a lot up to this point. We were in the waters at the beach next to Vie's and, suddenly, a huge school of juvenile fish appeared from nowhere - and so did some Bar Jacks. Those juvies were bigger than what we normally call "fry" (school of tiny fish) - does anyone know what kind of fish they are? Are they simply "more grown-up versions" of the fry? The way they swim and quickly turn is a bit more dynamic than that of the fry. It was very fun to be surrounded by them.
Fry (shiny skinny ones) and below them, the bigger fish
Closer look
Bar Jacks were munching on them
Barracuda and Mutton Snapper, lurking
After snorkeling and hanging out at Vie's beach, we were hungry so we had a mid-afternoon snack, Vie's garlic chicken and conch flitters. It was just a perfect day for us.
----- Francis (cloudy) -----
It was a wet overcast day and skeeters were pretty bad there.
We walked all the way to the right side of the bay and got in the water immediately. No sun means I would get cold in the water quickly - and I did. So, we didn't swim out as far as we normally do. However, we finally found our first octopus on this trip. We can almost always count on Francis for these sneaky creatures.
At first, it looked like this. It seemed to be pretty alert to us.
We swam away for a few minutes to let the octopus relax. When we came back, it was a little more exposed but never completely came out of its den.
Octopus with crab shell
Yellowtail Snapper
Red Hind
Does anyone (Maggy?) know what kind of fish this is? It was about 4 inches long and was lying flat on the shallow bottom almost camouflaged. We watched it very closely and it never swam away.
We didn't snorkel for long - it just wasn't an ideal day for snorkeling for me. I got so cold in the water and didn
I seen three nurse sharks this trip. I will gladly trade you one for an octopus sighting as I have yet to see one on St John.