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Jenn Manes September 16, 2024 0 Comments

A little end of summer backyard wine before making the final trip home

Well folks, my extended summer break is over. As many of you know, late summer is slow season here on St. John, so many of us take that time to travel, to visit friends and family, and to simply decompress. I tell so many of my charter guests that I do not mind working seven days a week during high season, because I know that allows me to enroll my son in YMCA camp up in Connecticut for a couple of weeks in the summer – which he absolutely LOVES – and it allows me to drink wine on sidewalks with friends and family – something I absolutely I love.

Dalton loved “working” at the end of summer camp.

Dalton and I flew home a few weeks ago to get ready for school. Can you believe he is already in first grade??! Time sure flies when you’re having fun! But despite the start of school, I had one more quick visit scheduled before my home state of Connecticut gets too chilly for me. Where are my Massachusetts friends, because you will get a kick out of this…. I flew up to Connecticut simply so I could go to The Big E. What can I say, I love a good fair!

Look what I stumbled on at The Big E in Springfield, Massachusetts!

After eating and drinking my way through the fair and making quick trips to Target, HomeGoods and all the fun spots, my summer vacay has officially come to an end. I am super excited to be back on island, and I’m eager for season to start. (Time to book your Explore STJ Island Tour!) From here on out, you can expect regular posts from me. (I have been pretty sporadic for the past few weeks. My apologies!)

Yes, I am fully aware that I pack the most random items.

I LOVE this hanging mandevilla plant, so let’s hope it makes it to the island in one piece!

As always, if there is something you’d like to know more about, feel free to send me an email at jenn@explorestj.com. I am happy to look into anything you may be curious about.

I have become the self-titled Queen of Westin timeshare sales this summer. I have a few more to share with you later this week. I am also working hard to sell a business that just quietly listed, and I have few more things up my sleeve. If you are looking to buy or sell, please email me at jenn@explorestj.com. I would love to help! If you want to see what I currently have listed at the Westin, please visit www.explorestj.com/westin.

That’s it for now. Here are a few more pics from Dalton’s summer vacation. I know you like to watch him grow. 🙂

We made it in time for strawberry season!

Mike and I brought Dalton to New York City on his 6th birthday.

He was ridiculously happy when we surprised him with the Slime Museum!

And then we finished off his birthday with some pasta in Little Italy.

I swore I’d never go camping again following months of WAPA outages, but I caved and Dalton had a blast!

Have a fantastic day, everyone! Chat tomorrow!

Follow Explore STJ on Social Media

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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. 🙂

National Park Fees May Increase; Public Feedback Welcomed

Jenn Manes September 10, 2024 0 Comments

The Virgin Islands National Park is considering raising numerous fees, and it is asking the public for your feedback. The proposed changes were announced in a social media post Monday evening. There are two increases that stand out to me: a proposed increase at Trunk Bay and another over at Caneel Bay.

The current fee at Trunk Bay is $5 per person for guests ages 15 and older. The new rate is $10 per person for guests ages 10 and older. They are also bring back annual passes at Trunk Bay, which are proposed to be $60 per person, ages 10 and older.

Ever since land access was restored to Caneel Beach on August 1st, parking has remained free. The proposed change is $10 per car. Parking at Caneel for those opting to pay for the shuttle to Honeymoon has also been free for several years. It is unclear whether those guests would also have the pay that $10 fee in addition to the $6 per person, per way shuttle fee to Honeymoon.

Here is the new proposed fees:

Trunk Bay Expanded Amenity Fees*
-Individual Day Pass
Current: $5
Proposed: $10
-Interagency Senior Pass
Current: $2.50
Proposed: $5
-Interagency Access Pass
Current: $2.50
Proposed: $5
-Individual Annual Pass
Current: $0
Proposed: $60
*Individual Day or Annual Passes would be required for all individuals 10 years of age or older. Currently Day Passes are required for individuals over 15 years of age.

Daily Park-wide Mooring and Anchorage Expanded Amenity Fees**
-Standard Vessels (vessels less than or equal to 60 ft length overall)
Current:$26
Proposed: $40
-Large Vessels (vessels greater than 60 ft length overall)
Current: $26
Proposed: $60
-Interagency Senior Pass Mooring Standard Vessels:
Current: $13
Proposed: $20
-Interagency Senior Pass Mooring Large Vessels:
Current: $13
Proposed: $30
-Interagency Access Pass Mooring Standard Vessels:
Current: $13
Proposed: $20
-Interagency Access Pass Mooring Large Vessels
Current: $13
Proposed: $30
**Mooring and anchorage fees will be required 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Fee would be valid for up to 24-hours. Currently mooring and anchorage fees are required for overnight stays.

