St John Trip Report - May 31st - June 8th (long)
Posted: Tue Jun 10, 2014 2:31 pm
This was our 6th trip to St John since 2009. My wife and I go annually in early December, but added this trip to celebrate our 30th anniversary. Hoping this is the start of a new trend of going twice a year! This was our 13th trip to the USVIs (since honeymooning at Secret Harbor in St Thomas).
We always rent from Avis at STT, and stay at Gallows Point – it just works out perfectly for us. Very nice upper ocean condo with great views of St Thomas, beautifully maintained grounds, good snorkeling right there, and a 2 minute walk down the hill to restaurants, bars, shops, etc. Although it doesn’t have a beach, we would rather drive to all the great St John beaches, but be able to walk to bars/dinner and not worry about driving or parking.
We really enjoy snorkeling/ beaches, and dining out, so this trip report will pretty much only cover that.
Snorkeling/Beaches:
Our favorite that we return to often is Francis. Really nice beach, easily accessible (4WD helps), and we love the snorkeling. We always see octopus there (in the same one of two places on the right on the way out towards Mary Point). Although this past December we were able to see one much better (wife played tug of war with one with a beautiful red/orange true tulip, which she found and brought to the octopus “for lunch”), this trip, we were able to see two octopus under two different rocks, but they were both very much concealed. I saw his two eyes and an arm, after we scared him in further, could only see one eye and one arm). Other highlights during our frequent visits to Francis were seeing three huge tarpon several times one morning, a ~6ft. nurse shark, some stunning/large angel fish (gray and French), along with the usual rays, turtles, barracuda, and more other fish than I can remember. This was the first year that we made it all the way to Mary Point, since the current back wasn’t too bad. We also snorkeled the left side all the way towards Maho (since someone had mentioned in a trip report last month that they saw an octopus on the right side of Maho), but no luck, although a pleasant snorkel, where I saw a huge “wide” (or should I say tall) fish which I believe was a Palmeto or Pompano – not positive though. As a note – I noticed on the forum a lot of people complaining about mosquitos at Francis – we were fine the entire week (although we lived in Deep Woods Off the entire trip and it worked great for us).
Gibney Beach – this was our first time visiting Gibney. Very small, pretty, intimate/secluded beach just a short walk from the “parking” area. We were the first car there (on Sunday, 6/1 not until probably around 10:00am after picking up our snorkel gear from Low Key – were are not early risers). We got the first spot – which proved to be difficult getting out since someone parked next to us and in front of the gate which it took me a while to maneuver out with my wife’s help. Snorkeled to the right, excellent visibility (best of all places), nice corals, literally millions of little fish – very pretty. Had fully intended to get back during the week but that never happened (too many beaches, too little time!).
Little Lameshur – Must have high clearance to get there (i.e. a jeep), although it was not nearly as bad as December where I felt like I was driving through many deep ponds. Great snorkeling (to the left) – our highlight was seeing a huge spotted eagle ray! Also saw 3 separate piles of shells, but no octopus in sight (Little Lameshur was where in Dec. we actually saw our first and only octopus out and about swimming around and not hiding, so we were hopeful that would happen again).
Great Lameshur – excellent, relaxing ~2 hour snorkel. One octopus hiding, but could see his arm and one eye, a 4 ft. barracuda (we also saw something we never saw before – a school of young barracudas ~20-30 of them), all types of angel fish (queen, French, gray), turtles, rays, and many other interesting fish (noteworthy were jack knife, honey comb cow fish, scrawled file fish, queen trigger fish, Spanish hog fish, and many others).
Haulover North – first time there – calm enough to give it a try – went to the left and saw the most spectacular coral we have ever seen – just simply amazing!
Haulover South – always a nice snorkel – nothing I can recall as noteworthy.
Gallows Point/Frank Bay – always surprised how healthy the coral/reef is being so close to Cruz Bay. Beautiful coral, nice depth variation, several schools of blue tang, 5 ft. nurse shark, and a very exciting second spotted eagle ray sighting in Frank Bay!
Salt Pond – always a great snorkel, especially way out in the middle past the mooring balls to the rocks. Not this time though – the visibility wasn’t great, but worse yet, the current getting from the middle to the right and back was strong. Once back, my wife said never again. Counting on her forgetting by the next time! Did the hike to Drunk Bay – well worth the short 0.3 mile walk. Amazing views – another world out there!
Jumbie Bay – first time there – nice small beach, but did the snorkel to the left and all the way to Denis Bay (since we heard there was good snorkeling there). The visibility was very poor, and the currents were strong. Good work out, but that was about it. Maybe one and done, we’ll see next time.
