Fish Bay/Reef Bay Area Insight

tochin · Post by **tochin** » Tue Sep 17, 2013 1:10 pm

Hi everyone,

We are less than 2 weeks out from our return trip to the rock and will be staying in Fish Bay for the first time. I was wondering if anyone could provide some details on the area. What neat things can you go do and see in that area? Is there a place to park a car and walk out on Reef Bay beach? I've heard there is Cocolobo beach out on the point of Fish Bay. Can you actually snorkel in that area or is it too rough/hard. Any good hikes that are not too hard?

Thanks!

needmesomesun · Post by **needmesomesun** » Tue Sep 17, 2013 1:32 pm

You can definitely park and walk down a steep, rocky path to Reef Bay Beach. We would not have found it though, unless Pia hadn't been driving by at that very moment and pointed out the path. It was not a huge glaring sign by any means. The beach there is very pretty. When we were there the water was too rough to get in.

We were on the Cocolobo Beach you mentioned a few years ago and it was nice, but we didn't snorkel, so I'm not sure.

If I think of anything else I'll post again. Supposedly you can access Genti Bay (?) and the Petroglyphs by walking the shore line and doing a few rock scrambles, but I've only done it from Centerline.

piscesgirl0314 · Post by **piscesgirl0314** » Tue Sep 17, 2013 3:24 pm

We stayed on Fish Bay for 10 days in June. It was our first time in that area. We loved it...my husband and I slept several nights with our slider open because the breezes up there were so nice...its a very quiet area...not sure about hiking...we are out and about during the day so when we get back to the villa its all about having cocktails and enjoying the view.....

toes in the sand · Post by **toes in the sand** » Tue Sep 17, 2013 3:36 pm

We have stayed in Fish/Reef Bay a few times. We have only snorkeled Fish Bay once. I really loved the 30 minutes or so before my wife saw the baby nurse shark. We have not returned ) :
We have hiked to Cocoloba Point but it was too rough for us to try a snorkel there.
We have hiked from Reef Bay Rd to the Petroglyphs on the Reef Bay trail and back. We really liked the hike. Reef Bay is a long stretch of sand with a couple of rock scrambles. If the tide is up or it comes up during your hike, you will have a wet time making the scrambles on your way back. Also, the first time we did it we did not anticipate how quickly darkness fell on that side of the island. We needed a flashlight to find the path off of the beach. If you take this hike, mark the beach where the path comes down from Reef Bay Rd. It can be easily missed even in good light.

needmesomesun · Post by **needmesomesun** » Tue Sep 17, 2013 3:51 pm

toes in the sand wrote: We have only snorkeled Fish Bay once. I really loved the 30 minutes or so before my wife saw the baby nurse shark. We have not returned ) :

I can see how this might pose a problem. lol.

[/quote] We have hiked from Reef Bay Rd to the Petroglyphs on the Reef Bay trail and back. We really liked the hike. Reef Bay is a long stretch of sand with a couple of rock scrambles. If the tide is up or it comes up during your hike, you will have a wet time making the scrambles on your way back. Also, the first time we did it we did not anticipate how quickly darkness fell on that side of the island. We needed a flashlight to find the path off of the beach. If you take this hike, mark the beach where the path comes down from Reef Bay Rd. It can be easily missed even in good light.[/quote]

Do you remember how long this tooK?

toes in the sand · Post by **toes in the sand** » Tue Sep 17, 2013 4:16 pm

It took us from after lunch to sunset the first time because we made a day out of it and spent the day in the shade on the beach near the bottom of Reef Bay trail.
It can be done in about 2 hours (?) if you just want to hike it without stopping. I will see if I can dig up a link to the on-stjohn.com video of the hike.

Coconuts · Post by **Coconuts** » Tue Sep 17, 2013 5:46 pm

This might be what you had in mind. Make sure that the water is reasonably calm first. I haven't tried snorkeling westward from the trail towards Cocoloba Cay, but that looks promising as well.

http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/v ... 21#p271555

All the best,

Kevin

ski2play · Post by **ski2play** » Tue Sep 17, 2013 6:33 pm

We stayed in the Reef Bay area last October at Over the Rainbow. It was a nice hike down to Reef Bay from the Reef Bay Road, the climb back up, not so much. We hiked/swam/skirted the rocks/giggled all the way down, to where the Reef Bay trail comes out of the woods onto the beach. It was a cloudy day so the snorkling was not remarkable. But we found several ruins on the edge of the treeline. Very cool. The surf at the base of the trail was pretty big that day, there were so very young local children getting a surfing lesson. We also hiked up Hilltop Lane from the house, the views to the East are amazing.

Last Spring we stayed on the East End. We hiked the L' Esperance trail and from Centerline down into Fish Bay. Lots of great ruins on this trail and it can land you in the Fish Bay area.

Enjoy!

P-600 · Post by **P-600** » Wed Sep 18, 2013 6:33 am

Dont forget to hike the Fish Bay Gut. The entrance is on the left as you go over the bridge into Fish Bay. Right now there is water in the gut from recent rains so you should see the waterfall and there is also a rope swing. We hiked up for over an hour with kids and it was pretty easy. Bring lots of bug spray!

toes in the sand · Post by **toes in the sand** » Wed Sep 18, 2013 11:56 am

Reef Bay Coastal Hike
from On-StJohn.com
http://www.on-stjohn.com/2008/01/28/ree ... -part-one/
http://www.on-stjohn.com/2008/02/04/ree ... -part-two/
http://www.on-stjohn.com/2008/02/18/ree ... troglyphs/
enjoy.

usvi-on-line