Pic's Pics & Report - Vol. 1
Posted: Wed Jun 15, 2011 10:39 pm
As we stepped out of the ferry at the dock on St. John, I could see some blue through the clouds. I was aware that the island just had lengthy soggy days. The welcoming color of blue elevated my anticipation of our days on-island to follow.
Long story short, our vacation turned out to be not exactly what we had pictured. I had a second-degree burn on my arm and had mild food poisoning the night before our boat trip with Palm Tree Charters. At least my husband's big toe that had been fractured prior to the trip held okay. His toe was the focus of our concern in the beginning of the trip, but the focus turned to me soon enough and only me until the end.
Some of you might know that our favorite activity on the island is snorkeling. Despite my oozing burn, we did keep snorkeling. It wasn't as extensive or lengthy as it usually is for us, but we still had great underwater times. I am sorry, food/drink lovers, villa enthusiasts, avid hikers and all... my report will be underwater-heavy. I hope it will give some folks something to read to pass the time while they wait for their turn to be on the island.
Featured bays and beaches:
Haulover North
Francis
Leinster/Waterlemon
Maho
Great Lameshur
(Back to) Haulover North
----- Haulover North -----
Our home for our first week on the island was located on Bordeaux Mountain. The house, Casa Bueno, had beautiful and extensive views towards the east.
We were still draggy from the previous travel day. In the early afternoon we finally headed to Haulover North. After the short hike to the beach, we found relatively calm water and some thick clouds over the bay. As we were getting into the water, it started sprinkling and then soon pouring. Normally we don't mind snorkeling in the rain, but I couldn't stop my new mask from fogging up. We quickly gave up and got out of the water. By then Tortola was completely gone from view.
Haulover North is one of our favorite spots to snorkel around St. John. No worries – we would definitely return on this trip. On the way back to Bordeaux Mountain, a lone donkey tried to charm us for something he/she could nibble.
----- Francis -----
This still is one of my favorite beaches overall on St. John despite the fact it can get buggy. We love snorkeling there, too. If you want to meet octopuses, the right side of this bay is the best bet, in my humble opinion. You generally have to be patient and keep your keen eyes open.
Some heavy clouds were weighing on the bay... and we had another pouring rain snorkel.
This time my new mask didn't fog up. After we got back from Haulover North, I cleaned the mask with toothpaste a few more times (I had cleaned it the same way a few times prior to the trip). This seemed to have done the trick.
Lobster duo - one down to earth; one not so much
Split-Crown Feather Dusters among Anemones & Sponge Brittlestar
I had never seen Highhats around St. John, so was pretty happy to see one. She quickly hid under the rock and stayed there as long as I hung out.
Sea grass, mirrored
Last year we didn't see an octopus until our last day on the island. How nice to have found them so early this time.
The water was chillier than usual. It must've been those lengthy soggy days St. John had right before we arrived - and the pouring rain that was coming down on us.
----- Leinster / Waterlemon -----
It was a bright morning and we sure got sunny snorkeling in. We swam from the sandy beach to the cay and all around the cay. There was no problematic current that day and the entire snorkel was easy and relaxing.
We saw a couple of large Tarpons hanging out around the backside of the cay. This one leisurely swam right by me.
A short video of Tarpon
<iframe width="425" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/pGDkkZARiyw" frameborder="0"></iframe>
In the deeper water, a large Barracuda was roaming
Squirrelfish duo - idle... and then not so
The cay and beyond - beautiful morning
Green Turtle - sandy Leinster never fails to offer us some turtle sightings
By the time we exited the water, the sky was clearly turning ominous. The rain started to fall while we were hiking back to the Annaberg parking lot. We decided to go back to the mountain and be lazy. It showered all afternoon with very spotty sunshine on Bordeaux Mountain. Oppressive grey clouds were hanging over the northeast. We anticipated more overcast days ahead.
----- Maho -----
When we woke up, the thick heavy clouds were still hanging over the island.
Then the rain came. Soon after, the views from the mountain all vanished. We were in the fog and we loved it - and the smell of the wet mountains. As for the beach, not sure what we wanted to do - stay quietly home or go out and see. The thing about being on Bordeaux Mountain, it can be quite misty up there while it isn't down at the beaches. It is rather deceiving. It was still misty all around us, but since the rain lightened, we decided to see what it was like around the island. It was moist everywhere but nothing misty like up on Bordeaux. We ended up at Maho. It was overcast and the water felt chilly, which didn't stop us from snorkeling. The skeeters were pretty persistent there, so we hurried into the water.
Cushion Sea Star - regenerating
Spotted another Highhat. They tend to hang out under rocks, so never got good shots of them.
Queen Angelfish - juvenile & adult
Cero - roaming near the point on the right
As I was trying to take shots of a Queen Triggerfish around the point, a beautiful yellowish Nurse Shark swam below me. I was drawn to the Nurse and forgot about the Queen Triggerfish. Hence, there are no photos of the Queen, but it's okay.
We didn't hang out on the beach due to a skeeter invasion. Instead, we hung out at the house and enjoyed the wet afternoon.
