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Trip report: Another week in paradise, part one
Trip report: Another week in paradise, part one
John and I spent last week at Caneel Bay. This was our 20th trip to St. John since 2003 (!) yes, we are a little obsessed. This was our 10th stay at Caneel Bay. In the past we have stayed at Caneel for a couple of days either before or after our villa rental, but this time John booked a whole week at Caneel—the longest we have ever stayed at the resort.
One perk of traveling in on season is the non-stop flight out of Boston. What takes 16-23 hours in the summer was a fast trip, just 8 hours door to door. We arrived in St. Thomas to find three ships in port, man those things are huge!
We were in a new-to-us room this time at Caneel, room number one, which is an ocean view room high up on the hill above the ferry dock. Room interior:
Room view:
We really liked this location for its seclusion yet proximity to the main area of the resort. The only caveat is that if you don’t like stairs, don’t request this room! It is 64 stairs up to the room from the main resort area. We enjoyed some complimentary champagne out on the deck before heading down to catch the sunset. I guess we enjoyed the champagne too much and lost track of time because by the time we came downstairs we had missed it! I managed some afterglow shots:
We arrived on a Monday so decided to try the famous Caneel Monday night seafood buffet. I think it is $75/person. Did we get our money’s worth? Heck no, but it was interesting to try it. I didn’t take any pictures because I didn’t want to bother the other people up at the buffet, but there was a lot to choose from: I remember that the hot line had grilled Anegada lobster, grilled mahi, salmon, and wahoo, chicken roti, prime rib and popovers, a selection of pizzas, and a made-to-request pasta station.
I found more things I liked on the cold line, including a shrimp-pineapple salad, a conch-papaya salad, and my favorite, a chilled chili squid salad. There were also crab claws, shrimp cocktail, chilled mussels, a scallop-wild rice salad, rare tuna-seaweed salad, a cheese platter, a huge salad bar, etc.
The dessert station was also huge. We sampled three things, a key lime tartlet (not tart enough for me), a chocolate pot du crème (too rich to eat), and a bread pudding with crème anglaise sauce (yum). There were at least 20 other desserts to choose from, including bananas foster made to order and a big ice cream selection. Everything is all you can eat (including the lobster) so if you are a hearty eater this could be a big bargain.
We went to bed early, tired from the long travel day.
Day two
We woke up very early and were out walking around by 7:30 AM. We walked all around the resort taking pictures of the various beaches. Caneel’s main beach, seen from the stairs to our room in the early morning:
This is the tree on Caneel’s main beach that we hang out under in the summer time when we come to Caneel as day guests:
Scott Beach:
Turtle Bay beach, way in the back of the resort:
Cactus on Turtle Point:
There are deer and donkeys all over the Caneel property. A LOT of deer and donkeys. They are not afraid of people.
We went back to Scott Beach to go snorkeling. I much prefer the summer water temperature so it took some time to get in the water, I am a wimp! We headed over to the reef that is on the point that seperates Scott from Turtle but the current was way too strong. We snorkel this spot all the time in the summer, and there is always some current, but we have never felt it so strong before. I don’t know if it was the time of year or the phase of the moon of what, but it was definitely not feeling safe, so we fought our way back to shore with quite a bit of difficulty and spent the day floating and reading books instead.
We went to Caneel Beach for the sunset:
(Note the cruise ship anchored off of Honeymoon! On season is different than the summer.)
Dinner was at Fatty Crab and it was really good. Fatty Crab outdoor dining:
We had fish sliders, crab and conch fritters, roasted mahi with cellophane noodles:
and the Indonesian fried rice.
All this plus two cocktails each was $125. Not too bad for St. John.
Day three
We were still full from dinner the night before so skipped breakfast, packed up our gear and headed over to Turtle Bay for the day. This was the first and only time we were stopped by security on our way to the beach. We quickly figured out that it was because we had rolled our towels and stuffed them inside of our snorkel backpacks. We carried our towels in our arms for the rest of the trip and always got a pleasant “good morning” or “good afternoon” from the guard. They are towel profilers over at Caneel!
In all seriousness, security was very polite and just wanted to confirm that we were staying at the resort.
As a security aside, I will say that we saw them patrolling every day, and there was always someone stationed at the point where you branch off to the different non-public beaches. This was very different from our other stays at Caneel, but then again this was also our first on-season visit to the resort. If you are not staying at the resort I would say it is not worth your effort to try to walk in to the private parts of Caneel. Staff was also enforcing the age minimum on Scott Beach with resort guests—every family with young children that we saw on that beach was quickly asked to leave.
