The waves around St. John’s North Shore have been huge over the past few days! There has been a significant north swell, which has made for some pretty rough surf on the island’s north side. This swell is happening, I believe, because there is a large weather system to our north, which is pushing water toward us. Hopefully it subsides this week, but in the event that it does not, here are some tips for when this occurs.
Our winds normally go east to west, which allows for calm conditions on the north shore. That is where the most popular beaches are located like Trunk, Cinnamon and Maho bays. Maho is almost always super calm because the winds are blocked by the hill behind it. That is not the case this week, however. While there has been little to no wind over the past day or two, the north swell has been fierce. This is what I have seen…
The swell in Cruz Bay harbor has been quite large. The water has been going up to the wall at Wharfside Village. The new beach furniture on front of Karma was tossed around over the weekend. I had breakfast at High Tide on Saturday morning, and there was very little beach for Dalton to play on while we waited for our food.
Caneel Beach had a little wave action yesterday, but it was definitely one of the better beaches to visit. Hawksnest, Jumbie and Trunk had considerable waves. Dalton and Mike spent some time playing in the waves at Hawksnest yesterday afternoon, and Dalton came home with about a pound of sand on him! He had a blast!
Jumbie had little to no beach as the water was coming up into the trees. I viewed Trunk from the overlook, and you cold tell that it was “knock you over” waves happening over there. There were very few people even attempting the underwater snorkel trail at Trunk. I didn’t walk down to Cinnamon, but I assume that waves there were quite large.
Even Maho has been affected. There was a bit of swell there yesterday, and the visibility was very poor.
So where can you go when the north shore isn’t the calmest? Head to the south. The south shore has been like glass over the past several days. The only downside about heading to the south shore beaches is that you need to have your own vehicle, as the taxis do not typically drive to these beaches. A few options are Hansen Bay on St. John’s East End, Salt Pond Bay, which is beyond Coral Bay, and Lameshur, which is at the end of a long dirt road. Saltwell Bottom is no longer open to the public via land – fyi. All beaches are accessible via water in the US Virgin Islands.
So what can you do when you do not have a private vehicle? Grab a boogie board and enjoy the waves on the North Shore!
Want to learn more about St. John? Take an island tour with me!
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.
Grande Bay is the large coral-colored complex in this photo.
Chances are, if you are reading this website, that you have dreamed of either owning a property here on St. John or moving to St. John. I had that dream, too, at one point in my life, so I can completely relate! Well if you are not ready to make the move full time or purchase a property outright, there are still lots of options for you.
I currently have 12 one-week properties available for sale. These properties are located at Grande Bay, which is one of my favorite places to stay in St. John, and at the Westin Resort, which is a beautiful beachfront property. Here is a some information about each:
Grande Bay
Grande Bay
Grande Bay is a resort located directly across the street from Cruz Bay harbor. The resort has a rooftop pool, hot tub, gym, and onsite concierge. There is parking available for most units too. The best part of Grande Bay, other than its incredible views, is the fact that you can walk to so many great places, including bars, restaurants and shops. You can walk to the ferry dock and easily hop in a taxi to the beach. You can walk to hiking trails too! It’s really a fantastic location.
Grande Bay is separated into two halves. A portion of the resort is owned outright, and a portion is fractional meaning that you can own a week, rather than owning a condo outright. I have three properties available at Grande Bay.
I have a studio available, which has a kitchenette, washer and dryer, and private balcony. This is a flex unit, so you can choose any week from week 17 through week 23. Week 17 is already booked for this year. This is listed for $9,950. The annual dues are $988 a year.
I have a one bedroom, one bathroom condo available. It is equipped with a full kitchen, washer and dryer, and private balcony with beautiful views of the harbor. This unit comes with a parking space, too, should you choose to rent a Jeep for your stay. This is a flex unit, which means that you can reserve any week from weeks 17 through 23. The actual unit will be assigned at checkin. May 10th through May 17th is reserved for this year, although you can change that if you’d like. This week is listed for $25,000. The annual dues are only $1,288 a year.
I have a one-bedroom penthouse unit – best views on property – available, as well. This is located in Building 7, which is located in the upper portion of the resort. The views from this unit are incredible! This penthouse unit has a large living space, in addition to an expansive outdoor deck. It has a full kitchen, a washer and dryer, and it comes with a parking spot. This penthouse unit is available for week 44, or any week between weeks 15 and 50. It is listed for $27,900. The annual dues were only $1,100 for the year in 2024.
