Hiddenhearth
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- May 16, 2001
Snorkeling. We brought all our own gear. We bought the Disney excursions for both Pinel and Trunk Bay (5 Star, by boat). At St. Maarten, it was most convenient walking from ship to bus, from bus to launch. Pinel was lovely, in a simple way. I wish we had more time to walk around the island.
There wasn't much to the island, from what we could see of it, which was kind of a nice contrast to the magnificance of the Magic and all her passengers.
After a brief explanation of gear from the French divers (?), and a short walk down the shore, the 30 or so in the group made their way out into the water.
Then a short snorkel away was where all the white bodies floated about. One could snorkel around the corner of this island, but the seas were choppy from the east, with whitecaps visible throughout what part of the ocean we could see. Even though a rope dictated the area in which we were supposed to swim, I don't think anyone would have gone far around the corner, due to the seas. As well, I suspect the water was a little cloudy, due to the waves and swell.
No matter. The French divers had bags of food to attract the fish. These divers offered handfuls of this food for us landlubbers to feed the fish as well.
And there were lots of fish of all colors to see. They were not intimidated.
For anyone who has not witnessed the colors of the fish in such locations, you would not believe the beauty of the sight. The colors are heavenly.
And for those who've never snorkeled - I assure you, it requires no training. My younger son went snorkeling at age 5, in water over his head, with not much swimming experience, with no trouble at all (years ago).
The time available for this snorkeling was just about right for everyone, and by lunch we were back on the Magic.
Snorkeling at Trunk Bay.
We did the 5 Star excursion. A Chesapeake-style (!) boat picks the group up from just ahead of the Magic on the pier. Most convenient. Very clean boat. Nice crew. It motors east to St. John. We had some wave chop and spray along the way, before we reached the lee of St. John, what with the wind still blowing from the east.
The journey in itself was worth taking this excursion. It was a view, of course, not available from the Magic, going close along the shore of St. Thomas and St. John, through some shallow and narrow passages. The crew narrated some tales over the loudspeaker along the way.
Trunk Bay was as lovely as the brochures boast. It was lovely pulling into this cove. The boat does not go to the beach. I think this made the day more of an adventure. One could jump off the side of this boat - with gear - or more sedately ease down the ladder into the water. Under the keel of this anchored "Leyland Sneed" was about fifteen feet of water, but, of course, the sandy bottom was easily visible.
From the boat, people snorkeled towards the coral along the shore, at the west end of the beach. From boat to beach was about 150 feet. For those not wanting to snorkel, little Zodiacs would ferry people back and forth.
The snorkeling here was nicer than at Pinel. Here, though, no one had food for the fish, as I understand that is not allowed at a Park Service facility.
But the fish were here. And as I said about the colors at Pinel, if you have never witnessed the sight, do so sometime in your lifetime. The depth and variety of colors is hard to believe.
The beach, itself, at Trunk Bay, is just gorgeous. I live half my life on the water (literally), and the beauty of this place is hard to believe. In the short time we had on the shore, we walked down to the Park Service facilities and could see why the place is so recommended. Likely the locals scorn the transients who sojourn here, but see it and you'll know why so many must come.
Alas, we only had one hour at this anchorage. It was a shame to have so little time. I thought the excursion allowed an hour to an hour-and-a-half at Trunk Bay. At 9:45 the boat was moored to its buoy, just when passengers could start jumping over. The crew announced that all had to be back by 10:45 or those aboard would be waving to those ashore who weren't.
As it was, at 10:30 crewmembers were on the beach shouting that immediately all were to return to the boat. They ferried those who desired a ride - in the zodiacs - back to the boat.
Going down-wind, the boat ride back to Charlotte Amalie was drier and more peaceful.
One foot-note to this excursion. A crewmember on this boat took photos of all passengers. They were available for sale by the return trip. Having purchased far too many photos in Shutters by then, I had no intention of even looking at the photos on this "Leyland Sneed". Besides, we had even brought our fancy digital camera with us to Trunk Bay. Well, just before the excursion was ending, I took a peak at the photos of my family, including two the photographer had taken on the beach - one of each of my boys - which I wasn't even aware of - and realized here were momentos not to pass up. To boot, the digital camera was on the "Leyland Sneed" while we were in swim gear ashore. It was too late to have the gal print the photos on the boat, what with it nearly time to return to the Magic, but she took our money and our web address, and when we returned to chilly RI - there on our computer were three of the best shots from the trip!
