Pic's Pics & Report: June 2015 - Vol.2
Posted: Mon Jun 22, 2015 11:02 pm
Vol. 1: http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/v ... Yi2H0v0xVk
----- Changeover Day -----
It seemed like a little mental adjustment was needed after moving from Sea Spirit to Island Time. As I've mentioned in the previous installment, it kind of felt strange to see the houses around us. Occasionally we could hear people talking and music being played at the villas in the neighborhood (one night the villa bellow us sounded like they were having a party). "Back to civilization" my husband and I kidded about. We stayed in the rest of the day enjoying the refreshing pool and the hot tub. As much as we love snorkeling, it felt really good to take a day off and lounge around the villa.
----- Maho (again) via Gibney Day -----
We were the first ones out on the beach that morning. Gibney was quiet and beautiful.
Perhaps because we did not snorkel the previous day, I was anxious to get in the water and didn't even wait for my husband to get ready. I went ahead and began snorkeling. I did not see many transparent floating creatures like I did at Maho. I was happily proceeding… and then "Ouch." Okay, the stingers were there, evidently, but I only got stung twice at Maho and it was no big deal. I kept snorkeling but I was getting stung literally every minute and some stings were hurting more and longer than the others. I sadly raised the white flag shortly after. Curiously my husband was not getting stung at all, but he felt sorry for me and we reluctantly left Gibney…
… and ended up at Maho, again.
We snorkeled the right side the other day so decided to try the left side. We had no issues with stingers on that side of Maho.
Flamingo Tongue
Sea Beams
Blenny
Although I was patient, these guys (Chain Moray and Green Moray) never really introduced themselves.
On our way out to the point, we found 10 octopuses, all of which were comfortably in their dens. We've never seen that many during one snorkel. Here are a few…
Peeking...
With flower (Feather Duster Worm) on her head...
Dinner was BBQ ribs and chicken from Candi's at the villa. I'm not really a BBQ person but it always tastes good after a long day underwater and on the beach.
----- Honeymoon Day -----
We parked at Caneel and walked over to Honeymoon in the morning. There were quite a few folks already on the beach but that was nothing compared to literally a hundred (or more) folks arrived by several excursion boats. That is actually a normal sight at Honeymoon these days - still, it was the largest number of people that we had ever seen there.
Honeymoon beach from the water - not quite filled yet
Yellowtail Snapper
Smooth Trunkfish, getting cleaned by a juvenile French Angel
Coral
We could tell this Spotted Moray was pretty large since the width was at least 4 inches. He swayed slightly now and then but stayed put as we watched. I was imagining him swimming around the reef in the dark...and thought that would be an eerily great sight.
We also came across a couple of Goldentail Morays. They were small and very cute.
We had a late lunch at Caneel Beach Bar & Grill. A salad dish that I had wasn't as fresh as it usually is and, unfortunately, didn't agree with me. Needless to say, we stayed in at Island Time for the rest of the day.
----- Maho (once again) Day -----
I was feeling better, but since I hadn't eaten much, I was feeling a little weak and wanted to go somewhere easy. When we think like that we usually end up at Maho. No, we are not taking Maho for granted. We think Maho is wonderful because it pleases all kinds of folks - little children and their parents, beach loungers and snorkelers alike. I even saw Mr. Simonsen working on the beach when we arrived that morning. Evidently, Maho is a great location for a photo-shoot as well. I had hoped to say hi to him but shied away. I did not want to interrupt his work anyway.
We snorkeled the left side again to the point that separates Maho from Cinnamon. It was about the same time of the day as we snorkeled there the other day. I was curious to see how different the snorkel would or could be.
Spotted Scorpionfish
Ciliated False Squilla
Gray Snapper
Does anyone know what kind of crab this is?
Spotted Moray
We looked into the octopus dens that we remembered from the other day but many of them were empty. They must have been out and hunting. We searched for them but we didn't really come across one.
This is the most active we saw…
By the early evening my stomach was feeling fine and I was quite hungry so we ate out at Vista Mare. It was our first time there and won’t be our last for sure.