Dining: We most always just eat a light breakfast at Gallows, and then eat lunch and dinner out.
Dinners:
Zozo’s at Caneel – perfect place to celebrate our 30th anniversary. 2nd time there ( 6th counting when at Gallows). Great Pappardelle with porcini truffle cream sauce, and black ink linguini with lobster tomato sauce. Both had the special – braised lamb shank – huge portions and very tender – excellent choice (especially accompanied by a glass of Tignanello – at $20/glass, a great buy).
La Tapa – always one of our annual favorites. Very fresh tuna, and perfectly cooked rare rib eye. (had a nice table for two on the sidewalk to the right when facing La Tapa – very private – not next to anyone).
Waterfront Bistro – table on the rail, escargot to die for, melt in your mouth filet mignon, and great rib eye with parmesan truffle fries.
Lime Inn – consistent – love their brie-stuffed filet mignon. Rich the owner is always fun to talk to (coincidentally 30 years ago he owned a restaurant in our town – Chesapeake Seafood Co.).
Banana Deck – our usual first night “casual” go to place. Ocean Grill – great rack of lamb and super-fresh mahi-mahi. Ocean 362, pretty good (2nd time there), but for whatever reason, we may skip it next time (as we had been to The Terrace in December and skipped that this time….. maybe just too many restaurants, and too little time). We also tried Da Livio’s for the first time (even though I was reluctant due to the mixed reviews) – actually an incredible Regina pizza with an amazing crust, and their homemade pastas were also good.
Lunches – Deli Grotto for curry chicken salad and tuna salad sandwiches for the beach, Joe’s Rum hut for their incredible Big “G” burgers, Miss Lucy’s for the view and great Grouper Reuben’s (and the service was fine, not too slow), Aqua Bistro (great view and nice breeze at the bar), Shipwreck Landing was just “ok” this time. We tried De Coal Pot for the first time – very good curry goat and chicken roti (although the chicken is on the bone and requires some work).
Overall a wonderful trip. Weather was fantastic – only rained for a few minutes while we were out snorkeling at Great Lameshur. Maybe the Sahara Dust (which wasn’t much of a downside) kept the storms at bay. We usually spend a day on JVD via ferry, but this time just felt like maximizing our time on STJ – never enough time to do everything! We are already planning our next trip for Dec. 6-14th (and frequenting the forums and webcams to get me through the next 6 months!).
We always rent from Avis at STT, and stay at Gallows Point – it just works out perfectly for us. Very nice upper ocean condo with great views of St Thomas, beautifully maintained grounds, good snorkeling right there, and a 2 minute walk down the hill to restaurants, bars, shops, etc. Although it doesn’t have a beach, we would rather drive to all the great St John beaches, but be able to walk to bars/dinner and not worry about driving or parking.
We really enjoy snorkeling/ beaches, and dining out, so this trip report will pretty much only cover that.
Snorkeling/Beaches:
Our favorite that we return to often is Francis. Really nice beach, easily accessible (4WD helps), and we love the snorkeling. We always see octopus there (in the same one of two places on the right on the way out towards Mary Point). Although this past December we were able to see one much better (wife played tug of war with one with a beautiful red/orange true tulip, which she found and brought to the octopus “for lunch”), this trip, we were able to see two octopus under two different rocks, but they were both very much concealed. I saw his two eyes and an arm, after we scared him in further, could only see one eye and one arm). Other highlights during our frequent visits to Francis were seeing three huge tarpon several times one morning, a ~6ft. nurse shark, some stunning/large angel fish (gray and French), along with the usual rays, turtles, barracuda, and more other fish than I can remember. This was the first year that we made it all the way to Mary Point, since the current back wasn’t too bad. We also snorkeled the left side all the way towards Maho (since someone had mentioned in a trip report last month that they saw an octopus on the right side of Maho), but no luck, although a pleasant snorkel, where I saw a huge “wide” (or should I say tall) fish which I believe was a Palmeto or Pompano – not positive though. As a note – I noticed on the forum a lot of people complaining about mosquitos at Francis – we were fine the entire week (although we lived in Deep Woods Off the entire trip and it worked great for us).
Gibney Beach – this was our first time visiting Gibney. Very small, pretty, intimate/secluded beach just a short walk from the “parking” area. We were the first car there (on Sunday, 6/1 not until probably around 10:00am after picking up our snorkel gear from Low Key – were are not early risers). We got the first spot – which proved to be difficult getting out since someone parked next to us and in front of the gate which it took me a while to maneuver out with my wife’s help. Snorkeled to the right, excellent visibility (best of all places), nice corals, literally millions of little fish – very pretty. Had fully intended to get back during the week but that never happened (too many beaches, too little time!).
