Luxury waterfront condo on St. John, USVI
Sharing a terrific video done by on island photographer Christian Wheatley. It is a great time lapse of a typical day on St. John. The island is ready for your visit and St. John Escape is ready to host you. Watching this certainly enhanced our excitement about our upcoming visit. Enjoy the video!
Anyone that’s been to St. John, knows that snorkeling on St. John offers more great shore snorkel spots than probably any other Caribbean island. From beginners to seasoned snorkelers alike, there is something for everyone. View gorgeous underwater gardens of coral and visit with the residents; turtles, rays, octopuses, moray eels and an abundance of fish large and small.
If you know where to go, you can find a variety of healthy fish populations.. You can also find healthy soft and hard corals, including a great deal of Elkhorn Coral around the island and colorful sea fans around the island. St John also has areas with interesting underwater topography that have cool areas to explore, like caves, big boulders and walls.
While there are many boat tour options on St. John that can be lots of fun, you can access nearly all the best locations for free from shore. And if you are interested in renting a kayak or a dinghy, there are a couple of great areas easily paddled to that are in fairly protected water. And no matter what the wind direction, you can always find some place calm to snorkel.
We have snorkeled just about all of the spots, including those right from the beach, as well as the off shore locations. We will share our favorite spots and how to get the most out of them in future posts. If you know where to go, you can find a variety of fish species and coral. We hope to help you better understand why St. John is such a snorkeling paradise.
End your vacation with a finale so amazing it will bring you back to St. John—over and over again. Make sure to bring plenty of water and sun protection because the southeast end of St. John is hot!
Drive nearly four miles south of Coral Bay to Salt Pond, or you can even take the public bus which runs on a fairly reliable schedule between the Cruz Bay ferry dock and the parking lot of Salt Pond for only $1 per person each way. From the parking lot you walk on a wide, rocky trail through arid, scrub land to Salt Pond beach where there is excellent snorkeling and another great chance to swim with sea turtles.
Neighboring Ram Head point can be reached by a mile long trail beginning at the southern end of of the Salt Pond beach. The red rock strewn path, a favorite for full moon hikes, leads to a blue cobblestone beach before switch-backing up to the the 360 degree viewpoint.
As you stand 200 feet above the Caribbean Sea, with views of the sparkling waters below and the endless ocean stretching as far as the eye can see, you will be left humbled and awestruck–no matter how many times you take in the amazing sight.
Another quarter-mile trail from Saltpond beach leads to the pond where sea salt accumulates during the summer, hence the beach’s name. The trail continues past the salt pond to Drunk Bay where visitors often arrange the stones of the beach to create a reminder of their adventures on St. John.
On the fifth day of your perfect week we would suggest you head on over to see the Annaberg ruins and then take the Leinster Bay trail to Waterlemon Cay. Begin by taking a taxi or park your car near the historical Annaberg sugar plantation ruins where you will see breathtaking views of Mary Point, Leinster Bay, and the BVIs. By following the signs, you will learn about the island’s sugar cane plantation era while touring through the sugar factory ruins.
A short walk down the hill from the Annaberg site, you will find the Leinster Bay trail which follows the old Danish road along the shore. The trail leads to one of the best snorkel sites on the island, Waterlemon Cay. Here you will have the best odds for seeing the greatest variety of underwater species, including sea turtles, starfish, spotted eagle rays, all of the colorful reef fish and maybe even a harmless nurse shark.
If you still have some energy left you can head from Watermelon to the Johnny Horn Trail, a hike that leads all the way to Coral Bay.
Here’s a video of some folks taking the Leinster Bay trail to Waterlemon. When you do snorkel, just don’t touch the sea creatures like they do.
You could spend the entire fourth day of your week exploring just the north shore . The north shore provides access to numerous white sand beaches that have calm waters perfect for swimming in the sea and relaxing in the sand.
The first beach accessible by road will be Hawksnest, which is perfect for a long swim and a great snorkel among the elk horn coral right from the beach. Right past Hawksnest you can stop at Gibney/Oppenheimer beach which was formerly home to the famous tire swing. The beach area is still beautiful, but the palm trees here have taken a hit from Hurricane Irma. There are still some palms left and I have seen new ones sprouting up from the fallen coconuts.
