The Battery is a short walk from St John Escape at Grande Bay. Once a fort that protected Cruz Bay since the late eighteenth century, the building now serves as government offices. However, the building itself is protected as a National Historic Site, and has a small museum inside. The grounds of the Battery offer great views of Cruz Bay and the harbor.
To reach the Battery you walk out of the Grande Bay garage and head onto the beach. You walk towards the ferry dock along Cruz Bay beach which is always an interesting experience, no matter what time of day.
Once you reach the ferry terminal you continue on the small beach until you reach the Battery grounds entrance. To get some great photos just walk along the perimeter, close to the rocky shore. You’re reward will be some great views!
Walking to Salomon Beach is one of our favorite activities while on St. John. It’s a beautiful, relatively short hike on one of the most flat trails on St. John. We love to start our day with a power walk to Salomon just to get some exercise. The beauty is you just walk out the door of St. John Escape and head on out, no need for a car.
Watch the video to see what it’s like to do the walk to Salomon. We start out looking at the trail from the terrace of St. John Escape. Walking out of the garage at Grande Bay, we immediately get on the beach and begin. We walk through town and arrive at the National Park Visitor center where the Lind Point trail begins. Walking along the trail we see nice views of Cruz Bay and the many Cays in the distance. In less than a half hour we reach the solitude of Salomon Beach.
Here is an adventure involving a hike that most active visitors will really enjoy, but you must wear comfortable shoes (no flip flops) and bring along plenty of water. The Reef Bay trailhead begins nearly 5 miles from Cruz Bay on Centerline Road and descends about 2.5 miles down to the south shore beach. Along the shady, damp trail you will find a diversity of plants and the remains of sugar cane estates and abandoned farming communities.
There are usually two options to do the Reef Bay trail hike. The hard core way is to hike down and back up for a total of 5 miles. If you are in decent shape it shouldn’t be too difficult. The other option is to take the guided walk organized by the National Park Service, whereby you walk down with a guide and then take a scenic boat ride back into Cruz Bay.
There is a not to be missed short side trail near the bottom of the hike. About 1.5 miles down the Reef Bay Trail, you can follow signs leading to the petroglyphs–rock carvings attributed to early Taino Indians marked along freshwater pools. If you are lucky enough to do this hike shortly after it rains you will be rewarded with a beautiful waterfall.
When you reach the bottom of the Reef Bay trail you also have the option to wander down the Lameshur Bay trail, which continues another 1.2 miles from the junction with the Reef Bay trail. Once you get to Lameshure Bay you will be treated to a south shore beach with white sand and turquoise waters. There are also some great photo ops of the ruins that you will find there.
If you still want to hike some more there is another spur trail that leads to a salt pond and a coral rubble beach at Europa Bay.
Travel Tip created by Leslie and Peter in association with Vacation Soup