New Expanded Amenity Fees
-Proposed Fee Proposed Caneel Bay Parking $10 per day
-National Park Service Finger Pier $1/per foot of the vessel per day
-National Park Service Bulkhead/Dinghy $5/day or $150 per year
-National Park Service Boat Launch $10 per launch/retrieval or $100 per year

“The proposed fee increases are necessary for Virgin Islands National Park to improve and maintain high-quality visitor services,” Superintendent Penny Del Bene said in a social media post Monday. “Expanded amenity fees collected by the park are used to support the rising costs associated with maintaining and operating the park’s various facilities and correspond with customer demand and use.”

Eighty percent of fees collected in the Virgin Islands National Park are for use on projects that directly enhance the experience of park visitors. The remaining 20 percent of all collected fees is distributed throughout the National Park System.

Public Engagement Opportunities
Virgin Islands National Park will host a public meeting to discuss the proposed increase in expanded amenity fees on Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024, from 5:45 p.m. to 6:45 p.m.. The meeting will be hosted in the new Resource Management and Science (RMS) building conference room at Lind Point.

The Virgin Islands National Park is accepting public comments on the proposed expanded amenity fee increases. Please submit all comments through the park’s Planning, Environment and Public Comment (PEPC) site located at:
https://parkplanning.nps.gov/VIISExpandedAmenityFees

Comments may also be submitted via mail to:
Virgin Islands National Park
Fee Program
1300 Cruz Bay Creek
St. John, VI 00830

All public comments on the proposed expanded amenity fee increases will be accepted through October 9, 2024 at 11:59 p.m.

Follow Explore STJ on Social Media

–> www.facebook.com/explorestj

–> www.instagram.com/explorestj

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. 🙂

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

Jenn Manes September 6, 2024 0 Comments

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, right? Seven years have passed since Hurricane Irma, and the island is flourishing. Rather than take my word for it, I wanted to show you.

I drove around Thursday afternoon and retook many of the same pictures I took just days after Irma. I think you’ll enjoy them.

The Connections building looking toward the ferry dock, Sept. 7, 2017

Looking down the street in front of The Longboard, Sept. 7, 2017

Looking down the road toward Mongoose Junction, Sept. 7, 2017

Virgin Islands National Park sign, Sept. 10, 2017

The parking area at Jumbie, Sept. 10, 2017

Follow Explore STJ on Social Media

–> www.facebook.com/explorestj

–> www.instagram.com/explorestj

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. 🙂

Cinnamon Bay Campground Closed; Some Concessions Remain Open

Jenn Manes September 3, 2024 0 Comments

One of the most photographed spots on St. John is here at Cinnamon Bay.

Hello everyone, and happy Tuesday! I hope you all had a wonderful Labor Day weekend!

Low season is upon us here in St. John. It’s been super quiet over the past week or so, and many businesses are currently closed for low season. (Click here to view Explore STJ’s Seasonal Closings list.) The campground at Cinnamon Bay closed to overnight guests over the weekend, but I am happy to tell you that some of the concessions will remain open during low season. And as always, the beach is open. Beaches never close. 🙂

What is Currently Closed at Cinnamon Bay?

The campground is closed for the months of September and October. It will reopen November 1st.
The showers at the restroom building near the beach are closed.
Watersports rentals are currently closed, but will reopen in October. The exact date has yet to be determined.
The camp store will most likely be closed. This will depend on staffing.

What is Currently Open at Cinnamon Bay?

The main restrooms by the beach are open.
The water spigot beside the main restrooms is on.
The food truck near the beach is open and will stay open as long as the weather cooperates and staffing permits.

The food truck remains open. Beach rentals are currently closed.

What’s on the Menu at Cinnamon Bay?

Here are some of the items currently served at Cinnamon Bay.

For those of you who don’t follow us on social media, I posted a video taken at Maho Bay last week when there was only one Jeep in the parking lot… and it was taken at noon! Don’t sleep on low season! It’s a great time to visit!

Follow Explore STJ on Social Media

–> www.facebook.com/explorestj

–> www.instagram.com/explorestj

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. 🙂

I Visited Caneel Beach & It was Amazing!

Jenn Manes August 31, 2024 0 Comments

I walked down to Caneel beach for the first time Saturday morning, and it was amazing. I’m thrilled that the Virgin Islands National Park created public access to this beach, which has not been accessible by land for years. Naturally, I took several pics and video to share with all of you!

Let’s start logistics. You are probably wondering how to get here. You can either drive or taxi to the entrance of the former Caneel Bay resort. The entrance is about five minutes or so from Cruz Bay. If you taxi, your driver will drop you right at the entrance. If you drive yourself, they will direct you to park in a specific parking lot. What I learned Saturday is that there are three lots that people can use when accessing Caneel beach. We were instructed to park at Lot C, which is the closest to the beach. It’s the parking lot that we used to park in when visiting the resort (pre-Irma) or ZoZo’s when it was at the sugar mill (also pre-Irma).

