USVI - St. John LF recommendations on snorkeling

jayball · 05/24/2018, 11:22 AM

Hey folks, I will be staying on St. John for a week in June at Coral Bay/coral harbor area. Can anyone share favorite snorkeling spots on the island? Anyone been since the hurricane last year? Any other hiking, day trip, or food/drink recommendations are welcome as well.

Thanks in advance.

Edit: going to try out the new shout out function to people that have posted about the islands in this section. @Silly clownfish @mkart @Dmorty217

Dmorty217 · 05/24/2018, 12:23 PM

Trunk Bay is touristy depending on how many cruise ships are in St Thomas. That’s the only place I have snorkeled on St John and I wasn’t impressed. I would definitely look into charting a boat and going to the Soggy Dollar, The Baths and Foxys. (The last two are in the BVI) My mother just got back from there 2 months ago, she said most everything was open again.

Silly clownfish · 05/24/2018, 12:34 PM

St John is my favorite island for staying in one place the entire week (since we started sailing we like to charter a sailboat and do a private cruise with a few close friends). I have not been their since the hurricanes, so are commendations are pre- disaster.

All of the typical recommended sites are great - Trunk Bay, Cinnamon Bay, Hawksnest, etc. and accessible from shore. Check what days of the week that they bring people over from cruise ships at St Thomas and avid those days or go early in the day or later in the afternoon to avoid the buses of tourists.

There is good snorkeling up by Anaburg Plantatoin. You can swim over to Waterlemon Cay and snorkel around the entire shore of the tiny island. On the walk out there, there is an area to stop and get in the water that is referred to as the Octopus’s Garden - you guessed it, you have a great chance of seeing octopus. Be alert - they are very hard to spot unless they move.

There are some less known areas out by Salt Pond, but I see to recall needing to know how to find the best spot, something like go out, and around to the left... My avatar photo of an Eagle Ray was taken out this way. Eagle Rays are so cool!

All of that said, I recommend that you plan early in your stay to do a day excursion on a boat. They typically take you to a couple of great spots in the BVI: the Indians, the Caves on Virgin Garda, and finally stop at the Soggy Dollar on Jost Van Dyke. During the trip, chat with your crew - they live on St. John and will usually be happy to give you pointers on where to go based on local knowledge that will be current. I recommend is Bad Kitty, part of Calypso charters. It is a power catamaran that zips over to the BVI. I think they typically take out about 20 people. If you are doing this remember you will need a passport to enter the BVI.

Have a great trip.

Kim

MarkW64 · 05/24/2018, 03:17 PM

My wife and I spent a week on St. John four years ago --snorkeled somewhere different nearly every day. None of the snorkeling was fantastic -- but we enjoyed everywhere we went. Each place had its own unique features. To me, anyplace I can just snorkel from the beach and see cool fish and some coral is a great time. Our favorite was probably Saltpond Bay. We followed the shore quite a ways to the left (although a bit of wave action did add some excitement.) A different day we hiked about a mile to a beach we had completely to ourselves somewhere on the north shore -- tiny little coral "bommies" still inform my picture of what I imagine my dream tank being someday.

indyjaco · 05/27/2018, 12:23 PM

Waterlemon and Haulover North were the best snorkeling when we were there. Get to Haulover early since it is more exposed. Little Lamshore (sp) is supposed to be good as well

Make sure to visit Jost for Soggy Dollar & the Indians for snorkeling. Probably some of the best I've been.

jayball · 06/18/2018, 08:04 PM

Posting to say thanks to everyone that commented and to add a post hurricane journal of the places I visit for anyone that comes accross this in the future.

First day we hiked Rams Head trail and snorkled saltpond bay. Rams Head was a great hike, about a mile off of the far end of saltpond bay beach with a 50ish then 200 foot elevation change. Lots of cacti and exceptional views, well worth the effort to reach the top. Saltpond bay was good snorkeling with a mixed bag of both grass/calurpa flats. We saw a Ray and about 7 sea turtles over the flats. We also went up the left side and saw a lot of recovering coral stands. There were only a few Elkhorn colonies that survived the storm (the stag's were bones on the bottom, sad to say) but by the cliff on the end there were patches of encrusted Elkhorn with hundreds of 3-4 inch nubs sticking out, if the storms coorperate this will be a spectacular spot in a year or three. There were some well developed sea fans and gorgs, a few huge fan works, lots of very cool truncates, and an unidentified super fuzzy 6 foot tall colony of some coral. I cracked the lense cap to the GoPro putting down the backpack on the trail so no pictures or video, I had the spare in my room so hopefully I can get some good pics here over the next couple days.

Sent using Tapatalk.

05/24/2018, 11:22 AM	#1
jayball Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2014 Location: Maryland Posts: 1,671	USVI - St. John LF recommendations on snorkeling Hey folks, I will be staying on St. John for a week in June at Coral Bay/coral harbor area. Can anyone share favorite snorkeling spots on the island? Anyone been since the hurricane last year? Any other hiking, day trip, or food/drink recommendations are welcome as well. Thanks in advance. Edit: going to try out the new shout out function to people that have posted about the islands in this section. @Silly clownfish @mkart @Dmorty217 Last edited by jayball; 05/24/2018 at 11:42 AM.