Westin Resort
The Westin
The Westin is a beautiful beachfront resort located directly on Great Cruz Bay. It is about a five-minute ride to Cruz Bay. Although it is close to town, it is not walkable. There is a large hill and not too many sidewalks, so I advise driving to town from the resort.
The Westin is beachfront, has a large pool, plus two more smaller pools, a hot tub and tennis courts onsite. There is a full-service watersports company on property, which even offers private ferry services. It is very hard to find availability at the Westin, as it is almost always booked. The only way to guarantee a yearly vacation at the Westin is to purchase a deeded week. I have nine deeded-week properties available at the Westin. Each has full use of the resort and all of its amenities. The annual fees listed per unit are less than if you booked a week’s vacation in each particular room – fyi.
Spend an entire month on St. John! I have a one bedroom, two bathroom loft unit available from August 21st to September 21st every year. This unit is located beside one of the smaller, quieter pools. It is listed for $4,000. What a steal! The annual dues are $13,528.
I have a three bedroom, three bathroom pool villa available for week 41 every even year. This is a townhouse unit with its own pool. Week 41 usually falls over Columbus/Indigenous People Day. This is listed for $1,000. What a price! The annuals dues are $2,387 per year.
I have a three bedroom, three bathroom Bay Vista unit for sale for Platinum Season, which is weeks 19 through 33. This is an every odd year unit. May 5th through May 11th is already reserved for this year. This unit is listed for $5,500. The annual dues are $2,130 per year.
I have a two bedroom, three bathroom hillside unit for week 10. This is an every year unit. March 8th through March 15th is already booked for this year. This unit has a smaller, quieter pool beside it. It is listed for $8,000. The annual dues are $3,290.
I have a three bedroom three bathroom Bay Vista unit for week 35, which is Labor Day this year. This unit is listed for $8,000. The annual dues are $2,988.
I have a three bedroom, three bathroom Bay Vista unit available for the first week of June. This is an every year unit for week 22. This unit is listed for $11,000. The annual dues are $2,988.
I have a two bedroom, three bathroom hillside unit available for sale for week 9. This is the first week of March this year. This unit is listed for $12,000. The annual dies are $3,489.
I have another three bedroom, three bathroom pool villa available for week 18 and also for week 19. This is a townhouse unit with its own pool. Each week is listed separately for $15,000. The annual dues per week is $4,775. The two weeks can be purchased together. Make an offer for the two as a pair.
Interested in one of these units? Perhaps you are looking to buy or sell something else? I am happy to help you with any and all real estate needs. Just give me a call or send a text to 203-376-3786. You can also email me at jenn@explores.com.
Hello everyone, and happy Friday! I love being part of the St. John community, so I was honored last year when I was asked to sit on the Board of Directors for the Animal Care Center, St. John’s no-kill animal shelter.
We had a meeting earlier this week, and there are a few things I’d like to share with you.
The Animal Care Center’s annual gala is scheduled for Saturday, February 8th. This is our largest fundraising event of the year. This event allows us to take care of hundreds of cats and dogs that come into the shelter each year. It allows us to board them, feed them, provide medical care, and, most importantly, spay and neuter them. Have you ever noticed that St. John does not have any stray dogs unlike many other Caribbean islands? Well, that’s thanks to the Animal Care Center and all of its hard work.
This year’s gala is being held at Cliff House, which is a stunning four-bedroom villa perched on the hillside in Peter Bay. The event runs from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Guests will be entertained by live music and a DJ. Delicious food and drinks are provided (so much wine!), and there is a great raffle and silent auction that happens at the event. Parking is available at the Trunk Bay parking lot, and guests will be shuttled to the event from there. (That’s a less than five-minute ride.)
Speaking of auctions, the Animal Care Center is looking for donations for this year’s online auction. If you own a business here on St. John and would like to donate a villa stay, boat trip, restaurant or gift shop gift certificate or any other service, please contact me at jenn@explorestj.com. You can also call or text me at 203-376-3786.
As I mentioned, the Animal Care Center does a lot of great work. Last November, for example, the shelter partnered with Visiting Veterinarians International, and together they spayed and neutered 325 cats and 21 dogs over one weekend. How amazing is that?!
