St. John's snorkeling by dinghy rental ?'s

[MNbarMAN]

My wife & I will be in St. Thomas in January from 7am-7pm on the Norwegian Dawn. We are tentatively planning (depending on weather) on taking the ferry over to St. John's and renting a dinghy to snorkel and beach hop around the island. I have entered gps waypoints on my gps through information provided by google earth. This should provide us with a route so we don't get lost.

 

Our plan is to rent the dinghy in Cruz Bay and head straight for Waterlemon Cay for starters. Then we'll make our way back with stops at Cinnamon Bay and Trunk Bay. We plan on taking the 3:45pm ferry back to St. Thomas.

 

I realize we will probably need the dinghy for more than the typical 4 hour rental period, so we may negotiate a full day price as we'll need it from about 9am-3:00pm.

 

Does anyone have any helpful info we might need to consider? Does anyone know how long it would take to get to Waterlemon from Cruz Bay by dinghy? If you've ever attempted something similar, thanks in advance for sharing your experience.

[SRQBucFan]

MNbarMAN,

 

We went to St. John earlier this year and I will offer these tips. Do not even think about trying to go from Cruz Bay to Waterlemon in a dinghy. There is only enough gas to go about as far as Hawksnest Cay. The water route is Drake's Passage and will be very rough when you go in January. We had friends who are boaters who tried it and his wife made him turn back as it was way too rough. (And it was summertime when the seas are calmer.)

 

If you are dead set on renting a dinghy, plan to go only as far as Caneel Bay. What you could do also is go ahead and rent a true powerboat. There is a boat rental place right by the dock in CB called 'oceanrunner'. They have a decent website where you can see their rates and FAQ's. There is lot's of good snorkeling off the beach so there is not really a need to rent a boat if you are only doing St.John.

 

What I really would recommend given your limited time and not wanting to take a chance on missing your departure is to take a cab or bus to Red Hook and take the Ferry to Cruz Bay. There you can rent a car for the day. All the commercial activity on St. John is right there by the ferry dock. There are probably four or five car rental places within a block of the ferry dock. From there you can drive to all the beaches. Just head north on the road out of town and you will pass all the best beaches and snorkel spots. You could head all the way to Waterlemon first and work your way back. However, I would recommend stopping at Hawksnest beach on the way out to get your feet wet and to relax. The snorkeling there is excellent with two huge fields of elkhorn coral within a couple of feet of the surface. The coral extends at least 500 yards out into the bay. This is a very protected cay and you will see huge schools of tang, turtles, maybe a lobster or two, and tons of other marine life. This is a public park with changing areas and bathrooms and very good parking. Caneel Hawksnest beach is to the left and Gibney Beach is to the right from Hawksnest Beach proper. Both are excellent.

 

Trunk Bay and Cinnamon Bay are farther down the road and are both beautiful beaches with good but not great snorkeling close to the beach. Cinnamon has a marked 'snorkel trail' that you can follow. It is good for beginners. Nothing is very far on St. John. You can drive from CB to Waterlemon in 30 minutes. I will warn you though, there is not 100 yards of straight road on the entire island. It is up and down, left and right, 25 mph the whole way. The cars are left hand drive and you drive on the left hand side of the road. (You'll get used to it by the time you leave :) ). Waterlemon Cay is basically at the end of the road on the north side. The snorkeling there is excellent but you will have to walk quite a distance around the cay to get to the other side of the cay where the best snorkeling is. Be sure to bring 'Aqua Socks' or something similar for the walk.

 

There is a campground at Cinnamon Bay where you can grab a snack and relax under the trees. It is fairly primitive. It is a 'National Park' but I would more describe it as a 'state park' level. Still quite nice and one of the finest beaches and sand you will ever see. Both Cinnamon and Trunk are visited by the cruise ship excursions so they can be very busy on 'cruise days'. Hawksnest is the 'locals' beach. The locals won't tell you to go there 'cause they want to keep it for themselves ;) .

 

We have travelled throughout the Caribbean and found St. John to be one of the neatest places ever. Check out some of the St. John's travel websites and you will find a lot of people who think the same thing. Have fun and be sure to have a 'Pusser's Painkiller' (or two) for me.

[MNbarMAN]

Thank you very much for the info. It is much appreciated.

 

I believe we are docking in Charlotte Amalie. Would you suggest taking a cab to the Red Hook ferry instead of just taking the Charlotte Amalie ferry?

 

The car rental option would be more reliable and it sounds like fun to drive in St. John's (I'm a race car driver), but the dinghy seemed to have an added element of excitement. Also, I'd hate to pre-rent a dinghy and arrive to rainy weather. I had a poster on another board tell me that it would take 30 minutes by dinghy from CB to Waterlemon?? I thought that seemed to be an underestimation.

 

Since SRQ is the airport code for Sarasota and the Tampa Bay Buc's are in Tampa, I deduced that you are from Sarasota. Is that correct? My parents live on Siesta Key.

 

Thanks again for all the great info. I will have a "painkiller" or 2 for you!