Trying out the USVI exclusively in December for first time and need some help. From what I can gather, there are not many places to dine at night in many of the USVI overnight anchorages. Lots of great lunch options at day stops it appears so we may eat out for lunch and do dinners onboard instead. Was looking to confirm a couple of possibilities below that I had researched for overnights.

Honeymoon Bay - Dinghys Beach Bar and Grill

Christmas Cove - Pizza Pi for take out

Cruz Bay - option to Dinghy in around Lind Point for multiple options

Coral Bay area - several dining options but sounds as if it is difficult to find an overnight anchorage potentially due to a lot of private moorings. Anyone have a good suggestion for a good place to anchor near one of the restaurants there?

*Am I missing any other spots?


Now for the DIVING help. Which dive shops are best to get air fills quickly in the USVI? Admiralty? Coki? Red Hook? Low Key? Anyone have experience with these?
Also, we tend to keep dive tanks on board and do our own diving when possible. We are all advanced divers with Nitrox certifications. Anyone have any experience doing self guided dives at the following sites (i.e.mooring ball availability and ease of dive site in the setting of visiting for the first time):
-Carval Rock
-WIT shoal wreck
-Arches and Tunnels on Thatch
-Eagle Shoals
-Congo Cay
-Cow Rock

Lastly, we have sailed to Culebra previously and recent reports would suggest that CBP there is still allowing clearance of USVI vessels via CBP Roam App with COVID. Wanted to see if there had been any other recent accounts of any problems/successes with a clear in for a day or two to the SVI? I seem to remember as well that the USVI did not require a visit to USVI customs upon return from SVI. Is that accurate?

Thanks as always for any help!

Brett

Depending on when in December you are going, Lovango Beach Club and resort will be open on December 23rd. Otherwise, you are right, there are not many dinner options. Sorry, I can’t help with your other questions.

RickG is the one for the Coral Bay Area as he lives there on his boat, shoot him a private message

Red Hook - Frenchtown - Benner Bay Lagooh - Cowpet Bay - Secret Harbor - Lindbergh Bay - Crown Bay Marina Yacht Haven Grande -- ALL on STT for Dining Options

In July, Dinghy's - great, Pizza Pi - really good pizza, Cruz Bay - dinked in for lunch/supplies, Coral Bay - came in using local channel markers until too crowded ahead, turned left and back up until room to anchor. Not too long of a dinghy ride to Skinny Legs.

Appreciate the input from everyone. I did not look closely enough at some of those areas on STT LocalSailor. Appreciate the heads up. Bummer that we will be there before Lovango Cay opens up. We like the idea of spending the night at Lameshur, Maho, Salt Pond, etc. and think we may do a lot of lunch stops for food and dinner onboard on St. John. Hopefully weather cooperates with some of the STT locales.

Anyone have any diving experience in USVI? I get the feeling that air fills may take some time and detour the trip. May just be easier to pay for a few more tanks instead.

Maybe check out Water Bay/Pineapple Bay on the east end of St Thomas. Three restaurants are there - Point Pleasant has 2 - The Shoreline Grill right on the water and the fine dining restaurant Mirador up the hill; and the Margaritaville resort is there too.

Did a couple of dives with Aqua Action out of Secret Harbor last year. Good group.

We dive with Busy Bee, Coral Bay, St. John. We typically dive with them when land based, but will be rendezvous diving with them this February. Great shop. They also do tank fills, but the logistics might be tough.

Plenty of room to anchor in Coral Bay for Lime Inn. Turn to port when you enter the channel and drop your hook in mud / clay. Don't bother going deeper into the anchorage until the derelict boat removal is complete (soon). Restaurants that are walkable are Skinny Legs, Rhumb Lines, Coral Bay Caribbean Oasis (trivia Wednesday 6PM), and Salty Mongoose pizza. Dolphin Market and Love City Mini Market have provisions and ice.

Add Pelican Rock in Hansen / Round Bay for a dive site. Busy Bee does their night dives there. We love Eagle Shoal in settled weather, but there is no dive ball. Booby Rock off of Salt Pond has dive buoys. At Lind Point there is a dive buoy and plenty to see.

Cheers, RickG

Rick,

Appreciate that info. Very helpful. A couple of more questions if you have a minute. Do you just anchor at Eagle Shoals with no mooring ball? Looks like it would be hard to find a sandy patch there and don’t want to damage the reef. Just curious how the dive boats are able to dive there without a ball.

Booby rock sounds like a good dive. Do you usually just circumnavigate it in a clockwise fashion?

Do you know if there are dive balls at Arches and Tunnels or any of the wrecks like WIT Shoal?

The Lind point you are referring to is North of Cruz Bay I’m assuming.

Thanks again for the info!

At Eagle Shoals we drop an anchor at the shallow spot in about 16 feet. It is rocky there. If it is calm enough to stop there you will be able to see where you anchor. We have always left someone on the boat in case of any issues.

The moorings at Booby Rock are to the windward, more or less, so we go as we wish. There is a good drop and we usually see pelagic fish.

I have not been near Arches and Tunnels or Wit Shoal since Irma.

Yes, Lind Point is between Caneel Bay and Cruz Bay.

Cheers, RickG

The mooring ball at Booby Rock was missing at the end-Oct.

Rick - can you explain "Sunday funday" for us newbies to the USVI?

Also - thanks for all your informative posts - we will be down next week and I feel much more literate with your assistance!

Sue

Sunday Funday is what we call the popular beach day on Honeymoon Beach, Water Island. Dinghy's Beach Bar used to host live music, but no longer due to lease changes. Still, a great time with many boaters showing up It generally kicks up around lunch and settles down around dusk.

Cheers, RickG

Zo Zo's is reopening at Caneel Bay at the building closest to the dock It seems there will be boat access.

ZoZo's at Caneel

So you can dingy in and tie up to the dock and walk up to ZoZo's?

Yes, that is what they are saying. Here are some links.

ZoZo's at Caneel Bay

On St John ZoZo's opening plans.

Last I heard was that Zozo's at Caneel opens 12/15.

Cheers, RickG

Lovango soft opening today

https://www.facebook.com/PrisCoPR/videos/10225470156609141/

Really miss Latitude 18, especially when Dick Solberg and the Sun Mountain Band played!

No news of a reopening, right? It had closed a couple times earlier, tough location, etc. Irma/Maria just caused so much damage? Or just no investor interested as before?

Supposedly problems government harassment