----- Great Lameshur -----
This day passed without any drops from the sky, at least where we were. We drove to deserted Great Lameshur. We snorkeled to the left around the point all the way to Tektite. The visibility wasn
Long story short, our vacation turned out to be not exactly what we had pictured. I had a second-degree burn on my arm and had mild food poisoning the night before our boat trip with Palm Tree Charters. At least my husband's big toe that had been fractured prior to the trip held okay. His toe was the focus of our concern in the beginning of the trip, but the focus turned to me soon enough and only me until the end.
Some of you might know that our favorite activity on the island is snorkeling. Despite my oozing burn, we did keep snorkeling. It wasn't as extensive or lengthy as it usually is for us, but we still had great underwater times. I am sorry, food/drink lovers, villa enthusiasts, avid hikers and all... my report will be underwater-heavy. I hope it will give some folks something to read to pass the time while they wait for their turn to be on the island.
Featured bays and beaches:
Haulover North
Francis
Leinster/Waterlemon
Maho
Great Lameshur
(Back to) Haulover North
----- Haulover North -----
Our home for our first week on the island was located on Bordeaux Mountain. The house, Casa Bueno, had beautiful and extensive views towards the east.
We were still draggy from the previous travel day. In the early afternoon we finally headed to Haulover North. After the short hike to the beach, we found relatively calm water and some thick clouds over the bay. As we were getting into the water, it started sprinkling and then soon pouring. Normally we don't mind snorkeling in the rain, but I couldn't stop my new mask from fogging up. We quickly gave up and got out of the water. By then Tortola was completely gone from view.
Haulover North is one of our favorite spots to snorkel around St. John. No worries – we would definitely return on this trip. On the way back to Bordeaux Mountain, a lone donkey tried to charm us for something he/she could nibble.
----- Francis -----
This still is one of my favorite beaches overall on St. John despite the fact it can get buggy. We love snorkeling there, too. If you want to meet octopuses, the right side of this bay is the best bet, in my humble opinion. You generally have to be patient and keep your keen eyes open.
Some heavy clouds were weighing on the bay... and we had another pouring rain snorkel.
This time my new mask didn't fog up. After we got back from Haulover North, I cleaned the mask with toothpaste a few more times (I had cleaned it the same way a few times prior to the trip). This seemed to have done the trick.
Lobster duo - one down to earth; one not so much
Split-Crown Feather Dusters among Anemones & Sponge Brittlestar
I had never seen Highhats around St. John, so was pretty happy to see one. She quickly hid under the rock and stayed there as long as I hung out.
Sea grass, mirrored
Last year we didn't see an octopus until our last day on the island. How nice to have found them so early this time.
The water was chillier than usual. It must've been those lengthy soggy days St. John had right before we arrived - and the pouring rain that was coming down on us.
----- Leinster / Waterlemon -----
It was a bright morning and we sure got sunny snorkeling in. We swam from the sandy beach to the cay and all around the cay. There was no problematic current that day and the entire snorkel was easy and relaxing.
We saw a couple of large Tarpons hanging out around the backside of the cay. This one leisurely swam right by me.
A short video of Tarpon
<iframe width="425" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/pGDkkZARiyw" frameborder="0"></iframe>
In the deeper water, a large Barracuda was roaming
Squirrelfish duo - idle... and then not so
The cay and beyond - beautiful morning
Green Turtle - sandy Leinster never fails to offer us some turtle sightings
By the time we exited the water, the sky was clearly turning ominous. The rain started to fall while we were hiking back to the Annaberg parking lot. We decided to go back to the mountain and be lazy. It showered all afternoon with very spotty sunshine on Bordeaux Mountain. Oppressive grey clouds were hanging over the northeast. We anticipated more overcast days ahead.
----- Maho -----
When we woke up, the thick heavy clouds were still hanging over the island.
Then the rain came. Soon after, the views from the mountain all vanished. We were in the fog and we loved it - and the smell of the wet mountains. As for the beach, not sure what we wanted to do - stay quietly home or go out and see. The thing about being on Bordeaux Mountain, it can be quite misty up there while it isn't down at the beaches. It is rather deceiving. It was still misty all around us, but since the rain lightened, we decided to see what it was like around the island. It was moist everywhere but nothing misty like up on Bordeaux. We ended up at Maho. It was overcast and the water felt chilly, which didn't stop us from snorkeling. The skeeters were pretty persistent there, so we hurried into the water.
Cushion Sea Star - regenerating
Spotted another Highhat. They tend to hang out under rocks, so never got good shots of them.
Queen Angelfish - juvenile & adult
Cero - roaming near the point on the right
As I was trying to take shots of a Queen Triggerfish around the point, a beautiful yellowish Nurse Shark swam below me. I was drawn to the Nurse and forgot about the Queen Triggerfish. Hence, there are no photos of the Queen, but it's okay.
We didn't hang out on the beach due to a skeeter invasion. Instead, we hung out at the house and enjoyed the wet afternoon.
----- Great Lameshur -----
This day passed without any drops from the sky, at least where we were. We drove to deserted Great Lameshur. We snorkeled to the left around the point all the way to Tektite. The visibility wasn
I'm so sorry about your arm and hope you are healing well. Can't wait to read more 
You have a great underwater camera and a keen eye of what to look for and where to look! Thanks too for identifying the names of the underwater creatures. I just say that's a blue fishy and there's a striped fishy . . . 
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