St. John

Because of Covid 19 mine and my wife’s sailing trip have been postponed till next year. Because of this her I will be able to sail by ourselves for 2 weeks. We have sailed the bvi 7 times. We are thinking about going to St. John for the 1st time. I would like some good anchorages that we could get to after clearing into the usvi. We are going the middle I’d April. Also we have talked about a sail to St Croix just for something different. I have zero info on St. Croix. Does a charter company allow this? And how hard is it to sail? And how are the Anchorage’s? Thanks. Clod

Talk to your Charter company about St Croix. I have only visited St Croix once but look forward to sailing there again. Going to St Croix is further than going to Anegada, but easily doable as it is a "day sail" . Leave early in morning. Spend a few days. With 2 weeks, should be able to find a good window.

You asked about STJ and this is a great start for info:
https://www.nps.gov/viis/planyourvisit/boating-information.htm
St Thomas also is close and easy with some great anchorages and the out islands around STT and STJ also have some great places.

Clearing C&I in St John is easy,no need to clear out --- but also clear OUT of the BVI.
ST Croix is a good 6+ hour sail - but you will not run out of places in STJ and STT in 2 weeks.

RcikG lives on his boat in STJ so I am sure he will have great advice. We are 25 year land visitors to STJ. Being that nearly all beaches are in the national park, it’s very quiet.

We are reopening CYOA Yacht Charters on June 1st. For the remainder of this season, our charteredswill be USVI only based. St Thomas, St John, and St Croix.

You can easily spend a week in and around USVI.

I second what Captain Jay stated. One of the nicest charters I did was just putting around St John and the USVI for a week. I am a Moorings owner thinking about chartering a CYOA boat in June. How strange is that!
G

It just so happens I have been working on our advertising for the last few days. We do not have the video up yet. Soon come but here are the bullet points.

Buck Island, St Thomas as a day stop. Turtle Cove and Shipwreck Cove.

Christmas Cove, Great St James A great place to spend the night, snorkel the cay in the middle of the harbor, and share a Pizza from Pizza Pi with your crew.

Cruz Bay, St John Moor your boat at Lind Point or off of Caneel Bay on a national park mooring. Dinghy into town to see the attractions. Dinning and Limin for every budget. Shopping from trinkets to T-shirts, Jewelry, and provisions. Everything in one funky little town.

St John National Park The interactive Marine Resources guide. (Google this map) This has it all the mooring fields, snorkeling spots, pretty much anything you want to know about the Park.

Hawksnest Beach, St John Named for the Hawksnest Turtles that call this home. A white sandy slice of heaven. We could tell you about Mermaid’s Seat but it is a secret.

Trunk Bay, St John One of the most photographed beaches on the planet. It really is that pretty. Check out the snorkel trail around Trunk Bay Cay.

Trunk Bay with the Underwater Trail is a great place for beginners and anyone who wants to learn about marine life by reading the plaques along the trail. The trail follows the west side of Trunk Bay Cay for about 300 feet before making a U-turn back to the beach. The coral and fish are well represented here. The reef continues beyond to the cay's northern tip, however do not venture past where you are in view of the lifeguards. The farther out you go, the rougher the water is.

Cinnamon Bay, St John Hang out with the rich and famous as well as the turles and Conch. Spectacular water views, snorkeling and views of some of the most incredible Vacation Villas in the Caribbean.

Francis Bay Beach and Maho Bay Beach This is a two for one deal. Two great beaches in one great anchorage. This spot pretty much comes with a turtle viewing guarantee.

Maho Crossroads In their own words. “A minimum footprint pop-up village at Maho Beach in St. John, USVI. Enjoy the Paddle-In Tiki Bar, Love Maho Beach Boutique, and Terrapin Beach Club.”

Leinster Bay and Waterlemon Cay Did we mention snorkeling? This spot can keep your whole crew in the water for hours. You can snorkel around Waterlemon Cay, Snorkle the reef along the shore or dinghy into the shallows in the mangrove area and look for juvenile fish. There are more starfish here than any other place we have ever been.

Coral Bay, St John The little village time forgot. Don’t come here looking for commercialized attractions it is not that kind of town. You can find art, food, and drinks. A dive shop and a floating Taco Bar. It is that kind of town.

Lime Out, Coral Bay Speaking of floating Taco Bars, because who doesn’t want to go to a swim up Taco Bar with Rum Drinks? This one speaks for itself.

