St Johns, Virgin Islands NP

Sunday (1/22)

Weather: Saint Charles 32Deg light flurries, St John 82Deg Sunny!

Travel Day: 4 am car pick-up! 6:30 am flight to Philly then onto Saint Thomas. Taxied from the airport to Red Hook Bay and took the 20 min ferry to Cruz Bay, St John and finally a short taxi ride to the Marketplace Suites. After a bit of trouble finding the code to our suite (my phone had died) we settled into our place for the week. Only .6 miles from Cruz Bay, a grocery store in the building (suites were up on the third floor), a roomy suite and everything brand new it was a nice find.

Walked back to Cruz Bay and had a nice dinner at Longboard. We shared a catch of the day poke bowl, fish taco and pork belly taco, with Mango Ale Beers, yum!

Monday (1/23)

Weather 82 with cool ocean breeze, perfect!

Walked to Cruz Bay and stopped at the National Park Visitor Center for advice for the week. Hiked the Lind Point Trail and Salomon Trail to reach Salomon bay. The hike and the beach were lightly trafficked, nice!

Spent the day on the beach relaxing, swimming and snorkeling. Not much for coral but we did see tons of fish. Later in the afternoon we had the beach all to ourselves!

Hiked back to Cruz Bay and walked back to our hotel. In the evening we walked back to Cruz Bay and had dinner at a local spot called Uncle Joe's BBQ. We both had ribs and sides that were tasty. After dinner we had drinks at the Tap and Still. A nice end to a relaxing beach day.

Cruz Bay, Lind Point and Salomon Trails, Salomon Bay

Tuesday (1/24)

Weather Same!

Walked to Cruz Bay and took the taxi to Trunk Bay. Found a great spot on the beach with plenty of shade and sun. Trunk bay has a big sandy beach, great views and a sandy ocean bottom.

Relaxed, swam, snorkled, and walked the beach... very relaxing day! Later in the afternoon we snorkled the underwater reef route and saw tons of fish, an Octypus and some new coral. Really Nice!

Caught the taxi back to Cruz Bay, had "Pain Killers" (dark rum, orange juice, pineapple juice, coconut milk and nutmeg) at The Landing as the sun set and we stayed for dinner. Conch Fritters, Tuna Wasabi Wraps and Asian Cobb Salad. Another great day on St. John.

Trunk Bay

Wednesday (1/25)

Weather 80deg overcast - perfect!

Slept in, walked to Cruz Bay and took a taxi to Maho Bay.

Spent the day relaxing, swimming, snorkeling, napping and walking the beach. Not much coral and fewer fish than we saw at Trunk Bay but we did see a Stingray which was cool. The beach is known for spotting turtles but we didn't see any. This beach had chairs for rent but, we have settled into our rustic beach routine finding a shady spot and just laying out our towels. Again, by later in the afternoon the beach was nearly deserted! Taxied back to Cruz Bay, back to The Landing for Pain Killers and later went to dinner at Tap House Brewery. Kathryn had blackened chicken sandwich and I had a black and blue burger. Tasty! Another good day on the island.

Maho Bay

Thursday (1/26)

Weather Same!

Early start today as we are going to the South East corner of the Island opposite of Cruz Bay. Thus far we have taken taxi's to the beaches on the Northwest (Altantic) side of the Island ranging from $9 - $16 per person per ride along Hwy 20. Today we are taking the VITRAN bus that runs East through the interior of the Island on Hwy 10 from Cruz Bay to Coral Bay then turns South on Hwy 107 to Saltpond Bay. The bus ride takes about 45 minutes and is only $1 per person!! Never been on so many hairpin turns!

A short hike from the parking lot to the beach and found a shady spot to set up for the day. Hiked the Rams Head Trail to the top of Rams Head. This was a moderate hike that was very lightly trafficked. On top of Ram's head you had a 360deg view of the ocean and we had it all to ourselves for most of the time on top...awesome!

The rest of the day we spent on the beach relaxing, swimming, snorkeling, napping and reading. At the end of the day we did a short hike to Drunken Bay for a few more pictures of the rugged coast and "Mr Bill" like figures someone had made and placed all over the rocks!