As you can see, there is ample parking that is available to beachgoers. This is wonderful as I will expect it to alleviate some of our parking issues during high season. Fortunately on Saturday, parking wasn’t an issue. The island is extremely quiet at the moment.

Dalton is six years old, and this is the first time in his life that he has been able to walk to a beach at Caneel Bay. Progress!

The walk from the parking lot to Caneel Beach is about five minutes. You walk down the stairwell that used to lead to the resort. At the bottom of the stairs, you will walk to your right, which is front of the old plantation structures. They have been cleaned up and fenced off, so you can finally view them again.

It’s not perfectly manicured like it used to be, but that’s ok with me!

A quick right in front of the plantation structures

You can view the plantation structures as you walk to the beach.

From there, you will walk a few hundred feet before taking a left. There is signage throughout, so you will know exactly where to go. There is also fencing on each side of the walking paths, so you know where you can go and where you need to stay out of.

You are about halfway there at this point.

As you get close to the beach, you will see a handful of port-o-johns and a couple of trash bins. It’s a quick right after that, and you’re there!

These are the only bathrooms at the moment.

You will walk behind a destroyed hotel room before arriving at the beach.

The few hours my family spent on the beach were magical. It truly is such a stunning place. We had a little on and off rain, but still managed to have a great time. Here are a few more pics:

The dock remains off limits at the moment.

For those of you who plan to visit Honeymoon, there is still a shuttle that runs from the entrance of Caneel to Honeymoon beach. You are not able to walk to Honeymoon via Caneel. (You can walk there via the Lind Point trail.) Currently, you can only walk to Caneel beach. If that changes, you know I’ll be the first to let you know. 🙂

Want to learn more about St. John? Looking to take an island tour?

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. 🙂

Follow Explore STJ on Social Media

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What is Happening in St. John?

Jenn Manes August 29, 2024 0 Comments

Hello everyone, and happy Thursday! I am finally back home after a fun vacation up in the states. My island tours resume today, and I am happy to get back to showing you all the most beautiful place in the world! I am going to cruise around today to see if anything has changed over the past few weeks, and I will be sure to share what I learn with all of you. In there meantime, you can see what’s happening in St. John for yourself by checking out one of more than 20 live streaming webcams.

These webcams can be found 24/7 at www.explorestj.com/webcams. Here are all of them:

St. John Spice Cam – Overlooking the ferry dock & Cruz Bay

The Beach Bar – Bar Cam

The Beach Bar – Panoramic Beach Cam

The Beach Bar – Stage Cam (This webcam is only online when The Beach Bar has live music.)

The Windmill Bar

Lime Out, St. John’s Floating Taco Bar

Coconut Coast Studios – Overlook Frank Bay toward St. Thomas – Sunset Views & Sound

Mare Blu villa – Overlooking Rendezvous Bay

Villa Circe – Views of Tortola, Jost Van Dyke, Sir Francis Drake Channel & more

Calichi at Picture Point – 360 degree views!

Coral Bay Views – Located at Coconut Hill cottage, high above Coral Bay

Grande Bay Resort – Overlooking Cruz Bay

Sunset Ridge Villas – Located above Cruz Bay with views toward St. Thomas

Fish Camp – Overlooking Turner Bay, Little St. James & French Cap

Great Expectations villa – Overlooking Hart & Rendezvous bays

Great Expectations – Sunset cam

La Jolla Caribe – Located in Catherineberg, high above Cinnamon Bay – northeast view

La Jolla Caribe – northwest view

Long Bay Beach Villa – St. John’s East End

Lovango Resort & Beach Club

Maho Bay House

Soggy Dollar Bar – Located over in Jost Van Dyke in the British Virgin Islands

Windsong Villa – Overlooking Fish Bay & beyond

Windswept Point Live – Located on a point between Trunk & Cinnamon bays

Coconuts villa – Located in Gifft Hill with views toward Pillsbury Sound & St. Thomas

https://www.weather.vi/webcam.php

Esprit villa – Located on Bordeaux Mountain, above Coral Bay

https://espritstjohn.com/live-webcam/

Sunset Ridge Villas – Located above Cruz Bay with views toward St. Thomas

https://www.youtube.com/live/y8aDrxVkHHw?si=jqqTKQQFXYaKbyFS

If you have a webcam that you’d like to add to this list, please email jenn@explorestj.com.

Want to learn more about St. John? Looking to take an island tour?

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. Book Now. 🙂

Follow Explore STJ on Social Media

–> www.facebook.com/explorestj

–> www.instagram.com/explorestj