If you want a short hike to a great view point, stop at Peace Hill and you will get a terrific panoramic view of the area. Continuing on North Shore Road, you will get to the small parking lot at Jumbie Bay, an intimate beach on the west end of Trunk Bay with views of the British Virgin Islands and the north shore cays. There is a reef that extends out from each end of the beach at Jumbie and is close enough to shore to make novice snorkelers feel more at ease, but it also opens to the more challenging deep-water reefs between Jumbie and Trunk Bay for the more adventuresome.
Now you could revisit Trunk and Cinnamon Bays or keep going until you reach Maho, a favorite of both locals and visitors. Maho is a great place to snorkel with turtles in the seagrass beds about 50 yards off shore. The landscape around Maho has seen considerable change since Hurricane Irma and will take some time to get back to what previous visitors might remember. By following the road a couple of miles past Maho you will end your day at the sweeping beach of beautiful Francis Bay.
Like most every beach on St. John, most people are struck with just how much Honeymoon captures the whole “paradise on earth” theme. There is no doubt that this perception of Honeymoon will not change for people who visit after Irma. This beach is still gorgeous, and is in fact, wider than before the storm. Honeymoon contains the magnificent qualities common to all of St. John’s north shore beaches, sugar white sand and clear, turquoise water.
Currently, there are only two ways to get to Honeymoon. You can go by boat or dinghy, but nowadays since Caneel is closed, almost everyone arrives by Lind Point trail. We’ll cover this trail in another update, but walking along this forest path trail gives you the chance to really enjoy the peace and beauty of the unspoiled interior of St. John.
We prefer walking to Honeymoon on the Lind Point trail, right from St. John Escape. It is a little over a mile from Cruz Bay to Honeymoon. The trail starts at the steps just beyond the National Park visitor center. Since the option of parking at Caneel and then walking over is not possible at the moment, you can actually catch a dinghy ride offered by Virgin Islands Ecotours roundtrip to Honeymoon right from the beach in front of Grande Bay.
Here’s a short video clip to give you a sense of how Honeymoon is #stillbeautiful. If this doesn’t make you want to visit, I don’t know what will 🙂
It’s hard to argue that going to Trunk Bay on your first day is a bad idea. Sure some consider it to be the most touristy beach, but once you visit it’s easy to see why its so popular. It is often rated as one of the best beaches in the Caribbean and it is certainly the most photographed. Make sure you stop for a great photo op at the overlook along the North Shore road.
We would recommend not going on days when there are lots of cruise ships visiting St. Thomas, because Trunk can get crowded. If you visit at off peak times like early in the morning or late in the afternoon, this top rated beach might only have a few people on it. Once you walk on the powder white sand and take a dip in the clear water, it might be hard to leave the beach, let alone St. John.
Trunk Bay is the only beach on St. John where you have to pay an admission fee. It’s worth it though because you get lifeguards, bathrooms, showers, a snack bar, snorkel rentals and an underwater snorkel trail. Even though there is better snorkeling elsewhere on St. John, Trunk Bay is a good place to start because of the underwater signage along the self guided trail. As we right this, Trunk Bay is open to visitors but is not yet charging admission because all of the facilities are not yet up and running.
As your plane begins to land and you look out the window, your reasons for visiting St. John–no matter how many times or for however long –become as clear as the turquoise Caribbean waters surrounding the island. As we prepare to visit the island this week, we are just as excited as we were when we visited 16 years ago.
With about two thirds of the island preserved as a national park, lush green vegetation covers the mountainous terrain ( even after the hurricanes) and colorful reefs surround the beautiful beaches.
St. John is the smallest and least developed of the three US Virgin Islands, but what it lacks in size it easily makes up for with its natural beauty. The abundant beaches on St. John are as diverse and beautiful as the marine life under the water. The island is home to many hiking trails that please all skill levels of hikers. The only problem in this paradise for you, is the limited amount of time you have to spend here.
As owners of a second home on St. John, our guests frequently ask us what they should see and do during a typical one week stay. Our blog posts for the next two weeks will be devoted to what we believe is the best one week itinerary to follow. During our upcoming stay on island, we will get a first hand view as to how far St. John has recovered from Hurricane Irma and we will share our impressions with you upon our return.