La Papaya Paradise: Part 5
Posted: Wed Jul 04, 2007 10:03 pm
On Tuesday morning, we headed down to Cruz Bay pretty early. We had signed up for a private half-day fishing charter with Double Header Sport Fishing, and we were scheduled to start out by 7:30am.
We stopped at Deli Grotto (again!) for muffins, bagels, and juice, and then headed to the National Parks dock. There, we met Tyler, one of the boat captains from Double Header, and we boarded the boat for our half-day of 'inshore' fishing.
Tyler knew all the hot spots, and we were all hauling snapper and barracuda out of the water within the first 10 minutes or so. We also caught a bunch of Needlefish, which had beautiful coloring of electric blue and aqua. Really interesting looking fish, the Needles.
Then I hooked a 30 lb Kingfish on my line. My husband, Gibber 161, was pretty impressed with me, although Tyler the boat captain needed to haul the fish out of the water and into the boat for me. All this action took place only yards offshore from the rocks at Blasbalg Point, which is sort of between Great Cruz Bay and Chocolate Hole. My husband caught several good-sized barracuda, and a nice 10-pound something-or-other that Tyler cleaned for us at the end of the trip.
Then Tyler headed back out toward the channel and we fished for awhile near Mingo Cay (at least I think it was near Mingo Cay). There, I hooked something on my line, started reeling it in, and then something much bigger jumped on. Tyler thought it must have been a shark that had my fish, and by the feel of it he judged it to be around 100 pounds. I fought it for about 20 minutes, but it ultimately snapped my line. I wish I could have seen the monster that ate my fish!
All in all, it was a great morning of fishing. Tyler was a good guy; we hadn't been fishing in years, and he was easy-going and patient with both us and the kids. He worked pretty hard for us that morning. Double Header is based in St. Thomas but will pick up at Cruz Bay if you're staying on St. John. We can recommend Double Header and Tyler highly if anyone is considering chartering a fishing excursion.
After our morning of fishing, we brought our fish back to the villa and popped it in the fridge, then headed out to drive out to Coral Bay. We'd never been to Coral Bay on previous trips to St. John and were dying to see it; we'd heard it was beautiful.
I LOVED Coral Bay; it was much more my style than Cruz Bay. It was less populated, quieter, more laid-back, etc. And I finally found out where all the goats had gone.
We ate at Miss Lucy's and had a fantastic lunch there. Miss Lucy's was one of the best eating spots we hit on the trip; very casual, friendly, great food right on the water, and it felt like the St. John of 20 years ago. The chicken wings and grouper sandwich were out-of-this-world good. With ice cold Red Stripe, the breeze coming in off the water, and the great casual atmosphere, it was something special.
After lunch, we looked around in a few of the shops in Coral Bay, and when we stopped in the little grocery store to buy waters and sodas for the drive back, I saw that they had a better selection of wines available there than at the stores in Cruz Bay. Somebody in Coral Bay knows about good wine.....more points for 'the other side of the island'!
In one of the little shops there, I fell in love with some colorful painted glassware made by a local artist, Stephanie Clark, who goes by the name "Stepho." I think they sell her stuff back in Cruz Bay at St. John Spice, too. Really cute stuff.
On the way back from Coral Bay, we stopped at Francis Bay for a swim and a snorkel. Francis Bay was yet another gorgeous beach...St. John sure has no shortage of them. We stayed for awhile, sunning and swimming, then headed back to La Papaya.
Back at the villa, as evening came on, we prepped the fish Gibber had caught that morning with a spice rub, and grilled it along with some asparagus. We paired it with a Riesling and had a great meal at 'home' that night.
We ended the day with a night swim under the stars and by the light of the moon, then we all turned in for a good night's sleep after a fantastic day in paradise.
Needle Fish
Wild Color on Needle Fish
King Fish
View from Miss Lucy's
Francis Bay
Coral Bay
We stopped at Deli Grotto (again!) for muffins, bagels, and juice, and then headed to the National Parks dock. There, we met Tyler, one of the boat captains from Double Header, and we boarded the boat for our half-day of 'inshore' fishing.
Tyler knew all the hot spots, and we were all hauling snapper and barracuda out of the water within the first 10 minutes or so. We also caught a bunch of Needlefish, which had beautiful coloring of electric blue and aqua. Really interesting looking fish, the Needles.
Then I hooked a 30 lb Kingfish on my line. My husband, Gibber 161, was pretty impressed with me, although Tyler the boat captain needed to haul the fish out of the water and into the boat for me. All this action took place only yards offshore from the rocks at Blasbalg Point, which is sort of between Great Cruz Bay and Chocolate Hole. My husband caught several good-sized barracuda, and a nice 10-pound something-or-other that Tyler cleaned for us at the end of the trip.
Then Tyler headed back out toward the channel and we fished for awhile near Mingo Cay (at least I think it was near Mingo Cay). There, I hooked something on my line, started reeling it in, and then something much bigger jumped on. Tyler thought it must have been a shark that had my fish, and by the feel of it he judged it to be around 100 pounds. I fought it for about 20 minutes, but it ultimately snapped my line. I wish I could have seen the monster that ate my fish!
All in all, it was a great morning of fishing. Tyler was a good guy; we hadn't been fishing in years, and he was easy-going and patient with both us and the kids. He worked pretty hard for us that morning. Double Header is based in St. Thomas but will pick up at Cruz Bay if you're staying on St. John. We can recommend Double Header and Tyler highly if anyone is considering chartering a fishing excursion.
After our morning of fishing, we brought our fish back to the villa and popped it in the fridge, then headed out to drive out to Coral Bay. We'd never been to Coral Bay on previous trips to St. John and were dying to see it; we'd heard it was beautiful.
I LOVED Coral Bay; it was much more my style than Cruz Bay. It was less populated, quieter, more laid-back, etc. And I finally found out where all the goats had gone.
We ate at Miss Lucy's and had a fantastic lunch there. Miss Lucy's was one of the best eating spots we hit on the trip; very casual, friendly, great food right on the water, and it felt like the St. John of 20 years ago. The chicken wings and grouper sandwich were out-of-this-world good. With ice cold Red Stripe, the breeze coming in off the water, and the great casual atmosphere, it was something special.
After lunch, we looked around in a few of the shops in Coral Bay, and when we stopped in the little grocery store to buy waters and sodas for the drive back, I saw that they had a better selection of wines available there than at the stores in Cruz Bay. Somebody in Coral Bay knows about good wine.....more points for 'the other side of the island'!
In one of the little shops there, I fell in love with some colorful painted glassware made by a local artist, Stephanie Clark, who goes by the name "Stepho." I think they sell her stuff back in Cruz Bay at St. John Spice, too. Really cute stuff.
On the way back from Coral Bay, we stopped at Francis Bay for a swim and a snorkel. Francis Bay was yet another gorgeous beach...St. John sure has no shortage of them. We stayed for awhile, sunning and swimming, then headed back to La Papaya.
Back at the villa, as evening came on, we prepped the fish Gibber had caught that morning with a spice rub, and grilled it along with some asparagus. We paired it with a Riesling and had a great meal at 'home' that night.
We ended the day with a night swim under the stars and by the light of the moon, then we all turned in for a good night's sleep after a fantastic day in paradise.
Needle Fish
Wild Color on Needle Fish
King Fish
View from Miss Lucy's
Francis Bay
Coral Bay