Long Trip Report October 11-20, 2016

Travel discussion for St. John
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ArkieLovesSTJ
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Location: Conway, AR

Long Trip Report October 11-20, 2016

Post by ArkieLovesSTJ »

All the hard work on this post was done by Mrs. ArkieLovesSTJ. My wife enjoys tracking everything we see, eat and spend, so she is the queen of the trip report.

Tuesday, October 11
This was our 8th trip to St John. We got to stay nine nights on this trip. Had a 5:45 flight out of Lit. Landed on STT on time and got our checked bag pretty quickly. We had to wait 15 minutes for Rachel (which is very unusual) so we ended up missing the 3:00 ferry but no worries because we are officially on island time now. Took the 4:00 ferry and went to Cruz Bay Landing for ½ price apps ($40). Picked up the jeep and stopped at STJ Ice for water. Stopped at Sam & Jacks and got Hummus, Tiramisu and lunch meat ($24). Hubby dropped be off at the villa and he went to get groceries while I unpacked. Went to bed early wince we had been up since 3 am. We are staying Rendezvous Cottage. This is our sixth time staying here. We absolutely love it and the owner is so awesome.

Wednesday, October 12
Sleep in late (for us). Ate breakfast at the villa. Stopped at North Shore Deli for a sandwich and coffee (forgot to buy Kiss of Jumbie yesterday when we got here). We went and snorkeled North and South Haulover. We saw sergeant majors, big school of blue tang, adult blue head, yellowtail damselfish, trumpet fish, gray angel fish, scrawled filefish and jelly fish. Ate our sandwich. Went to the villa to shower and change. Had dinner at Viva Cantina (old Virgin Fire place). It was okay, but we probably won’t go again. We had nachos, two fish tacos, rice and beans, cheesecake and drinks. ($58). Stopped at St John Spice to get coffee.

Thursday, October 13
Up early, ate breakfast and on the beach before 8am. Stopped at Hawksnest and Jumbie but water was too rough (as it was on the north shore beaches most of our trip). Today we went to Salt Pond, Yawzi Point and Hansen (Pelican Rock). At Salt Pond we saw turtles, 3 huge permit fish, reef squid and barracuda’s. Went to Yawzi Point and it was a bit rough so we didn’t make it out to the point. Will try this again on another trip. Boy the drive out there was rougher than we remembered. Stopped and ate lunch at Aqua Bistro. Hamburger, small Caesar salad and drinks ($36). We then went to Hansen’s for the first time in several years. Cost $5 to park. We swam out around Pelican Rock for the first time. It was really amazing. I wish we had done this early in the day before we were so tired. It is a long swim out there from the beach. Husband’s new mask that he bought before we came was not working, so he went to Beach Bum to get a new one. They tried to fix his, but couldn’t. We just love this place! Stopped at Tamarind Inn to pick up dinner for Italian night. We got one Chicken Parmesan, salad and garlic bread to split ($33) and took to the villa to eat. We only ate half of it, it was so large. Ate our Tiramisu from Sam and Jacks for dessert.

Friday, October 14
Woke up early and had breakfast at the villa. We had some friends that were staying in STT and they came over on the ferry to spend the day with us. We hit a lot of different beaches. First went to Maho, Little Maho and Francis. Saw smooth trunkfish, turtles, Porcupine fish. Our friends saw a nurse shark between Maho and little Maho. Husband drove the car from Maho to Francis and the rest of us swam over. Tried to snorkel Francis on the right side but water was too murky. Went to Skinny Legs for lunch and friends treated us. Shopped some at the stores at Skinny Legs. This is our favorite place to buy t-shirts and hats for souvenirs. We then went and snorkeled North and South Haulover. It was just amazing how smooth the water was every time went to North Haulover this trip. Saw a school of parrotfish, school of blue tang, Gray Angel fish, Queen Angel fish and octopus. Finished in time for dinner at Aqua Bistro. My husband’s favorite meal of the trip is Ponzu Tuna so he was excited. We had Ponzu Tuna, Small Caesar Salad, Bread, Shrimp Cocktail, Fish and Chips, two desserts and drinks ($96 and friends paid the tip). We love showing St John to people who have never been there before so we had so much fun on this day. Took our friends back to the ferry and went back to the villa.

