Pic's Pics and Report - August 2014

[Pickle]

This is kind of a late trip report because I had given up putting it together. Well, I have found some time for it today so let's see if I can actually post it. I will do the highlights rather than a full report. Don't worry - it will likely end up being long anyway... and snorkeling-heavy as usual.

Our annual trip to St. John happens in May/June. This August trip was sort of an add-on and shorter. I make it sound like it was no big deal but that's not true. In some way, I looked forward to this August visit more. The reason is the warm August water that lets us snorkel twice as long as we can in June. It's such a treat for us who love snorkeling.


----- Beaches & Snorkeling -----

Maho

We end up here most often on our first full day. It was nice to be back. We were happy to be back. That's all I can say…



Maho's camouflaged signature face: Spotted Scorpionfish - Looked as if he had grown horns or antennae (or eyebrows).



Another Maho's signature face: Green Turtle (with a little tag-alonger)



Queen Angelfish



Lettuce Sea Slug - Always a good model



This was only my second time seeing a Yellow Key Worm Eel around St. John. I don't think they are uncommon, but they are rarely out and about and that's why we don't come across them often. This one was dancing around, like a little ribbon frantically flipping around, near the bottom for 5 seconds or so and then quickly disappeared. Didn't get even a single decent shot of it.



Juvenile Nassau Grouper (with a cameo appearance of Sand Diver)



Flamingo Tongues




Francis

We love Francis. As we always do, we snorkeled along the shoreline on the right side to Mary Point.



Checkered Puffer - I love this cutely skittish fish with glittering orange-green eyes. Almost always see them on the right side in the relatively shallow water at Francis.



Caribbean Spiny Lobster



Social Feather Dusters



Green Turtle



Balloonfish - He never moved... made me giggle that he probably thought he was hiding.



Nurse Shark, leisurely swimming by in the deeper water near Mary Point



Yellowline Arrow Crab



We usually see several octopuses there but found only one that day. I even looked into some of the dens that I remembered from this past June trip but none of them were occupied. Don't know if they all had been out hunting or relocated. The one we saw was well hidden.



Common Blue Crab near the shore




Maho (again)

Apparently there was an earthquake the previous night, according to my husband, but it never woke me up. What woke me up after the earthquake was the malfunction of the safe in the bedroom. It kept on beeping through the night so we didn't get much sleep. The issue was addressed in the morning and we had no problem after that. Anyway, we were tired when we got up in the morning and just wanted to go somewhere easy. We decided to return to Maho.



Caribbean Reef Squid



Conch - Very much aware of my presence and hesitant to be active



Porcupinefish - I know you see me and I see you, too



This time the Yellow Key Worm Eel was out for only a few seconds and I had a chance to get one shot. I missed the head by a second. Darn… I'm just not quick enough. Liamsaunt has showed me her photo of a Gray Snapper eating a Yellow Key Worm Eel. She said that at one point the fish dropped the eel and the eel tried to get away but the fish caught it again. I'm not quick enough to catch it like that (with my camera, of course). Fishes are far superior.



Looked like a Purplemouth Moray's tail but I failed to locate its head.



We snorkeled from Maho all the way to Francis (where this shot was taken).



We slowly snorkeled back to Maho and found a couple of Spotted Scorpionfish - Neither was the same one that I had seen a couple of days ago since they had no antennae/horns/eyebrows…




Jumbie and Haulover South

This day's activities had been planned. We would pick up some Pink Cadillacs (sandwiches) at Deli Grotto, have breakfast at Jumbie, drive to the East End and visit Sloop Jones and then meet up with Leslie (EagleRayLover) and Steve (augie) at Haulover South for some snorkeling. That's exactly what we did. There was a forum gathering at the Beach Bar that early evening but we didn't get back to Cruz Bay in time. I'm sorry we missed seeing some of you forumites.

We were at Jumbie for a couple of hours in the morning before heading to the East End. We didn't snorkel - just hung out. It looked like it would be a very nice and clear day.



