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Author: Jenn Manes

Car Barge Fees Set to Increase

Jenn Manes

Well folks, I do not have the best news to share with you all today. The fee to take the car barge between St. John and St. Thomas is about to increase.

Beginning on January 1st, the cost of a one-way ticket will increase to $65, and. the cost for a roundtrip ticket will increase to $80. This is due to an increase in fees charged by the Virgin Islands Port Authority. This is not the fault of the car barge operators.

The docking fees for all vessels have increased by 50 percent, according to Love City Car Ferries. “These fees are charged per vessel, per port, per day, and this substantial increase directly impacts our ability to operate sustainably,” they wrote on their website last week.

If you are vacationing on St. John and plan to rent a vehicle, I strongly recommend doing so on St. John, if possible. This is due to the potential of delayed flights, which could cause you to miss the last car barge, barges going down for maintenance and other situations that are out of our control.

Want to learn more about St. John? Take an island tour with me!

Learn more here –> www.explorestj.com/tour

See the island of St. John with a resident. See the nooks and crannies that many visitors miss. Explore the beaches, historical sites, perhaps a tiki bar or two, and much more. Full & half days available. Rated “Excellent” on TripAdvisor.

Click Here to Book Now.

Coral Bay Music Festival & Bizarre Bazaar Happening Saturday

Jenn Manes
Coral Bay Views

Coral Bay’s annual Bizarre Bazaar holiday shopping event is happening tomorrow, Saturday, December 6th, and this year there will be a music festival too. How fun!

The event will take place at Johnny Lime in Coral Bay. Take Route 10 to the Coral Bay triangle (main intersection). Take a right. Johnny Lime is just a few minutes down the street on your right. The event runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Here are the details:

Check Out this Vacation Rental at Francis Bay!

Jenn Manes
Serenity at Francis Bay is just a short walk from Francis Bay beach in the Virgin Islands National Park.

Looking for your next vacation rental in St. John? Picture yourself waking up in the morning and taking a short stroll to Francis Bay beach, a nearly deserted spot in the early morning hours. Walk along the beach and watch the pelicans soar across the bay while small schools of fish swim mere feet from the shoreline. Grab a snorkel and explore St. John’s underwater world where you can often find turtles, blue tang, parrotfish and even the occasional shoal of squid pass by in the bay. Perhaps you prefer to birdwatch over at the nearby salt pond – again, just a short walk away – an area where you can spot ducks, stilts, moorhens, migratory shorebirds, and perhaps a flamingo or two. All of this is possible and more when you’re staying at Serenity at Francis Bay.

Serenity at Francis Bay is a villa designed specifically to blend with the natural setting in which it lives, providing a panoramic view of the landscape and wildlife that surround the home. Serenity at Francis Bay is a traditional Caribbean-style, yet modern home. It is fully air conditioned with high-speed wifi and satellite television in addition to its solar power. The rolling outages that sometimes plague the islands do not affect the guests staying here. What outage, you may think to yourself. What a glorious thought!

Serenity at Francis Bay is a three bedroom, four bathroom home that is located inside of the Virgin Islands National Park. It is technically an inholding, which means it is privately owned, but surrounded by National Park lands. This makes it extra special in my opinion. Serenity at Francis Bay can comfortably sleep up to six guests. Floor-to-ceiling windows and terraces encircle the home, including the spacious and partially-covered pool deck. The steady trade wind breezes cool the home, allowing you to fully immerse yourself and your guests in this very private setting that’s surrounded by St. John’s natural beauty. See for yourself:

Surrounded by nature
Private & gated
Lush landscaping surrounds the home.
Large living spaces with beautiful Caribbean-style ceilings
The second floor primary bedroom
Views from every room
Beautiful ocean views
Large pool with a covered seating area
Picture yourself here…

Serenity at Francis Bay at a Glance

  • Located within walking distance of Francis Bay beach
  • Two king-sized beds
  • One queen-size bed
  • Four bathrooms
  • Fully-equipped kitchen
  • Pool with large outdoor living space
  • Outdoor kitchen
  • Solar power
  • Ocean & sunset views
  • Snorkeling, hiking, birdwatching & historical sites are all less than five-minutes away.
  • Maho Bay is a five-minute drive.
  • Cruz Bay is a 20-25 minute drive.
  • Coral Bay is a 10-15 minute drive.