My enemy keeping watch:
(Right after I took this picture the bird pooped on John! I hate pearly eyed thrashers)
We started out our day at the beach by doing something new to us: hiking the Turtle Bay Trail. If you have the opportunity to hike this trail, don’t miss it. It is easy—there’s one uphill section but it is not bad—and the views are breathtaking. Turtle Bay beach from the start of the trail:
Looking towards Mary Point:
View towards Denis Bay:
There are benches all along the trail where you can sit and take in the views:
The trail splits at the end and you can either walk down to Caneel Hawksnest Beach or back towards Turtle Bay. Turtle Bay Estate House:
After our hike we decided we were hungry so trekked back across the resort to check out the new sushi offerings at the Caneel Beach Terrace.
This restaurant is open to the public, and if you are going to St. John and you like sushi, you HAVE to try it. The sushi is fabulous. Seveche of wahoo, salmon, mango and calamari with pickled cucumber:
Tuna, avocado, cilantro, wahoo, jalepeno roll:
This deer must want some of our sushi. Sorry deer, we are not sharing!
Spicy tuna poke:
We spent the afternoon floating at Scott Beach, then went out for a sunset sail on Kalina.
Kalina’s co-sailor:
Sunset:
Almost gone:
Sunset’s end:
For dinner we went to town and ate at Rhumblines. I like the atmosphere in here:
Food was decent. It’s really dark in there (and we lost power for part of the evening, so then it was REALLY dark), so I don’t have many pictures. This shows a sampling of shrimp from the pupu menu, and the chicken cool cups from the appetizer section:
For mains we had the tofu pad thai and the spicy tuna (no power when the mains came out, so no picture). The pad thai here is too saucy for me, I don’t know why I always forget that.
Back to Caneel for an early bedtime. Caneel also lost power in the middle of the night. I guess they have a generator though, because it was not off for long.
One perk of traveling in on season is the non-stop flight out of Boston. What takes 16-23 hours in the summer was a fast trip, just 8 hours door to door. We arrived in St. Thomas to find three ships in port, man those things are huge!
We were in a new-to-us room this time at Caneel, room number one, which is an ocean view room high up on the hill above the ferry dock. Room interior:
Room view:
We really liked this location for its seclusion yet proximity to the main area of the resort. The only caveat is that if you don’t like stairs, don’t request this room! It is 64 stairs up to the room from the main resort area. We enjoyed some complimentary champagne out on the deck before heading down to catch the sunset. I guess we enjoyed the champagne too much and lost track of time because by the time we came downstairs we had missed it! I managed some afterglow shots:
We arrived on a Monday so decided to try the famous Caneel Monday night seafood buffet. I think it is $75/person. Did we get our money’s worth? Heck no, but it was interesting to try it. I didn’t take any pictures because I didn’t want to bother the other people up at the buffet, but there was a lot to choose from: I remember that the hot line had grilled Anegada lobster, grilled mahi, salmon, and wahoo, chicken roti, prime rib and popovers, a selection of pizzas, and a made-to-request pasta station.
I found more things I liked on the cold line, including a shrimp-pineapple salad, a conch-papaya salad, and my favorite, a chilled chili squid salad. There were also crab claws, shrimp cocktail, chilled mussels, a scallop-wild rice salad, rare tuna-seaweed salad, a cheese platter, a huge salad bar, etc.
The dessert station was also huge. We sampled three things, a key lime tartlet (not tart enough for me), a chocolate pot du crème (too rich to eat), and a bread pudding with crème anglaise sauce (yum). There were at least 20 other desserts to choose from, including bananas foster made to order and a big ice cream selection. Everything is all you can eat (including the lobster) so if you are a hearty eater this could be a big bargain.
We went to bed early, tired from the long travel day.
Day two
We woke up very early and were out walking around by 7:30 AM. We walked all around the resort taking pictures of the various beaches. Caneel’s main beach, seen from the stairs to our room in the early morning:
This is the tree on Caneel’s main beach that we hang out under in the summer time when we come to Caneel as day guests:
Scott Beach:
Turtle Bay beach, way in the back of the resort:
Cactus on Turtle Point:
There are deer and donkeys all over the Caneel property. A LOT of deer and donkeys. They are not afraid of people.