Bottom line: The Animal Care Center is an integral part of our community, and I am so thankful for them. If you would like to help support their efforts, you can do so in the following ways:
Purchase a ticket to attend the February 8th gala. You can purchase a ticket by stopping by the Animal Care center’s office in Cruz Bay or by calling 340-774-1625. Tickets are also available at St. John Hardware and Pelican Post. I will be there, and I hope you will too!
You can donate an item to be included in the gala’s raffle and/or auction. You can email me at jenn@explorestj.com for details.
Well this is exciting! Explore STJ is mentioned in the most recent version of Frommers’ Virgin Islands guide book! How cool is that?!
An island tour guest let me know about the mention last month when she was booking her tour. And a week later, a second guest let me know that she read it too! So exciting! There a couple of errors, but I am still very thankful to be included. Check it out:
Unfortunately the price is not correct. I definitely do not charge $325 per person for a half day tour. If I did, I’d be retired by now! The cost is $325 per group. 🙂 Also, the name of the game I created is called St. Johnopoly, not simply Johnopoly. But again, I am simply happy to be included.
I was never contacted by anyone at Frommers, so this was a complete surprise to me! Thank you Frommers!
That’s all I have for today. Just wanted to share something exciting to me and say thank you. 🙂 Have a great day, everyone!
Want to learn more about St. John? Take an island tour with me!
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.
Starlink has been a lifesaver at my house here in Fish Bay.
If paradise was perfect, everyone would live here, right??
St. John is currently experiencing connectivity issues. The root of the problem is uncertain at this time. It is not the same reason that St. John experienced connectivity issues around Christmas, according to Love City Community Network (LCCN).
So what does this mean? It means that landline phone service is down around the island. Internet is down for those people and businesses who have Viya or LCCN for internet. Some businesses are unable to process credit cards at this time, but don’t worry, the ATMs are working just fine.
If you are trying to call or email someone on island today, there will likely be a delay to respond. That is unless they have Starlink internet like me! 🙂
Starlink internet has been life changing. If you own a business or villa on St. John and are reading this, I highly, highly recommend that you switch to Starlink as soon as you can.
I live in a dead zone in Fish Bay. So if I do not have internet, I have zero service out here. We switched to Starlink over the summer after getting frustrated with Viya’s poor connectivity too many times. Starlink is satellite internet, and it works wonderfully.
The standard Starlink equipment costs $389. Monthly service is $99 a month. I promise you it is money well spent.
EDIT: Let me just add something here… I am 100 percent for local businesses. I think LCCN is fantastic. But unfortunately problems like this are out of their hands. So in my situation, I would not be able to type this without Starlink. I would not be able to communicate at all at the moment without Starlink. I wouldn’t even be able to access 911 services without Starlink. So it is extremely important in my world to have reliable, satellite internet.
That’s it for today. Hopefully internet gets fixed on the island today. In the meantime, I think I’m going to head to the beach! Have a great day, everyone!
The curve coming down to Trunk Bay Saturday afternoon. I witnessed one of these vehicles being towed later in the day.
I hate writing the parking story. But after what I’ve seen on the North Shore this past week, I feel that maybe a little parking refresher is in order. I saw countless parking tickets on the North Shore over the past several days, in addition to watching several vehicles get towed. No parking truly means no parking, especially when visiting the beaches.
Nothing ruins a vacation more than leaving the beach and finding a yellow parking ticket to the tune of $125 on your windshield. And you know what is even worse? Leaving the beach and finding that your vehicle has been towed. Well, that has happened to countless visitors over the past week, so here are the parking rules straight from the Virgin Islands National Park.
According to the VI National Park, when parking along the roadway, all tires and mirrors need to be completely off the road and behind the white line (when there is a white line). Also, never park in front of a gate or an entrance, and never push a stone with your vehicle that is being used to make a boundary. When parking along the road, do not push back any trees or break any branches when trying to find a parking spot.
There are numerous “no parking” signs near the beaches. Please be mindful to the arrows on those signs as well. Some are no parking to the right, some to the left, and so forth.
Tickets
Parking tickets start at $125. They can be higher depending on the violation, a ranger told me last year. The ranger also stated that some car rental companies often charge the renter double the fine, especially when a vehicle is towed.
