There is a massive swell and strong winds hanging around the Territory currently. The waters went from wavy to downright rough in a matter of hours today. The waves I saw from the Trunk Bay overlook were massive. The rollers at Johnson’s Reef – the shallow reef you can see the Trunk Bay overlook – were viscous. Beach conditions are not ideal currently.
There was very little beach at Hawksnest, Trunk and Cinnamon on Monday, and the waves at each beach were massive. It was great boogie boarding weather, although you have to be especially careful given how large the waves were. People have been surfing at Cinnamon over the past couple of days.
I heard from a boat captain today that tomorrow looks to be similar, if not worse. So be very careful if you are visiting the island currently.
Maho Bay is typically calm, and it was rather calm today, but there is a large amount of runoff in the bay currently. With the amount of runoff that I saw today and over the past few days, the water quality is probably very poor over there. It’s almost a guarantee. When we get a lot of rain, which has happened recently, runoff can bring bacteria, animal feces and other not so pleasant things down the steeps hills and into the bays. It is very apparent when it happens at Maho, because the water is very murky. You will see brown water, and there is very little visibility. Snorkeling and swimming is not advised.
The Department of Planning and Natural Resources Resources (DPNR) posts water quality results on its Facebook page. St. John’s beaches were not tested last week due to the weather.
When the north shore is very wavy, the south shore tends to be calmer. So it may be best to check out the south-facing beaches like Salt Pond, Lameshur and Hansen Bay over the next couple of days.
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