St. John, USVI

Approaching St. John on February 13

We were blown away by the natural beauty of St. John.  The water was clear, with a lot of soft corals and fish.  There is very little anchoring allowed in St. John because over half of the island is part of the Virgin Islands National Park.  Most of the bays around the island have mooring balls attached to fixed anchors to protect the sea floor from anchor damage that can result over time from hundreds of sliding anchors.  It is just like a National Park campsite, except the pay station is a floating platform in the middle of the mooring field.  Some people complain about having to pay for moorings, but in our opinion, it was well worth the nightly fee to be able to experience such pristine and incredibly beautiful protected habitats.

We spent our first night in Caneel Bay, our second in Hawksnest Bay, and our third in Leinster Bay/Waterlemon Cay.  The first day in Caneel, we looked around the mooring field and noticed two boats we had looked at before we purchased Counting Stars.   Not the same kind of boat, but the actual boats.  Pretty small world.  

While moored in Hawksnest Bay, we dinghied over to explore Trunk Bay.  There is a very busy beach there (cruise ship passengers are ferried over for day trips from St. Thomas) as well as an underwater 'hiking' trail, complete with interpretive signs.  

Leinster Bay and Waterlemon Cay had been recommended to us by a cruiser we met in St. Thomas.  Their boat's hailing port was Bozeman, Montana (small world, again!) so we had to stop and chat.  They were on their way back north after an extended trip (6 years) and were planning to sell their boat and go back to Montana.  Waterlemon Cay is a small island known for its excellent snorkeling.  It is possible to swim all the way around the island, enjoying the underwater sights below.  We LOVED it.

Looking towards Cinnamon Bay

Waterlemon Cay in Leinster Bay

Sailing in St. John

Leinster Bay sunset

Leinster Bay mooring field