St. John - South Shore Bays

[SailSC]

On my upcoming charter I want to visit and overnight at some of the south shore bays of St. John.

Would anyone with experience around St. John like to offer their favorite recommendations for a nice quiet beach, good snorkeling and protected waters of the south side of St. John?

My own web browsing points me to Salt Pond Bay but I'd like to know what others think.

Thanks in advance.

[Cuvee]

Salt Pond Bay is my favorite south shore destination. There are only 5 mooring balls and they tend to fill up quickly in high season and you may see some liveaboards spending multiple nights. There are two day moorings near Ram Head Point with quick dinghy access to Salt Pond Bay. Nearby Lameshur Bays have plenty of protected overnight moorings. Little Lameshur has a nice sand beach, while Great Lameshur has a cobble beach but very good snorkeling along the east shore and offers more mooring balls with unobstructed sundown views.

[SailSC]

Thanks for the info Cuvee, we are looking forward to our trip!

[RickG]

Hi Cuvee!

Salt Pond is great with decent diving and good snorkeling.

We love Great Lameshur with access to the former Tektite Project snorkeling, National Park Service dinghy dock, trash dropoff and hiking trails. Little Lameshure is a short walk and has moorings, but is less protected.

Off of Rams Head, near Salt Pond, are day moorings with access to the cobble beach and the Rams Head hiking trail.

Off of Reef Bay there are day moorings to access the Reef Bay Plantation ruins. We usually do the long hike from Lameshure.

NPS moorings are $26 per night, $13 with the Geezer pass.

We also love Hansen Bay in Coral Bay. No moorings, anchoring is free. Great beach and snorkeling around Pelican Rock. There is more beach activity here and my buddy Steve does kayak/beach catamaran rentals here. But, it is outside the national park and very nice.

Hurricane Hole has great day moorings. Inside Hurricane Hole, Princess Bay has great mangrove snorkeling.

Coral Bay Harbor has access to the dinghy dock at Skinny Legs with Indigo Grill across the street. You can walk to the other restaurants about half a mile or tie up to a dinghy line across from Cocoloba Plaza and wade in. Aqua Bistro in Cocoloba is a great restaurant. There is a Skippers Brit Pub and Oasis short walkable. My buddy Steve runs the pub quiz at Skippers on Thursdays.

Cheers, RickG

[EmeraldCoastSailor]

Salt Pond Bay is perhaps my favorite place on earth. Other choices are great as well. You can't go wrong. Only issue is mooring ball availability depending on time of year.

[AZ Parothead]

Second Little Lameshur if the winds aren't too strong.

[Nalu]

Originally Posted by RickG

Hi Cuvee!

Salt Pond is great with decent diving and good snorkeling.

We love Great Lameshur with access to the former Tektite Project snorkeling, National Park Service dinghy dock, trash dropoff and hiking trails. Little Lameshure is a short walk and has moorings, but is less protected.

Off of Rams Head, near Salt Pond, are day moorings with access to the cobble beach and the Rams Head hiking trail.

Off of Reef Bay there are day moorings to access the Reef Bay Plantation ruins. We usually do the long hike from Lameshure.

NPS moorings are $26 per night, $13 with the Geezer pass.

We also love Hansen Bay in Coral Bay. No moorings, anchoring is free. Great beach and snorkeling around Pelican Rock. There is more beach activity here and my buddy Steve does kayak/beach catamaran rentals here. But, it is outside the national park and very nice.

Hurricane Hole has great day moorings. Inside Hurricane Hole, Princess Bay has great mangrove snorkeling.

Coral Bay Harbor has access to the dinghy dock at Skinny Legs with Indigo Grill across the street. You can walk to the other restaurants about half a mile or tie up to a dinghy line across from Cocoloba Plaza and wade in. Aqua Bistro in Cocoloba is a great restaurant. There is a Skippers Brit Pub and Oasis short walkable. My buddy Steve runs the pub quiz at Skippers on Thursdays.

Cheers, RickG

Hey Rick just curios, what's the geezer pass you mentioned?
Cheers, Nalu

[FLJim]

He's referring to the National Parks Senior Pass, costs $10, available at any national park, for age 62+ US citizens & residents.

[SailSC]

Hey all thanks for the great info in this thread. I'm heading down in a few weeks and will definitely visit these south shore bays. Another question: After clearing in at Cruz Bay where is the best/closest place to be for the night if it's too late to run around to the South Shore?

[Cuvee]

SC - There are 4 overnight moorings close to Lind Pt. There are 20+ moorings at Caneel Bay, a few hundred yards to the east.

[SailSC]

I've read that Caneel Bay is rocked by the ferry all night so would you agree that Lind Point is preferred? If so, is anchoring allowed at Lind Point if the balls are all taken?

[Cuvee]

SC - Both get rocked by the BVI ferries which run past until about 6 pm. Caneel Bay is probably a bit calmer than Lind Pt and bit more protected from St John- STT ferry. I usually motor the 30 minutes east to Francis/Maho Bay for the night for the calmest waters on the north shore. Leinster Bay is usually calm but another 15-20 minutes further east.

[RickG]

I'm with Cuvee, we head to Maho Bay after checking in and some play time in Cruz Bay. If we're headed west we'll stop at Christmas Cove at Great St. James.

Cheers, RickG

[Cuvee]

Lots of St John mooring and anchoring info on the following site, including the coordinates of the Lind Pt and Francis Bay anchorages.

https://www.nps.gov/viis/planyourvisit/brochures.htm

[SailSC]

Ok last question. We want to visit the South Shore Bays and then end the trip at the North Shore so we are close to Red Hook to return the boat. Would you recommend circumnavigating or doubling back in order to get to Francis Bay from the Salt Pond Bay Area? The chart distance seems about the same either way.