St. John Trip Report 11/8/18 to 11/17/18
Posted: Mon Nov 19, 2018 5:24 pm
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
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