I absolutely love exploring this island. My son Dalton is almost five years old, so he has finally reached an age where he enjoys exploring and hiking with me. I brought him to check out the Water Catchment trail the other day. He thought it was pretty cool, and I think you all will too.
The trailhead for the Water Catchment trail is located on Centerline Road (Route 10) about a mile-and-a-half from the roundabout in Cruz Bay. There is a small pull-off with room for a few cars.
The trailhead for the Water Catchment trail is located right off of Centerline Road.
The trail is only .4 miles from the road to the water catchment area. It’s downhill most of the way, which means it’s uphill most of the way back. The trail is well maintained, although there are a few rocky areas. This is definitely a sneakers or sandals with straps hike. I would not do this in flip flops. It’s getting pretty hot, so it’s always best to bring a bottle of water.
The trail starts off pretty wide. You will walk downhill for a few minutes before you come to a fork. Take a right to go to the Water catchment trail. If you took a left, it would lead you to North Shore Road (Route 20).
The trail starts off nice and wide.Take a right at the fork. Thanks Dalton!It’s going to get rocky for a bit.You will soon come to a cement gut. You are getting close.And finally, you will see this sign. Take a right and the catchment area is just steps away.
Now you may be wondering what exactly this is. The water catchment area was used for the Caneel Bay Resort when it was open. The actual catchment area consists of a large, fenced-in basin that collects rainwater in a large holding tank. Water from the Caneel Bay desalination plant, which is still in operation, was also pumped up into this tank. The water from the catchment area was filtered and chlorinated before it was brought into the resort. The catchment area is located high above the resort, so when the water flowed down into the property and its buildings, it had all the water pressure it needed to serve the resort adequately.
The water catchment area from afarThe area is quite large.Beautiful views from here too!
Check out this video to see how large this area is.
Are you looking to learn more about the island? Perhaps you want to check out this spot or another lesser-known island spot? Consider taking an island tour with ExploreSTJ.com. Learn more at www.explorestj.com/tour.
Hello everyone, and happy Monday! I hope you had a wonderful weekend, and Happy Mother’s Day to all of the moms and stepmoms reading this!
I have been getting several emails asking about seasonal closings. For those of you who are new to St. John, it is common for our restaurants to close during the slower season, which coincides with peak hurricane season. Some of the restaurants on St. John close for a week or two, while others may close for a month or even several. The closings tend to start sometime in July; however the majority of restaurants that choose to close do so in either August or September typically.
As of today, the majority of restaurants that tend to close have not released that information. And perhaps they haven’t decided yet. That information should come out in about a month, and I will let you know as soon as I do.
So you may be wondering if there will be anywhere to eat if you are visiting in August or September. The answer is absolutely. Not all restaurants close. The fine dining spots tend to, while the most casual places often stay open. Cruz Bay Landing, The Beach Bar, High Tide and The Tap Room, for example, almost always stay open throughout the year. They may opt to close for a day or two or perhaps a week, but that’s about it.
So again, as soon as I have that info, I will absolutely share it with you. If you’d like to check back for this information, you can check out www.explorestj.com/closings.
I was perusing social media yesterday when I came across a post lamenting about expensive airfare. I am hopeful that airfares are trending down, but in the event that you are unable to find inexpensive airfare, here are a few tips that I have found to be helpful over the years.
Look at One-Way Tickets
You can always save money by purchasing one-way tickets. If you are traveling in the United States, you can often find deals when buying one-way tickets. Sometimes it’s cheaper to fly to St. Thomas on JetBlue and fly home on Delta, for example. It’s also easier to make changes or cancel a ticket when you purchase a one-way, because you do not have to make changes to your whole trip. The only time that it is cheaper to purchase a roundtrip ticket is when traveling to Europe or overseas.
Set Up Fare Alerts
If you are looking at specific dates or a specific time of year, you can save money by setting up airfare alerts. You can do this on several websites including Google Flights and Skyscanner. On Google Flights, for example, all you have to do is type in your airport information and dates. Then click “Track prices” and you will be asked for an email. If you are already signed into Google, it will already have your email. Then every time the flight that you are tracking drops, you will get an alert. You can even set it up to watch flights for a specific month, as opposed to exact dates. It’s a pretty handy tool for those of us who enjoy saving money.
Set up fare alerts with Google Flights.
Check Flights to Puerto Rico
There are a few airlines that do not fly to St. Thomas, but they fly into Puerto Rico. The San Juan airport (airport code SJU) is just a quick 20-30 minute flight from us depending on the airline. I’ve flown this route numerous times and it’s about 17 minutes on JetBlue and closer to 30 minutes on Cape Air. It’s possible that you can book a one-way ticket on Southwest or Frontier – two airlines that fly into Puerto Rico – and then you can take a quick puddle jumper over to St. Thomas. Cape Air, Silver Airways, and JetBlue all offer numerous daily flights between San Juan and St. Thomas.
The one downside to this is that you really shouldn’t check bags. If you check a bag, you would have to leave security to retrieve it. You would then have to recheck it, which means paying for the bag again. You would also have to go through security again to get back inside of the San Juan airport.
Buying Tickets at Certains Times or Days of the Week
Honestly, I am not a believer in this. I do not think that there is a magic time or day to buy tickets. I think you are much better off signing up for fare alerts than trying to buy a ticket at midnight on a Tuesday, for example.
Perhaps Drive a Bit Further to a Different Airport
JFK is historically one of the cheapest markets when flying to St. Thomas. I’m planning on visiting my family in Connecticut soon, so I have been perusing flights myself. A one-way ticket on Delta into Hartford was $941 one way, which is insane. I can fly into JFK that same day, also on Delta, for just $241. That’s a huge difference and worth the extra hour-and-a-half drive. So for those of you reading who are within a few hours of JFK airport, consider driving there, rather than leaving out of Boston, which is always more expensive. I’m sure this holds true for several other airports around the country.