Saturday, October 15
Went to Cruz Bay Landing for breakfast. This is our absolute favorite place to eat breakfast. We shared Cinnamon Swirl Pancakes, Home Fries and drinks ($24). Husband was having trouble with the new mask he bought at Beach Bum. They gave him some suggestions on how to try to get it to work and gave him a rental one in case he couldn’t get it to work. Again, we really like this place. Also love their T-shirts. Went to Leinster and snorkeled around Waterlemon Cay and out in front of the beach. We saw a Spotted Eagle Ray first thing. Love, love, love to watch them swim. We saw stoplight parrotfish, Peacock Flounder, several Barracuda’s (both small and large), sting ray, and several turtles. We swam counter clockwise around the cay and it worked great. There were two small sharks swimming back and forth in the shallow water by the beach. At first I thought it was one, then saw them both at the same time. Back home our children had several activities going on this day, so I hiked up the hill to the old gate house to get cell service to check in with them. My husband stayed in the water at the beach and had several fish and needle nose fish that were swimming right beside him and would brush up against him. We had never seen them so close and they did the same with me when I got back. We were the only ones at the beach for about three hours. Some people would hike by, and some would drop their stuff and snorkel out to the cay, but we were the only ones that actually stayed there. When we were there in May the beach was packed (for a St John beach) so we really enjoyed it. Right before we were about to leave we meet a nice couple that own Someday Isle. We had a nice visit with them. We also enjoy visiting with people on St John and hearing about what they like. We hope to one day be able to semi retire to St John, but that is in the future. Made the hike back to the parking lot and decided to try Indigo Grill for the first time. We had tator tots, pizza and drinks ($38). Everything was really good, but the tator tots were great. They are only open Fri-Sun right now with what they call a Bar Menu. We can’t wait to go back when they have a full menu. Went back to Cruz Bay, refilled our water jugs at St John Ice and got gas. Went to the villa and had left overs from Tamarind Inn from the other night.

Sunday, October 16
Had breakfast at the villa and then headed to Leinster again to snorkel the three mooring balls halfway in the hike to the beach. This was an amazing snorkel. We got there early like we normally do (we wake up at 6:00 with no alarm clock, eat breakfast and leave the villa by 7:00). We were the only ones there and saw 3 Hawksbill Turtles, octopus, Porcupine fish, French Angel Fish, Spotted Drum (first time seeing this) and Reef Squid. A couple walked up and we told them the best way to snorkel in that area. After a while we stopped to take a break and eat some snacks. The other couple did too so we enjoyed visiting with them. My husband always wears Arkansas Razorbacks shirts while we are there (I swear he does have other clothes) but it is a good way for him to strike up conversations with other people. This other couple was from Alabama and the ladies nephew just signed with Arkansas to come next year as a quarterback. It was so cool to talk to them about that and all things St John. After our rest we headed back out and snorkeled some more. When back to Cruz Bay and stopped at StarFish for some groceries. Noticed what a good price they had on steaks so we bought a Ribeye and some potatoes and grilled them on the grill for dinner. We diced the potatoes up and poured olive oil and sprinkled some Cruz Bay Grill rub on them. We put them on the grill in a foil package and grilled them with the steak. We like grilling better than cooking on the stove because it doesn’t heat up the villa. Our dinner turned out delicious and only cost $11!

Monday, October 17
Ate Bagels that we got at StarFish for breakfast. We tried to go to Hawksnest and Jumbie but water was still too rough for snorkeling. We went to Maho and snorkeled around the middle and the right hand side. We saw 9 turtles, Barracuda, Angel Fish, and Porcupine fish. We saw the couple from Alabama we meet the day before and chatted with them a little bit. We left and went and snorkeled the right side of Francis out around Mary’s Point. Boy this is a long snorkel out, total snorkel time for this snorkel was just shy of two hours. We saw lots of fish, turtle and 14 Reef Squid. It was a lot clearer today than it was on Friday when we tried. Went to Aqua Bistro for lunch. Had Jerk Chicken Sandwich, small Caesar Salad, bread and drinks ($37). We then went and snorkeled the mangroves. We did this for the first time in May and saw a bunch of Star Fish so we were curious if there would be any. Swam out toward the middle and counted 15 Star Fish. The snorkeling along the mangroves wasn’t as clear as it was in May, but we still enjoyed it. Saw several different fishes including a barracuda. Left here and went to North Haulover again. We just love this place. It is so magical to me. When the water is calm as it was, we try to go here as often as we can in our trip.

