St. John, USVI... beware - picture EXPLOSION!

[mitsuguy]

As many know, the wife and I took a little mini vacation from St. Croix to our neighbor to the North, St. John...

Getting there...
I doubt many would be going to St. John from St. Croix, but most that were to make it to St. John would travel through St. Thomas, as we had to. Anyways, from St. Croix to St. Thomas, two options, the ferry, 1:30, 40 miles (and it's air conditioned)... not bad, very nice huge power catamaran, or Seaborne Airlines air shuttle... Ferry costs $50 per person, Seaborne costs $80-$90 per person if taking the seaplane, or $75 if taking a regular plane (it's a quite small plane either way)... From St. Thomas to Cruz Bay, St John, there are two ferrys available. One leaves from Charlotte Amalie, and the other from Red Hook. From Charlotte Amalie (downtown), the ferry leaves every couple hours - this is right beside the cruise ship pier. This ferry costs $10 per person, and is about a 30 minute ferry ride, give or take. The ferry that leaves from Red Hook is cheaper - $7 per person, but requires a $12 taxi ride (per person) to get to Red Hook from Charlotte Amalie. This ferry leaves every hour from 8 AM to 7 PM I believe... The longer ferry ride was nice though - beautiful ocean, nice cliff faces, and we were traveling close to sunset, so, the view was amazing... Neither are air conditioned.

Once in St. John, we found a car rental place that was recommended to us by our co-workers. Mr. Hospitality We had wanted a Jeep, but he gave us a deal on a 4WD Suzuki Gran Vitara for cheap... Turns out 4WD is almost required here, especially if you want to explore even a little bit... There are tons of rental places, don't be afraid to bargain, and make sure you get 4WD...

We stayed at Maho Bay... Maho Bay is a eco-resort / tent cottage kind of place. They have completely screened in little cottages on stilts, all interconnected by raised wooden walkways... It's a very nice way to camp, basically... The cottages had power, but no running water. Community showers and bathrooms, but everything was very well kept. It is slow season, so out of the 10 or so cottages attached to our pavilion, it was only us and one other couple. Our view was amazing - it looked out over the ocean, you'll see pics in a minute. The pavilions view was equally amazing, and then dinner, well, same thing - overlooking the ocean again... The restaurant there had some pretty good food, served kinda cafeteria style, no waitresses, etc. It was a good bit cheaper than most other places to eat though.

The first evening, when we arrived, we got our rental car, got checked in (a 20 minute drive to the camps, then 20 back), and ate at a place called Margarita Phils. Excellent Mexican food... pricey, but good... drove back, and planned our first full day...

Day 1, drove in to town, got gas for the car, stopped at the bank (same bank as I use here in St. Croix), and went for a drive. Found a little bay called Limetree Bay... Just went and snorkeled... Had some good fun - nice shallow bay with good rock formations, and cool fish life... Literally millions of small fish, couldn't identify them, but there were a ton. Saw some juvenile doctorfish, sergeant majors, and a bunch more... After swimming around for an hour and a half, we got out, drove around a little more. As it is slow season, lots of things are closed, but we managed to find an amazing little deli on Coral Bay called Big Belly Deli... Had the best deli sandwiches I've ever eaten... After some time to let the food settle and browsing a little shop where Betsy sells her artwork (really neat little painted driftwood artworks, some called Crooked Cottages - basically painted driftwood she has found and made little 3D paintings out of), we drove around some more... Back towards Maho Bay, we decided to follow a road sign for Annaberg Ruins. Basically, the remains of an old sugar cane plantation - documented, and with little signs to describe what was where and how it operated. After a little hike around there, we grabbed mask/fins/snorkels and hiked about a mile to the shoreline across from Waterlemon Cay. Tied our shoes together, and jumped in - snorkeled around the cay, then all the way back along the shoreline to where the car was parked. Saw some rays, a turtle, lots of other miscellaneous stuff, and then, in about 40 feet of water, a "field" of hundreds of starfish, each at least 8" across, some much larger.

After this, we went back to camp, showered and had some food... Sleepy time, time for day 2...

Day 2... wake up early to catch another ferry, this time to Tortola, BVI. Make sure you have your passport ready! A 30 minute ferry ride later, a stamp in the passport, and then into a cab. 15 minutes later, we arrive at the Dolphin Discovery place... We were the only ones there, so we got to play with the dolphins (Atlas and Darwin) in private, with a trainer and the two just to ourselves. We got to give them kisses, hug them, rub their bellies and backs, then they did some tricks, push our feet so fast the lifted you out of the water, and then grab their dorsal fins and they would pull you through the water so fast it was hard to hang on. We got to do each of these multiple times, as we were the only ones there, and they needed to feed them all of the food allotted... We are such suckers, we bought a bunch of pictures and the video... The video was so worth it though, it was just of us two... This was probably one of the most memorable things I have ever done! After the experience, back in the cab, back to the ferry, and back to Maho Bay on St. John. Nap time... talk about tiring...