I have mentioned this a few times lately, but it’s worth repeating. The island is very slow right now. It’s a fantastic time to visit. The beaches are not crowded. You don’t have to rush to the beach to get a parking spot. The water is warm. All of the restaurants are open, and open tables are plentiful. And even better, lots of villas are currently discounting their rates. So start shopping for those airfares using the tips above! 🙂
Explore STJ would like to introduce our newest advertiser, Sunshine Daydream Boat Charters. Sunshine Daydream has more than 1,000 five-star reviews on TripAdvisor. That’s pretty impressive! You can opt to island hop, snorkel or even bar hop on one of their three beautiful 32ft World Cats. Sunshine Daydream can accommodate up to 12 guests per boat.
If you’ve been watching our webcams this week, you may have noticed that our skies look a bit hazier than normal. Or perhaps you are one of the very few people currently on island, you have definitely seen this for yourself. Well, in either case, it’s not haze you’re seeing in our skies. It’s actually Saharan Dust, dust that has traveled all the way over here from Africa. Sounds crazy, but it’s true.
Each year, typically during spring and summer months, dust and sand from the Sahara Desert float up from Africa and travel thousands of miles across the Atlantic Ocean via the trade winds. When the dust arrives in the territory, our typically bright blue skies are replaced by a grey haze. Visibility is reduced, and our air quality becomes poor. The dust can last for a day, a few days, or even a week in some cases. It looks like the dust that is currently clouding up our skies will pass through by the end of the week.
One cool thing about the Saharan Dust is that you can track it on radar, just like you can track a rainstorm. I like to use myfoxhurricane.com to track it. The first image below is the dust as of this morning (May 10th), and the second image is Friday night’s forecast.
Saharan Dust May 10th at 8 a.m.Saharan Dust forecast for Friday at 11 p.m.
Ther good news is that the dust is expected to clear by the end of the week. The not-so-good news is that it may return at some point next week.
A good consequence of the dust is that it makes it harder for hurricanes to form, as it consists of very dry air. So while I miss my bright blue skies, I will take some dust over a hurrance any day of the week. 🙂
Here are a couple of pictures that show what the skies look like with and without the dust to give you a better idea of its effects.
The view from The Windmill BarThe view from The Windmill Bar with this week’s dustCoral Bay without the dustCoral Bay this weekCruz BayCruz Bay with yesterday’s dust
If you would like to track the Saharan dust in St. John, check out myfoxhurricane.com.
And if you’d like to check out the dust in realtime, please check out our webcams at explorestj.com/webcams.
That’s it for today, folks. I’m heading out to pick up island tour guests now. I’ll take some more photos today and will share them with you all later. And if you’re looking to take an island tour, please email me at jenn@explorestj.com for more information or visit www.explorestj.com/tour.
Hello everyone, and happy Tuesday! I just realized that it’s been more than a week since I posted a sargassum update. So here we go. 🙂
Good news! The sargassum that we saw on the more popular beaches – Honeymoon, Trunk Bay, and Cinnamon, for example – is gone. We still have some sargassum in the area, but it is no longer affecting the popular North Shore beaches. There is a bit dried up on some, but it is not affecting anyone’s beach days.
Over the past few days, I have seen sargassum in Chocolate Hole, Hart Bay, Borck Creek (which is part of Hurricane Hole), and over at Drunk Bay (which is near Salt Pond Bay). I have seen some on Ms. Vie’s beach on the East End too. There wasn’t much on either Hansen or Saltwell Bottom out there. I have been everywhere except Salt Pond and Lameshur, so I apologize that I cannot report on those bays.
Chocolate HoleHart BayMs. Vie’s on the East End
I know that sargassum is being talked about in the media quite often, but please know, it really isn’t affecting us here. So go ahead and book those flights! The island is quiet. Come visit us!
I will continue to provide updates, as needed, at www.explorestj.com/sargassum. So please check that page often. Thank you for reading Explore STJ! Tell your friends about us. 🙂
Looking to take a St. John island tour?
Learn more here –> www.explorestj.com/tourFull & half days available. Rated “Excellent” on TripAdvisor.
Aqua Bistro was a great restaurant located in Coral Bay.
Well folks, this isn’t the best news to begin the week with. After nearly 20 years in business, Aqua Bistro – the popular Coral Bay bar and restaurant – has closed.
“There was a breakdown in lease negotiations,” owner Andi Vacharat told me Sunday night. “We are grateful for the support we received during our time in the community.” Andi co-owns Aqua Bistro with Carrie Glenn. The pair took over the restaurant back in 2017.
Aqua Bistro was located in the Cocolobo complex, across the street from Coral Bay harbor. It was located in a courtyard beside Dolphin Market and next door to Salty Mongoose and Surf Club Cantina.
This might not be the end of Aqua Bistro, however. (Fingers crossed it’s not!) Andi said she and Carrie are looking at potential spaces around the island. I will keep you posted on that.
In the meantime, if you are curious about where all of our restaurants are located, you can always check out our restaurant map at www.explorestj.com/restaurantmap.
Explore STJ would like to welcome our newest advertiser Dulce Vita Sails. Vita is a beautiful, 45-foot Leopard catamaran. She is fully equipped to give you the perfect Caribbean sail with numerous lounge areas, comfortable sleeping quarters and 360-degree views of paradise. Dulce Vita Sails is owned, operated and crewed by women. They offer day sails and sunsets, overnight charters, and wellness retreats.
