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St. John, the first time - Again Days 6 & 7
St. John, the first time - Again Days 6 & 7
Day 6 – Sunday, July 3rd
We decide to head toward the Southside beaches today. We want to check out Europa since we’ve heard good things about the snorkeling there. We drive as far as the Tektite museum and some sort of camp and start talking to the guy in the office there. We ask him about snorkeling the South side. He tells us that Europa isn’t very good. I ask him about Salt Pond and he says to snorkel to the right on Salt Pond. I tell him we’ve heard good things about Blue Cobblestone, but he says that isn’t very good – stay to the right side (more about that later).
It’s starting to rain so we decide to kill some time in the museum. The guy in the office says – “Its unlocked – just head in, turn the lights on and make yourself at home”. Gotta love St. John!!! Anyway, as we’re looking around, the skies open up and it really starts to pour. Doesn’t look like it’s going to let up soon, so we head back toward the villa hoping things will improve later in the day. We’ll, the weather doesn’t cooperate and it is pretty much a “wash-out” kind of day
. Thank goodness I’d brought a jigsaw puzzle along, cause we spend a good portion of the day putting that together.
By late afternoon we are getting cabin fever and need to get out and about. No one in our group has been further South than Starfish Market so we decide to go check things out on that side of the island. It is an interesting drive and now I think that I can envision where people are staying when their villas are in Chocolate Hole and Hart Bay. I'd love to try snorkeling a couple spots near here on a future trip.
Day 7 – Monday July 4th
We are all “chomping at the bit” to get out and snorkel. With our “no-luggage day” and yesterday’s “wash-out day”, we aren’t getting in our usual amount of snorkeling
. Windy again (seems to be the theme of the trip) so head back to Waterlemon. Most of us start in the Bay but two hike on over to the rocks so they’ll have a shorter snorkel to the Cay. Those of us starting in the bay think we’re more likely to encounter our Eagle Ray since that is usually where we find it.
No eaglerays in the bay this time, but we do see our share of interesting things. We find a hole that appears to have an Octopus down inside. We make a mental note as to where it is and will check it again on the way back.
As we catch up to the other two out by the Cay, they tell us that as soon as they got in the water they saw 2 eagle rays! Oh well, at least somebody saw them! We hover over our sea star friends again knowing that we won’t see them for at least another year
. As we proceed around the Cay, I hear a whistle and a shout that there is an eagle ray coming my way. Sure enough, a small eagle ray is directly under me. When I look up, I see another eagleray coming at me from the opposite direction. A little further around the Cay we encounter 2 more larger Eagle Rays (I think these were the same 2 that the others in our group saw earlier). OK, this makes up for all the missed snorkels. I’m in heaven! 
Four eagle rays in one snorkel is the most I’ve ever encountered on St. John.
Sorry for the poor qualiy - forgot to change the camera setting for UNDERWATER.
One sister and I decide to swim over to the point (toward Brown Bay) to see what it’s like over there. It was a good decision. Lots of BIG fish (everything seemed over-sized) and I found some bluish purple coral that I’d seen in pictures, but never encountered on a actual snorkel.
We also encountered a large flounder chewing something. Wow – if you thought their eye looked weird you should see their mouth when they are chewing – very strange.
My husband is hovering over something just by the tip of the Cay but we are far enough away that we aren’t going to swim over to check it out. When he catches up to us, he tells us that he found an Octopus, but again, the Octopus stayed in it’s hiding place. We snorkel back along the shoreline and discover our Octopus hole. This time the Octopus is out a little further, but he isn’t going far no matter how long we wait on him. Finally, we give up and continue on into shore.
After a short break, we gather up our “stuff” and head back toward the car. We aren’t going home yet, but rather we are going to snorkel along the Leinster Bay trail. We’ve done this a couple times before and have always been impressed. Another great idea. Lot’s of healthy coral and ton’s of fish.
It’s also fun to snorkel over the dropoff and spot turtles, rays and ocassionally a nurseshark.
Head to the villa for a late lunch and then we head to Salt Pond for one final snorkel. Decide we'll listen to the guy at the camp and snorkel to the right. We either missed a turn (hard to do when you are hugging the edge) or that guy's idea of "great snorkeling" and my idea of "great snorkeling" are vastly different. Granted, it was pretty rough, but still we didn't see much of anything but big rocks and few fish. As we were leaving someone was coming down the trail and asked if it was good snorkeling. We told them we were "underwelmed" but the guy behind us said he'd had a great snorkel at Blue Cobblestone. OK, guess that's why we love St. John - always reasons to come back and discover "new favorites".
Tomorrow - Travel Day and final thoughts.
We decide to head toward the Southside beaches today. We want to check out Europa since we’ve heard good things about the snorkeling there. We drive as far as the Tektite museum and some sort of camp and start talking to the guy in the office there. We ask him about snorkeling the South side. He tells us that Europa isn’t very good. I ask him about Salt Pond and he says to snorkel to the right on Salt Pond. I tell him we’ve heard good things about Blue Cobblestone, but he says that isn’t very good – stay to the right side (more about that later).
