usvi-on-line
Oh what a (fort)night! October 2011 Trip Report Part X
Oh what a (fort)night! October 2011 Trip Report Part X
Link to Part I: http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/f ... hp?t=21721
Link to Part II: http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/f ... hp?t=21727
Link to Part III: http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/f ... hp?t=21748
Link to Part IV: http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/f ... hp?t=21762
Link to Part V: http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/f ... hp?t=21283
Link to Part VI: http://virgin-islands-on-line.com/forum ... hp?t=21974
Link to Part VII: http://virgin-islands-on-line.com/forum ... hp?t=22574
Link to Part VIII: http://virgin-islands-on-line.com/forum ... hp?t=22575
Link to Part IX: http://virgin-islands-on-line.com/forum ... hp?t=22604
Sunday, October 16
Today is walk of woe day for Barb and Chet. Before they left, we all enjoyed a sumptuous breakfast prepared by Barb, featuring a yummy egg casserole!
After exchanging our farewells, Leslie and I headed back toward the south shore - today's destination - Salt Pond Bay. This is normally a staple on our trips, but for some reason we hadn't made it there yet this trip.
It wasn't very populated at all, and we had no competition for what we consider a prime spot, under the trees at the far end of the beach.
We got in the water and headed toward the empty mooring balls, to see what may be hanging around in the sand and seagrass. About fifteen feet from shore we ran into a huge group of squid.
The pictures we took where we tried to capture all/most of them didn't really do justice to the spectacle that it was, but I counted more than forty of them, stretched out in a long line!
As we neared the mooring balls we saw some of the usual suspects you might expect to find here:
This turned out to be a long snorkel - after we swam out to the mooring balls we went over to the left side of the bay, and after getting out adjacent to the rocks that are near the other side, we went across the bay, hung around the reefs below those exposed rocks, then went most of the way to Europa point until the current and chop chased us back. From there it seemed like a LONG swim back to where we'd left our stuff. But it was worth the effort!
As we had some water and snacks after our snorkel we were also eagerly waiting to meet an old friend - for the first time. Randy, who owns the villa Reef Madness, is someone we had been in fairly frequent contact with ever since our wonderful stay there a couple of years ago. He had arrived on island the day before and was on his way to Salt Pond Bay so we'd finally get to meet him in person! Presently he came strolling up the beach, and within minutes we were all chatting like we'd known each other for years! We all got the itch to get up and do something so we took advantage of the nearby trail and walked to Drunk Bay.
After the hot walk to Drunk Bay and back, it only made sense to get back in the water again, so the three of us headed out towards the left side of the bay.
After we finished snorkeling we made a quick stop at Lily's Market, then headed up to Reef Madness for a cocktail, snack, and dip in the pool!
Randy introduced us to his college buddy Chris, who was traveling to St. John for the first time. After our relaxing happy hour, we all went to Aqua Bistro for dinner. Surprisingly, this was a first for us, and the food was as almost as good as the company was! After dinner, we bade them goodnight and drove back to Allesandra where we collapsed into a deep sleep!
Monday, October 17
We had a visitor join us for breakfast this morning!
Since this was our last day on island (how did two weeks go by so quickly?), we wanted to see if we could add one more new experience to our resume before we left. A survey of the weather conditions seemed to indicate that the south shore would likely have favorable snorkeling conditions, so we consulted our worn copy of "Feet, Fins, and Four Wheel Drive" and decided that we'd give Klein Bay a try. The only time we'd ever seen the beaches and bays in this area was a year prior, when we'd rented a villa on Fish Bay. During that trip, there was a south swell that had that whole side of the island stirred up, so this was our first up close and personal encounter. After a few false starts and wrong turns we found the entrance to the bay just beyond the end of a long paved road that ran alongside a house.
We had another very long snorkel, perhaps in part because we knew that it would be our last one of the trip. We went almost out to the point to Fish Bay, but it was a bit rougher and we knew that we still had a long swim back.
When we finished snorkeling and returned to the jeep we found that we were blocked in by a couple of service vehicles that belonged to some people that were doing some work on the house next to the road. Oops! - had we mistakenly parked on a private driveway? I felt terribly embarrassed, but headed onto the property (copy of FF&4WD in hand in case I needed to plead my case that it had been an honest mistake!) and, as luck would have it, there were several workers having their lunch on the back porch. One of them said "you must be the guy in the white jeep". Before I could complete my apology, he laughed and told me that I wasn't parking in the wrong place, but that he had just assumed that the jeep belonged to someone else who would be working on the house - whew!
After going back to the house and getting cleaned up, we went back to High Tide once more, to enjoy a light lunch.
We stopped by St. John Spice for some last minute shopping, then made a quick stop at Starfish to pick up a couple of things to go with dinner. Randy made the trip from Coral Bay to join us for dinner, and we had a great time, eating, drinking, telling stories, and enjoying one last Allesandra sunset.
Much too soon, it was time for Randy to leave, and we set about organizing some of our stuff in preparation for departure tomorrow, until we finally reluctantly retired for the evening...
Link to Part II: http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/f ... hp?t=21727
Link to Part III: http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/f ... hp?t=21748
Link to Part IV: http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/f ... hp?t=21762
Link to Part V: http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/f ... hp?t=21283
Link to Part VI: http://virgin-islands-on-line.com/forum ... hp?t=21974
Link to Part VII: http://virgin-islands-on-line.com/forum ... hp?t=22574
Link to Part VIII: http://virgin-islands-on-line.com/forum ... hp?t=22575
Link to Part IX: http://virgin-islands-on-line.com/forum ... hp?t=22604
Sunday, October 16
Today is walk of woe day for Barb and Chet. Before they left, we all enjoyed a sumptuous breakfast prepared by Barb, featuring a yummy egg casserole!