Tips for Specific Beaches
Soloman/Honeymoon
There is no parking at either of the beaches. You can either walk in via the Lind Point Trail, or take the $6 shuttle provided by the Caneel Bay Beach Club. This shuttle is accessed from Caneel Bay. If you park behind the National Park Visitor Center, you need to get a handwritten pass from the Visitor Center (if they are open). They will ask that you back into the designated spot for permit holders and display your parking permit on your dashboard. You can also park at the top of the hill near the Virgin Islands National Park sign and walk down the Lind Point Trail. You do not need a permit to park there.
Caneel Beach
This is an easy one. You can park in Lot C at Caneel Bay. Just tell the attendant at the gate where you are going, and they will direct you to the appropriate parking lot.
Hawksnest
There is a decent amount of parking at Hawksnest. You can park before and after the parking area on the beach side, as long as your tires and mirrors are completely off the road. It is not suggested that you park anywhere across the street as you may damage the trees, a ranger told me earlier this year.
The vehicles parked on the left are ok, per the ranger. There really isn’t enough space on the right without hurting a tree. (Image taken last year.)
Oppenheimer/Gibney
There are only three parking spots, so this is a beach to get to early. You can park on the left side when facing the gate. The Oppenheimer house is available for rent. What that occurs, the gate will be open. This does not mean it is open for the public to drive down to the beach. Only guests to the Oppenheimer house that day are allowed to park down the driveway. Whoever rents the house typically puts a sign on the gate to let people know it is rented. This does not mean the beach is closed, but it’s nice to allow whoever spent the money to rent the house to have the majority of the beach for their event.
Denis Bay
You can park in the small lot for Peace Hill to access Denis Bay.
Jumbie
There is a small parking area across the street from the trailhead. It is not recommended that you park on the beach side, as there is a driveway there and you can also damage trees, a ranger previously told me.
Trunk Bay
This is definitely one of the busier beaches, so you want to get to Trunk Bay early. When parking in the main lot, be sure not to take a spot designated for the taxis. They park along the back of the lot, beside the entry booth, facing the street. There is a small patch of grass to the right of where the taxis park (if your back is to the road.) Do not park on this grassy patch unless you’d like to leave with a ticket or possibly get towed, the ranger said.
You are allowed to park across the street near the plantation building as long as your tires and mirrors are off the road. You will see there are no parking and no parking beyond this point signs in that area. I have seen numerous vehicles ticketed here for ignoring those signs, so keep an eye out and look for arrows. This is where I saw a vehicle being towed yesterday.
Also, there isn’t any parking along the roadway on the beach side before of after the Trunk Bay parking lot. I see people create spots, and those vehicles routinely get ticketed too. There are a few no parking signs up the switchbacks too. Trunk is pretty well marked when it comes to where you can and where you cannot park. If you do not want to deal with Trunk’s notorious parking issues, you can always take a taxi.
Please do not park right next to a no parking sign like this yellow Jeep. The vehicles on the right are fine per Park rules. (Image taken last year.)
Cinnamon Bay
There are two large parking lots, so this is an easier place to find a spot. You can also park along the roadway a bit, but again, all tires and mirrors off the road, and please do not park in a way that you can damage a tree. There are a handful of spots where you can park along the road inside of Cinnamon Bay (near the parking areas) too.
Please do not park over the white line. (Pic from last year)(Pic from last year)
Maho Bay
Maho is also extremely busy, and parking is tricky. On the Maho Crossroads side of the beach (closer to Cruz Bay), there are several designated parking spots along the beach. Once you pass the final shade structure, you can no longer park on the beach side. This is a sea turtle nesting beach, and there are also small plantings along the beach that cannot be harmed.
Parking on the sand at Maho is not allowed, per Park rules. (Image taken last year.)
There are also some parking spots across the street in between large boulders along the roadway. Then there is a decent-sized lot at the turtle side of the beach (the opposite side from where the tiki bar is). You can also park along the roadway near the parking lot as long as your tires and mirrors are off the road. This is tricky because there isn’t a ton of space, so there is only room for a handful of cars to do this. There is also a sign that indicates you can no longer park on the side of the road, so please be mindful to that.
I understand that it’s frustrating that there are more people visiting than spaces at the beach. Luckily we have an abundance of taxis who drive between Cruz Bay and Maho and everywhere in between all day, every day. There is also the new park and ride option at Caneel Bay. Click here to read about that. Take a taxi if you can. It’s a lot less stressful in my opinion.
