ExploreSTJ.com

Hello everyone, and welcome to the middle of the week! It’s been a bit since I’ve posted an island update, so here we go!

Season is here, and the island is busy! March is one of our busiest months of the year, and parking at the beaches has proven that once again. The lots are filling up rather quickly, but do not be discouraged, you will still be able to visit your favorite beach when vacationing. The key is to go early or later in the afternoon. Trunk Bay is always the toughest, so you want to be there no later than 9:15 a.m. to get a spot. You can also go later in the afternoon. Or better yet, take a taxi. Maho also fills up rather quickly. I’d suggest getting out there no later than 10 a.m. to get a spot. Earlier is better. It’s another super easy spot to taxi to. (Click here to view the current taxi rates.)

If the North Shore beaches are full, you can always drive east. It’s always a little hotter out there and there are less raindrops overall on the east end. Just something to think about. There are two beaches at the end of Route 10 (Centerline Road ) – Hansen Bay and Saltwell Bottom. Both are great. Check them out. And when you’re at Saltwell Bottom, be sure to check out their handmade souvenirs too.

The water right now is absolutely incredible. It looked like a lake yesterday. There is almost no wind happening right now, so it’s a great time to hop on a boat. Check out Palm Tree Charters out of Cruz Bay and Flyaway Charters out of Coral Bay if you’d like to spend a day on the water.

(Click here to check out a video I took yesterday of the unbelievably flat waters.)

You may encounter some delays due to the ongoing pole installation, which has been happening since the 2017 storms. They are currently replacing the wooden poles with stronger poles near Zootenvaal and on Bordeaux Mountain, so you may have a few short delays when traveling in those areas this week.

Now let’s talk about the restaurants… The are full, but not crazy. I still suggest making a reservation in advance for the fancier spots (Morgan’s Mango, Extra Virgin, La Tapa, Lime Inn, ZoZo’s and The Terrace) to make certain you get a spot. You can also reserve bar seats at all of these restaurants if you prefer that over a table. The walk-in restaurants are full, but I haven’t seen or heard of any crazy long wait times like we had back in 2021 and a bit in 2022.

Don’t have a vacation planned, but you want to see what’s happening here on island? You can check out our webcams at www.ExploreSTJ.com/webcams. I have more than 20 webcams posted there, and I am always adding more.

And for those of you who are lucky enough to be on island now or have a trip planned and you want to get to know the island a little bit more, I would love to take you out on an island tour! You can email me at jenn@explorestj.com or check out www.ExploreSTJ.com/tour to learn more & to check out my reviews.

I think I am going to end this post here. As always, if there is anything you’d like to learn more about, please feel free to email me or inbox me on social media. Thanks so much & have a great day!

Follow Explore STJ on Social Media

–> www.facebook.com/explorestj

–> www.instagram.com/explorestj

Looking to take a St. John island tour?

Learn more here –> www.explorestj.com/tour Full & half days available. Rated “Excellent” on TripAdvisor.

There are now three ways to ferry between St. John and St. Thomas, as the Charlotte Amalie “downtown” ferry is scheduled to resume its schedule today after being offline for several months.

Charlotte Amalie Ferry

The ferry to Charlotte Amalie will leave Cruz Bay everyday at 8:45 a.m. and 11:15 a.m. It will leave Charlotte Amalie everyday at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. The cost of this ferry is $13 for people ages 12 and up. The cost is $3.50 for children ages two to 11. (Residents receive $1 off the adult fare.) Bags are $4 each. This ferry leaves from the main ferry dock in Cruz Bay beside the beach.

You can buy tickets in advance at www.stjohnticketing.com.

Red Hook Ferry

The main ferry between Cruz Bay and Red Hook leaves at Red Hook at 5:30 a.m., 6:30 a.m., 7:30 a.m. and 8:30 a.m. Beginning at 9 a.m. it leaves every hour on the hour until 11 p.m. There is also an 11:30 p.m. boat. There isn’t a 5:30 a.m. boat on the weekends.

The main ferry between Cruz Bay and Red Hook leaves Cruz Bay at 6 a.m. and continues every hour on the hour until 11 p.m.

The cost of the main ferry is $8.15 for people ages 12 and up. It is $1 for children ages two to 11. Bags are $4 each. (There are discounted rates for USVI residents.)

You can buy tickets in advance at www.stjohnticketing.com.

Crown Bay Ferry

The Crown Bay ferry leaves Cruz Bay at 11 a.m. and 4:15 p.m. daily. It also leaves at 8:30 a.m. and 1:15 p.m. on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.

The Crown Bay ferry leaves Crown Bay at 3:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. daily. It also leaves at 9:45 a.m. and 2:15 p.m. on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.

The cost of the Crown Bay ferry is $20 for people ages 12 and older. Children three to 11 are $10. Bags are $5 each.

You can buy tickets in advance at www.interislandboatservices.com.

Follow Explore STJ on Social Media

–> www.facebook.com/explorestj

–> www.instagram.com/explorestj

Looking to take a St. John island tour?

Learn more here –> www.explorestj.com/tour Full & half days available. Rated “Excellent” on TripAdvisor.

I know how much you all love a good webcam, and there are two new ones to add to your list!

The folks over at La Jolla Caribe in Catherineberg have not one, but two live webcams! The first shows a northwest view from the property. You can see the Peter Bay neighborhood in the bottom left portion of the screen, and the east ends of Lovango and Congo in the middle left. Little Tobago and Great Tobago (both British) are on the horizon line in the middle. The west side of Jost (British) is on the horizon line on the right, and the west side of Whistling Cay is just below that. Check it out:

The northeast webcam view shows a portion of Cinnamon Bay beach and Cinnamon Cay. You can see Whistling Cay in it entirely (the island thats shaped like a turtle). Jost is the island top left. You can see a portion of Great Thatch (British) in front of that, and Mary Point (St. John) in front of that. Tortola and Little Thatch (British) are in the top left side of the screen. Check it out:

(I previously added the second webcam to our webcam page, but the link was changed, so it stopped working.)

I added both of these views to Explore STJ’s webcam page. I also updated the webcam streaming from Lovango Resort & Beach Club. That’s a great one because you can hear the waves. You can check that out 24/7 and all of Explore STJ’s webcams at www.explorestj.com/webcams

Follow Explore STJ on Social Media

–> www.facebook.com/explorestj

–> www.instagram.com/explorestj

Looking to take a St. John island tour?

Learn more here –> www.explorestj.com/tour Full & half days available. Rated “Excellent” on TripAdvisor.