It really turned out to be a bright day. As we had arranged, we met up with Leslie and Steve at Haulover South in the afternoon. First we snorkeled the right side past and beyond the point and then swam across the bay and snorkeled back along the left shoreline. I didn't see a lot - some usual suspects along with a Hawksbill Turtle and a Nurse Shark in the deeper water (the photos didn't turn out well). It wasn't great in terms of meeting a variety of sea life, but the water was warm and clear and it was such a relaxing and pleasant snorkel.

Leslie (EagleRayLover) and Fire Coral



Steve (augie) and Southern Stingray



Sea Pearl



Sand Diver




Gibney



We snorkeled the right side to and around the point that separates Gibney from Denis, and then slowly swam back to the reef in the middle of the bay at Gibney. The reef in the middle looked a little more alive than we had remembered from our past snorkeling. We recall thinking it was like a "ghost town" but it seemed to be coming back little by little.

Caribbean Reef Squid and Stoplight Parrotfish



Bar Jack, being cleaned by a juvenile French Angelfish



Flat Needlefish



We saw numerous Caribbean Lobsters here and there



Sponges





Scrawled Filefish



Hawksbill Turtle





This was our record-length snorkel - 4 hours straight. By the time we got out of the water, we were rather snorkel-dazed…


Hawksnest

It rained, sometimes poured, on and off most of the morning and early afternoon. Since it was our last full day on island, we decided to snorkel despite the gray weather. A few determined folks were enjoying the gloomy day at Hawksnest. The water was a little choppy, especially away from the shore. It wasn't the best snorkeling of the trip but we were glad we did it. One of the reasons why was spotting a Spotted Drum.

I get extra happy when I find a Spotted Drum. I tried to take better photos but, because of the choppy water, I was swaying and the fish was swaying and most of the shots turned out blurry.



Goatfish



Sergeant Majors



Caribbean Reef Squids




Unlike our May/June trip that is usually a two-week vacation, we only had 6 full days this trip. We could have been more active and explored the island every day to maximize our limited time but, instead, we were pretty lazy and mostly stayed around the North Shore. It was all good. We enjoyed our time on island the way we felt like at the time. We were very content.


----- Food & Drinks -----

This was our 16th visit to St. John but we still have places that we've never been. We tried two new restaurants on this trip: Fatty Crab and Asolare.

(Sorry, no food porn. I forgot or didn't even bother to take photos of food, and when I did, it was just too dark.)

We had never really considered dining at Fatty Crab because there is Fatty Crab where we live. However, we have never been to the one in our town so we thought we might as well try it on St. John. We shared a few dishes and they were all good. Their portions are on the small side for the cost, but they serve dishes (sort of like Asian-fusion?) that are different from other restaurants on St. John and we thought that was a plus.

Another new to us was Asolare. We went there with Leslie and Steve. It has the best view of Cruz Bay (from the tables on the balcony) among all the restaurants in the vicinity, the service and food (I had their Duck Breast) were very good and, of course, we had great company, all of which resulted in a very nice evening.

Night view from Asolare



We had take-out from Etta's at the Marketplace for the first time. The folks there were so nice, the food was tasty (I had their Curry Chicken) and we think it is a good value for the price.

One of my favorite cocktails on this trip was served at Rhumb Lines (can't remember the name of the drink). Yes, mine is pink.



I'm not usually a mojito drinker but liked this one, Pomegranate Mojito (or something like that) at Caneel Beach Bar & Grill.



Sunset over St. Thomas from High Tide




----- Accommodation -----

We stayed at one of the top floor units in the upper building in Grande Bay. It was a very nice 1BR penthouse. The living room with a kitchen is fairly small. However, for that you get three balconies, two off the living room and one off the bedroom.

Here are the photos of the unit if you are interested: https://www.flickr.com/photos/80473236@ ... 621776719/

Sunset view from the balcony



http://www.vrbo.com/274240


----- Sloop Jones -----

Visiting Sloop Jones is always a pleasure. We hung out at his studio for a while. It was the first time we saw him after Barbara's passing in July. He was still quite emotional, as we can all imagine, but he has been back to work.







