USVI-On-Line

As we lay in bed last night we can hear the buckets of rain continue all night and into the morning. I think it was a blessing in disguise as we all needed to sleep in late especially the kids. I was the first one up early even in the rain STJ is beautiful. The rest of the gang started getting up and the kids could see that it was still raining. I told them we were not leaving until the driveway and roads had a chance to dry. I did not want my first experience to be slipping on STJ roads or it might be the last.

I think we headed for Maho around 11:00 it may have been later or earlier who knows and who cares. Well, I have heard that you can not get lost in STJ but you do not know our family. We always take the wrong turns and somehow we ended up near Francis and totally confused. My husband not being the very patient type was started to get a bit agitated but then we spotted a police car and I guess they saw our puzzled faces when we asked for directions or maybe they felt sorry for us but they gave us an escort to Maho Beach. The kids thought this was hilarious and I am sure the police officers were muttering "dumb torists" but we were finally on our first STJ Beach.

We did not bring any fins today as we are all first time snorkelers and knew we would not be going out far. Instead, we put on our water shoes and headed out. I was surprised how easy it was to just relax and float in the water. Our 13 year old son I think was born to snorkel. He is a fish and loved snorkeling. We saw a few little fish on our first snorkel but the water was kind of murky proabably due to the rain but I could be wrong since we have never been to STJ. We came back in and rested and then went back out again. My husband and 10 year old daughter took a rest while Adam and I went back out again where someone told us there were turtles. Sure enough we saw our first turtle of the week and it was so awesome. My husband and daughter did not want to go out that far yet as they were still getting use to snorkeling. I guess I should add that my husband is not a very good swimmer so we had two noodles one for Jessica and one for my husband Wayne. Adam and I are both pretty strong swimmers so no noodles for us.



This is just a random picture as we did not have the underwater on our first day since we wanted to get use to snorkeling first which took about 1 minute. We did practice in my sisters pool before our trip.

After a couple hours at Maho we were getting hungry so we decided to go to Cinnamon Bay to look at the beach and get something to eat and of course drink. We grabbed a bite to eat and then walked down to the beach. It was getting close to 3:00 so we decided this would be one of our beaches tomorrow.

Hopped in the jeep and drove back to Casa Bueno - we probably got lost I just can't remember. I think we did figure out all the turns around day 4 or at least our son did - thank goodness for kids memories they are much better the older adults.

The rest of the day and night was just swimming and relaxing on the deck of Casa Bueno with a few drinks. Day 2 will be the beaches of Jumbie and Cinnamon. Thank goodness our 10 year old kept a journal or I would never remember all of this.

Maho, as your first beach/snorkel - with a police escort! now that's a fun story!

Yes, I am sure our 10 year old will talk about that as a highlight for when she goes back to school.

Very nice first day! Can't wait for more and photos!

And yes, I know you are going to have me beat with the TR.

Thanks for the TR - I agree about raining mornings, sometimes they are greatly needed!

When you say "water shoes" are you talking about the pull on type, or the type like teva's?

We usually get the police escort when its time to leave the beach!

How did the kids like St. John? Did they miss the classic resort infrastructure?

Cheers, RickG

Coden - I just bought the cheap water shoes from k-mart. We did use them this trip because we were first time snorkelers and the first two days stayed pretty near shore but for our next trip probably would not use them. Our 10 year old used them the most because it took her longer to get used to the fins.

Rick G - Glad we only had the police escort for getting lost this trip. The kids absolutely loved STJ especially our 14 year old really appreciated the snorkeling and everything in general. Yes, our daughter loved it too but she is 10 and does not totally understand how lucky she is to go on a trip like this. As far as resort type trips - this was our first trip to any islands with the kids so they did not miss that because they have never had it. They both love the water and swimming so give them a pool or water and they are good to go. We have taken vacations to Outer Banks, several to Disney, Novia Scotia, Shore, Maine, etc so they usually just go with the flow - no high maintenance kids although our daughter does like to shop so on our next trip will have to make at least one trip to Cruz Bay.

Thnx Hawaii - we have our fins packed, thought we might take water shoes, but I think we'll be fine.