Magical Moments in Maho Bay, St John USVI

This had to be the most amazing animal encounter I've had on St. John, and I've had many over the years. My 2 daughters and I discovered a large Hawksbill turtle in the shallows near Lilly Maho beach on the North shore.  I thought for sure we'd have maybe a couple of seconds with him before he would disappear from sight, the way all turtles do. The turtles here have a shy nature usually, and if they do let you swim along with them, it's usually at a distance, and you have to swim hard to keep up with them after they discover that you're watching them.  This guy was different.  He was large, about 2 and half feet across his shell, and the barnacles covering his back and the weathered look on his skin made him appear like he'd traveled these warm waters for decades.  What amazed us was that he didn't leave us in a rush.  He hung out with us!  When I first came closer, he spun around quickly to face me, then seemed to relax as though he trusted me. The three of us stood in the shallow water around him, leaving him an open space to swim away if he wanted to, as if he were a tamed animal.  Maybe he felt safe with my youngest daughter (age 8) since she found him first, then let us all get closer to him since he sensed our love.  He slowly swam into deeper water, but stayed on the surface the whole time with us circled around him, still leaving him room to swim away if he desired.  We made our way with him to about 50 yards off shore, then he began to slowly move deeper, and come back up to the surface where we were waiting. We felt he must have nowhere important to go, probably had just eaten and had a full belly, so he didn't mind taking time out of his daily routine to be with us. We hope he even enjoyed our company, perhaps a nice break from his lonely travels from cay to cove to grass bed searching for food.  My watch told me that he kept company with us for 20 minutes, before he took his last dive into the deep and out of sight while we yelled our thank yous and goodbyes to our old sweet friend.  We were sad to see him go at last, but we felt so lucky, blessed even, to have had this magical, amazing, once in a lifetime experience!  (Hawksbill photo from Wikipedia)

St. John is at its Peak of Gorgeous Now

Want a reason to come to St. John in September, smack dab in the middle of hurricane season? Because you can be the only human soul on Francis Bay to watch hundreds of boobies, pelican and terns take flight, and circle overhead, while verdant green Mary's Point and Ajax Peak provide a mountain backdrop of phenomenal Beauty. There are no charter boats in the harbor, nobody else to share space in the shade with, just you, the birds, the sting rays, and the soft pulse of lapping turquoise water. This truly can be heaven on earth!

Can you quess which St John beach this is??

Donkeys over Coral Bay, St John

This is a familiar scene on St. John for those who venture past town and make their way to the "country. If you want to stop and photograph them, just be sure to pull over to the side of the road because there may be a fast bus coming around the corner!

Current Weather on St John USVI

If you're traveling to St. John this week, you want to pack very light clothing as it is hot and muggy lately. Still gorgeous, dry and the air is soft and sweet with the fragrances of the multitude of flowers that have bloomed since the rains last week. There are a few pesky no-see-ums out and some mosquitoes, but they are quite bearable. The water is a lovely temperature right now, just cool enough to refresh you but warm enough to stay in all day!

St John Snorkeling - Underwater beauty at Waterlemon and Salt Pond Bays

I just received some gorgeous underwater photos taken by Christian and Elizabeth Mitchel while they were here last month staying at Stonegarden Cottage in Coral Bay. The clarity in the photos of Salt Pond and Waterlemon Cay is unbelievably good. Makes me want to go snorkeling right now!

From our St John Essence Travel Log Archives

"Shamba uses brilliant acrylics to paint ethereal Black Jesus/ Rastafari images. Vibrant and powerful."

"I got up in the AM and went up to Bordeaux, where I have a garden. There were 4 bunches of bananas ready to harvest (4 different kinds too, and one bunch that was so big that I had to struggle carrying it on my back up the trail to the truck). And, of course, there were weeds to pull/cut. I cut off some hands from the bunches and gave some to neighbors. I passed by the shanty of a childhood friend, who is a "true" rasta, and gave him 4-6 hands of the different kinds of bananas. "Praise and thanks," he said several times. He gave me some bush tea slips in return. It was satisfying to share the produce, engage in a neighborly exchange of foodstuffs, and cool to be invited into the dark, earthy-smelling interior of his black-painted shanty (with the Lion of Judah" painted on the door), from the porch of which he overlooks his garden in a gut off of Centerline Road...This guy truly lives a pure and simple life."

-- Brion Morisette, St. John