St. John USVI report July/August 2009.

[donovantyler]

St. John - Is one of the three main islands of the U.S. Virgin Islands. You now need a passport to get there from the U.S btw.

It has excellent diving and snorkeling and there is a lot of other great stuff to do there as well.

DIVING –
I think the maximum depth at one spot that got to 71 feet but most of the time the max depth was 50-60 feet. A lot of the bottom is at around 45feet. Visibility was around 60 feet until the wind kicked up causing lots of chop, a few white caps, and that brought the visibility down to around 40 feet - still quite nice. Bottom temp was 82 degrees everywhere.

We are new divers, certified in June and St. John was a fantastic choice for us.
Even though the reefs around St. John allow some fishing I found them gorgeous with many fish and everyone seem very happy.

We did 10 dives plus one night dive in six dive days. We saw a small spotted eel, many beautiful reef fish, hawk bill turtles, lobsters, crabs, schools of large tarpon, schools of jacks, sting rays, great barrel sponges and all sorts of black, red and orange corals, a few barracuda, a pretty scary looking grouper with large lower teeth hanging out under a ledge while snorkeling (I think he was a grouper).

Our night dive as AMAZING and I petted a sting ray on the sandy floor bottom, and he seemed to not want me to stop as I would move away he would scoot over to me to continue petting his wing.

On our last dive I and one other diver saw an eight foot hammerhead shark. This is quite rare I was told.

DIVE OPS – We did 11 dives with Low Key Water Sports in Cruz bay. Their operation was great! Each day they took us to different sites and the crew was very helpful, professional and fun. Ellen and Sandwich coordinated everything for us and the dive masters: Forrest, Mary, Jason and Mike led us but also allowed us all the freedom we needed to explore. They knew where all of the best stuff was and treated us like family. The captain of the boat, Bob, was extremely knowledgeable and ran a tight ship. Our night dive was especially exciting and beautiful -- I'll never forget it. I highly recommend Low Key Water Sports in St. John! :-D

TOPSIDE – We went to many great beaches: Cinnamon bay, Trunk bay, Jumbie bay, Trunk bay, but my favorite was Waterlemon Cay which is near the Annaburg ruins. The snorkeling around the backside of the key was some of the most pristine, shallow and memorable shallow reefs I've ever experienced. We saw starfish (which breed there), urchins there and it seemed like everything was growing wild around that little key!

 

[Mayor]

Nice report! My wife and I really liked the island as well.

 

[Scuba Monster]

Nice trip report ... I was certified on St. John almost 5 years ago and just booked a trip back at the end of this year. Thanks for the info on the dive op.

 

[billvi]

***St. John - Is one of the three main islands of the U.S. Virgin Islands. You now need a passport to get there from the U.S btw***

I don't know where you got the information about passports but it is incorrect. You DO NOT need a passport to visit the USVI if you are traveling from the US, all you need is normal identification. A passport is the best ID you can carry but it is not required. Whoever told you that is wrong. You can check with Homeland Security (Customs and Border Protection), USVI Tourism Dept or the State Dept for information. The airlines often screw this up because they fail to train their employees very well and many of them slept thru geography and do not know that the US in USVI stands for United States.

If you plan to visit the BVI (British Virgin Islands) a passport IS required.

Other than that a good report.

 

[deeper thoughts]

REQUIREMENTS FOR U.S. CITIZENS TO ENTER U.S.
VIRGIN ISLANDS
TOURIST TRAVEL

If Arriving Directly from U.S. Mainland (or Puerto Rico, Hawaii, Alaska)
Proof of Identity (Valid Drivers License or Proof of Citizenship Required)
If arriving from North America, Central America, Caribbean, Bermuda:
Note: The Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act
January 23, 2007 - Passport will be required for all air travel to or from Canada, Mexico, Central and South America, the Caribbean, and Bermuda.
As early as January 1, 2008 - Passport requirement extended to all land and sea borders as well as air travel.
Passport or Proof of U.S. Citizenship Required
Tickets and Documents for return or onward travel
Vaccinations - None required