It’s starting to rain so we decide to kill some time in the museum. The guy in the office says – “Its unlocked – just head in, turn the lights on and make yourself at home”. Gotta love St. John!!! Anyway, as we’re looking around, the skies open up and it really starts to pour. Doesn’t look like it’s going to let up soon, so we head back toward the villa hoping things will improve later in the day. We’ll, the weather doesn’t cooperate and it is pretty much a “wash-out” kind of day
. Thank goodness I’d brought a jigsaw puzzle along, cause we spend a good portion of the day putting that together. By late afternoon we are getting cabin fever and need to get out and about. No one in our group has been further South than Starfish Market so we decide to go check things out on that side of the island. It is an interesting drive and now I think that I can envision where people are staying when their villas are in Chocolate Hole and Hart Bay. I'd love to try snorkeling a couple spots near here on a future trip.
Day 7 – Monday July 4th
We are all “chomping at the bit” to get out and snorkel. With our “no-luggage day” and yesterday’s “wash-out day”, we aren’t getting in our usual amount of snorkeling
. Windy again (seems to be the theme of the trip) so head back to Waterlemon. Most of us start in the Bay but two hike on over to the rocks so they’ll have a shorter snorkel to the Cay. Those of us starting in the bay think we’re more likely to encounter our Eagle Ray since that is usually where we find it. No eaglerays in the bay this time, but we do see our share of interesting things. We find a hole that appears to have an Octopus down inside. We make a mental note as to where it is and will check it again on the way back.
As we catch up to the other two out by the Cay, they tell us that as soon as they got in the water they saw 2 eagle rays! Oh well, at least somebody saw them! We hover over our sea star friends again knowing that we won’t see them for at least another year
. As we proceed around the Cay, I hear a whistle and a shout that there is an eagle ray coming my way. Sure enough, a small eagle ray is directly under me. When I look up, I see another eagleray coming at me from the opposite direction. A little further around the Cay we encounter 2 more larger Eagle Rays (I think these were the same 2 that the others in our group saw earlier). OK, this makes up for all the missed snorkels. I’m in heaven! Four eagle rays in one snorkel is the most I’ve ever encountered on St. John. Sorry for the poor qualiy - forgot to change the camera setting for UNDERWATER.
One sister and I decide to swim over to the point (toward Brown Bay) to see what it’s like over there. It was a good decision. Lots of BIG fish (everything seemed over-sized) and I found some bluish purple coral that I’d seen in pictures, but never encountered on a actual snorkel.
We also encountered a large flounder chewing something. Wow – if you thought their eye looked weird you should see their mouth when they are chewing – very strange.
My husband is hovering over something just by the tip of the Cay but we are far enough away that we aren’t going to swim over to check it out. When he catches up to us, he tells us that he found an Octopus, but again, the Octopus stayed in it’s hiding place. We snorkel back along the shoreline and discover our Octopus hole. This time the Octopus is out a little further, but he isn’t going far no matter how long we wait on him. Finally, we give up and continue on into shore.
After a short break, we gather up our “stuff” and head back toward the car. We aren’t going home yet, but rather we are going to snorkel along the Leinster Bay trail. We’ve done this a couple times before and have always been impressed. Another great idea. Lot’s of healthy coral and ton’s of fish.
It’s also fun to snorkel over the dropoff and spot turtles, rays and ocassionally a nurseshark.
Head to the villa for a late lunch and then we head to Salt Pond for one final snorkel. Decide we'll listen to the guy at the camp and snorkel to the right. We either missed a turn (hard to do when you are hugging the edge) or that guy's idea of "great snorkeling" and my idea of "great snorkeling" are vastly different. Granted, it was pretty rough, but still we didn't see much of anything but big rocks and few fish. As we were leaving someone was coming down the trail and asked if it was good snorkeling. We told them we were "underwelmed" but the guy behind us said he'd had a great snorkel at Blue Cobblestone. OK, guess that's why we love St. John - always reasons to come back and discover "new favorites".
Tomorrow - Travel Day and final thoughts.
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SOonthebeach
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EagleRayLover
- Posts: 1474
- Joined: Sat Feb 12, 2011 8:56 pm
- Location: St. John -WooHoo!!
lucky lucky you-4 eagle rays during one excursion- a snorkeler"s delight!! Hope we are so lucky in October, but I will be happy if we encounter one! 
I like Blue Cobblestone a lot as well as Salt Pond- both left and right sides, but you have to go out pretty far on the right in my opinion! and then there is also the area where the sea grass is which attracts the turtles and rays!
Sounds like you are having a great time!
I like Blue Cobblestone a lot as well as Salt Pond- both left and right sides, but you have to go out pretty far on the right in my opinion! and then there is also the area where the sea grass is which attracts the turtles and rays!
Sounds like you are having a great time!
Leslie, Kids Night In Babysitting