Hurricane Hole, Coral Bay St John Made up of several day mooring areas in the National Park, this is a great place to spend the afternoon. Swim and snorkel along the mangroves on shore to see countless juvenile fish and sea life.

Salt Pond, St John This one is a secret so do not tell anyone. There are a limited number of moorings surrounded by unlimited beauty.

Rams Head Trail, Salt Pond, St John This hiking trail runs from the beach at Salt Pond to the top of Rams Head. Pack some water and comfortable shoes. The views are spectacular.

Great and Little Lameshur Bays Quiet coves, snorkeling oh and did we mention stargazing? With almost no light noise from shore due to the remote location in the park this is like taking a walk around the milky way. Make sure to put a stargazing app on your phone or tablet. It is good for hours of fun.

Reef Bay, St John Limited to two moorings this is an advanced hike.
“By Ken Wild
Within the deep interior of the Reef Bay valley rests one of St. John’s most important clues to a lost culture from the island’s past, the petroglyphs. This captivating place is located at the base of the valley’s highest waterfall, surrounded by the island’s lush tropical vegetation. Here, mysterious faces are found carved into the fall’s blue basalt rock. A spring fed pool beneath reflects a 20-foot wide panorama of carvings year-round with other petroglyphs visible nearby. For those who may be unfamiliar with the term petroglyph, the term petroglyph refers to rock art carvings whereas pictographs are rock art paintings.

Red Hook, St Thomas Does your crew want to spend a little time in town? In Red Hook you can either anchor out or get a slip in the Marina for the night. Either way there are a dozen or so Bars and Restaurants. Some diverse shopping opportunities and even a Grocery Store.

Magens Bay, St Thomas Take a nice down wind sail around the north shore of St Thomas. You will get to view lots of small cays like Hans Lolick on the north side on your way to Magen’s. This is a truely magical spot with a large crescent beach located between two peninsulas. Anchor in the middle or closer to shore. The pelicans are sure to put on a show.

Way Out West, St Thomas As you leave Magens you can continue on your down wind sail around the west end of St Thomas. Once you have cleared the west end it is back up towards the anchorages west of Charlotte Amalia.

Brewers Bay, St Thomas The first of the western anchorages. This anchorage is tucked in by the University of the Virgin Islands. It features a large sand beach and a very protected area for swimming.

Linbergh Bay, St Thomas Next up is another large sand beach. The hotel located on shore has a small beach bar and restaurant. This bay is home to lots of turtles and conchs.

Druif Bay, Water Island Home of Honeymoon Beach, a great spot to waste a day snorkeling and swimming with the turtles and rays. Lime away the afternoon at a beach bar. Then have sundowners watching, wait for it the spectacular sunset to the west.

The biggest difference I see between the BVI charter and a USVI oriented charter is that most of the anchorages do not have beach bars,restaurants, dinghy docks or facilities that are expected in the BVI sailing world.
It is not a daily bar stop atmosphere in the USVI - it is a daily swim, snorkel, beach or shore hike and sunset cocktails and great dinners aboard!
***In a quiet anchorage with no rowdy late night dinghy traffic!
More boat time - underway and moored -- less bar, restaurant time ashore

Here is the link to the St John National Park Resource Guide

St John Interactive Map of Marine Resources

That sounds wonderful! Funny I never thought of just boating around the USVI, have stayed on St John Many times though.....

Thanks for that synopsis Jay! Tortuga is BVI based but the USVI route is very much on our radar. Really looking forward to exploring there. I also REALLY like Deep Cut's thoughts on heading to St. Croix. We had a great land based trip there last year and look forward to sailing there at some point.

How does cruising St John compare to BVI in terms of crime issues (ie stolen dinghy's, etc)?

We have never had issues in ST John however we do always lock the dingy in Cruz Bay.

This is cruise centric, anyone have a good source for land based? We had planned on (were supposed to be) staying on VG for 2 weeks and the spending a couple of days on St John. We have moved out to next year at this time. Two days isnt very long, but we wanted to get a feel for it before a longer stay

knitsoftwear, my husband and I have been going to St John for 22 years. My favorite place on Earth. Send me a PM if you have specific questions about St John.

[quote=ggffrr11]How does cruising St John compare to BVI in terms of crime issues (ie stolen dinghy's, etc)?[/quote
I have never had any kind of crime problem in STJ in over 40 years of cruising/sailing/living here.
Mongoose may well get into your food stash if you are on the beach is a concern.