The Best Off-Beach Snorkeling On St John US Virgin Islands
Disappearing beneath the surface of the ocean to swim amongst the fish and sea fans is always something surreal, and during my hitchhiking travels on St. John I managed to find some of the best places to snorkel on the island.
The island of St. John is mostly National Park, so most of the reefs are protected. After both hurricane Irma and Maria struck St. Johns, it destroyed much of the shallow water coral around the island.
Months after the hurricanes, the sea fans and ocean critters were beginning to come back. To gain a further understanding of the reefs and their regrowth around the island, check out this blog by an underwater researcher.
Whenever I travel to a seaside location, one of the first things I research is the snorkeling one can do off of a beach. It's a way to save money from hiring a boat, but it also brings this sense of adventure and accomplishment from finding something for yourself.
Snorkeling at Waterlemon Cay
My favorite location was at Waterlemon Cay, situated on the northeast side of the island not far from where I was staying.
By not far I mean that it was a 2 mile walk down a mountain just to get to the trailhead. Granted I had not rented out a vehicle so I was hitchhiking and walking everywhere, but that is all part of the adventure for me.
To get to Waterlemon Cay you begin below the ruins in Annaberg and hike along the beach for a mile or a mile and a half. After passing a few ships that had been washed ashore during the hurricanes, you turn into Waterlemon Bay and hike to the far side. There you can spot the cay fifty yards or so off shore.
The jungle rises in mountain ridges beside you, and the light plays through the green in shocking contrast and shadow. The islands beyond the bay fade in and out with the light, a haze of browns and greens broken as boats sail across your view.
After getting to the stretch of rocky shore closest tot he cay, my cousin and I would sit down in the calm surf and put our gear on. The stretch of reef along shore has a number of sea fans and rocks clustered with bits of coral, but the real action is farther out.
It was nerve wracking at first seeing the bottom drop out below you, but it always remained in sight on the swim from shore to the cay. A slight current pushes you west, but it is easy to stay on course and watch the sandy depths for stingray.
As the water gets shallower again, you can swim around the cay, where rock ledges and coral swarm with urchins and fish. On the far side of the cay the water drops off deeper and rocks tumble from the cliff and into the depths.
It was amazing to take a deep breath and dive down to play amongst the fish, swimming over and between boulders studded with coral and urchins.
Beneath the ocean surface you can lose yourself in the chaos of rolling currents, dancing forms, and sunlight filtering through the water. It's an alien landscape, one where you aren't supposed to be, but it's too addicting to not join in, or just float and watch this new world flash around you.
Snorkeling in Francis Bay
Francis Bay is on the northern side of the island not far from Leinster Bay and Annaberg. It was my favorite beach on the island, and also one of the closest to my mountaintop Air Bnb.
The beach was a stretch of gold with a background of jungle and a foreground of ocean blue stretching into a distant haze of bays and islands. In the evenings, when you crawled up onto the beach to enjoy the dying warmth of the sun after a long swim amongst the reef, the sun would set behind the arms of the bay in the distance.
The bay, in front of the beach is shallow and sandy. In the evenings you can find stingray and sea turtles playing in the sand below you.
Swimming south towards Maho Bay, past the beach towards the rocks, shoulders of stone stretch down into the sea. Swimming over and around them with the fish is as exciting as seeing the coral at Waterlemon Cay.
There is nothing like sliding between rocks and over underwater ridges of stone broken up with coral. Enjoying the thousand little things about being underwater is far greater than the single big things that happen to you there.
Swimming farther towards the cliffs, you pass by a hidden beach that is perfect to take a breather at. It is something from a James Bond movie, a hidden cove you can forget about the rest of the world in.
Across the small cove is more reef to explore, more places to dive to the bottom and watch the fish swirl about from their own perspective. The coral here is plastered to the rocks and the ridgeline shape of it makes the diving more than just seeing.
The art of it is in how your body floats beneath the surface, how the fish scatter and then turn to face you, curious in your passing.
It's something you will need to let go of your worldly thoughts and just be in the moment, experiencing for yourself.
Protecting the Reef
Aside from Waterlemon and Francis, I snorkeling Hansen Bay on the southeast corner of the island, and Salt Pond on the south side were some amazing spots as well.
Sharing locations on social media nowadays always comes with a caveat. Nature is fragile, especially under the tramping human foot, and it needs to be protected. That doesn't mean one can't enjoy these amazing locations, it just means that you need to respect them when you do.
In the case of visiting a coral reef, one needs to remember to not step on it. Always keep your body off the coral, touching it can seriously harm the reef. Don't put your feet down unless you are in the sand, and don't touch the fish or take anything from the reef itself.
You can have all sorts of fun when you're out there, just make sure you respect the reef so others can enjoy it as well, and so that it can stay healthy and survive long past when we are gone.
Places on the island like Trunk Bay are damaged due to people touching and stepping on the coral.
Enjoy the beauty of the ocean, enjoy the twisting forms of fish and sea creatures beneath the waves, enjoy the sunlight filtering through the water above you, but respect it.
