Virgin Islands National Park
Covering the majority of St. John, Virgin Islands National Park features breathtaking beaches, the bluest-teal green waters you've ever seen, tropical forests, and hills, lots and lots of steep and winding roads and hills! Especially when traveling by moped!
In 1983, Laurance S. Rockefeller signed away, for just $1, a beautiful sweeping parcel of ocean-front land on the Caribbean island of St. John to the United States government for inclusion in Virgin Islands National Park.
Mr. Rockefeller, a philanthropist and conservation giant whose support of the national parks movement spans the country from Acadia National Park in Maine to Redwoods National and State Parks in California, fell in love with St. John during a cruise in the Caribbean. In 1956, he purchased 5,000 acres and gave it to the government for the park's creation. Feel free to read more about all that HERE!
Staying in St. Thomas we decided to take the car ferry over to St. John to check out the island and a new National Park! Note to self, there is a $3.00 harbor fee AND an additional cash one-way or round-trip fee when taking the automotive ferry to the island....We did not know this... After paying the $3.00 fee in cash at the gate we had $12.00 left on the ferry. Thankfully standing on the ferry with our moped, a very pleasant resident of St. John starting chatting with me and provided us with amazing recommendations. In addition to providing us with the islands hot spots, she provided us with her phone number incase we and or our moped ran into road side trouble, AND she spotted us the extra $3.00 for the one-way fare. Thank You! We promise to pay it forward.
A few things to know about St. Thomas and St. John - cell service (though a US territory, is still considered international) is spotty, road signage is sparse, locals don't care for tourist drivers, the roads are steep and with all of that said, trying to read a map can be challenging.
While on the ferry we spotted a handful of sea turtles! They are "ginormous" and so cool to see their outline in the water below and their heads sporadically surface from above on boat! Once off the boat, we guessed on our route and eventually found the US Virgin Island National Park. Traveling by moped is a lot of fun, given I am the second passenger I just have to hold on! But it's a great way to get around and truly see and feel the landscape.
Making our way down, yes down. We found Trunk Beach a part of the National Park and
spent an fun afternoon wading in the waters and walking the beach. It was a hot one and though we put a blanket down near partial shade the crabs (the ones with shells) were running amuck in the shaded area and all you could hear were branches cracking and leaves being shuffled around. After another couple told us they moved because of the crabs we decided not to risk it, whatever "risk it" meant.
After Trunk Beach we scooted in to town to find the NPS visitor center and local brews. At 3:07 we arrived at the visitor center to learn that it closed at 3:00pm, hand to face....I guess we missed the chance to obtain our park passport cancellation stamp. If you find yourself at the NPS visitor in St. John before 3pm, please stop in and stamp the free blank piece of paper! Thanks in advance!
The Preserve at Botany Bay
On the far western shore of St. Thomas is a preserve overlooking three half-moon beaches where the Caribbean meets the Atlantic. And the destination for the day was Mermaids Chair. Remember when I mentioned that road signs were a little sparse? Yep. We took the scenic route and then the neighborhood scenic route, back a few routes, past the destination, and then finally to the destination! Not only is the private reserve a bit of drive to get to, but if you are not a member you cannot take your motorized vehicle "in" and you have to walk to and from the beaches. Remember when I said there were steep hills and lots of them?! Checking in with a photo id for security purposes, Mermaids Chair and Sandy Bay Beach were approximately a 4 mile round trip walk down and back up, but having both beaches really to yourself were worth the perspiration.
Walking the beach with the Caribbean on one side and the Atlantic Ocean on the other, we kept seeing these little walking stick like holes in the sand. We later found out these little crabs (no shell) were the cause! Maybe it was too much sun, but we giggled watching these little crabs pop up and cautiously tiptoe on the sand.
Packing up we moved over to Sandy Bay Beach to see if we could find some calmer water and perhaps no crabs! With luck, we had the entire beach to ourselves, no crabs, calmer water, sporadic rain showers, and a sea turtle flipper print!
Lindquist Beach
Turning in the moped we opted for a Jeep day with Ted's parents and nephew at Lindquist Beach. A nice beach closer to town with reviews of good sea turtle viewings! Though we didn't see any turtles, there was a closed off area for a turtle nest - so maybe next time! Thankfully we found a spot with some shade and no fear of tip-toeing crabs!
Captain Rick
After the rest of the family had great excursions with Captain Rick on private boat trips earlier in the week, we decided to go all in and do it again and check out the floating taco bar! The tacos at Lime Out were amazing, must do if you can fit it in. Having to swim to and eat on one of there lily pads is probably a cool experience, but we opted to swim in the bay and call it in and the team would boat deliver your order to your boat!
Even though it rained on us on the ride to and from....we had a great trip and day on the boat!
Amazing time in St. Thomas filled with lots of smiles, laughs and memories. Until next time!
Wonderful scenery! Looks like everyone had a good time!