St.John Trip Report Part 1
Posted: Thu Mar 29, 2007 2:02 pm
St. John Trip Report
Visit #5 since 2001
March 13 - 20th, 2007
Part 1
This is visit number five for us to St. John. We came down last April, 2006 for our 25th anniversary. Our actual date is October 10th so last fall we decided "How many times are you married 25 years?" and we planned another 25th anniversary trip for March, 2007.
I've divided this report into two halves to minimize what in the biz we call "bails". Part 1 covers travel, lodging, and beaches, while part 2 covers food, drink, shopping, and everything else. The whole report can be read here. Enjoy!
Travel
<li>We flew USAirways, carryon only, without a hitch from ALB through PHL. 20% full on way down, packed on the way back due to previous weekend Nor'easter.
<li>Taxi - Airport to Downtown for 2 - $20. Downtown to Airport on return - $14; go figure.
<li>Ferries. Charlotte to Cruz Bay wonderful ride with a few drops of rain. Nothing like the anticipation of arriving on St. John. For the return trip, there was little topside space so we stayed inside a ferry for the first time. Judging by the number of folks that retreated indoors on this hot sunny day, we made a good choice.
<li>Car rental. St John Car Rental. Minutes after we picked up our basic 2-door Vitara, both windows were stuck in the down position. Took it back. The folks at STJ Car had me in a brand new Wrangler in less than 5 minutes with no upgrade charge even after I offered. 2 thumbs up for STJ Car rental. Used their lot once; very convenient (who are those guys that hang out there at night?) The Wrangler drove great but took a full 16.8 gallons for 137 miles at the end of the week (8.2 mpg, ouch!).
Lodging
<li>Rented Far Horizons, a lovely little apartment located just around the corner from Gallows Point. The owner, Anna Foote, runs Sunset Ceramics across from the lumberyard up on Centerline Road. All of the pottery sconces that you see on the island that are not Donald Schnell's are hers. Very nice spot for a couple, we were an easy walk from downtown Cruz Bay and took advantage every night.
Beaches/Snorkeling
<li>Day 1, Wednesday was my wife's birthday and Laura's choice was Hawksnest, but the high surf on the north shore had us continue on to Little Lameshur, her number two pick. We weren't disappointed and broke out our new Olympus 770 SW digital underwater camera. See my report here.
<li>Day 2, Thursday. North shore still hadn't calmed down so it was off for our first ever visit to Vie's Beach. Calm water, nice snorkeling and lounge chairs to boot. Left my first item on car roof top (more later).
<li>Friday, still no North Shore so we went to Salt Pond. We hiked over to Drunk Bay and built our little girl "Gertie" before heading back to Salt Pond. We never had been to Drunk Bay before and all the "sculptures" with the pounding surf in the background was certainly memorable. On the way back my wife became aware of her "7th Sense" when she quipped "I smell dead people!" Snorkeling in Salt Pond Bay was exceptional, especially out along the left side where the steep walls and multitude of fish make you feel like you are swimming in an aquarium.
<li>Day 4. Looking out on Pillsbury sound in the morning, I noticed the seas had turned and were coming from the south, so it was off to Hawksnest. The blue colors of the bay at Hawksnest never fail to leave us awestruck. Snorkeling was fabulous as we were able to swim right over most of the on-shore reef there. In the afternoon, we retreated to Honeymoon as the family crews had really started pouring in to Hawksnest. Honeymoon is a personal favorite of mine and we were not disappointed. Saw a southern ray with a large dark fish hovering close overhead. The ray was obviously annoyed and kept flipping its tail up. With thoughts of Steve Irwin, I kept my distance.
<li>Day 5, Sunday. On the advice of a National Parks Volunteer we gave a ride to the previous day we tried Maho bay for the first time ever. The rocks out along the right side by the camps were full of fish, we also saw a turtle in the bay (it's the one in the video in my camera report). While out in the bay, we received a downpour, which feels and sounds really funky when you are in the water. In the afternoon, we hit a beach party at Oppenheimer that several locals had told us about. We parked at Peace Hill and made the somewhat scary walk down. Live music was playing and the VI Pale Ale guys were serving up cold ones. This was the first time we noticed that there was a tide in St. John as much of the beach by the pavilion disappeared by the time we left.