Tuesday, October 18
As much as we try to ignore the weather forecast, it looked like this day would be a total wash out. Turns out we didn’t see a drop of rain this day. We were going to eat breakfast at Cruz Bay Landing but they were having a Snow Day and were closed. So breakfast at the villa then to Leinster to snorkel. We got in at the parking lot and snorkeled out to the three mooring balls and then hiked back to the parking lot (we were dive boots). We saw three octopus, a huge Sting Ray, a Reef Shark that was about 4 ½-5 feet long, and several different Angel Fish. We decided the next time we do this we will hike out and snorkel back to the parking lot since we were swimming against the current the whole time. We left here and went to Pickles for a late, second breakfast. We shared the Belgian Waffle, Home fries and drink ($20). The Belgian waffle was amazing. It had this Banana’s Foster type topping that was so good. The home fries were a lot smaller than the portion we get at Cruz Bay Landing. We then went to North Haulover. The water on the south side was really rough, but north was so smooth. As we walked in there was a couple just about to get in the water. We visited with them and they figured out my husband was ArkieLovesSTJ from the forum (again he had one of his many Razorback shirts on). They are Backtotheislands on the forum. It was so neat to visit with them. We got in and snorkeled the left side. We then snorkeled the right side of North Haulover which we hadn’t done in a long time. It was really good snorkeling. We saw 4 Lobsters, 2 Scrall Fish, 2 octopus and many other fish. We were here for about 3 hours with most of that time snorkeling. We headed back to Coral Bay and saw the people we had meet earlier about to snorkel the mangroves so we stopped and visited again since we had just snorkeled the mangroves the day before. Visited a little bit and then made it to Caribbean Oasis right when they opened at 4. Ordered Chicken Fried Chicken, Mac and Cheese, Green Beans, Garlic Bread and a couple of drinks ($27) to take back to the villa to share. In May, the food didn’t taste as good as it normally did so we were a little worried. Everything turned out great this trip, but I wouldn’t buy the Garlic Bread again. It was basically a hamburger bun with garlic seasoning so it didn’t seem worth the $4 to me, but everything else was great! Went back to the villa then hubby ran to get some groceries and went by and got an order of Crab Ragoons ($10) from 420 to Center for dessert. I am addicted to these things, I just wish I had found them earlier in the trip.

Wednesday, October 19
Last full day on the island. It wasn’t a pretty day, very overcast, but it was a dry day. Started off with breakfast from Cruz Bay Landing again. Got the same thing as last time here. We went to Beach Bum and got a t-shirt. We then headed to Hansen Bay to snorkel Pelican Rock again. Noticed it was a bit rough when we got there, but went anyway. We would have enjoyed this more if the water was smooth like it was earlier in the trip. We saw octopus, trumpet fish, angel fish, turtles and a sting ray. We only stayed here a couple of hours because of the rough water. Went back to Leinster as the north shore beaches had a High Surf Advisory and Riptide warnings again. This time we hiked out to the mooring balls and snorkeled back to the parking lot. Saw turtles, sting ray, angel fish, trumpet fish and two octopuses. We went to the villa, showered and changed and decided to visit a couple of different restaurants for dinner. Started off at Cruz Bay Landing for ½ price apps and drinks ($32), then to Joes Rum Hut ($12) and finally the Tap Room ($21). In past trips we would have gone to the Tap Room several times but we didn’t have a good experience here in May. It was okay this time, just not as good as in the past. Did a little souvenir shopping, got gas then to the villa to pack.

Thursday, October 20
Tried to sleep in, but it wasn’t happening. At breakfast at the villa then hung out at the pool for several hours as our flight didn’t leave STT until 4:45. Owner dropped us off in town and we were going to eat a second breakfast at Cruz Bay Landing but they were in the process of switching from breakfast to lunch so would be about 15 minutes before we could get food. Opted to just share some loaded fries since we wouldn’t have much time to eat, then got on the noon ferry. When we got to Red Hook Rachel picked us up here and took us to the airport. Stopped at Gladys’s to get a sandwich as we don’t enjoy airport food. It was a huge Club sandwich and fries for $5.95. Rachel called it in, so we didn’t have to wait long for it. Got to the airport, through customs and security and had a very long wait for our flight. The whole being there 3 hours early for AA is crazy when it is not high season and you are flying on a Thursday. No problems with the flights and got home at 1:00 am so a very long day.

Final Thoughts
This was our 4th trip in October and we really love this time of year. There were High Surf Advisory and Riptide warnings at the north shore beaches most of our trip, which we hand not experienced in the past. The good thing about St John is that there are so many beaches, you can always find somewhere to go that the water is smooth. We stay in Cruz Bay, but spend most of our days on the Coral Bay side of the island. We just love this island and all the people we meet and we just can’t wait until our next trip. We have made 8 trips in 4 years and look to make many more.
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kklay
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Re: Long Trip Report October 11-20, 2016

Post by kklay »

I loved reading your report - so descriptive I felt like I was there with you! We have not tried Oasis nor Indigo grill but hope to this November.
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shoemak38
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Re: Long Trip Report October 11-20, 2016

Post by shoemak38 »

:D :D :D :D
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StJohnbum
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Re: Long Trip Report October 11-20, 2016

Post by StJohnbum »

Great trip report. Nice to see the activity on the web site picking up. Greatly appreciate you going into such detail on your trip. We've gotten boring in our old age and just tend to do villa gravity days each day and chill out. It's nice to read about all of the beaches and all you saw when snorkeling.