We went back to Scott Beach to go snorkeling. I much prefer the summer water temperature so it took some time to get in the water, I am a wimp! We headed over to the reef that is on the point that seperates Scott from Turtle but the current was way too strong. We snorkel this spot all the time in the summer, and there is always some current, but we have never felt it so strong before. I don’t know if it was the time of year or the phase of the moon of what, but it was definitely not feeling safe, so we fought our way back to shore with quite a bit of difficulty and spent the day floating and reading books instead.
We went to Caneel Beach for the sunset:
(Note the cruise ship anchored off of Honeymoon! On season is different than the summer.)
Dinner was at Fatty Crab and it was really good. Fatty Crab outdoor dining:
We had fish sliders, crab and conch fritters, roasted mahi with cellophane noodles:
and the Indonesian fried rice.
All this plus two cocktails each was $125. Not too bad for St. John.
Day three
We were still full from dinner the night before so skipped breakfast, packed up our gear and headed over to Turtle Bay for the day. This was the first and only time we were stopped by security on our way to the beach. We quickly figured out that it was because we had rolled our towels and stuffed them inside of our snorkel backpacks. We carried our towels in our arms for the rest of the trip and always got a pleasant “good morning” or “good afternoon” from the guard. They are towel profilers over at Caneel!
In all seriousness, security was very polite and just wanted to confirm that we were staying at the resort. As a security aside, I will say that we saw them patrolling every day, and there was always someone stationed at the point where you branch off to the different non-public beaches. This was very different from our other stays at Caneel, but then again this was also our first on-season visit to the resort. If you are not staying at the resort I would say it is not worth your effort to try to walk in to the private parts of Caneel. Staff was also enforcing the age minimum on Scott Beach with resort guests—every family with young children that we saw on that beach was quickly asked to leave.
My enemy keeping watch:
(Right after I took this picture the bird pooped on John! I hate pearly eyed thrashers)
We started out our day at the beach by doing something new to us: hiking the Turtle Bay Trail. If you have the opportunity to hike this trail, don’t miss it. It is easy—there’s one uphill section but it is not bad—and the views are breathtaking. Turtle Bay beach from the start of the trail:
Looking towards Mary Point:
View towards Denis Bay:
There are benches all along the trail where you can sit and take in the views:
The trail splits at the end and you can either walk down to Caneel Hawksnest Beach or back towards Turtle Bay. Turtle Bay Estate House:
After our hike we decided we were hungry so trekked back across the resort to check out the new sushi offerings at the Caneel Beach Terrace.
This restaurant is open to the public, and if you are going to St. John and you like sushi, you HAVE to try it. The sushi is fabulous. Seveche of wahoo, salmon, mango and calamari with pickled cucumber:
Tuna, avocado, cilantro, wahoo, jalepeno roll:
This deer must want some of our sushi. Sorry deer, we are not sharing!
Spicy tuna poke:
We spent the afternoon floating at Scott Beach, then went out for a sunset sail on Kalina.
Kalina’s co-sailor:
Sunset:
Almost gone:
Sunset’s end:
For dinner we went to town and ate at Rhumblines. I like the atmosphere in here:
Food was decent. It’s really dark in there (and we lost power for part of the evening, so then it was REALLY dark), so I don’t have many pictures. This shows a sampling of shrimp from the pupu menu, and the chicken cool cups from the appetizer section:
For mains we had the tofu pad thai and the spicy tuna (no power when the mains came out, so no picture). The pad thai here is too saucy for me, I don’t know why I always forget that.
Back to Caneel for an early bedtime. Caneel also lost power in the middle of the night. I guess they have a generator though, because it was not off for long.
It's like looking in your soup and finding a whole different alphabet.
Re: Trip report: Another week in paradise, part one
Keep it coming, beautiful story and great pictures!
Re: Trip report: Another week in paradise, part one
As always, loving your report. That looks like the room we stayed in last trip, up on the hillside. You are right, there are lots of stairs but we liked the location.
Re: Trip report: Another week in paradise, part one
Thanks for the trip report! Our trip to St John is less than three weeks away - can't wait to be back in paradise! 
Re: Trip report: Another week in paradise, part one
Great trip report and pix as always!
Re: Trip report: Another week in paradise, part one
Hello liamsaunt, loved part 1 of your trip report...looking fwd to more parts! I especially enjoyed how you pointed out landmarks and beaches. We just got back from first trip so no way do we have the lay of the land down as you and other forumites do.