Usually Acceptable Proofs of U.S. Citizenship:
U.S. Passport - must be valid -or-
Certified Copy of Birth Certificate plus Official Photo ID -or-
Official U.S. Government Document verifying Citizenship
Certificate of Citizenship
Certificate of Naturalization
Consular Report of Birth Abroad of a U.S. Citizen
Valid Photo I.D - (Photo ID not applicable for minors up to 16 years of age)
Note: A Voter's Registration Card does NOT constitute proof of U.S. Citizenship. Acceptability should be checked with the airline carrier. Persons using a Voter's Registration Card may be subject to extensive questioning on return to the U.S by Immigration Authorities.
BUSINESS TRAVEL

If Arriving Directly from U.S. Mainland (or Puerto Rico, Hawaii, Alaska)
Proof of Identity (Valid Drivers License or Proof of Citizenship Required)
If arriving from North America, Central America, Caribbean, Bermuda:
Note: The Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act
January 23, 2007 - Passport will be required for all air travel to or from Canada, Mexico, Central and South America, the Caribbean, and Bermuda.
As early as January 1, 2008 - Passport requirement extended to all land and sea borders as well as air travel.
Passport or Proof of U.S. Citizenship Required
Vaccinations - None required


Usually Acceptable Proofs of U.S. Citizenship:
U.S. Passport - must be valid -or-
Certified Copy of Birth Certificate plus Official Photo ID -or-
Official U.S. Government Document verifying Citizenship
Certificate of Citizenship
Certificate of Naturalization
Consular Report of Birth Abroad of a U.S. Citizen
Valid Photo I.D.
Note: A Voter's Registration Card does NOT constitute proof of U.S. Citizenship. Acceptability should be checked with the airline carrier. Persons using a Voter's Registration Card may be subject to extensive questioning on return to the U.S by Immigration Authorities.

 

[dschmidt]

Good report! My wife and I will be there early in November for nine days -- staying at Caneel Bay. Will definitely check out Low Key Watersports.

 

[rickhalprin]

thanks for the well written report. St John tends to not get its just recognition as a wonderful dive location. As much is fairly shallow, and currrents are low, dives can be very relaxing and long.

 

[Scuba Monster]

Thanks again for your report ... we're booked December 2-13th, 2009 and I have selected Low Key for our Advanced Diving Certification and recreational dives. Your post helped me select an alternative from what I know. For divers with full gear, Cruz Bay Water Sports does not offer gear storage between dive days or morning and afternoon dives, which means extra schlepping between dives with wet gear to car, villa, car, dive op, etc. repeat. Ellen at LK was very thorough in answering my questions and storage of gear is not a problem, which will be a convience, but important service to us. I also liked the answers to my questions that pertained to advanced certification from LK.

 

[Clyderyde]

Where did you stay in St John?
My wife and I are thinking of going, but the the recent reports on trip advisor seem to show that all three major hotels on island have fallen off in quality dramatically in the last several years.

What about meals

 

[gypsyjim]

When we were on St Thomas in Feb we did a daytrip to St Johns to check out the island and snorkel. We took the car ferry over, so we weren't tied to the local taxis, or tours, and had a great day of snorkeling, away from the regular tourist crowds. We found Leinster Bay, and had it almost completely to ourselves.

We were supposed to bring our US passports, to be able to return to USVI/ ST Thomas but oddly, there is absolutely no INS or HLS presence at the cargo ferry. Not sure if this is normally so, but security was awfully lax THAT day! Pay your truck/car ferry rate, and you're in! I imagine the the popular passenger only ferry has INS, and that most tourists aren't willing to pay to bring a car over, so the law can focus on the passenger ferry and pretty much ignore the cargo one, but it sure made me wonder.

Anyway, we really enjoyed St John. Much quieter than ST Thomas, especially once we got away from the town, and the tourist shuttles to the popular beaches. We'll go back.