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St. John Trip Report 11/8/18 to 11/17/18

Posted: Mon Nov 19, 2018 5:24 pm
by JohnFromPuyallup
We were anxious to return to St. John. I had reservations last November that had to be cancelled because the Villa lost its roof during Irma.

This year we rented Seawing. I believe this is the 3rd time we've stayed in Seawing in Coral Bay and we love the house.

I'm diabetic, so we do all of our cooking at the Villa, so I have no restaurant reviews.

We rented a boat from Wave Runner in Cruz Bay and went to Waterlemon. I've spent a lifetime around the marine industry and was excited to rent the boat. Wave Runner is awesome to deal with, but I'll be honest - the area around Mary Point is big water. I would guess it was blowing 20 knots and the 4 to 5 foot waves that were coming from the Sir Francis Drake Channel were more than I really wanted to deal with in this little boat.

My advice? If you're not used to operating a boat in heavy seas - walk to Waterlemon.

We tried to get Lameshur, but I was unwilling to drive the rental rig through the 1.5 foot deep puddle (pond) that had developed on the road to Lameshur.

Jumbie - we snorkeled Jumbie. It was rough as usual, but didn't disappoint. We snorkeled to the right and then across the middle and returned on the left.

Hawksnest - I snorkeled the reef directly in front of Hawksnest. I was amazed at how good the reef looked after the hurricane. There were still lots of elkhorn corals that looked great. I snorkeled almost to the swim buoys.

Francis Bay - We snorkeled Francis during a storm. I'm from Seattle, so I'm no stranger to rain; but rain in the Caribbean puts Seattle drizzle to shame. Being in the water during the rainstorm is interesting. The surface of the water looks like it erupts during the storm.

Snorkel the right wall of Francis. It is a really good snorkel. We saw a lot of great marine life, but got mesmerized by the half dozen Caribbean Squid that put on a show for us.

Maho - Since it's so protected, we snorkeled Maho 3 times.

The first time we went down the left hand side all the way to the point. It was amazing. There were acres of small bait fish and we watched as tarpon, barracuda, and pelicans feasted.

Snorkeling tip: Watch where the pelicans are diving. There is often a fish ball there.

We also snorkeled the middle of Maho. One day we were seeing turtles by the herd. We mush have seen at least 8 different turtles that day and would often see 3 turtles at a time.

We also snorkeled from Maho to Francis and back a couple of times. We saw all of the usual things including a small shark (likely a lemon shark), a 5 foot nurse shark, and an eagle ray.

Waterlemon Cay - Waterlemon is still great, but it is not as good as it was about a decade ago. It's still worth the walk out there, but largely it's stuff you can see other places.

Mangroves - We did the mangroves in Princess Bay. I love seeing all of the immature fishes. The little guys act just like the older fishes, so it's fund to see the small predators chase other fishes around. We also saw an octopus there.

Art - We bought some art from a local artist located next to, "Pickles in Paradise."

All in all, I was very impressed how St. John has recovered. It's a little scarred, but definitely ready for tourists.

John From Puyallup

Re: St. John Trip Report 11/8/18 to 11/17/18

Posted: Tue Nov 20, 2018 2:34 am
by mahojim
Thanks for the trip report, John!
Heading back in May. Can't wait.
Smiles- MJ

Re: St. John Trip Report 11/8/18 to 11/17/18

Posted: Tue Nov 27, 2018 9:24 am
by hoosierdaddy
Thanks for the report. It is good to hear how the island is progressing. We will be back in 3 months and cannot wait. It is snowing out side right now. Warm weather and beautiful beaches soon come!

Re: St. John Trip Report 11/8/18 to 11/17/18

Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2019 6:01 am
by lpowmacback
Thank you for your review!

We stayed at Seawing last April and it's our very favorite... staying there again this April!!

Re: St. John Trip Report 11/8/18 to 11/17/18

Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2019 12:18 pm
by KathyMN
Thanks for the trip report. I've been off-forum for a couple of years, so trying to catch up on everything. We too planned to return to STJ last year, but the house we were to rent was destroyed. But, we're returning to my happy place later this month!!! Yay. Rented a small villa in Coral Bay for 9 days. Your trip report just put me even more in the mood, and now I'm really getting excited. Thanks again.

Re: St. John Trip Report 11/8/18 to 11/17/18

Posted: Sat Feb 23, 2019 8:17 am
by Bigcheeze
TY for sharing

Re: St. John Trip Report 11/8/18 to 11/17/18

Posted: Sat Mar 02, 2019 12:56 pm
by Bill in Va
Thanks for your TR. I have a similar zodiac story. It’s in one of my old TR’s. We come back for two weeks Nov 30 to Dec 15. Good to here the snorkeling was back too. God bless....Bill