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Two more weeks in paradise, part one
Two more weeks in paradise, part one
Warning: this report is decidedly light on action. We spent a lot of time lazing around. I also noticed, once I was home and had a chance to review all of my photos, that I took a lot less photos of the scenery and a lot more of my family. You don't want to see my family photos, so I have fewer pictures to share with you than in prior reports. But, here is the first half of my report of our summer trip, for what it is worth. 
Week one.
We arrived on a Saturday to the newly renovated airport. Us, and about half the western hemisphere. There were so many people in the baggage claim that you could not move! Carry on only is not an option for a group of seven people that are staying for two weeks, all with their own snorkel gear, so we toughed it out. I had arranged for a private land taxi through Christopher, so once we had our bags we were whisked out of the airport and to the ferry. We caught the 2PM with moments to spare.
On arrival at the ferry dock, we found our greeter was MIA, so John and I walked up to get the Jeeps from St. John Car Rental and left the rest of the group with the bags and instructions to try and meet up with the greeter. We had rented a 2-door and a 4-door Wrangler. There has been some discussion on this forum about an insurance surcharge being levied since the new owners took over. I will say that we were not charged, nor were we asked to provide proof of insurance. The rental process was as fast and efficient as always.
Our villa for week one was Serenata de la Playa on Klein Bay. It’s nicer than it looks in the pictures on the Caribbean Villa website. All of the bedrooms have ocean views and outdoor showers. We also discovered that it has central air, a feature not advertised on CV’s website (not that I cared, we turned it off on arrival). I have wanted to stay here for a long time simply because of the large covered verandah. We took great advantage of it, eating meals out here, reading books, taking in the view. It was a great place to laze away the days. Verandah
Serenata view
Just a short walk down a private path brought us to the rocky beach, where we enjoyed swimming and snorkeling most days. We were often the only group on the beach. There was some construction noise on a few days, but for the most part, Klein Bay turned out to be a pretty quiet and peaceful location that was luckily light on the bugs. This is definitely a house that you could move into for the week and never leave if you were so inclined. We found it hard to motivate ourselves to move on from the house and the bay on many days.
June 13
Once we finally ventured out from the villa (a couple of days into the vacation), we stopped by a favorite beach for a snorkel: Maho.
Squirrelfish
Cowfish
Red hind
Squid
Indigo hamlet
Moray eel
Squirrelfish about to be moray eel lunch!
We went into town for lunch at Waterfront Bistro. I only took a couple of pictures. Mac and cheese burger
Chicken-pistachio-goat cheese burger
Others had the fish tacos and the juicy lucy burger. We spent the evening back at the villa.
June 14
Spent the morning tooling around Klein Bay. Not much to see on this day. Southern stingray
Followed by a light lunch on the deck since we were having dinner at Zozos.
Our group voted a month before the trip, and this was chosen as our one dinner out. I hate driving in the dark, and the other three adults have not stepped up to volunteer to drive, so it was one night out only for us. John and I parked the Jeeps in town and then we all cabbed it out to Caneel so I would not have to drive on the North Shore Road in the dark. It cost $70 to do this, but to me it was worth it.
We had a drink at Caneel’s beach bar before dinner
Crab linguini
Wild mushroom pappardelle
Buratta with pancetta and melon
Scallops and mushrooms
Pasta with filet mignon meatball (this is not on the menu with pasta, the waiter suggested it as an add on option for Liam)
Pompano with asparagus and favas
Key lime confection of some sort (did not get a taste)
Nutella something (again, hogged by the teens, adults got left out)
June 15
We were boring (a theme of this trip) and headed back to Maho.
Parrotfish
School of jacks
Orange spotted filefish
After snorkeling, we decided to leave the beach because we had loud groups all on both sides blasting music. It was afternoon, so parking for two jeeps was going to be limited. We chose Cinnamon.
It was quiet down at the farthest end and we enjoyed a nice swim and a snorkel around the rocks.