Little Lameshur – Must have high clearance to get there (i.e. a jeep), although it was not nearly as bad as December where I felt like I was driving through many deep ponds. Great snorkeling (to the left) – our highlight was seeing a huge spotted eagle ray! Also saw 3 separate piles of shells, but no octopus in sight (Little Lameshur was where in Dec. we actually saw our first and only octopus out and about swimming around and not hiding, so we were hopeful that would happen again).
Great Lameshur – excellent, relaxing ~2 hour snorkel. One octopus hiding, but could see his arm and one eye, a 4 ft. barracuda (we also saw something we never saw before – a school of young barracudas ~20-30 of them), all types of angel fish (queen, French, gray), turtles, rays, and many other interesting fish (noteworthy were jack knife, honey comb cow fish, scrawled file fish, queen trigger fish, Spanish hog fish, and many others).
Haulover North – first time there – calm enough to give it a try – went to the left and saw the most spectacular coral we have ever seen – just simply amazing!
Haulover South – always a nice snorkel – nothing I can recall as noteworthy.
Gallows Point/Frank Bay – always surprised how healthy the coral/reef is being so close to Cruz Bay. Beautiful coral, nice depth variation, several schools of blue tang, 5 ft. nurse shark, and a very exciting second spotted eagle ray sighting in Frank Bay!
Salt Pond – always a great snorkel, especially way out in the middle past the mooring balls to the rocks. Not this time though – the visibility wasn’t great, but worse yet, the current getting from the middle to the right and back was strong. Once back, my wife said never again. Counting on her forgetting by the next time! Did the hike to Drunk Bay – well worth the short 0.3 mile walk. Amazing views – another world out there!
Jumbie Bay – first time there – nice small beach, but did the snorkel to the left and all the way to Denis Bay (since we heard there was good snorkeling there). The visibility was very poor, and the currents were strong. Good work out, but that was about it. Maybe one and done, we’ll see next time.
Dining: We most always just eat a light breakfast at Gallows, and then eat lunch and dinner out.
Dinners:
Zozo’s at Caneel – perfect place to celebrate our 30th anniversary. 2nd time there ( 6th counting when at Gallows). Great Pappardelle with porcini truffle cream sauce, and black ink linguini with lobster tomato sauce. Both had the special – braised lamb shank – huge portions and very tender – excellent choice (especially accompanied by a glass of Tignanello – at $20/glass, a great buy).
La Tapa – always one of our annual favorites. Very fresh tuna, and perfectly cooked rare rib eye. (had a nice table for two on the sidewalk to the right when facing La Tapa – very private – not next to anyone).
Waterfront Bistro – table on the rail, escargot to die for, melt in your mouth filet mignon, and great rib eye with parmesan truffle fries.
Lime Inn – consistent – love their brie-stuffed filet mignon. Rich the owner is always fun to talk to (coincidentally 30 years ago he owned a restaurant in our town – Chesapeake Seafood Co.).
Banana Deck – our usual first night “casual” go to place. Ocean Grill – great rack of lamb and super-fresh mahi-mahi. Ocean 362, pretty good (2nd time there), but for whatever reason, we may skip it next time (as we had been to The Terrace in December and skipped that this time….. maybe just too many restaurants, and too little time). We also tried Da Livio’s for the first time (even though I was reluctant due to the mixed reviews) – actually an incredible Regina pizza with an amazing crust, and their homemade pastas were also good.
Lunches – Deli Grotto for curry chicken salad and tuna salad sandwiches for the beach, Joe’s Rum hut for their incredible Big “G” burgers, Miss Lucy’s for the view and great Grouper Reuben’s (and the service was fine, not too slow), Aqua Bistro (great view and nice breeze at the bar), Shipwreck Landing was just “ok” this time. We tried De Coal Pot for the first time – very good curry goat and chicken roti (although the chicken is on the bone and requires some work).
Overall a wonderful trip. Weather was fantastic – only rained for a few minutes while we were out snorkeling at Great Lameshur. Maybe the Sahara Dust (which wasn’t much of a downside) kept the storms at bay. We usually spend a day on JVD via ferry, but this time just felt like maximizing our time on STJ – never enough time to do everything! We are already planning our next trip for Dec. 6-14th (and frequenting the forums and webcams to get me through the next 6 months!).
I hope Haulover North is calm while we are there...would love to check it out. And think we should give Salt Pond a try once more.
! The trip report was great and I think it would be hard to keep up with you 2! We are headed down in August for a few weeks with my best friend and newbie joining us for 5 days, hope she gets our "heaven on earth"