Winter Swells

[equinox]

On nov. 9 and 10, St. John was experiencing the winter swells. They were pretty impressive. Many of the North Shore beaches were closed (Trunk Bay). We went to the south shore (Little Lameshure) and the water was like glass. Are the winter swells a frequent occurrence at this time of year and are they predictable at all?

[iowaguy]

Equinox--I'm not qualified to answer your question, but I know we had them in March 2008. Here's a picture of the waves at Trunk Bay (the girl on the right is about 5'10"):



The kids sort of enjoyed the waves---I prefer it flat and calm.

[equinox]

Wow. It wasn't that bad last week.

[RickG]

We see them in November about every third year. They come and go and are pretty easy to predict looking at the forecast - look for winds from the North.

Here's my favorite site for a quick look: http://www.windfinder.com/forecast/st_thomas

Cheers, Rick

[tipsy]

That's what we get here all the time, I love it but DH likes the calm,glassy type. of course need it smooth for our snorkeling ventures.

Do they close the beaches cause of no lifeguards?

[equinox]

I think the concern was that undertows would make swimming unsafe.

[PA Girl]

I think the concern was that undertows would make swimming unsafe.

We had swells one January trip and got the snot knocked out of ourselves many times. Really took us by surprise as the waves, while big by VI standards, didn't seem any larger that what we were used to seeing (and growing up swimming in) on the east coast.

Somewhere I saw an explaination as to how the pitch of the VI beaches combined with the wave action makes for some churn-y swimming.

[tipsy]

Thanks for the info. Learned another new thing.

You should never be too confident when in the water,mighty powerful foe.

[2muchsnow]

Was there last week. High surf advisories were in effect, M, T, W. We actually enjoyed trunk on monday the 9th. They didn't charge us for admission, the snorkel trail was closed. Which kept the cruise ship crowd away. You could still get in the water (At your own risk of course) lifeguards had to tell some 20 year-olds to not body surf, and parents to keep their kids out. Surf really wasn't anything that we haven't seen in southern california. Pretty nice to have that spectacular beach almost to yourself. (maybe 25 people?)

Was supposed to be even bigger on Tuesday, so we headed to waterlemon to snorkel. Water was a little churned up there, but snorkeling was still good. Headed to Maho that afternoon and it was surprisingly calm, was chased off by rain and no see ums. ended up at little lameshure and it was glass.

By thursday mid day it was gone, and you could snorkel the NS beaches again.

[Exit Zero]

It is fairly easy to find the swell conditions - a real time, not predictive site is www.ndbc.noaa.gov - station 41043
For predictive site I use www.windguru.com and scroll to BVI

[BuffaloGal]

We encountered swells the previous week, too. Lameshur is a great spot to retreat to, though I noticed we weren't the only ones who realized that. We also had a good day at Caneel. It's more protected than some of the other North Shore beaches. This was our fourth trip in November and the first time we encountered the swells.

[cptnkirk]

I think those swells come in like clockwork in November. Had them both times when we were there in November. Personally I don't like them cause they screw up my North Beach snorkels. I had fun with them at Cinnamon last Novenber though. Those South shore beaches get real populer when the North swells are up. Here's a pic of my buddy thinkin twice about gettin in last November.

[tipsy]

That's some rough water, the undertow must be very powerful. There's where the danger lies.

Does this ever happen in mid April?

[IslandElle]

I second Tipsy's question.

[Anthony]

Is that Tony Soprano in the surf there???