That evening we went on a sunset boat ride with the Sadie Sea. I had won this in one of the island auctions--ACC maybe? I invited our friends Leslie and Steve to join us (eagleraylover and augie). There were a couple of other people on the boat too that I told Leslie she could invite (the boat holds something like 30 people) but I did not get a chance to talk with them really. I was too busy swimming. I asked the captain to take us over to Lovongo Cay for a snorkel.
Fish under the dock (big eye scad, I think)
Scrawled filefish
We then moored off Honeymoon and swam until it was time to go back to town.
June 16
The ladies were all up early so went for a swim at Trunk Bay while the guys slept in.
My favorite hole in the trees was available. This is THE best spot, in my opinion. It has two levels and there is shaded seating for at least 10 people. Plus it is far from the crowds down by the cay.
We went back to the house to meet up with the guys. For lunch, we headed to Shipwreck Landing. Continuing the boring theme, everyone ordered the exact same thing: grilled mahi tacos
We had also ordered conch fritters but the bartender delivered them to the table next to us by mistake. Oh well.
Everyone wanted to go back to the villa after lunch so we spent the afternoon relaxing there. I grilled burgers and black bean burgers
Then we did another Klein Bay snorkel. Blue tang:
High hat
Nassau grouper
Sunset snorkel
Week one.
We arrived on a Saturday to the newly renovated airport. Us, and about half the western hemisphere. There were so many people in the baggage claim that you could not move! Carry on only is not an option for a group of seven people that are staying for two weeks, all with their own snorkel gear, so we toughed it out. I had arranged for a private land taxi through Christopher, so once we had our bags we were whisked out of the airport and to the ferry. We caught the 2PM with moments to spare.
On arrival at the ferry dock, we found our greeter was MIA, so John and I walked up to get the Jeeps from St. John Car Rental and left the rest of the group with the bags and instructions to try and meet up with the greeter. We had rented a 2-door and a 4-door Wrangler. There has been some discussion on this forum about an insurance surcharge being levied since the new owners took over. I will say that we were not charged, nor were we asked to provide proof of insurance. The rental process was as fast and efficient as always.
Our villa for week one was Serenata de la Playa on Klein Bay. It’s nicer than it looks in the pictures on the Caribbean Villa website. All of the bedrooms have ocean views and outdoor showers. We also discovered that it has central air, a feature not advertised on CV’s website (not that I cared, we turned it off on arrival). I have wanted to stay here for a long time simply because of the large covered verandah. We took great advantage of it, eating meals out here, reading books, taking in the view. It was a great place to laze away the days. Verandah
Serenata view
Just a short walk down a private path brought us to the rocky beach, where we enjoyed swimming and snorkeling most days. We were often the only group on the beach. There was some construction noise on a few days, but for the most part, Klein Bay turned out to be a pretty quiet and peaceful location that was luckily light on the bugs. This is definitely a house that you could move into for the week and never leave if you were so inclined. We found it hard to motivate ourselves to move on from the house and the bay on many days.
June 13
Once we finally ventured out from the villa (a couple of days into the vacation), we stopped by a favorite beach for a snorkel: Maho.
Squirrelfish
Cowfish
Red hind
Squid
Indigo hamlet
Moray eel
Squirrelfish about to be moray eel lunch!
We went into town for lunch at Waterfront Bistro. I only took a couple of pictures. Mac and cheese burger
Chicken-pistachio-goat cheese burger
Others had the fish tacos and the juicy lucy burger. We spent the evening back at the villa.
June 14
Spent the morning tooling around Klein Bay. Not much to see on this day. Southern stingray
Followed by a light lunch on the deck since we were having dinner at Zozos.
Our group voted a month before the trip, and this was chosen as our one dinner out. I hate driving in the dark, and the other three adults have not stepped up to volunteer to drive, so it was one night out only for us. John and I parked the Jeeps in town and then we all cabbed it out to Caneel so I would not have to drive on the North Shore Road in the dark. It cost $70 to do this, but to me it was worth it.
We had a drink at Caneel’s beach bar before dinner
Crab linguini
Wild mushroom pappardelle
Buratta with pancetta and melon
Scallops and mushrooms
Pasta with filet mignon meatball (this is not on the menu with pasta, the waiter suggested it as an add on option for Liam)
Pompano with asparagus and favas
Key lime confection of some sort (did not get a taste)
Nutella something (again, hogged by the teens, adults got left out)
June 15
We were boring (a theme of this trip) and headed back to Maho.