After exchanging our farewells, Leslie and I headed back toward the south shore - today's destination - Salt Pond Bay. This is normally a staple on our trips, but for some reason we hadn't made it there yet this trip.
It wasn't very populated at all, and we had no competition for what we consider a prime spot, under the trees at the far end of the beach.
We got in the water and headed toward the empty mooring balls, to see what may be hanging around in the sand and seagrass. About fifteen feet from shore we ran into a huge group of squid.
The pictures we took where we tried to capture all/most of them didn't really do justice to the spectacle that it was, but I counted more than forty of them, stretched out in a long line!
As we neared the mooring balls we saw some of the usual suspects you might expect to find here:
This turned out to be a long snorkel - after we swam out to the mooring balls we went over to the left side of the bay, and after getting out adjacent to the rocks that are near the other side, we went across the bay, hung around the reefs below those exposed rocks, then went most of the way to Europa point until the current and chop chased us back. From there it seemed like a LONG swim back to where we'd left our stuff. But it was worth the effort!
As we had some water and snacks after our snorkel we were also eagerly waiting to meet an old friend - for the first time. Randy, who owns the villa Reef Madness, is someone we had been in fairly frequent contact with ever since our wonderful stay there a couple of years ago. He had arrived on island the day before and was on his way to Salt Pond Bay so we'd finally get to meet him in person! Presently he came strolling up the beach, and within minutes we were all chatting like we'd known each other for years! We all got the itch to get up and do something so we took advantage of the nearby trail and walked to Drunk Bay.
After the hot walk to Drunk Bay and back, it only made sense to get back in the water again, so the three of us headed out towards the left side of the bay.
After we finished snorkeling we made a quick stop at Lily's Market, then headed up to Reef Madness for a cocktail, snack, and dip in the pool!
Randy introduced us to his college buddy Chris, who was traveling to St. John for the first time. After our relaxing happy hour, we all went to Aqua Bistro for dinner. Surprisingly, this was a first for us, and the food was as almost as good as the company was! After dinner, we bade them goodnight and drove back to Allesandra where we collapsed into a deep sleep!
Monday, October 17
We had a visitor join us for breakfast this morning!
Since this was our last day on island (how did two weeks go by so quickly?), we wanted to see if we could add one more new experience to our resume before we left. A survey of the weather conditions seemed to indicate that the south shore would likely have favorable snorkeling conditions, so we consulted our worn copy of "Feet, Fins, and Four Wheel Drive" and decided that we'd give Klein Bay a try. The only time we'd ever seen the beaches and bays in this area was a year prior, when we'd rented a villa on Fish Bay. During that trip, there was a south swell that had that whole side of the island stirred up, so this was our first up close and personal encounter. After a few false starts and wrong turns we found the entrance to the bay just beyond the end of a long paved road that ran alongside a house.
We had another very long snorkel, perhaps in part because we knew that it would be our last one of the trip. We went almost out to the point to Fish Bay, but it was a bit rougher and we knew that we still had a long swim back.
When we finished snorkeling and returned to the jeep we found that we were blocked in by a couple of service vehicles that belonged to some people that were doing some work on the house next to the road. Oops! - had we mistakenly parked on a private driveway? I felt terribly embarrassed, but headed onto the property (copy of FF&4WD in hand in case I needed to plead my case that it had been an honest mistake!) and, as luck would have it, there were several workers having their lunch on the back porch. One of them said "you must be the guy in the white jeep". Before I could complete my apology, he laughed and told me that I wasn't parking in the wrong place, but that he had just assumed that the jeep belonged to someone else who would be working on the house - whew!
After going back to the house and getting cleaned up, we went back to High Tide once more, to enjoy a light lunch.
We stopped by St. John Spice for some last minute shopping, then made a quick stop at Starfish to pick up a couple of things to go with dinner. Randy made the trip from Coral Bay to join us for dinner, and we had a great time, eating, drinking, telling stories, and enjoying one last Allesandra sunset.
Much too soon, it was time for Randy to leave, and we set about organizing some of our stuff in preparation for departure tomorrow, until we finally reluctantly retired for the evening...
Come see us!
Your report makes me feel like I am back on the island. We made camp about the same spot there. We too saw all the squid in that area by the mooring balls. There were huge.
We don't have the eye to spot the octopus like you do.
Thanks for including where you snorkel it gives me ideas for the next time.
We don't have the eye to spot the octopus like you do.
Thanks for including where you snorkel it gives me ideas for the next time.
-
ColumbiaSCTraveler
- Posts: 528
- Joined: Mon Apr 18, 2011 9:33 pm
- Location: Columbia, SC
-
Rachelle & Joe
- Posts: 677
- Joined: Sat Nov 18, 2006 4:23 pm
- Location: ohio
oh what a fort night october 2011 trip report part X
Have been enjoying all your posts ! Your photo's are just Beautiful !!! Wow You & liamsaunt really have a Fantastic talent for great reporting & VERY Interesting, Beautiful Under water Photo's !!!( Since we're not Big snorklers) I appreciate ya taking us along !
