10 more days in paradise, final

liamsaunt · Post by **liamsaunt** » Thu Mar 10, 2016 10:55 am

Day seven
This was our last full day at Aurora, so we took advantage of the house and succumbed to villa gravity for a couple of hours

Aurora view by liamsaunt, on Flickr

Eventually we got cleaned up and went in to town to meet friends for lunch at Cruz Bay Landing. I forgot to take pictures of the food! I had blackened mahi tacos and John had a mahi sandwich. Both were tasty. Our friends ordered fish and chips which they enjoyed.

We spent the afternoon at Pool Beach, and then eventually made our way into town for dinner. We did not have a reservation, and were not really sure what we wanted either. After some wandering around, we decided to try dinner at Vista Mare.

vista mare ricotta gnudi by liamsaunt, on Flickr

We really enjoyed our dinners here. The fish was fresh and nicely cooked.

Day eight

We checked out of Aurora and headed back to Caneel Bay. This time we were assigned room two, which is an ocean view room up the hill from the main area.

St. John by liamsaunt, on Flickr

We snorkeled the main beach while waiting for our room to be ready. Some sightings:

caneel angelfish 2 by liamsaunt, on Flickr

caneel brain coral by liamsaunt, on Flickr

caneel trunkfish by liamsaunt, on Flickr

caneel lobster 2 by liamsaunt, on Flickr

We had lunch at the Beach Terrace, and shockingly decided not to get sushi! Conch fritters

caneel beach terrace conch fritters by liamsaunt, on Flickr

Lobster tacos

caneel beach terrace lobster tacos by liamsaunt, on Flickr

Arugula salad with shrimp

caneel beach terrace tomato salad with shrimp by liamsaunt, on Flickr

We just spent the afternoon relaxing. Later that evening we headed over to Zozos. My parents had given us a gift certificate for Christmas.

St. John by liamsaunt, on Flickr

We had a nice table on the rail with a view of the sunset

zozos palm 2 by liamsaunt, on Flickr

The food was top notch. Sometimes I find the portions to be a little large here, so I decided to get two appetizers rather than an entrée. I had a crab linguini with garlic cream sauce that was insanely delicious.

zozos crab fettucini by liamsaunt, on Flickr

If I am remembering correctly, I selected this from the specials menu. If it is on the menu when you go, I highly recommend ordering it!

After that I tried a scallop, asparagus and artichoke “lasagna”

zozos scallop lasagna by liamsaunt, on Flickr

This was also delicious. Delicate flavors and a nice portion size. Of course John helped me eat both dishes.

John started with a duck confit ravioli with seared foie gras

zozos duk confit ravioli by liamsaunt, on Flickr

And then had the shrimp dish, which has changed from being served with a corn risotto to having a corn and asparagus saute and a truffled fava bean puree. Also, the shrimp were the biggest I have ever seen! This dish used to come with jumbo shrimp. These guys were the size of lobster tails. I am not sure that the picture conveys how huge they were

zozos sheimp by liamsaunt, on Flickr

We were too full for dessert.

Day nine

Breakfast on the Terrace, per usual

caneel beach by liamsaunt, on Flickr

Then we spent the day at Scott Beach

St. John by liamsaunt, on Flickr

We snorkeled across the bay and around Turtle Point with the intention of letting the current drag us over to Turtle Bay beach. Halfway around the point, though, we encountered a really strong current that was too difficult to push against, so we ended up having to turn around and head back to Scott. It was a good snorkel anyway. Some sightings:

caneel turtle 2 by liamsaunt, on Flickr

caneel filefish 3 by liamsaunt, on Flickr

caneel parrotfish 2 by liamsaunt, on Flickr

caneel turtle by liamsaunt, on Flickr

caneel sms 3 by liamsaunt, on Flickr

caneel tang 2 by liamsaunt, on Flickr

After our snorkel we were hungry and headed to lunch at Caneel Sushi Bar.