Nightly rates start at $1,200 a night and vary based on season. To learn more or to book your stay at Serenity at Francis Bay, please visit serenityatfrancisbay.com.

Sunrise at Serenity at Francis Bay

Banana Deck Reopens For Lunch!

Jenn Manes
The lower seating area at Banana Deck

I have great news to share with you all today… Banana Deck is open for lunch, once again!

Banana Deck is now serving lunch from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day. How exciting is that?! I don’t know about you, but I am super excited to have that corned beef rueben back in my life! Here is the full lunch menu:

And not only is Banana Deck open for lunch, once again, but they’re also starting Happy Hour! Between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m., there will be $5 “You Call It” drinks every day. Brings back memories of the old Joe’s Rum Hut $3 “you call it” happy hour, doesn’t it?!

Banana Deck will no longer close between lunch and dinner, as it has in years past. Dinner is served daily from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Brunch is sticking around too! They happens every Sunday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. B-Deck’s brunch features an all you can drink Bloody Mary and mimosa bar.

Banana Deck is located in Cruz Bay beside The Terrace. It is across the street from The Beach Bar’s street side entrance. Walk-ins are welcome, although we recommend making reservations for dinner.

Want to learn more about St. John? Take an island tour with me!

Learn more here –> www.explorestj.com/tour

See the island of St. John with a resident. See the nooks and crannies that many visitors miss. Explore the beaches, historical sites, perhaps a tiki bar or two, and much more. Full & half days available. Rated “Excellent” on TripAdvisor.

Click Here to Book Now.

Caneel Bay: Current Access & Redevelopment Update

Jenn Manes
The former Caneel Bay Resort as seen from an overlook on Route 20 in St. John, US Virgin Islands.

It has been 3,008 days since Hurricane Irma closed the Caneel Bay Resort for good. Since then, little to no demolition has occurred on the property, and a redeveloper has yet to be publicly announced. I have reached out to the National Park Service (NPS) multiple times over the past few months, and have not received a response regarding the property’s future. The last correspondence I received was back in May. At that time, I was told that NPS was conducting “qualification reviews” and additional information would be released later that month or in June. That never happened.

So what it going on at Caneel Bay? Honestly, I don’t think many people know. The good news is that there is land access to several of its beaches, and all are accessible from the water. Here is a rundown of everything that’s currently accessible at Caneel Bay:

Map image of the former Caneel Bay Resort

The Beaches

  • Caneel Beach: Caneel Beach is the main beach that you can see from the overlook on Route 20. Caneel is a very calm, western-facing beach. This is one of the three beaches on the Caneel property that you can walk to. To access Caneel Beach, you can taxi to the entrance of the Caneel Bay Resort and walk in. You can also park on the property for free. The walk to Caneel Beach is less than five minutes from the parking lot. It’s probably a 10-minute walk from the entrance. There is a short set of stairs to walk down, and then it is a flat walk to the beach. Caneel Beach does not have any amenities other than three portable toilets, which are cleaned daily.
  • Little Caneel Beach: Little Caneel Beach is located on the southern side of the dock. This can also be seen partially from the overlook. You can swim over to Little Caneel Beach from Caneel Beach. You can either swim around or under the dock. If you swim under the dock, be mindful of the rebar that extends down in a few places.
  • Honeymoon Beach: Honeymoon Beach is accessible from the Lind Point Trail. If you start the trail from behind the Visitor Center in Cruz Bay, it is roughly a mile walk. If you start at the top of the hill near the Virgin Islands National Park sign at the entrance of the park on Route 20, it is roughly a 10-minute walk. That hike, however, is all downhill. You can also access Honeymoon Beach via taxi from the entrance of the Caneel Bay Resort. The taxi cost is $6 per person, per way. (Children under 12 are free when you purchase it online.) The taxi ride is less than 10 minutes. The Caneel Bay Beach Club is located at Honeymoon Beach. See below for more information on that. (Click here to read a 2022 post about the Lind Point Trail hike to Honeymoon Beach.)
  • Salomon Beach: Salomon Beach is also accessible from the Lind Point Trail. It is a few minutes closer when hiking the trail from the Visitor Center in Cruz Bay. It is maybe five or so minutes longer when starting the hike from the top of the hill. There are no amenities here.
  • Paradise Beach: This beach is only accessible by water. You can only go up to the high tide water line per Virgin Islands law. There are no amenities here.
  • Scott Beach: This beach is only accessible by water. You can only go up to the high tide water line per Virgin Islands law. There are no amenities here.
  • Turtle Bay Beach: This beach is only accessible by water. You can only go up to the high tide water line per Virgin Islands law. There are no amenities here.
  • Little Hawksnest Beach: Little Hawksnest is located on the west side of Hawksnest Bay. If you are at Hawksnest and are looking at the water, this is the small beach to your left where you see some old hotel rooms with white roofs. These rooms can also be seen from The Windmill Bar. This beach is accessible by water. It is also accessible via a trickier rock scramble from Hawksnest Beach. There are no amenities here.