<li>Day 6, last day. Have to go to Waterlemon. We usually walk all the way out to the rock point closest to the cay, but this year we wanted to look for turtles in the bay. As we were gearing up, a little girl named Emily offered to show us a turtle. We were a little concerned about swimming off with an 8 year old (her dad was staying dry on the beach), but turns out the turtle was only about 20 feet from where we got in. Farther out across out across the bay we spotted a big turtle with two remoras hanging on (a first for us, Anna calls them "sneakerfish"). We went counterclockwise around the cay and did notice an opposing current a little stronger than in the past. The sea gardens were beautiful and there were tons of parrot fish. Saw the big turtle with his "entourage" on the way back. At an hour and 25 minutes, this was our longest snorkel by far. Still had some time left so we hit Francis for some beach R & R. The bay was smooth and the gentle lapping of the water was mesmerizing.
Gems of wisdom for the beach and water:
- Watch your weather and know your seas. Picking the right beach for the day makes a big, big difference.
- Maho (and Hawksnest) are family beaches, especially on weekends. Use this info as you wish.
- Use good, strong sunscreen, at least 30 to avoid ruining your vacation. We even pre-tan as a "getting psyched" ritual before coming down.
- Rub sunscreen into the top of your head if you snorkel a lot. That is the part you don't realize is exposed. I always forget the first day until I lather rinse and repeat...
- Buy your sunscreen on island. We thought we were oh so smart buying those 3 oz Coppertones at the local CVS. Wrong. We quickly went through the 4 tubes that were the bulkiest items in our TSA ziplocs and we ended buying more anyway. And oh yeah, the 3 oz tubes at home costs about the same as the 8 oz tubes on island.
-We purchase a foot bucket on island every year to clean our feet before getting into the car. A gallon jug of tap water will prevent a lot of sand mess. The bucket gets donated to the villa at the end of the trip.
- Stationary biking (I have a recumbent unit) is great training for snorkeling with fins. I use a modified pedaling motion instead of a flutter kick and I've noted a huge stamina improvement.
- Water and food. Don't let your body go dry or run out of fuel.
- Clear out of Francis before 3:30 unless you're ready to slather yourself in DEET
Visit #5 since 2001
March 13 - 20th, 2007
Part 1
This is visit number five for us to St. John. We came down last April, 2006 for our 25th anniversary. Our actual date is October 10th so last fall we decided "How many times are you married 25 years?" and we planned another 25th anniversary trip for March, 2007.
I've divided this report into two halves to minimize what in the biz we call "bails". Part 1 covers travel, lodging, and beaches, while part 2 covers food, drink, shopping, and everything else. The whole report can be read here. Enjoy!
Travel
<li>We flew USAirways, carryon only, without a hitch from ALB through PHL. 20% full on way down, packed on the way back due to previous weekend Nor'easter.
<li>Taxi - Airport to Downtown for 2 - $20. Downtown to Airport on return - $14; go figure.
<li>Ferries. Charlotte to Cruz Bay wonderful ride with a few drops of rain. Nothing like the anticipation of arriving on St. John. For the return trip, there was little topside space so we stayed inside a ferry for the first time. Judging by the number of folks that retreated indoors on this hot sunny day, we made a good choice.
<li>Car rental. St John Car Rental. Minutes after we picked up our basic 2-door Vitara, both windows were stuck in the down position. Took it back. The folks at STJ Car had me in a brand new Wrangler in less than 5 minutes with no upgrade charge even after I offered. 2 thumbs up for STJ Car rental. Used their lot once; very convenient (who are those guys that hang out there at night?) The Wrangler drove great but took a full 16.8 gallons for 137 miles at the end of the week (8.2 mpg, ouch!).
Lodging
<li>Rented Far Horizons, a lovely little apartment located just around the corner from Gallows Point. The owner, Anna Foote, runs Sunset Ceramics across from the lumberyard up on Centerline Road. All of the pottery sconces that you see on the island that are not Donald Schnell's are hers. Very nice spot for a couple, we were an easy walk from downtown Cruz Bay and took advantage every night.
Beaches/Snorkeling
<li>Day 1, Wednesday was my wife's birthday and Laura's choice was Hawksnest, but the high surf on the north shore had us continue on to Little Lameshur, her number two pick. We weren't disappointed and broke out our new Olympus 770 SW digital underwater camera. See my report here.
