We've been to the Virgin Islands three times. The first time was on a Royal Caribbean cruise in 1994, where we visited all three U.S. Virgin Islands of St. Croix, St. John, and St. Thomas. During the other two trips in 1998 and 2000, we stayed on the island of St. John. From St. John, we took day trips to neighboring St. Thomas and the British Virgin Gorda. We had the opportunity to observe the unhurried pace of life and become acquainted with the very friendly locals. Bob enjoyed the snorkeling off the beaches in St. John. Gail really enjoyed the shopping in neighboring St. Thomas. The photo on the left is Trunk Bay, St John, USVI.

All the cruise ships that stop in St. Thomas have morning excursions to Trunk Bay. There is an underwater snorkel trail that goes towards the little island in the bay. There are thousands of beautiful tropical fish and colorful coral. At that time, we thought that Trunk Bay was the most beautiful beach we had ever seen. But, on the second trip we discovered that there are many other gorgeous beaches on St. John.

The U.S. Virgin Islands are comprised of three main islands, St. Thomas, St. Croix, and St. John and numerous small islets. Tranquil and lovely St. John is just across the sea channel from the more densely populated St. Thomas. Two-thirds of St. John is a U.S. National Park, formed out of land that once belonged to the Rockefeller family. There are many beautiful beaches and bays all around the island. In our opinion, the most beautiful beaches, including the ones you see in the thumbnails up above, are on the Northwest shore. The Miracle Key experience in St. John.

Hawknest Beach is the first large beach you encounter as you drive Northeast from Cruz Bay. The snorkeling is quite nice with many varieties of colorful fish and coral. Sometimes the surf can be kind of rough, because this beach is rather exposed to the open Atlantic Ocean. The Virgin Islands are extremely hilly. The roads are similarly hilly and have many tight hair-pin curves. A 4-wheel drive vehicle comes in very handy. The terrain offers some spectacular views such as the one shown above. The photo was taken from one the many vista points along the North Beach Road.

Cruz Bay is the major port and town on St. John. One might say that it's the only port and town on the island. That's really not true. There is Coral Bay on the eastern side of the island. But, Coral Bay consists of a few dive shops, souvenir huts, and Serephina Restaurant (very good!).

Cruz Bay also has a number of very good restaurants and cafes, including the Fish Trap, Lime Tree Inn, and Asolare. There are a few bars around, but St. John really doesn't have much nightlife. That was all right by me.

Caneel Bay in our opinion, is the most beautiful beach on St. John. Caneel Bay Hotel and Resort is one of the two major hotels on St. John. The other is the Westin Hotel in the southwestern part of the island. During our second trip to St. John, we visited Caneel Bay Resort. We liked it so well, we stayed at the resort on our third trip.

In my opinion, the snorkeling was the best at Caneel Bay. I saw a variety of sea life there, including large starfish, squid, stingrays, a sea turtle, and even a shark. I had wanted to see a sea turtle all week. But, I didn't spot one until the day before the last day of our second trip, at Caneel. It must of have been about 4 feet in diameter. Despite hearing stories about some divers grabbing onto turtles and swimming with them, this one wouldn't let me get very close. It just casually fed along the sandy bottom. It came up for 3 quick gulps of air and went down for 20 minutes. I saw the shark on the left side of the bay, close to the deep-water pier. At first, I wasn't sure what it was. It looked like a large gray fish. But, I kept on swimming toward it until I could get a real good look at it. I recognized the pointed dorsal fin and swept back tail of a shark. I didn't panic and kept on observing it. I guessed that the shark was about 5 feet in length. Later on that evening I was describing my shark sighting to one of the local people. He just said, "That was just a nurse shark. They're harmless. I grab their tails and play with them all the time." My local friend said, however, that further out beyond the coral reefs, there are dangerous reef sharks that grow to 15-20 feet in length.

Caneel Bay Resort has many amenities, including regular ferry service to neighboring St. Thomas island and use of kayaks, snorkel gear, wind surfboards, and Sunfish sailboats. I decided to try my hand at sailing one of the Sunfish. It had been a long time since I had last gone sailing. I thought, "what could go wrong?". I was doing all right for a while when a sudden gust of wind capsized the small craft. After struggling a bit, I managed to right the boat and got back on board. However, I realized that my prescription sunglasses that I purchased just a month earlier had fallen off my face and into the drink. I later donned some snorkeling gear and went out to try to find those sunglasses, but to no avail. It was an expensive little sailing experience. Animated Caneel Bay