Parrotfish
School of jacks
Orange spotted filefish
After snorkeling, we decided to leave the beach because we had loud groups all on both sides blasting music. It was afternoon, so parking for two jeeps was going to be limited. We chose Cinnamon.
It was quiet down at the farthest end and we enjoyed a nice swim and a snorkel around the rocks.
That evening we went on a sunset boat ride with the Sadie Sea. I had won this in one of the island auctions--ACC maybe? I invited our friends Leslie and Steve to join us (eagleraylover and augie). There were a couple of other people on the boat too that I told Leslie she could invite (the boat holds something like 30 people) but I did not get a chance to talk with them really. I was too busy swimming. I asked the captain to take us over to Lovongo Cay for a snorkel.
Fish under the dock (big eye scad, I think)
Scrawled filefish
We then moored off Honeymoon and swam until it was time to go back to town.
June 16
The ladies were all up early so went for a swim at Trunk Bay while the guys slept in.
My favorite hole in the trees was available. This is THE best spot, in my opinion. It has two levels and there is shaded seating for at least 10 people. Plus it is far from the crowds down by the cay.
We went back to the house to meet up with the guys. For lunch, we headed to Shipwreck Landing. Continuing the boring theme, everyone ordered the exact same thing: grilled mahi tacos
We had also ordered conch fritters but the bartender delivered them to the table next to us by mistake. Oh well.
Everyone wanted to go back to the villa after lunch so we spent the afternoon relaxing there. I grilled burgers and black bean burgers
Then we did another Klein Bay snorkel. Blue tang:
High hat
Nassau grouper
Sunset snorkel
It's like looking in your soup and finding a whole different alphabet.
Re: Two more weeks in paradise, part one
Even your so called Boring posts and photos are very enjoyable and for that I thank you!
Joe
Re: Two more weeks in paradise, part one
Ha! We get more boring with every trip. Looks like a wonderful time. You convinced me to give Zozo's another try.
Cheers, RickG
Cheers, RickG
S/V Echoes - Coral Bay - St. John, VI
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Robin in NC
- Posts: 332
- Joined: Mon Aug 07, 2006 7:19 pm
- Location: Kernersville, NC
Re: Two more weeks in paradise, part one
Beautiful! Your trip reports, more than any others, make me wish I was there. Always enjoy your food, too!
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ColumbiaSCTraveler
- Posts: 528
- Joined: Mon Apr 18, 2011 9:33 pm
- Location: Columbia, SC
Re: Two more weeks in paradise, part one
A trip report by Liamsaunt!!!!! Woohoo!!! (I think I start all of my replies for your TR's that way....but it's true! )
We stayed at Klein Bay our FIRST time on island. Really enjoyed the location and view, too. This year, we are staying at Skytop - a first. Have yet to snorkel Klein Bay. Maybe this year!
I've got my bearings on your two-story shady spot at Trunk, so I'm looking forward to locating, and inhabiting it, in a few weeks!
I decided on Ted's Supper Club for my birthday dinner. THANKS for the recommendation! And I'm sure we'll fit in most of the other places you've mentioned in y'alls report.
Looking forward to Part Deux!
THANKS for sharing, as always!
)We stayed at Klein Bay our FIRST time on island. Really enjoyed the location and view, too. This year, we are staying at Skytop - a first. Have yet to snorkel Klein Bay. Maybe this year!
I've got my bearings on your two-story shady spot at Trunk, so I'm looking forward to locating, and inhabiting it, in a few weeks!
I decided on Ted's Supper Club for my birthday dinner. THANKS for the recommendation! And I'm sure we'll fit in most of the other places you've mentioned in y'alls report.
Looking forward to Part Deux!
THANKS for sharing, as always!
Re: Two more weeks in paradise, part one
Your pictures are so beautiful. I really think I need to try the scallops at ZoZo's they look delicious. We've stayed in the Klein Bay area - really enjoy this area of the island. Hopefully one of these trips soon we can return.