05/24/2018, 12:23 PM	#2
Dmorty217 Saltwater Addict Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Vandalia OHIO Posts: 11,624	Trunk Bay is touristy depending on how many cruise ships are in St Thomas. That’s the only place I have snorkeled on St John and I wasn’t impressed. I would definitely look into charting a boat and going to the Soggy Dollar, The Baths and Foxys. (The last two are in the BVI) My mother just got back from there 2 months ago, she said most everything was open again. __________________ Fish are not disposable commodities, but a worthwhile investment that can be maintained and enjoyed for many years, providing one is willing to take the time to understand their requirements and needs Current Tank Info: 625g, 220g sump, RD3 230w, Vectra L1 on a closed loop, 3 MP60s, MP40. Several QTs

05/24/2018, 12:34 PM	#3
Silly clownfish Registered Member Join Date: May 2013 Location: Southeast Pennsylvania Posts: 488	St John is my favorite island for staying in one place the entire week (since we started sailing we like to charter a sailboat and do a private cruise with a few close friends). I have not been their since the hurricanes, so are commendations are pre- disaster. All of the typical recommended sites are great - Trunk Bay, Cinnamon Bay, Hawksnest, etc. and accessible from shore. Check what days of the week that they bring people over from cruise ships at St Thomas and avid those days or go early in the day or later in the afternoon to avoid the buses of tourists. There is good snorkeling up by Anaburg Plantatoin. You can swim over to Waterlemon Cay and snorkel around the entire shore of the tiny island. On the walk out there, there is an area to stop and get in the water that is referred to as the Octopus’s Garden - you guessed it, you have a great chance of seeing octopus. Be alert - they are very hard to spot unless they move. There are some less known areas out by Salt Pond, but I see to recall needing to know how to find the best spot, something like go out, and around to the left... My avatar photo of an Eagle Ray was taken out this way. Eagle Rays are so cool! All of that said, I recommend that you plan early in your stay to do a day excursion on a boat. They typically take you to a couple of great spots in the BVI: the Indians, the Caves on Virgin Garda, and finally stop at the Soggy Dollar on Jost Van Dyke. During the trip, chat with your crew - they live on St. John and will usually be happy to give you pointers on where to go based on local knowledge that will be current. I recommend is Bad Kitty, part of Calypso charters. It is a power catamaran that zips over to the BVI. I think they typically take out about 20 people. If you are doing this remember you will need a passport to enter the BVI. Have a great trip. Kim __________________ 75g mixed reef, 20g sump, ocelaris clownfish (20+yrs old), flame hawk, one spot foxface rabbitfish, green mandarin, Bicolor Blenny, Coral Beauty;30g sumpless with Spotcinctus pair with RBTA Current Tank Info: 75g mixed reef, 20g sump, ocelaris clownfish (20+yrs old), flame hawk, one spot foxface rabbitfish, green mandarin, Bicolor Blenny, Coral Beauty;30g sumpless with Spotcinctus pair

05/24/2018, 03:17 PM	#4
MarkW64 Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2015 Location: Greensboro, NC Posts: 217	My wife and I spent a week on St. John four years ago --snorkeled somewhere different nearly every day. None of the snorkeling was fantastic -- but we enjoyed everywhere we went. Each place had its own unique features. To me, anyplace I can just snorkel from the beach and see cool fish and some coral is a great time. Our favorite was probably Saltpond Bay. We followed the shore quite a ways to the left (although a bit of wave action did add some excitement.) A different day we hiked about a mile to a beach we had completely to ourselves somewhere on the north shore -- tiny little coral "bommies" still inform my picture of what I imagine my dream tank being someday. __________________ Setting up 230g Miracles mixed reef peninsula, TampaBaySaltwater liverock package, Radion Gen3 pros, Vectra returns

05/27/2018, 12:23 PM	#5
indyjaco Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Indianapolis Posts: 726	Waterlemon and Haulover North were the best snorkeling when we were there. Get to Haulover early since it is more exposed. Little Lamshore (sp) is supposed to be good as well Make sure to visit Jost for Soggy Dollar & the Indians for snorkeling. Probably some of the best I've been. __________________ Jacob SCA 120G RB 48 V2

06/18/2018, 08:04 PM	#6
jayball Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2014 Location: Maryland Posts: 1,671	Posting to say thanks to everyone that commented and to add a post hurricane journal of the places I visit for anyone that comes accross this in the future. First day we hiked Rams Head trail and snorkled saltpond bay. Rams Head was a great hike, about a mile off of the far end of saltpond bay beach with a 50ish then 200 foot elevation change. Lots of cacti and exceptional views, well worth the effort to reach the top. Saltpond bay was good snorkeling with a mixed bag of both grass/calurpa flats. We saw a Ray and about 7 sea turtles over the flats. We also went up the left side and saw a lot of recovering coral stands. There were only a few Elkhorn colonies that survived the storm (the stag's were bones on the bottom, sad to say) but by the cliff on the end there were patches of encrusted Elkhorn with hundreds of 3-4 inch nubs sticking out, if the storms coorperate this will be a spectacular spot in a year or three. There were some well developed sea fans and gorgs, a few huge fan works, lots of very cool truncates, and an unidentified super fuzzy 6 foot tall colony of some coral. I cracked the lense cap to the GoPro putting down the backpack on the trail so no pictures or video, I had the spare in my room so hopefully I can get some good pics here over the next couple days. Sent using Tapatalk.