Very tasty bisque - lobster and sun dried tomato (?)
----- Francis Day -----
I had heard the Sea Lice issue was bad at Francis. I was kind of reluctant to go but it is our favorite beach so, in the end, I could not resist. To our surprise, we didn't have to deal with the stingers until the end of our snorkel. They seemed to come and go.
Coney
Bicolor Coney
Creepy looking crab - if not for those claws, I wouldn't have known what he was.
Checkered Puffer
Octopus
Lettuce Sea Slug
Scrawled Filefish, getting cleaned by a juvenile French Angel
At the end of the snorkel we started seeing a lot of those small transparent floating creatures in the water and I began to get stung. The sting on my chin actually hurt for a few hours, but thankfully, didn't leave any mark. Again, my husband never got stung so we were convinced those stingers were rather discriminatory.
We went back to Island Time and cleaned up for Leslie (EagleRayLover)'s birthday dinner at Rhumb Lines. It was our pleasure to be there celebrating with her family. She was a little under the weather, unfortunately - I hope she had as much fun as we did.
----- Chocolate Hole Day -----
Leslie was still not feeling up to par so we met up with just Steve (augie) at Chocolate Hole and the three of us snorkeled together. It was Steve who suggested that we should try that snorkel, especially since we were staying minutes from the beach.
Checkered Puffer
Schools of Blue Tangs
Scrawled Cowfish
We snorkeled the left side to the point and swam across the bay and snorkeled back on the right side. When we swam across from the left to right, the right side near the point was pretty rough. I couldn't see my husband or Steve at all. When I finally saw them, I felt relieved because it had crossed my mind, though briefly, that they might have gotten lost (well, maybe not Steve, but my husband). Anyway, all was good. It's always exciting to snorkel some place new and to see new underwater scenes. Thank you, Steve, for suggesting and coming along with us.
After our water time, we visited Steve's friend, who we met at Leslie's birthday dinner the night before. His house is located right on the cliff above Chocolate Hole and has a front row seat view of the sea. The view sort of reminded us of Sea Spirit's. We cooled off in his pool with his beer (haha) and then met up again later at Tamarind for happy hour. It was another fun-filled day with fun friends.
When Steve's friend asked me how much longer we would be on island, I replied "One more day". And then it hit me. Oh... only one more day!
----- (Back to) Francis Day -----
We intended to snorkel Waterlemon but ended up at Francis again. Where else would we rather be on our last full day? Nowhere.
We snorkeled the right side towards Mary Point again. Just like the other day we had no issues with the stingers until the very end of our snorkel. Along with our second snorkel at Great Lameshur, this was probably the most memorable snorkel on this trip.
Porcupinefish
Chain Moray - I thank you for coming out!
Christmas Tree Worms
Blenny
Checkered Puffer - There seemed to be more of them now at Francis
Ciliated False Squilla
Giant Hermit
Gobies on Brain Coral
Octopuses…
juvenile Highhat hanging around an octopus
Munching
Common Blue crab (?)
Green Turtle
He didn't come out but wasn't exactly camera-shy either.
Just how happy were we at Francis? Very. We didn't want to leave… you know the feeling.
Our last meal (aka "our splurge dinner") on island was at ZoZo's.
We hadn't been there since they moved to Caneel and we really liked the atmosphere at the current location. All the dishes we had were excellent as usual. Such a nice meal really made packing our bags difficult later on at the villa.
----- Departure Day -----
The last look at Island Time - we really enjoyed the pool in the afternoon and even at night. It was the warmest pool that we've ever had at a villa.
Well, that is it. We departed from the island the same way we arrived - only all was reversed. We’ve done this many times, 18 to be exact, and it's always the same - happy sad. We've never vacationed in the same place that many times. I suppose I don't have to explain about that here on the forum.
Thank you so much for reading the long report. You forumites are sure patient.
Have a wonderful trip to those who will be on the island soon or later!
See you next time…
Pickle
Sea Spirit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/80473236@ ... 4943291425
Island Time: https://www.flickr.com/photos/80473236@ ... 4943291405
P.S. English is my second language so if you see any peculiar phrases or words… please pardon me.
