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| Drunk Bay |
St. John,
U.S. Virgin Islands, feels like a theme park centered around beach, snorkeling,
boating, eating and drinking. Where we stayed, near Coral Bay, there are few reminders of
the working world: just a home base for a Disneyland of rides.
Take care when picking the location of your "villa." (That's what rental brokers call "old houses.") We
were fortunate. Our villa was near
the intersection of Centerline Road (#10) and North Shore (#20). That was important because we could zip
up to the North Shore beaches in no time AND be near Salt Pond Bay, Coral Bay,
and the East End beaches. We
considered Concordia Eco Camp, which looks pretty good. However, it is comparatively remote,
adding 15 minutes to North Shore beaches, which is about double the time it
took us.
Don’t
believe the books that you can rely on public transportation. Not unless you have a lot of time and
can handle waiting around and walking to the stops. When I was stranded at Concordia (more on that later). I
asked reception to call a cab. The
nice woman said it usually takes a day to schedule. But she did point me to the bus stop, a bit up the road. I walked up in the heat and waited for
a good while before
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| Maho Bay |
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| Relaxing at Cinnamon Bay |
The beaches
are as advertised: beautiful white sand, gorgeous clear water of beautiful hues
from light tourquoise to deep blue.
Snorkeling opened the world of thousands of fish, a few turtles, rays
and other critters. At several
places, the small frys numbered thousands, filling my view glittering movement,
one-thousand of silver brush strokes wiggling in every direction.
We sampled
the following beaches before deciding that Francis Bay was our favorite: Salt Pond, Maho Bay, Vie’s Beach,
Cinnamon Bay, Drunk Bay (rocky beach, no swimming), and Leinster Bay /
Waterlemon Cay.
Francis Bay won
our favorite award for a variety or reasons.
- The snorkeling was as good as anywhere else.
- The sand and water as good or better.
- Francis Bay Beach is longer and deeper. Compared to Maho Bay, which is very cozy and was terrific when we arrived early. Later, we felt cramped by people. People can spread out at Francis Bay.
- Shade. Francis Bay has more trees suitable for shelter from sun (and rain).
- TWO-FER. Nearly adjacent to the beach is a bird trail around a pond. In addition to waterfowl, I’m told wading birds visit when water is lower. I spotted a Mangrove Cuckoo in the trees. So, if one person gets bored with the picturebook setting and a good book, the other can grab the binoculars and walk.
TIP: The boardwalk portion of the trail is a
great way to walk a quarter mile down the beach without having to worry about
sand and waves. It lets out right
about were we wanted to be, on the North side.
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| Exit from Boardwalk |
TIP: Before boating, ingest the Dramamine
that you thoughtfully purchased the night before traveling. We forgot, and we suffered. When the boat tied up near Salt Pond
Bay, I had the captain (who Allyson kinda knew!) drive me to shore, where I
walked to Concordia and made my way home.
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| Allyson & Dave from N. J |
DRIVING: with
feral goats, donkeys and Jeeps.
The roads
are narrow, windy, up and down. A
couple spots have washed out, leaving one lane. Hundreds of feral goats roam near Coral Bay. Sometimes a few wander into the
road. At other times, a whole herd
takes over, like the “critical mass” bike rides that clog roads to remind car
owners that they must share the roads.
A few
Donkeys, here and there, wander near and into the roads.
Jeeps are
everywhere. It looks like a
multi-colored Jeep convention.
Some of the
roads off the main roads are VERY rough.
Our road up to the villa was ludicrously bumpy. Part paved, part not. Both parts shake occupants side to side
like being in the middle of a riot with protesters trying to rock your car
over.
One night,
as we nearly reached the top:
PHSST ---- PHSST -----
“Flat tire, drive faster!”
We made it to the relatively flat part by the villa. Fortunately we were pulling in for the
night and did not lose a day of activity. The spare was flat, too. (Thank you, Cool Breeze Rentals.) The rental agency sent one man and two tires the next
morning.
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| 30+ year old Cessna to Puerto Rico |
Worth the Effort.
From Portland, getting to and from St. John took about 20 hours, door to door. That compares to about 6 or 7 hours to Hawai'i. It was worth the extra time and effort. St. John is prettier, and the snorkeling quality and variety was better. Maui seems like San Diego, complete with Walmart. St. John offers a different, slow, turtle pace and different people on "island time."
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| Last Long Look at Francis Bay |
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