Great luck to you on semiretirement to STJ. Great goal. Hope it works out for you.
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Bigcheeze
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Re: Long Trip Report October 11-20, 2016

Post by Bigcheeze »

TY 4 the TR...felt like I was almost there.
david@va.beach
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Re: Long Trip Report October 11-20, 2016

Post by david@va.beach »

great report!! Happiness for us is haulover north on a calm day!
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LynnieGirl
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Re: Long Trip Report October 11-20, 2016

Post by LynnieGirl »

Love, Love, Loved your trip report, every detail! It's been a long time since we've seen our "Happy Place" and it felt like I was there with you. (We've been dealing with several family health crises and haven't been able to stray far from home). I laughed when I read about your husband and his Razorback shirts, mine does the exact same thing. He takes his favorite Razorback cap and several t-shirts and will wear them everywhere; "gotta represent", he says. :lol:

Thanks for taking me with you, this morning, I was in serious need of that!
Just another day for you, you and me in Paradise...

~Tammy
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GidgetPicklebrain
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Re: Long Trip Report October 11-20, 2016

Post by GidgetPicklebrain »

Hey, you never know. We wandered into a Greek restaurant in the Bahamas that had a Steeler's sign mounted on the wall above one of the outdoor tables. We were wearing our Steeler's T-shirts so we decided to sit at that table. The owner, it turns out, was an enormous Steeler's fan. He spotted us, comped our meal, and gave us a private "tour" of his office, which was covered floor to ceiling in memorabilia. Haven't found a Steeler's bar on St. John, but my husband still wears his garb daily on vacation.
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. - Confucius

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liamsaunt
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Re: Long Trip Report October 11-20, 2016

Post by liamsaunt »

Thanks for your detailed report! You packed a lot in. Haulover North is my favorite spot when it's calm. I am glad you were able to snorkel it so many times.

I love the three mooring ball snorkel too. What a great idea to snorkel back to the parking lot. I have never tried that before, I always thought the water would be too shallow over the flats. I think I'll give it a try next trip.
It's like looking in your soup and finding a whole different alphabet.
mindehankins
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Re: Long Trip Report October 11-20, 2016

Post by mindehankins »

Papabou and I snorkeled right from the parking lot area, last October. It was a lovely snorkel, and entry/exit weren't that difficult. We were going to just enter near the mooring balls, but on our way back out, we looked at the spot near the bridge and thought "why not?" It was really nice!
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Suziekue
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Re: Long Trip Report October 11-20, 2016

Post by Suziekue »

Thanks for sharing your trip, it was a great read and the details are awesome. Will definitely help us on our upcoming trip and we are counting the days! :lol:
Soarin' with the eagles all week long, and this is all that we've learned about living - VACATION!

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hoosierdaddy
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Re: Long Trip Report October 11-20, 2016

Post by hoosierdaddy »

Thanks for the Long Trip report. I have been to St. John 5 times but have never made it to Haulover. I love to snorkel and it sounds great but my wife like just sitting on the beach. Is Haulover a good beach for laying out?
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ArkieLovesSTJ
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Re: Long Trip Report October 11-20, 2016

Post by ArkieLovesSTJ »

Both Haulover North and South are pebble beaches. They both have gorgeous views, but my guess is that your wife is looking for a sandy beach instead.


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Pickle
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Re: Long Trip Report October 11-20, 2016

Post by Pickle »

Very much enjoyed your detailed trip report - big thanks to your wife!
I second liamsaunt - you packed a lot of stuff in. I've always been impressed with the folks who can snorkel two or three spots in one day. We are lazy and rarely snorkel more than one spot (hardly ever even beach hop). We love watching Spotted Eagle Rays glide through the water, too. Your report makes me miss underwater. :)
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Backtotheislands
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Re: Long Trip Report October 11-20, 2016

Post by Backtotheislands »

Hey! Loved your trip report and it was great to meet y'all! Thanks for pointing out the spiny lobster! We ended up going to North Haulover 4 times! It was beautiful underwater! We tried the mangroves, but oddly the south side was much choppier than the north and the visibility was really poor that day. My husband wouldn't give it a chance! The current was a bit strong the day we tried to do Waterlemon so he wanted to turn back and we didn't get far around. I wanted to do the drift, but couldn't figure out where the mooring balls were to get in. I needed someone to SHOW me! LOL After snorkeling from the beach to partway around the Cay and all over the beach area, hubby was done for the day, anyway! So glad y'all enjoyed your trip! Enjoyed all the details!
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