caneel pok buns by liamsaunt, on Flickr

(Ok this is not sushi but John wanted to try the pork belly buns)

caneel tuna onton by liamsaunt, on Flickr

caneel over the top roll by liamsaunt, on Flickr

caneel cucumber canoe by liamsaunt, on Flickr

caneel caribbean roll by liamsaunt, on Flickr

After lunch we swam at Scott all afternoon

St. John by liamsaunt, on Flickr

We had a reservation for dinner at Asolare, and spent most of the afternoon debating whether to cancel it so we could stay in the water longer. Ultimately food won out. View from our table:

asolare day by liamsaunt, on Flickr

Cocktails

asolare cocktails by liamsaunt, on Flickr

asolare tuna tartar by liamsaunt, on Flickr

asolare pork belly by liamsaunt, on Flickr

asolare tuna by liamsaunt, on Flickr

asolare becky 2 by liamsaunt, on Flickr

asolare sunset end 2 by liamsaunt, on Flickr

cruz bay at dusk by liamsaunt, on Flickr

cruz bay night good by liamsaunt, on Flickr

Day ten

Last day. I woke up to a double rainbow

caneel double rainbow by liamsaunt, on Flickr

Had one last breakfast on the Terrace, and then it was time to board the ferry

caneel last day 2 by liamsaunt, on Flickr

It started to rain as we pulled away, a fittingly sad end to our trip. The sight that nobody leaving Caneel likes to see:

St. John by liamsaunt, on Flickr

Goodbye St. John.

Caneel ferry goodbye by liamsaunt, on Flickr

See you in June.

oacd last friday by liamsaunt, on Flickr

Thanks for reading!

John and Becky

us2 by liamsaunt, on Flickr

islandjo2010 · Post by **islandjo2010** » Thu Mar 10, 2016 11:51 am

Thanks for sharing Becky!
Always enjoy reading your TR with such great photos!

David 12 · Post by **David 12** » Thu Mar 10, 2016 5:50 pm

Ahh yes - The famous current between Scott and Turtle! The elkhorn coral is really pretty in that area.

Great sunsets too!

Thanks for the report!

Dave

brenda · Post by **brenda** » Thu Mar 10, 2016 9:03 pm

I am not on here much anymore, but always love your trip reports and food porn!

Pickle · Post by **Pickle** » Thu Mar 10, 2016 9:06 pm

As always, very much enjoyed your trip report!

John will hate me for saying this but you are right - if the Patriots lose again, you might end up on St. John again. It sounds good to me... coming from someone who is not into football.

What part of June will you be on the island again? We'll be there in very early June... but late May for the most part.

JenG · Post by **JenG** » Thu Mar 10, 2016 10:49 pm

Thank you, thank you, thank you (!) for your trip reports and all the wonderful photos. Reading about your visits and viewing your photos is such a pleasure. I'm always thrilled to find that you've posted something!

SusanNJ · Post by **SusanNJ** » Fri Mar 11, 2016 8:10 am

Bravo!! Another great trip report and photos! What room category is room #2? I was just curious if Caneel feels any different since they are no longer a Rosewood Resort. I read conflicting reports on TA... We haven't been back in several years and hope to return maybe next year.

Agent99 · Post by **Agent99** » Fri Mar 11, 2016 8:15 am

Wow, that crab fettucini looks amazing. You going to try it at home? Thanks for the fun report, as always.

liamsaunt · Post by **liamsaunt** » Fri Mar 11, 2016 9:19 am

Pickle wrote:What part of June will you be on the island again? We'll be there in very early June... but late May for the most part.

We arrive June 11th. Are we missing each other again?

SusanNJ wrote:Bravo!! Another great trip report and photos! What room category is room #2? I was just curious if Caneel feels any different since they are no longer a Rosewood Resort. I read conflicting reports on TA... We haven't been back in several years and hope to return maybe next year.