Re: Two more weeks in paradise, part one
As always phenomenal photos. I have one comment can I become your nephew 
Re: Two more weeks in paradise, part one
Lazing away is not hard to do on St. John. 
It's nice to have a beach, even if it's pebbly, right outside the door. How do you like the location? We've stayed in that area twice but higher up. We walked down to Klein Bay. I recall walking back up was a bit of a struggle.
When you snorkeled Klein Bay, did you stay in the bay or venture out towards Ditleff Point? The only time we snorkeled there, the water was not clear and filled with bits of seaweed, unfortunately. The sunset snorkel/wading looks really inviting in your photos.
Looking forward to part two!
It's nice to have a beach, even if it's pebbly, right outside the door. How do you like the location? We've stayed in that area twice but higher up. We walked down to Klein Bay. I recall walking back up was a bit of a struggle.
When you snorkeled Klein Bay, did you stay in the bay or venture out towards Ditleff Point? The only time we snorkeled there, the water was not clear and filled with bits of seaweed, unfortunately. The sunset snorkel/wading looks really inviting in your photos.
Looking forward to part two!
Re: Two more weeks in paradise, part one
Boring is a good thing on STJ.
TY for sharing.
Bigcheeze/Dave
TY for sharing.
Bigcheeze/Dave
Re: Two more weeks in paradise, part one
It is always good to down shift at times. Glad your group got a chance to do so.
Funny about the taxi. Glad to know we aren't the only ones who do things like that once in a while. On our first trip my husband was not thrilled with night driving and I was not driving down there at that point. Now we don't think twice about it but I totally get it.
Funny about the taxi. Glad to know we aren't the only ones who do things like that once in a while. On our first trip my husband was not thrilled with night driving and I was not driving down there at that point. Now we don't think twice about it but I totally get it.
Re: Two more weeks in paradise, part one
We really loved the location. There are only four houses on the bay, so the beach was never crowded.Pickle wrote:Lazing away is not hard to do on St. John.
It's nice to have a beach, even if it's pebbly, right outside the door. How do you like the location? We've stayed in that area twice but higher up. We walked down to Klein Bay. I recall walking back up was a bit of a struggle.
When you snorkeled Klein Bay, did you stay in the bay or venture out towards Ditleff Point? The only time we snorkeled there, the water was not clear and filled with bits of seaweed, unfortunately. The sunset snorkel/wading looks really inviting in your photos.
Looking forward to part two!
We did go out of the bay and over towards Ditleff. The snorkeling was good. My niece had a large reef shark sighting out there. She said it swam right under John (he did not see it!). I think she was back on shore within three minutes haha
There was no seaweed in the water, it was clear and inviting.
It's like looking in your soup and finding a whole different alphabet.
Re: Two more weeks in paradise, part one
Thanks for the report. All those pictures of food has made me hungry! Always enjoy reports with pictures. Maybe by my next visit I will figure it out.
Always enjoy reports with pictures. Maybe by my next visit I will figure it out.High in the rockies?
Re: Two more weeks in paradise, part one
When we stayed at Serenta de la Playa it was an easy but long snorkel to Ditliff but it was well worth it.Pickle wrote:Lazing away is not hard to do on St. John.
It's nice to have a beach, even if it's pebbly, right outside the door. How do you like the location? We've stayed in that area twice but higher up. We walked down to Klein Bay. I recall walking back up was a bit of a struggle.
When you snorkeled Klein Bay, did you stay in the bay or venture out towards Ditleff Point? The only time we snorkeled there, the water was not clear and filled with bits of seaweed, unfortunately. The sunset snorkel/wading looks really inviting in your photos.
Looking forward to part two!
Re: Two more weeks in paradise, part one
Thank you so much for your wonderful reports! LOVE the photos!! Truly gorgeous. Waterfront Bistro for lunch, will definitely be on the "to do" list for next year. Have done supper there, but never lunch.
Always love reading your trip reports and seeing your lovely photos!
Thanks!
Sue
Always love reading your trip reports and seeing your lovely photos!
Thanks!
Sue