----- Changeover Day -----
It seemed like a little mental adjustment was needed after moving from Sea Spirit to Island Time. As I've mentioned in the previous installment, it kind of felt strange to see the houses around us. Occasionally we could hear people talking and music being played at the villas in the neighborhood (one night the villa bellow us sounded like they were having a party). "Back to civilization" my husband and I kidded about. We stayed in the rest of the day enjoying the refreshing pool and the hot tub. As much as we love snorkeling, it felt really good to take a day off and lounge around the villa.
----- Maho (again) via Gibney Day -----
We were the first ones out on the beach that morning. Gibney was quiet and beautiful.
Perhaps because we did not snorkel the previous day, I was anxious to get in the water and didn't even wait for my husband to get ready. I went ahead and began snorkeling. I did not see many transparent floating creatures like I did at Maho. I was happily proceeding… and then "Ouch." Okay, the stingers were there, evidently, but I only got stung twice at Maho and it was no big deal. I kept snorkeling but I was getting stung literally every minute and some stings were hurting more and longer than the others. I sadly raised the white flag shortly after. Curiously my husband was not getting stung at all, but he felt sorry for me and we reluctantly left Gibney…
… and ended up at Maho, again.
We snorkeled the right side the other day so decided to try the left side. We had no issues with stingers on that side of Maho.
Flamingo Tongue
Sea Beams
Blenny
Although I was patient, these guys (Chain Moray and Green Moray) never really introduced themselves.
On our way out to the point, we found 10 octopuses, all of which were comfortably in their dens. We've never seen that many during one snorkel. Here are a few…
Peeking...
With flower (Feather Duster Worm) on her head...
Dinner was BBQ ribs and chicken from Candi's at the villa. I'm not really a BBQ person but it always tastes good after a long day underwater and on the beach.
----- Honeymoon Day -----
We parked at Caneel and walked over to Honeymoon in the morning. There were quite a few folks already on the beach but that was nothing compared to literally a hundred (or more) folks arrived by several excursion boats. That is actually a normal sight at Honeymoon these days - still, it was the largest number of people that we had ever seen there.
Honeymoon beach from the water - not quite filled yet
Yellowtail Snapper
Smooth Trunkfish, getting cleaned by a juvenile French Angel
Coral
We could tell this Spotted Moray was pretty large since the width was at least 4 inches. He swayed slightly now and then but stayed put as we watched. I was imagining him swimming around the reef in the dark...and thought that would be an eerily great sight.
We also came across a couple of Goldentail Morays. They were small and very cute.
We had a late lunch at Caneel Beach Bar & Grill. A salad dish that I had wasn't as fresh as it usually is and, unfortunately, didn't agree with me. Needless to say, we stayed in at Island Time for the rest of the day.
----- Maho (once again) Day -----
I was feeling better, but since I hadn't eaten much, I was feeling a little weak and wanted to go somewhere easy. When we think like that we usually end up at Maho. No, we are not taking Maho for granted. We think Maho is wonderful because it pleases all kinds of folks - little children and their parents, beach loungers and snorkelers alike. I even saw Mr. Simonsen working on the beach when we arrived that morning. Evidently, Maho is a great location for a photo-shoot as well. I had hoped to say hi to him but shied away. I did not want to interrupt his work anyway.
We snorkeled the left side again to the point that separates Maho from Cinnamon. It was about the same time of the day as we snorkeled there the other day. I was curious to see how different the snorkel would or could be.
Spotted Scorpionfish
Ciliated False Squilla
Gray Snapper
Does anyone know what kind of crab this is?
Spotted Moray
We looked into the octopus dens that we remembered from the other day but many of them were empty. They must have been out and hunting. We searched for them but we didn't really come across one.
This is the most active we saw…
By the early evening my stomach was feeling fine and I was quite hungry so we ate out at Vista Mare. It was our first time there and won’t be our last for sure.
Very tasty bisque - lobster and sun dried tomato (?)