One afternoon we were headed to Cinnamon bay, but not a parking spot was to be found. We didn't want to go to Trunk bay for fear of too many people...my brother in law has a bum knee and he can't hike too far to get to a beach. So, we saw Caneel, which said it was 20.00 to park, but under the circumstances we said let's go. Well, it was one of our most favorite afternoons! The snorkeling to the right of the main beach was fabulous, plus it was a beautiful, warm, clear day. After the snorkel we had pizza and beer at the bar just off the beach. Met some nice people and headed back to the villa...Caneel bay was very nice! I can see how you would would stay there year after year .
One afternoon we were headed to Cinnamon bay, but not a parking spot was to be found. We didn't want to go to Trunk bay for fear of too many people...my brother in law has a bum knee and he can't hike too far to get to a beach. So, we saw Caneel, which said it was 20.00 to park, but under the circumstances we said let's go. Well, it was one of our most favorite afternoons! The snorkeling to the right of the main beach was fabulous, plus it was a beautiful, warm, clear day. After the snorkel we had pizza and beer at the bar just off the beach. Met some nice people and headed back to the villa...Caneel bay was very nice! I can see how you would would stay there year after year
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needmesomesun
- Posts: 236
- Joined: Tue Aug 17, 2010 3:51 pm
- Location: Unfortunately, not on St. John
Re: Trip report: Another week in paradise, part one
Beautiful pics Becky. Did you find that Caneel was looking better than in previous visits and did you feel the food was better as well? It seemed that way to us.
"The cure for anything is salt water - sweat, tears, or the sea."
~ Karen von Blixen
~ Karen von Blixen
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michigancouple
- Posts: 609
- Joined: Wed Feb 04, 2009 5:37 pm
- Location: West Michigan
Re: Trip report: Another week in paradise, part one
Great Report. I love all the pics! Kalina's Co-Sailor doesn't look too thrilled about his job 
Re: Trip report: Another week in paradise, part one
Always a Treat!!
Sawed that board three times and it is still too short...
Re: Trip report: Another week in paradise, part one
Great report! We haven't stayed at Caneel in years so I am really enjoying the update.
Re: Trip report: Another week in paradise, part one
Your pictures are helping me decide on our restaurants for next weeks trip.
Eagerly awaiting part 2!
Eagerly awaiting part 2!
Re: Trip report: Another week in paradise, part one
I am always confused about Caneel's beaches...
Are some of their beaches private and not accessible to public at all? Which ones?
Are some of their beaches private and not accessible to public at all? Which ones?
~Pam~
"Barefoot in the snow white sand
A bag of sea shells in her hand
She finally found a paradise it seems..."
"Barefoot in the snow white sand
A bag of sea shells in her hand
She finally found a paradise it seems..."
Re: Trip report: Another week in paradise, part one
That is correct. The public is welcome at Caneel's main beach. There is also a public walking path to Honeymoon Beach on Caneel's grounds. The other beaches (Scott, Paradise, Turtle, and Caneel Hawksnest) are reserved for the use of Caneel's guests as Caneel does not allow non-resort guests to walk across their land to access them.stjchica wrote:I am always confused about Caneel's beaches...
Are some of their beaches private and not accessible to public at all? Which ones?
That said, all VI beaches are public to the vegetation line, so if you approach via water you can still access the private beaches. However, there are no dinghy channels off the private beaches, so the only way to get there would be to swim from Caneel's main beach (doable for Scott and Paradise if you are a decent swimmer but not the others) or moor off Scott or Caneel Hawksnest and swim in. There are no mooring balls off Turtle Bay because of the boating channel that passes close off shore. Hope that helps clarify.
Haha that is true! The minute we got back to the dock that cat LEAPED off the boat and rolled all over the dock! It was really funny. Apparently the cat does like water, and even knows how to swim. I guess it was just in a "mood" that evening.michigancouple wrote:Great Report. I love all the pics! Kalina's Co-Sailor doesn't look too thrilled about his job
I agree on both counts. They've been doing a lot of renovating and it shows. The sushi at Caneel was my favorite thing to eat this trip.needmesomesun wrote:Beautiful pics Becky. Did you find that Caneel was looking better than in previous visits and did you feel the food was better as well? It seemed that way to us.
Thanks for the nice comments. I'll try and get the next installment up later today.
It's like looking in your soup and finding a whole different alphabet.