Room 2 is an ocean view room. I like rooms 1-4 because they are close to everything yet up on the hill away from other rooms and far enough from the beach to not be bothered by the noise. My favorite ocean view room is 7A, and I also really like rooms 97-100 on Turtle Bay.

As far as the changes go, yes, there is a difference. This is just my personal opinion, but all of the changes I noticed are positive ones. Better food at the restaurants. More staff around in general. People working at the resort seem happier than they used to. I am not sure why.

I know not everyone is pleased. I think some people go to Caneel with expectations of a certain experience because of the price. It's not a plush resort. I like that about it. I think it is very comfortable.

I do have a funny unhappy guest story though. When we were checking out from the room at the beginning of the trip, a gentleman was at the front desk voicing complaints to the manager. Things he did not like: the fish tiles in the bathrooms. That he did not have one of the two updated rooms on Scott Beach. That that the wind was too loud at night. The manager handled all complaints with aplomb, even the one about the wind!

SusanNJ · Post by **SusanNJ** » Fri Mar 11, 2016 12:29 pm

Someone seriously complained about the wind? Like they can control that! Gotta love how people feel they are entitled to certain things.... I also LOVE 7E... back in the day when we used to get upgraded... glad to hear the changes are for the better. And also good to know about the ocean view rooms. I love cottage 7 but it is $$$$....

Pickle · Post by **Pickle** » Fri Mar 11, 2016 4:55 pm

liamsaunt wrote: We arrive June 11th. Are we missing each other again?

We would've been on island at the same time if we had stuck with our preferred dates. We were forced to move our dates a couple of weeks earlier so we could get more affordable flights. We used to reserve accommodations way in advance and then buy plane tickets whenever they got affordable but not anymore. Airfares dictate our travel dates more than ever these days...

Glad to hear your positive feedback about Caneel - especially, after reading some negative feedback from regulars at Caneel since the management change.

Wanda Creech · Post by **Wanda Creech** » Sat Mar 12, 2016 9:39 am

Always love reading your trip report and seeing your wonderful pics. I can't wait for June 11 also. It is a very long wait from one summer to the next.

Suziekue · Post by **Suziekue** » Sat Mar 12, 2016 10:12 am

Thanks again for your trip reports! I've enjoyed them so much and really appreciate your advice too, we've taken it and adjusted our trip.

jmq · Post by **jmq** » Mon Mar 14, 2016 3:32 pm

As always, very NICE and thanks! Glad to see you haven't slowed down and your photography just gets better and better.

A couple of questions:
> What gear are you shooting with these days?
> Did you use long sleeve and/or thicker rash guards to snorkel in to make up for the few degrees cooler this time of year?

Soon come on Sunday for us - last time was June 2013, so its been almost 3 yrs...

liamsaunt · Post by **liamsaunt** » Mon Mar 14, 2016 4:47 pm

jmq wrote:As always, very NICE and thanks! Glad to see you haven't slowed down and your photography just gets better and better.

A couple of questions:
> What gear are you shooting with these days?
> Did you use long sleeve and/or thicker rash guards to snorkel in to make up for the few degrees cooler this time of year?

Soon come on Sunday for us - last time was June 2013, so its been almost 3 yrs...

I am so glad that you are getting back! Have a great time.

My cameras are all the same as prior trips. My main one is a canon 60D. For underwater, I used both the Canon D20 and the Canon S120 with external underwater housing. Some of the photos were also taken with my iphone (those ones are pretty obvious since they are filtered). I am in the market for another new underwater camera as both my Canon D30 and my Nikon Coolpix got flooded last summer. I just gave my nephew a GoPro for his birthday, so I'll be interested to see what he gets with that.

As far as the water temperature, yes, I wore extra gear! I was not really able to snorkel last winter as i found the water temperature much too cold, even when wearing a long sleeved rashguard and long leggings. I came prepared this time with a full length diveskin, and then I wore a shorty wetsuit over that. It worked perfectly. I looked like a dork but enjoyed my snorkels.

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