Suggestions on Dennis

[ArkieLovesSTJ]

We have been to STJ several time, but only went to Dennis bay one time. It was very pretty, but when we got there the water was too rough to snorkel around the cay.

We know to check for white caps by the parking area to determine if it is too rough to snorkel Waterlemon, but was wondering if there is any way to tell the conditions at Dennis without hiking down to the beach.

[Coconuts]

Arkie: Easy-peasy: Just check the site in the link below to see the swell height about 150 miles north of St. John; with an eight hour advance notice, that will very accurately predict any rough surf on St. John's exposed North Shore beaches (Hawksnest, Denis, Trunk, and Cinnamon). Anything above 7 feet will be rough; nine or more is likely to close Trunk. Five feet or below will be pretty mellow. Whatever the swell height, Caneel, Maho, and Francis are very protected, and will be much calmer.

http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/show_plot.php? ... _label=AST

If you look now, that plot is flat at a very low 3 feet, but starts out a few days ago at 6 feet. Last week, I had to warn guests staying at our villas that while Invest 99L had passed the VI without becoming a tropical storm, the swells at Buoy 41043 spiked within a day to a whopping twelve feet! There was enough rain that day to stay at the villas, but should it have been clear enough to consider a beach, Caneel, Maho, Francis, and the South Shore were strongly recommended. Even better were those protected beaches (Caneel or Maho) with a pavilion in case of rain (or, even better, a sushi restaurant and a bar)!

All the best,

Kevin

[ArkieLovesSTJ]

Thanks, Kevin! I had seen where people had pointed to these buoy readings before, but you are the first one that provided information on how to interpret this data. Thank You!