<li>Day 2, Thursday. North shore still hadn't calmed down so it was off for our first ever visit to Vie's Beach. Calm water, nice snorkeling and lounge chairs to boot. Left my first item on car roof top (more later).
<li>Friday, still no North Shore so we went to Salt Pond. We hiked over to Drunk Bay and built our little girl "Gertie" before heading back to Salt Pond. We never had been to Drunk Bay before and all the "sculptures" with the pounding surf in the background was certainly memorable. On the way back my wife became aware of her "7th Sense" when she quipped "I smell dead people!" Snorkeling in Salt Pond Bay was exceptional, especially out along the left side where the steep walls and multitude of fish make you feel like you are swimming in an aquarium.
<li>Day 4. Looking out on Pillsbury sound in the morning, I noticed the seas had turned and were coming from the south, so it was off to Hawksnest. The blue colors of the bay at Hawksnest never fail to leave us awestruck. Snorkeling was fabulous as we were able to swim right over most of the on-shore reef there. In the afternoon, we retreated to Honeymoon as the family crews had really started pouring in to Hawksnest. Honeymoon is a personal favorite of mine and we were not disappointed. Saw a southern ray with a large dark fish hovering close overhead. The ray was obviously annoyed and kept flipping its tail up. With thoughts of Steve Irwin, I kept my distance.
<li>Day 5, Sunday. On the advice of a National Parks Volunteer we gave a ride to the previous day we tried Maho bay for the first time ever. The rocks out along the right side by the camps were full of fish, we also saw a turtle in the bay (it's the one in the video in my camera report). While out in the bay, we received a downpour, which feels and sounds really funky when you are in the water. In the afternoon, we hit a beach party at Oppenheimer that several locals had told us about. We parked at Peace Hill and made the somewhat scary walk down. Live music was playing and the VI Pale Ale guys were serving up cold ones. This was the first time we noticed that there was a tide in St. John as much of the beach by the pavilion disappeared by the time we left.
<li>Day 6, last day. Have to go to Waterlemon. We usually walk all the way out to the rock point closest to the cay, but this year we wanted to look for turtles in the bay. As we were gearing up, a little girl named Emily offered to show us a turtle. We were a little concerned about swimming off with an 8 year old (her dad was staying dry on the beach), but turns out the turtle was only about 20 feet from where we got in. Farther out across out across the bay we spotted a big turtle with two remoras hanging on (a first for us, Anna calls them "sneakerfish"). We went counterclockwise around the cay and did notice an opposing current a little stronger than in the past. The sea gardens were beautiful and there were tons of parrot fish. Saw the big turtle with his "entourage" on the way back. At an hour and 25 minutes, this was our longest snorkel by far. Still had some time left so we hit Francis for some beach R & R. The bay was smooth and the gentle lapping of the water was mesmerizing.
Gems of wisdom for the beach and water:
- Watch your weather and know your seas. Picking the right beach for the day makes a big, big difference.
- Maho (and Hawksnest) are family beaches, especially on weekends. Use this info as you wish.
- Use good, strong sunscreen, at least 30 to avoid ruining your vacation. We even pre-tan as a "getting psyched" ritual before coming down.
- Rub sunscreen into the top of your head if you snorkel a lot. That is the part you don't realize is exposed. I always forget the first day until I lather rinse and repeat...
- Buy your sunscreen on island. We thought we were oh so smart buying those 3 oz Coppertones at the local CVS. Wrong. We quickly went through the 4 tubes that were the bulkiest items in our TSA ziplocs and we ended buying more anyway. And oh yeah, the 3 oz tubes at home costs about the same as the 8 oz tubes on island.
-We purchase a foot bucket on island every year to clean our feet before getting into the car. A gallon jug of tap water will prevent a lot of sand mess. The bucket gets donated to the villa at the end of the trip.
- Stationary biking (I have a recumbent unit) is great training for snorkeling with fins. I use a modified pedaling motion instead of a flutter kick and I've noted a huge stamina improvement.
- Water and food. Don't let your body go dry or run out of fuel.
- Clear out of Francis before 3:30 unless you're ready to slather yourself in DEET