----- Francis Day -----
I had heard the Sea Lice issue was bad at Francis. I was kind of reluctant to go but it is our favorite beach so, in the end, I could not resist. To our surprise, we didn't have to deal with the stingers until the end of our snorkel. They seemed to come and go.
Coney
Bicolor Coney
Creepy looking crab - if not for those claws, I wouldn't have known what he was.
Checkered Puffer
Octopus
Lettuce Sea Slug
Scrawled Filefish, getting cleaned by a juvenile French Angel
At the end of the snorkel we started seeing a lot of those small transparent floating creatures in the water and I began to get stung. The sting on my chin actually hurt for a few hours, but thankfully, didn't leave any mark. Again, my husband never got stung so we were convinced those stingers were rather discriminatory.
We went back to Island Time and cleaned up for Leslie (EagleRayLover)'s birthday dinner at Rhumb Lines. It was our pleasure to be there celebrating with her family. She was a little under the weather, unfortunately - I hope she had as much fun as we did.
----- Chocolate Hole Day -----
Leslie was still not feeling up to par so we met up with just Steve (augie) at Chocolate Hole and the three of us snorkeled together. It was Steve who suggested that we should try that snorkel, especially since we were staying minutes from the beach.
Checkered Puffer
Schools of Blue Tangs
Scrawled Cowfish
We snorkeled the left side to the point and swam across the bay and snorkeled back on the right side. When we swam across from the left to right, the right side near the point was pretty rough. I couldn't see my husband or Steve at all. When I finally saw them, I felt relieved because it had crossed my mind, though briefly, that they might have gotten lost (well, maybe not Steve, but my husband). Anyway, all was good. It's always exciting to snorkel some place new and to see new underwater scenes. Thank you, Steve, for suggesting and coming along with us.
After our water time, we visited Steve's friend, who we met at Leslie's birthday dinner the night before. His house is located right on the cliff above Chocolate Hole and has a front row seat view of the sea. The view sort of reminded us of Sea Spirit's. We cooled off in his pool with his beer (haha) and then met up again later at Tamarind for happy hour. It was another fun-filled day with fun friends.
When Steve's friend asked me how much longer we would be on island, I replied "One more day". And then it hit me. Oh... only one more day!
----- (Back to) Francis Day -----
We intended to snorkel Waterlemon but ended up at Francis again. Where else would we rather be on our last full day? Nowhere.
We snorkeled the right side towards Mary Point again. Just like the other day we had no issues with the stingers until the very end of our snorkel. Along with our second snorkel at Great Lameshur, this was probably the most memorable snorkel on this trip.
Porcupinefish
Chain Moray - I thank you for coming out!
Christmas Tree Worms
Blenny
Checkered Puffer - There seemed to be more of them now at Francis
Ciliated False Squilla
Giant Hermit
Gobies on Brain Coral
Octopuses…
juvenile Highhat hanging around an octopus
Munching
Common Blue crab (?)
Green Turtle
He didn't come out but wasn't exactly camera-shy either.
Just how happy were we at Francis? Very. We didn't want to leave… you know the feeling.
Our last meal (aka "our splurge dinner") on island was at ZoZo's.
We hadn't been there since they moved to Caneel and we really liked the atmosphere at the current location. All the dishes we had were excellent as usual. Such a nice meal really made packing our bags difficult later on at the villa.
----- Departure Day -----
The last look at Island Time - we really enjoyed the pool in the afternoon and even at night. It was the warmest pool that we've ever had at a villa.
Well, that is it. We departed from the island the same way we arrived - only all was reversed. We’ve done this many times, 18 to be exact, and it's always the same - happy sad. We've never vacationed in the same place that many times. I suppose I don't have to explain about that here on the forum.
Thank you so much for reading the long report. You forumites are sure patient.
Have a wonderful trip to those who will be on the island soon or later!
See you next time…
Pickle
Sea Spirit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/80473236@ ... 4943291425
Island Time: https://www.flickr.com/photos/80473236@ ... 4943291405
P.S. English is my second language so if you see any peculiar phrases or words… please pardon me.