USVI-On-Line

This is my favorite place on Earth so far and I'm very sad to see it being mentioned so much with the manta mania (hysterical description). Do y'all think it will become the sleepy beach I love once the manta has moved on or will it stay on everyone's radar?

We arrive next Sat and last year had fabulous days at Francis. I am worried that it will be too crowded to find a place in the trees and enjoy relaxed snorkeling. Would like to hear how it is this week from people on island ? Maybe we have to go further afield?

Also we are staying in Choc. Hole this year. Never snorkeled Klein Bay or anywhere over there.Is it worth it for a morning? I think Ditliff might be too long a swim and I don"t dive. Not sure. Thanks, Ellen

I don't know what it is about Francis but it's always rowdy there. We've been going to STJ for 9 years (in the off season) and have never once been to Francis when there wasn't a rowdy bunch of people making a scene, except for once when we got there at 7 am.

Funny, we never had that experience. We were there in March.

I have rarely seen any rowdy crowds at Francis - [Maho yes] - but Francis is so long it would be easy to get a quiet spot-- especially away from the dinghy channel.

Well one good thing came out of manta mania this week.....Trunk wasn't too busy, we started going there every afternoon, easy parking!

I have never seen a rowdy crowd at Francis or any other beach on STJ, except for Cinnamon on a Sunday after volleyball.

We go to Francis for quiet and have always had it.

We have been there 2 times this trip... first time hubby saw the manta ray, and we saw 3 dolphins super close to shore (hubby got photos of ray & dolphins under water which i will past when i get home)...yesterday we saw several turtles & sting rays AND AN IMMENSE BARRACUDA, 4 - 4 1/2 FEET LONG!! It was a bit crowded, but room to breathe... since there are grills, groups do gather - all kinds - some loud - but they were not roudy, only enjoying and celebrating life!

ellena wrote: Also we are staying in Choc. Hole this year. Never snorkeled Klein Bay or anywhere over there.Is it worth it for a morning? I think Ditliff might be too long a swim and I don"t dive. Not sure. Thanks, Ellen

We enjoyed snorkeling Klein Bay when we stayed in the area in December. My favorite section in that area was over by Boatman's Point which is Monte Bay. There is a section between the two that gets pretty stirred up depending on the waves. We watched a small eagle ray swim around for quite a while over by Boatman's Point.

lpowmacback wrote:We have been there 2 times this trip... first time hubby saw the manta ray, and we saw 3 dolphins super close to shore (hubby got photos of ray & dolphins under water which i will past when i get home)...yesterday we saw several turtles & sting rays AND AN IMMENSE BARRACUDA, 4 - 4 1/2 FEET LONG!! It was a bit crowded, but room to breathe... since there are grills, groups do gather - all kinds - some loud - but they were not roudy, only enjoying and celebrating life!

That barracuda at Francis is HUGE. The awesome folks that own Sunnyledge (the red roof house overlooking Francis Bay) says that his name is Charlie and he's been in those waters for a while.

I have been to Francis when it's dead quiet, and also when people are partying away, it just seems to be luck of the draw. We skipped Francis last trip, but last summer we had a large group of guys set up next to us who had brought a radio with them, they spent the day dancing away to Lady Gaga. Lady Gaga and St. John beaches don't go together in my mind, but everyone is different! Another time we had a really loud, crude, and increasingly drunken group next to us. In that case we picked up and moved down the beach.

We normally have Francis all to ourselves in the Low Season. We only experienced a rowdy crowd one time. A group of young locals(Expats, not West Indians) decided they wanted the picnic table we were occupying. At first asked us how long we would be using it, but decided they didn't want to wait for us to leave. They were the most rude foul-mouthed people I have ever experienced. More and more kept arriving. Evidently they were all skipping work from what we overheard. They began standing around our table and some of the guys began making crude comments about my wife. We decided to go ahead and leave to avoid further confrontation. We recognized several of them off and on during the next few days in the restaurants where they worked as servers, bartenders, etc... Very sad experience and actually led us to try somewhere else last year...

Went to Francis twice this visit (had never been there) and really enjoyed it. We were there over Pres Week ("the busiest week of the year", we were told many times) and we managed to find a peaceful spot, with shade both times (all the way down on the right). No rowdy parties or people and we did not see the manta ray, but the 4' barracuda was there!

Awww, nice to know the barracuda has a name

Ellen -we liked the snorkel at Klein Bay a lot!! Enjoy your trip and your stay at Allesandra!!!