USVI-On-Line

I am wondering if any of you have snorkeled at Beehive Cove. I was reading about it in Off the Beaten Track and it sounds amazing. We are strong swimmers so I am not worried about that. What concerns me is the hike over. Singer says it is easy, but I am a little bit of a diva when it comes to hiking. For example, the hike to Waterlemon is fine. BUT, even though it is short, I really hate the walk up from Salt Pond. It is always so hot, and there's no shade, which drives me bonkers. If anyone has gone to Beehive Cove, I would love your honest assessment of the difficulty of the hike over, and also feedback on whether it is at all shaded or breezy.

Thanks!

The online St. John Beach Guide has a bit of info on Beehive: near the old Tektite Project road. The cove itself looks to be pretty rocky. There's a picture here:
http://stjohnbeachguide.com/Tektite_Road.htm

It sounds like you'd be walking on the Tektite Road for a bit -- anyone been hiking there?

It is where Tektite was. According to Off the Beaten Track, Beehive Cove is a small cove on the southeastern tip of Great Lameshur Bay. We’ve been to Great and Little Lameshur, but did not explore much at Great Lameshur because the visibility was quite poor the day we were there (I did find a spotted eagle ray though!). Singer says it is a 1/4 mile hike/rock scramble from the eastern end of the beach to the entry point for the cove.

Thanks!

Ok, my wife and I just got back from St. John on Friday and we went to Beehive Cove. It was absolutely stunning, underwater. The amount of different species and number of schools was greater there than anywhere else I snorkeled (north beaches, saltpond, east end). On to your question. My wife and I are in our thirties, relatively fit - the Off the Beaten Path descrpition is definitely an understatement. I believe they state that the hike/scramble is not too difficult with just enough of a challenge to make it exciting. The reason we felt the scramble was pretty difficult was because our expectations were really low as far as the difficulty was concerned. The time it takes to get there was not really a huge issue for us. Maybe 15-20 minutes. It's the boulders. There are some serious boulders to maneuver. Nothing that can't be handled, just be forewarned it is more difficult than the book says. My wife stated that by going by the description in the book, she would have brought her mom on the scramble. It would have been a mistake and she would have had a really tough time. So to sum up, definitely can be done, just expect some big rocks. It is definitely worth it.

I'd like to add that we went early, maybe 7am-9:30am. The hike over and back was not hot, and shaded.

Tony, thanks for the feedback. You are remembering the description correctly. I had a feeling that it was not going to be as easy as he said. How big are the boulders? I am envisioning tall-as-people sized rocks to climb over, which given my propensity towards extreme clumsiness, would not be a good thing.

Most of the rocks are not gigantic. If I recall correctly, there are at most two people sized boulders that you have to make your way up and down. But it's not like you are rock climbing. There are places to put your feet and walk up and over. There are definitely some rough spots, but doable (and worth it).

Since you are such a strong swimmer, you could walk as far as you are comfortable, and then find a good entry point and swim the rest of the way there and back.

Our experience. We both have physical outdoor jobs so we are not sissified when it comes to hiking, exertion, heat etc. Hubby tall, me short= hard time for me getting over some of the boulders and I was reaching for his hand a lot. I scraped my leg pretty good. We started a little late if I recall and it was H-O-T. I kept thinking there must be an easier way. Be careful. I had to take a good look before I placed my feet somewhere and going arond the rocks in the water was slippery. It was pretty tiring after all that up and over in the heat to then go snorkeling and we never did go in from Tektite. We went back and went in at Donkey Bite instead. You will be by yourselves though

Singer recommends going in at Donkey Bite and then swimming over to the cove. Maybe we'll give it a try, we'll see. I am short too, and also have an unfortunate tendency to hurt myself with my clumsiness. A couple of years ago I walked right into the sliding glass door of our villa. How stupid is that?

thats not stupid just wish I was there to see it

I'm sure it hurt worse than walking through a screen door

mrsb wrote:I'm sure it hurt worse than walking through a screen door

Erm, I've done that too. At least it was at my house with no witnesses and not someone else's place.