Caught the VITRAN back to Cruz Bay, had Pain Killers at The Landing and just stayed for dinner with outdoor seating. We had Broccoli/Cauliflower appetizer, Kathryn had Jerk Chicken and I had Asian Blackened Tuna Salad.

Another day another beach and a nice hike as a bonus! A good day.

Saltpond Bay

Rams Head Hike

Drunken Bay

Dinner

Friday (1/27)

Weather Same!

Our last beach day and another bay! We took the taxi to the end of the line to Leinster & Watermelon Bay. Not many taxis go out that far so I asked the taxi driver to pick us up at 4PM for the return. The beach was about a 1.5 walk from the parking area making it pretty remote and very lightly trafficked. Spent the afternoon at the beach relaxing, reading, napping and walking for this day. Not bad!

Luckily, when we got back to the parking area there was a taxi right there (not the taxi we had arranged to pick us up)!

Since it was our last night Kathryn made a reservation at Mandy's Mango. We walked there (per usual) and after a brief problem with our reservation (they had us at the bar) we settled in for a nice final night dinner. Appetizers of soup and (I forget). Kathryn had catch of the day Grouper and I had Salmon. A really nice dinner for our last night!

Leinster & Watermelon Bay

Leinster & Watermelon Bay Vids

Morgan's Mango

Saturday (1/28)

Weather: Same!

Long Travel Day. Started at 9:15am Atlantic time and arrived home 12:00am central time (~17 hours travel time).

We went down to the deli (in our building) and ordered sammys for the trip back. I had arranged a taxi pick-up at 9:15am but, multiple texts went unanswered so we just walked back to Cruz Bay hauling our luggage (not a big deal). Unfortunately, we forgot the Sammys we had put in the freezer to get them cold for the trip! Dang it.

Bought tickets and queued for the ferry ride to St. Thomas. Nice ride. Then, taxi van to St. Thomas airport. They had warned us of big delays (arrive 3 hrs before flight) which was not the case and ended up waiting at our gate for 2 hours. The flight back took us through Houston (a five hour flight bucking the winds). We had a 2:45hr layover in Houston but, we had gotten passes to the United Lounge with comfy chairs, lots of free food and free drinks... nice!

Last flight was 4:40 to O'hare and then the car ride home.

Home Sweet Home.

Summary

Weather. was great all week about 80 deg everyday and no storms.

Beaches. We visited a different beach everyday (Salomon, Trunk, Maho, Saltpond and Leinster Bays). Being in a National Park they are more rustic than a commercial beach. Four of the beaches (Salomon, Trunk, Maho, and Leinster Bays) were on the Northwest side of the island on the Atlantic and the tree line provided good shade. Saltpond was on the South side of the island on the Caribbean. None of the beaches were crowded and by late in the afternoon they were nearly deserted. Only two of the beaches (Trunk and Maho) rented chairs and had drinks and food available for purchase. However, we kept with the rustic theme and just used our beach towels, water and sandwiches we brought with us every day.

Ocean water was at a perfect temperature.

Coral and Fish. None of the beaches had much coral (Trunk the most) but the coral that was there had lots of fish to see.

Hiking. We only hiked the first and fourth days on moderate and very lightly trafficked trails. Most of the hikes on the island were rated strenuous with lots of elevation change over a short distance and didn't fit our relaxing beach theme.

Transportation. Taxis run from Cruz Bay to Leinster Bay and are open air seating 12 people with rates from $9 to $16 per person one way. If you do rent a car, make it a jeep and be prepared for driving on the left and a million hairpin turns. Taking the taxi meant not having to worry about finding a parking spot.

Dining. All the dinners were good and all were casual. The nicest place we ate was Morgan's Mango on our last night.

Stay. We made a good find staying at the Marketplace Suites. A super easy 1/2 mile walk to Cruz Bay. No need for a car.

Routine.We settled into a daily routine taking our backpacks (cash, towel, snorkel, lunch, water, sun screen), walking to Cruz Bay, catching a taxi (or hiking or VITRAN) to a beach, relaxing, swimming, snorkeling and walking, taxi back to Cruz Bay, Pain Killers at The Lounge then dinner then the short walk back to our hotel.

Note- you need cash for the taxis and even some of the restaurants.

Overall.A great rustic island vacation in a National Park and light traffic!