Hiking (mountains) on St. Thomas or St. Martin?

[mikeerdas]

Is there any good mountain hiking in St. Thomas or on St. Martin? What are the highest elevation peaks there? I don't really consider anything less than 1,000 ft to be a mountain; heck, some people consider anything less than 6,000 ft to be a hill. Or if these islands don't have any decent mountains, are there other islands close by, with mountains, that could be done as an excursion in a day?

 

Then again, a 1,000 ft peak could be somewhat impressive rising straight from sea level... any hikers here?

 

I tend not to be a beach / flat lands person (I'm happiest trekking up volcanoes and mountains like in Hawaii and Costa Rica), but my wife wants to do a Caribbean cruise.

 

So, what type of moutain hiking is available in the eastern Caribbean? Or western caribbean for that matter--we haven't decided eastern or western yet.

 

For the cruises we're considering, here are some of the ports:

 

St Thomas

St Martin

Nassau

 

Roatan Honduras

Cozumel

Belize City

Grand Cayman

 

Originally, I wanted to do Western Caribbean because I'm a ruins fanatic; but it sounds like Tulum isn't a truly impressive site like Chichen Itza... So I'd probably be disappointed.

 

Thanks in advance.

[richtersl]

Of the ports you listed, St. John has some pretty nice hiking trails. Over 50% of the island in US National Park. I'm not sure of the elevation of the mountains. One of the locals will probably chime in with that information.

 

Grand Cayman has no mountains whatsover. It's a flat as a pancake!

 

The islands of Dominica and St. Kitts have the kind of hiking you're looking to do. Those two are usually stops on southern Caribbean cruises.

[mikeerdas]

Thanks Linda. Only problem is that my wife is not a hiker. Wonder if there's a good and safe excursion she can do on her own while I'm hiking? She likes to snorkel. Only thing I'd be worried about is her stuff being stolen on a beach somewhere, unless there are lockers?

 

I looked into hiking on St. John, and that's definitely the "St Thomas" excursion I'm most interested in.

 

Dominica really looks fabulous; but for the time period we're interested in (Late Sept 2008) I didn't see a single cruise on any cruise line with Dominica as a port. Do you know of any?

[mafig]

Dominica is farther south, so if you're sailing from Miami/Ft. Lauderdale you need to look at 10 dayers (or more).

 

Otherwise, check out itineraries on the ships leaving from San Juan, PR.;)

[richtersl]

I think that Trunk Bay has lockers. If you're cruising over the summer months, Trunk will be quite nice because it won't be too crowded.

 

I'm not sure if Cinnamon Bay has lockers. Cinnamon might be one that the two of you can do together. It's "next door" to Trunk, part of a NPS campground, has snorkeling and a short hiking trail. The trail won't be a challenge for you, though. ;) But it does take you to some sugar plantation ruins.

 

Another idea I'm tossing out to for a consideration is a short hike to Honeymoon Bay on St. John. It might also be a nice compromise for the two of you. You can also Google Lind Point Hiking Trail to find out more information about the hike to there from the ferry dock.

[The Islander]

Highest point on St. Thomas is Crown Mountain at 1,556 feet. The island is thirteen miles long by four miles wide; land is upward bound pretty much everywhere.

 

And on St. John Bordeaux Mountain at 1,277 feet. Again looking at the island size which is just 7 miles long by 3 miles wide, things start rising upward pretty quickly from the shore... little flat area.

 

Trail information on St. John check out the NPS website http://www.nps.gov/viis.

 

--Islander

[nu2cruzin03]

This seems like an interesting, easy hike, on St. John's.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=691250

 

We have this excursion booked for our upcoming cruise.

 

Rick and Lisa