Hey, wait a second - I promised I'd only make brief comments about this trip.
Maybe no one's listening anymore...
Anyone still there? Anyone want to hear more???
There wasn't much to the island, from what we could see of it, which was kind of a nice contrast to the magnificance of the Magic and all her passengers.
After a brief explanation of gear from the French divers (?), and a short walk down the shore, the 30 or so in the group made their way out into the water.
Then a short snorkel away was where all the white bodies floated about. One could snorkel around the corner of this island, but the seas were choppy from the east, with whitecaps visible throughout what part of the ocean we could see. Even though a rope dictated the area in which we were supposed to swim, I don't think anyone would have gone far around the corner, due to the seas. As well, I suspect the water was a little cloudy, due to the waves and swell.
No matter. The French divers had bags of food to attract the fish. These divers offered handfuls of this food for us landlubbers to feed the fish as well.
And there were lots of fish of all colors to see. They were not intimidated.
For anyone who has not witnessed the colors of the fish in such locations, you would not believe the beauty of the sight. The colors are heavenly.
And for those who've never snorkeled - I assure you, it requires no training. My younger son went snorkeling at age 5, in water over his head, with not much swimming experience, with no trouble at all (years ago).
The time available for this snorkeling was just about right for everyone, and by lunch we were back on the Magic.
Snorkeling at Trunk Bay.
We did the 5 Star excursion. A Chesapeake-style (!) boat picks the group up from just ahead of the Magic on the pier. Most convenient. Very clean boat. Nice crew. It motors east to St. John. We had some wave chop and spray along the way, before we reached the lee of St. John, what with the wind still blowing from the east.
The journey in itself was worth taking this excursion. It was a view, of course, not available from the Magic, going close along the shore of St. Thomas and St. John, through some shallow and narrow passages. The crew narrated some tales over the loudspeaker along the way.
Trunk Bay was as lovely as the brochures boast. It was lovely pulling into this cove. The boat does not go to the beach. I think this made the day more of an adventure. One could jump off the side of this boat - with gear - or more sedately ease down the ladder into the water. Under the keel of this anchored "Leyland Sneed" was about fifteen feet of water, but, of course, the sandy bottom was easily visible.
From the boat, people snorkeled towards the coral along the shore, at the west end of the beach. From boat to beach was about 150 feet. For those not wanting to snorkel, little Zodiacs would ferry people back and forth.
The snorkeling here was nicer than at Pinel. Here, though, no one had food for the fish, as I understand that is not allowed at a Park Service facility.
But the fish were here. And as I said about the colors at Pinel, if you have never witnessed the sight, do so sometime in your lifetime. The depth and variety of colors is hard to believe.
The beach, itself, at Trunk Bay, is just gorgeous. I live half my life on the water (literally), and the beauty of this place is hard to believe. In the short time we had on the shore, we walked down to the Park Service facilities and could see why the place is so recommended. Likely the locals scorn the transients who sojourn here, but see it and you'll know why so many must come.
Alas, we only had one hour at this anchorage. It was a shame to have so little time. I thought the excursion allowed an hour to an hour-and-a-half at Trunk Bay. At 9:45 the boat was moored to its buoy, just when passengers could start jumping over. The crew announced that all had to be back by 10:45 or those aboard would be waving to those ashore who weren't.
As it was, at 10:30 crewmembers were on the beach shouting that immediately all were to return to the boat. They ferried those who desired a ride - in the zodiacs - back to the boat.
Going down-wind, the boat ride back to Charlotte Amalie was drier and more peaceful.
One foot-note to this excursion. A crewmember on this boat took photos of all passengers. They were available for sale by the return trip. Having purchased far too many photos in Shutters by then, I had no intention of even looking at the photos on this "Leyland Sneed". Besides, we had even brought our fancy digital camera with us to Trunk Bay. Well, just before the excursion was ending, I took a peak at the photos of my family, including two the photographer had taken on the beach - one of each of my boys - which I wasn't even aware of - and realized here were momentos not to pass up. To boot, the digital camera was on the "Leyland Sneed" while we were in swim gear ashore. It was too late to have the gal print the photos on the boat, what with it nearly time to return to the Magic, but she took our money and our web address, and when we returned to chilly RI - there on our computer were three of the best shots from the trip!
Hey, wait a second - I promised I'd only make brief comments about this trip.
Maybe no one's listening anymore...
Anyone still there? Anyone want to hear more???