slept til 6ish, then dinner time, then sleep... til day 3

Day 3 - hiking day... we decided to hike out and about everywhere... we started close to Maho Bay and did a little half mile hike to Francis Bay... neat, with some cool ruins, a donkey and a couple deer... Once done there, we went back to Annaberg. This time, we took water and our packs... We took essentially the same trail as day 1, but this time, instead of getting in the water, we hiked up the hill to some ruins. From the ruins, we could see Annaberg perfectly, so, in theory, I'd like to think that the plantation owners of Annaberg lived here, but, who knows. It was on a hilltop at the point, about 225 feet above sea level with an amazing view and awesome breeze. It was about a 3 mile round trip with some elevation change - not bad, but be ready. After hiking back to the car, we drove around a bit more... Lunch at Big Belly Deli again (yes, it was that good)... and then to a short little hike at Peace Hill... Another plantation ruin, overlooking the ocean on a hilltop point again. Then, just one more hike, about a mile total at Cinnamon Bay. Like Annaberg, this was a well documented ruin with a marked trail and signposts showing how everything worked. That was all the wife could take, so we headed back to Maho Bay. Spent a couple hours in the bay snorkeling around. Found a frogfish, redlipped blenny's, juvenline queen angel, and a bunch of other neat things... (some pics below)... shower time, then dinner at a restaurant along Cruz Bay... Had some really good jerk chicken, then went to a little smoothie shop, had a chat with some locals, one had been there for quite a while, the other two for just a month.

Back to Maho Bay, packed, and a good nights rest...

Day 4... wake up early, drive in to town, get some money out of the ATM (or ATH some places here), drop off the rental car, a short walk to the ferry, and back to Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas. Here, we met Bazile, a local cab driver, he held our bags for us while we went shopping... Had breakfast at Glady's (really good food), and bought some stuff... Found Bazile and he took us to the airport, where we took the airshuttle back to St. Croix...

Mission accomplished... had some fun, did out own thing for a while, and now, I'm sitting at work, watching the waves crash on the beach at Carambola Beach Resort typing this...

p.s. we didn't dive while on the trip... couple reasons... first - its slow season, so, our schedules conflicted a little... second, we didn't take gear (other than mask and snorkel - we used snorkeling fins instead of our splits due to size), and third, we couldn't justify spending that kind of money when we get to dive every day for free (actually get paid to do it) only 40 miles away. Well, and everyone we talked to said that the diving is better in St. Croix anyways (including a waitress we had who was also a dive instructor there)


Now, here's some pictures...
"dry" pictures taken with Olympus E-volt E500 DSLR and 14-45 lens
"wet" pictures taken with Olympus 1030SW in a PT043 Olympus housing (no external flash)


sunset from the ferry, looking towards St. Thomas


sunset from the ferry, looking towards St. Thomas


just driving by, saw these guys browsing around the Cinnamon Bay ruins


just driving through, close to Coral Bay, these guys just minding their own business...


very curious...


and stubborn


look at that food... Big Belly Deli style


and then... goats... the guy just said honk and they'd move... a little less stubborn than the donkeys...


walkway to Annaberg ruins


Annaberg Ruins map...

__________________

[mitsuguy]

standing in front of the old slave quarters


windmill remains...


from the windmill looking out...


the sun just starting to set over Maho Bay


and then a beautiful red sunset


red is fading...


and then gone... btw, look at that beautiful yacht...


in the morning, this guy was trying to show me he owned this tent...


Annaberg ruins in the middle of the trees...


2 adults, 2 calves...

__________________

[mitsuguy]

jump!


very curious little guys...


Cruz Bay, St. John


Trunk Bay, St. John


Sunset from our pavilion...


random donkey


and a couple more deer


Leinster Bay trail on the way to waterlemon cay


random bird...


some ruins above waterlemon cay

__________________

[mitsuguy]

out through the ruins...


same spot...


and from the front...


waterlemon cay from the ruins above...


from the ruins, looking towards Maho Bay (opposite side)


us on the ruins...


Coral Bay


Peace Hill windmill


Cruz Bay sunset


sea cucumber at water lemon cay

__________________

[mitsuguy]

upside down jellyfish @limetree bay


flamingo tongue @limetree bay


some neat structure @limetree bay


some young sergeant majors @limetree bay


a young sea cucumber @limetree bay


millions of fish @limetree bay


millions more... @limetree bay


turtle! @waterlemon cay


stingray @waterlemon cay

[mitsuguy]

huge stingray @waterlemon cay


huge starfish - 40 feet down, @waterlemon cay


the wifey...


iguana @ maho bay


queen angel @maho bay


red lipped blenny @maho bay


couple juveniles, and then some crabs, one was attacking the other...

[crandf]

Arrrrrgghhh, it exploded in my face!!!!! My eyes my eyes!!!!!!

Nice pics! And a hell of a lot that you've managed to pack into 4 days

[scubastud]

Great trip report.... We honeymooned in St. John seven years ago, and the pictures brought back memories...
There is a reason trunk Bay is listed in top ten beaches in the world year after year!

[navyhmc]

Mitsu, I can honetsly say that I am totally envious of your current life. Since you've been posting your plans and progress, I can honestly say You're a very lucky guy on all levels!

Great shots and makes me want to make my way to the area!

Thanks for posting.

[scubagirlj]

WOW!!!!