Hope he will keep on daydreaming and being Sloop Jones.







http://www.sloopjones.com


----- Departure -----

We will return to St. John next June. We knew that as we were departing from the island though that didn't seem to make the departure much easier. June felt far into the future. It was very sweet of Leslie to visit us for good-byes that morning. We had such fun meeting the family of the lady at St. John Car Rental when we dropped off the jeep. Rachel (offers a private taxi service and has become quite popular here) was singing along with her favorite songs on the way to the Airport. Daphne (offers a porter service at STT airport) was telling us with a grin that she would be on vacation soon. All those bright friendly faces helped us feel perkier throughout our departure and I'm not exaggerating. We sure appreciated a little help like that!

Now we'll wait... until our next visit to the island. Meanwhile, thank you, Anthony, for giving me (and all of us) a place to hang.

And, as always, for those who don't mind a long trip report, thank you very much for reading to the end.

Hope y'all will be on St. John soon or soon enough.


As for me...
See you again next June.



Pickle

[kklay]

Very nice trip report and beautiful pictures. You really have a smooth way of writing that makes you want to read to the end. I'm going to try and also write a trip report for my upcoming fall trip.

Thanks for taking the time to share your vacation with us

[NJsurfsup]

Thank you for the great report and wonderful pictures, these are what keep me st john dreaming until our next trip also June 2015.

[Pickle]

kklay - if you had told me what you said about my writing two decades ago, I would’ve looked at you like you were a glowing-pink alien. I moved here from the Far East with minuscule English skill (what was I thinking?). It wasn’t easy but has worked out all right (still a lot to learn). You’ve given me a compliment that I never would have imagined. Thank you!

NJsurfsup – good to know that I have an ally who patiently waits for next June to creep up.

[philbetm]

Hubby and I also stayed in that same PH condo in June ! Music from the Beach Bar got a little loud for sleeping a couple times...but it would finally ease off around 1 or 2 in the morning . Your pics are always soooo beautiful.
Got to remember to show them to my Hubby. We are also hoping to return next June. Until then...I am STJ dreaming.

Sherry in SC

[islandjo2010]

Thank you Pickle! I always enjoy your report and photos! I love that you name the fish you see while snorkeling! We've wondered what those "marble" looking things were when we've seen them...now I know...sea pearls!!!

[Wanda Creech]

Just wonderful. I always enjoy your pictures and report. Thanks for sharing.

[psufan]

When I saw that last turtle shot all I could think of was the turtles in Finding Nemo. "Give me some fin, Dude."

Great trip report.

[liamsaunt]

Another great report from you! I always love your underwater photos. Thanks for taking the time to share.

We have not decided between June or July for next summer's trip. It is going to depend on work schedules. One of these days we will snorkel together!

[star2515]

Thanks for another great TR, I am glad you found time to write/post one!! I always love reading them, and enjoy looking at your pics. the longer and more pics the better! Makes me long to go back.

[Barb Y]

Great report and pics! Kklay was so right, your writing definately pulls ya in and makes you want more. Thank you so much!

[ArkieLovesSTJ]

Thank you! We are headed to STJ on 10/22. We always wish we could stay longer, but great trip reports and pictures like your's make us feel like we are there.

[AquaGirl]

Thank you for taking the time to post such a nice report with beautiful pictures. My hubby and I are very much into snorkeling, so we enjoyed your "snorkeling-centric" report. We've never seen a lettuce sea slug; glad you posted the picture. Our longest snorkel was 2.5 hours and we thought that was a record, but you have us beat by a long shot with a 4 hour snorkel - LOL!

We enjoyed seeing the picture of Steve taking a picture. He and my husband had some conversations about underwater cameras and housing when we were there in June. May I ask what camera you used for your underwater shots? My husband is not happy with his camera and housing because it can't take super close macro shots. He misses that capability and is looking at other options for our fall trip.

Thanks again for an enjoyable report!

[shoemak38]

As always great photos thanks for sharing

[dctac]

Good stuff!!! Going in October and going to give Asloare a try for the first time.... great Pics.... Thanks........