USVI-On-Line

Can any recent visitors comment on the beach at Gibney? After the big swell in March it was looking pretty washed out.

Likewise for the Hawksnest Reef? This is a great collection of elkhorn coral that was getting slammed to rubble in March. Is it making a recover?

Cheers, RickG

In August it wasn't bad, not as wide as I'd remembered it being. You kind of had to walk through the water before the cottages to get to the wider part.

We did notice the water in front of the cottages had a lot of debris but further down the water was perfect.

I didn't get a great shot of the beach itself but this is the best I have ...

Here's some July pics. I want to be there now. sniff sniff

I hadn't really spent a lot of time at Gibney before our August trip (just snorkeled over from Hawksnest in previous trips), but Gibney was my favorite beach this time. It is pretty narrow in spots and flip-flop and Pia are right that there are places where you need to walk through water to get to the far left side. Here are some pics of Gibney near the Oppenheimer house:





And here are some of the elkhorn at Hawksnest:

The elkhorn is still good at Hawksnest, out in the middle and to the left as you are looking at the water.

The saddest elkhorn damage I found was at Caneel Bay--out at Turtle Point. There used to be some HUGE elkhorns out there--bigger than me. They got torn out and flipped in those big March swells. I have before and after pictures but they are sad to look at.

We went on our first December trip last year and I was surprised at how much narrower the beaches were vs April - July -- I assumed because of the time of year.

The water was also much rougher than we were used to for our Spring Summer trips -- due to the North Swells.

We ended up spending less time on the North Shore beaches and more time at Salt Pond where the water was much calmer.

Anyone else have this experience?

Gromit wrote:We went on our first December trip last year and I was surprised at how much narrower the beaches were vs April - July -- I assumed because of the time of year.

The water was also much rougher than we were used to for our Spring Summer trips -- due to the North Swells.

We ended up spending less time on the North Shore beaches and more time at Salt Pond where the water was much calmer.

Anyone else have this experience?

They all seemed pretty normal to me this August, except Gibney was not as wide.

Last November, I remembered there was NO beach at Jumbie. We put our stuff up in a tree and when the wave came in our chairs were partially submerged. Still .. it was perfect.

Maho and Francis were still calm in November (maybe the swells don't really kick in until December?) but Cinnamon was rougher than in previous Mays.

Thanks! I'll report back in November.

Cheers, RickG

Gromit wrote:We went on our first December trip last year and I was surprised at how much narrower the beaches were vs April - July -- I assumed because of the time of year.

The water was also much rougher than we were used to for our Spring Summer trips -- due to the North Swells.

We ended up spending less time on the North Shore beaches and more time at Salt Pond where the water was much calmer.

Anyone else have this experience?

YES! our first several trips were in the summer and I was really surprised during our first winter trip (Late January 05) at the difference. The lack of beaches and rough water was particularly bad (or so we were told) that trip.

Rick - are ya'll gonna night snorkel???

Hawksnest looked GREAT when we were there - lots of elkhorn!

nothintolose wrote:Rick - are ya'll gonna night snorkel???

In the SOTB hot tub!

I'm game for some night snorkel action. I always bring our underwater flashlights. Hawksnest is a good spot, but it depends on the fest schedule and the conditions.

Cheers, RickG