Breif Trip Report July 20 to July 30
Posted: Sat Aug 08, 2009 5:22 pm
We returned from a 10-day trip to St. John that was total bliss. We stayed at Flanders Villa in Coral Bay, I posted a review and suffice it to say, for the price, we would stay there again. It was our 2nd trip and we will be back! I posted a longer "highlights and lessons learned" message on Trip Advisor. Since most people monitor both lists, I won't repeat it here. However I did want to add a few extra notes that I forgot on the other posting.
Slow Down- When we go out to a beach, we stay all day unless something chases us away. I'm used to seeing the "in and out" tourists at Trunk Bay, but on this visit I saw the same thing happening at other beaches. Couples would arrive at a beach like Maho or Little Lameshur, get in the water for 30 minutes, then leave. Whatever happened to relaxing? I find that I see different things when I snorkel out at different times of the day. Things that were there in the morning are gone, and replaced by new things to see. Just my rant.
Thorougly check your snorkel gear ahead of time - I had my two younger kids try on their snorkel masks to make sure they still fit, but otherwise assumed our gear would be fine. Granted, our gear was bought at Costco 2 years ago, but it worked fine on our first trip. Day 1 at Maho - my purge valve steadily leaked and I never did get a chance to really snorkel there. The next morning we went to Crabby's for a new snorkel tube for me. Day 2-middle son informs us that his mask is leaking, it was a child-sized mask and he is now 14. Since we were in Cruz Bay, we headed to Low Key Sports for a new mask. Day 3- hubby's purge valve begins to leak, back to Crabby's. Day 4, oldest son's purge valve is leaking, back to Crabby's. Day 5-youngest daughter's purge valve is leaking....you get the picture. We now have much nicer gear than before, and we supported the local economy, but the equipment failures meant that someone in the family wasn't able to enjoy a day of snorkeling.
Slow Down- When we go out to a beach, we stay all day unless something chases us away. I'm used to seeing the "in and out" tourists at Trunk Bay, but on this visit I saw the same thing happening at other beaches. Couples would arrive at a beach like Maho or Little Lameshur, get in the water for 30 minutes, then leave. Whatever happened to relaxing? I find that I see different things when I snorkel out at different times of the day. Things that were there in the morning are gone, and replaced by new things to see. Just my rant.
Thorougly check your snorkel gear ahead of time - I had my two younger kids try on their snorkel masks to make sure they still fit, but otherwise assumed our gear would be fine. Granted, our gear was bought at Costco 2 years ago, but it worked fine on our first trip. Day 1 at Maho - my purge valve steadily leaked and I never did get a chance to really snorkel there. The next morning we went to Crabby's for a new snorkel tube for me. Day 2-middle son informs us that his mask is leaking, it was a child-sized mask and he is now 14. Since we were in Cruz Bay, we headed to Low Key Sports for a new mask. Day 3- hubby's purge valve begins to leak, back to Crabby's. Day 4, oldest son's purge valve is leaking, back to Crabby's. Day 5-youngest daughter's purge valve is leaking....you get the picture. We now have much nicer gear than before, and we supported the local economy, but the equipment failures meant that someone in the family wasn't able to enjoy a day of snorkeling.
