USVI-On-Line

We will be in STT for 11 days and we plan on coming over to STJ 2 or 3 of those days. We will be with USVI newbies and this will be our 3rd time to STT. We have only been to STJ one day (unless you count the 1/2 day snorkel trip to Honeymoon Beach) and boy was that eventful! We like to do some of the "touristy" stuff, but also are a little adventurous so like to go off the beaten path too. We ended up renting our jeep from Hertz on STT so we couldn't take it to STJ with us. We thought that would not be a big deal. Anyways, we took a taxi to our first stop...Francis Bay. The taxi driver told us that taxis come by there "all the time". UMmmmm, not the case! We waited for 45 minutes with our (7 yr old) at the main road before you walk down to Francis. Then we decided to call a taxi to pick us up they said 5 mins. So we waited another 20-30 mins when we decided what the heck...lets start walking to Trunk Bay! We got out the map and headed for Trunk...you should have seen some of the looks we got! LOL! Then it started to rain on our "adventure walk". PS - we were in flip flops and beach wear! All we could do was sing and laugh at this point, and hope for a random rum stand! LOL! We were so excited to see A tour bus come by until he told us he was sorry but he coulnd't help us out! We continued on our adventure walk then another taxi came by that took us to Trunk Bay for $15 cheap we thought! Until we hopped on and we ended up at Trunk in 2 minutes or so! LOL! WE were quite relieved to make it to Trunk. We walked up to the entrance to find out they had just closed the beach due to high surf. They let us go in to look at it and take some picture after we had told them how hard it was to get there! LOL! Anyways, I got cleaned up the boys threw the football around and we sipped some rum punches then headed to a little Mexican restaurant close to the ferry. Needless to say we are eager to go back to STJ. This time we will take our rental jeep! We plan to go to the Tourist Trap according to this forum and beach ourselves at Trunk Bay for at least half a day. We want to go back to Francis because we were not able to snorkel much because our 7yr old was afraid to go out to the turtles. Any othere must do's for a day or 2, or 3! on STJ? PS - we don't want to cram and rush. We just want to chill, snorkel and eat! I also want to go to Solomon Beach and we are thinking we would like to go to Skinny Legs, Woody's and the Beach Bar!

The Tourist Trap is closed on Sun and Mon. It's worth the trip. Down the street is Salt Pond Bay Beach and the trail to Drunk beach. Salt Pond beach has good snorkeling and is calm on days when other beaches aren't. Drunk beach is Fun with rock sculptures everywhere. Ram's Head trail is there as well. It's beautiful almost other wordly out there. If you plan to do Ram's Head it is best hiked in the Morning as it is all in the open and can get very hot.

Have Fun!!

If you are planning on doing 2 days you could go over the moring of the first do some of the northshore beaches ahve lunch at skinny's do a beach go to Woody's for happy hour have dinner in cruz bay maybe go to acouple of the bars leave your jeep and take the people ferry back then come back the next morning and do some of the beaches out on the east end go to the tourist trap and make it back for the last car barge. this way you won't feel rushed and get to enjoy some night life.

Where are you staying on STT?

If you are going to drive to the Tourist Trap I will suggest Little Lamshur Bay especially if you have children with you.
http://seestjohn.com/beaches_lameshur.html
It is a short drive past Salt Pond and the Tourist Trap. Some would call the drive adventurous but it is paved and MUCH better than it was prior to paving. You will drive through some of the finest greenery on the south side of the island when you descend the hill past Salt Pond. You will find parking close to the beach, shade!, easy entry, great beginner & intermediate snorkeling, the begining of two hiking trail, some "ruins", normally calm waters, at least one table and a porta-potty. Drawbacks - The beach is not the fine sand of North shore beaches it is sand beach with rocks intersperced.
LL is just past Great Lamshur which is all rock beach that is interesting in itself. I have not snorkeled here so I cannot comment on what you will find in the water.
While I like Salt Pond, it is a walk from parking (actually it is the walk to your jeep from the beach that kills me)and little shade. Worthwhile snorkeling is a swim from the beach. I have always found Lil Lamshur to have smaller "crowds" than Salt Pond.

If you would like to visit Salomon and/or Honeymoon take a peek at this thread.
http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/f ... hp?t=14050
You could leave the car at Red Hook, take the people ferry and hike or you can drive to Caneel and a 15 min hike to Honeymoon and then to Salomon around the point.
http://seestjohn.com/beaches_salomon.html

Thanks for the info. The links are great!

We are staying on the north side of STT on Caret Bay, just 30 feet above the reef! It is so peaceful and quiet there.

We are planning to go to STJ and go via the people ferry one day and it looks like we will go to Salomon then Trunk because we have never done the Trunk snorkel and we like the fact that we can shower there and go to town after that. The next trip we will come with our jeep and go to the Coral Bay area. We are not sure if we will need 2 trips for this or not. Because we kind of want to go back to Francis to see some turtles on the way to Coral Bay. We will also be around on Dec 12 and heard of the concert party in Cruz Bay?? and might want to come over for that. We will however do the Cruz Bay area when no ships are in port.

Ok, this is going to sound really not helpful, but I think you should just half your trip (since you do have 11 days) and stay on St. John half the time. I have a hard time doing the great beaches in just a week! Heck! I would stay there the whole 11 days. To be of more help...We love Little Lamsure, Frances Bay, and Salt pond with a walk to drunk bay. If you want to go to to the tourist trap get there really early and enjoy the solitude, then leave there after lunch. We love getting sandwiches from Deli Grotto, in Mongoose Junction, and taking them in a little cooler to the beach. We liked the Beach Bar and Skinny Leggs but love a little place that the name escapes me. It is near the casino and Low Key dive shop. Great burgers, conch fritters and drinks! I hate it when I can't remember names. Some one help me here! What can I say, I love St. John!

2beachbums, are you coming back with your child? Because if you are, and you are trying to find turtles, I have another beach to suggest to you: Maho. There are definitely turtles at Francis, but I usually find them WAY out by the boat mooring balls...I don't think I would feel comfortable bringing a little one out that far, especially because you are swimming against the current coming back to shore.

Maho is shallow, sandy, has no current, and there are almost always turtles in the center of the bay, not to far from shore. Snorkeling is decent along the rocks on both sides also. Plus the beach is right next to the road...no schlepping in your stuff.

Actually this is going to be a no kids trip this time! Liamsaunt: Thanks for the tip about Maho. The friends we are bringing have never been snorkeling or to the USVI's for that matter!

We are so excited, I keep playing all my "travelin music" KChez, Z.BrownB, B. Marley, J. Buffet!

We are hoping to do an impromptue "cheap" trip to STJ with our son next fall! Hoping and Praying!