Day three of our snorkeling adventure in the beautiful St. John USVI!
This very well can be our favorite day!
On this day, we drove to the Annaberg Plantation area of the island at Leinster Bay We were told by a friend that it would be our best snorkel ever and they were so right! This spot was more remote than the other popular beaches that we had snorkeled at on the island and that's one of the facts were excited about for this adventure! We ate a good breakfast and packed the essentials, trail mix, chips, rum and juice, for a fun day off the grid!
Once we figured out that the trailhead to Waterlemon Cay was the actual shoreline, we were on our way! We walked the trail for a little over a mile and a half first under a shady canopy of tropical foliage and then alongside the most beautiful shade of turquoise water and the most delicious breeze! The dried, ancient coral and rocks crunching under our every step made for a very unique hike. After passing friendly groups and avid hikers along the way, we picked our spot, lotioned up and CAREFULLY walked into the water. Carefully after we noticed that even in the shallowest of parts, there were spiky sea urchins EVERYWHERE! I walked in with my full foot fins and husband was ok with his booties that protect his feet. We don't recommend bare feet here at all!
Once we got in the water and took a peak we noticed that every inch of this bay was alive! It was maybe a mile swim to the cay. Shallow first, then dipping into a deep channel before gradually seeing the cay slope upward from the deep. So beautiful! Parrot fish, blue tang, angel fish, moray eel, octopus and sting rays, to name a few, along beautiful coral such as bright gold stag horn coral, brain coral, purple sea fans and flowy, majestic sea plumes! It was so beautiful and colorful! I was in heaven!
Unfortunately, we ran out of battery on my GoPro before we seeing a handsome hawksbill turtle who let us tag along as he munched his way around the reef!
Would you believe that we swam three laps around this, not so little, cay? We would swim a lap, go back to shore to warm up on the rocks, have a snack and a drink, talk about what we saw and decide we needed to see more...three times lol! The last time we swam the furthest making it to Leinster Point and wishing our GoPro was still working! Unbelievable landforms both adobe and under the water, WOW!
We say that, one day, we would like to see how far we can swim around the island of St. John. If we planned correctly, we can swim until stopping for lunch at a bar along the shore, like Maho, and then continue. If I had my paddle board I'd do this soooo perfectly! Anyways, one day. Until then, I'll explore every bay! Do you have any you recommend? Let us know!
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~Nelly