Amenities: Food & Beverage 

  • Caneel Bay Beach Club: The Caneel Bay Beach Club is located at Honeymoon Beach. The beach club has food and drink available for sale. They also rent lounge chairs, have restroom and shower facilities, as well as a small retail shop. The Caneel Bay Beach Club is located on the eastern side of the beach. If you plan to take the Lind Point Trail to Honeymoon, walk to the other end of the beach for the beach club.
  • ZoZo’s: ZoZo’s is an upscale dinner restaurant located on Caneel Beach. It reopens for the season on Wednesday, December 10th.
Caneel Beach

Want to learn more about St. John? Take an island tour with me!

Learn more here –> www.explorestj.com/tour

See the island of St. John with a resident. See the nooks and crannies that many visitors miss. Explore the beaches, historical sites, perhaps a tiki bar or two, and much more. Full & half days available. Rated “Excellent” on TripAdvisor.

Click Here to Book Now.

Skinny Legs Lists For Sale!

Jenn Manes


There are so many ways to describe Skinny Legs. Legendary. Iconic. A Coral Bay staple. “A pretty ok place.” I have spent countless hours at Skinny Legs, and I have taken hundreds, if not thousands, of island tour guests to check out arguably the best burger joint on St. John. Well, guess what? All of that can soon be yours. Skinny Legs officially listed for sale earlier today. 

But before I get into the details of the sale, let’s rewind back to October 2017. It was just a few weeks after Hurricane Irma hit St. John. I evacuated up to Connecticut after the storm, and, about two weeks later, I received a call from John McInnis. John is a longtime St. John visitor, who happens to own one of the most popular bars in the country – the Flora-Bama. John was heavily involved in Kenny Chesney’s Love For Love City Relief efforts at the time, and he called to ask if I wanted a ride home. The airport was closed, so I immediately said yes. I flew down to North Carolina, and jumped on one of the relief planes alongside John and countless supplies. We chatted a bit on the plane about the daunting recovery efforts, and I remember asking him where we begin and how do we prioritize things in terms of recovery. “Skinny Legs,” he immediately replied. We need to put a roof on Skinny Legs to boost the moral over there, he told me. And you know what, that’s exactly what they did.

So as you see, Skinny’s has earned the right to be called legendary and iconic. But why are they selling something so great? Simply put, the owners are ready to retire.

Skinny Legs is listed for $1.7 million. The restaurant is 1,600 square feet, and it employs 25 people. Skinny’s is open Tuesday through Sunday. The space is leased; therefore this sale does not include the building or the land. What you are purchasing would be the iconic Skinny Legs brand, a six-year lease, all of the recipes and restaurant equipment, plus a ton of goodwill. And according to the listing, the land owners are eager to extend the lease for the new owners.

Skinny Legs is listed with Hilarie Oliver of American Paradise Real Estate.

If you are interested in learning more about the sale, I would be happy to represent you as your buying agent. I am a licensed real estate agent with 340 Real Estate. You can reach me by phone (call/text) at 203-376-3786 or by email at jenn@explorestj.com. I am happy to answer any questions you may have.

All interested parties will have to sign a NDA and will have to provide proof of funds in order to obtain financials.

Are you looking to purchase a home, condo, land or a business here in St. John? I would love to help you! Looking to list your property? I can help you with that too! Please contact me at 203-376-3786 or jenn@explorestj.com to explore the possibilities.