St John/Trunk bay snorkeling - current conditions post hurricane?

Hi - We are thinking of doing an excursion to trunk bay and hopefully going snorkeling there. Have any of you been there recently (post hurricane)? How is it? Is the beach ok for swimming? How is the snorkeling currently? Thanks in advance for any info!

Just got back the beach is in Great shape. There were people snorkeling. No food service yet. A couple of portopotties no showers. Chair rental and snorkel rental is available. No fee to get in yet. Crystal clear water.

Just got back the beach is in Great shape. There were people snorkeling. No food service yet. A couple of portopotties no showers. Chair rental and snorkel rental is available. No fee to get in yet. Crystal clear water.

Thank you Bosjoe. We're heading there in six weeks. Good to hear the water is clear!

I'll be there next week and let you know how it is. Trunk hasn't been great for snorkeling in quite some time. I'll ask our on-island friends and report back.

I asked our friend who lives on St. John about Trunk and she said right now Trunk is OK for snorkeling and better than Hawksnest (which is just before you get to Trunk and might have been another suggestion). The water yesterday was very rough as they were getting residual weather from the Nor'easter hitting the east coast.

I asked our friend who lives on St. John about Trunk and she said right now Trunk is OK for snorkeling and better f than Hawksnest (which is just before you get to Trunk and might have been another suggestion). The water yesterday was very rough as they were getting residual weather from the Nor'easter hitting the east coast.

Anne: thank you so much for updating us. I'm not too familiar with St. John, as I've never visited before, but booked a Celebrity ship excursion via boat to Honeymoon Beach (St. John side) for snorkeling. Is that near Trunk? Have you heard anything about that area specifically?

Anne: thank you so much for updating us. I'm not too familiar with St. John, as I've never visited before, but booked a Celebrity ship excursion via boat to Honeymoon Beach (St. John side) for snorkeling. Is that near Trunk? Have you heard anything about that area specifically?

Flfun ~ Honeymoon is a great choice although I have never snorkeled there. However, it is not easy to get from Honeymoon to Trunk even though they aren't far apart. There isn't road access to Honeymoon so to get to Trunk you'd have to hike a path back to Cruz Bay to catch a safari taxi to Trunk. Normal access through the Caneel Bay Resort is not available as the resort is closed due to Irma damage.

Let me ask our on-island friends about the condition of Honeymoon and I'll report back.

While I'm waiting to hear back about Honeymoon, try this link with info and photos of Honeymoon's current condition

https://www.facebook.com/HoneymoonBeachViEcotours/

Hi again ~ one of our friends on St. John just sent this report on Honeymoon. Hope this is helpful. Your view will be over towards St. Thomas. Enjoy!

Sandy, and the latest ground seas have eliminated the steep incline. All the services are open with also a little bar. Kayaks, hammocks, bathroom, lockers and a little shop.

Hi again ~ one of our friends on St. John just sent this report on Honeymoon. Hope this is helpful. Your view will be over towards St. Thomas. Enjoy!

 

Sandy, and the latest ground seas have eliminated the steep incline. All the services are open with also a little bar. Kayaks, hammocks, bathroom, lockers and a little shop.

Thank you so much! :D Was debating whether to cancel, but sounds like it should be a great day, weather permitting. Really appreciate your efforts - and by the way, great review of your cruise - looked forward to reading the updates daily!

Honeymoon Beach on St John easier to get to on the new dinghy/snorkel excursion offered by Virgin Islands Ecotours. You can book on their website.

They started this because Caneel is closed to make it easier for people to get to Honeymoon. The price is just a little bit more than taxi+snorkel rental, I think.

We've used Virgin Island Ecotours before and they were great. If you are comfortable getting to St. John on your own, this is a great option. If you've never been and feel more comfortable with the ship's tour, that's a good option, too. The thing I like about VI Ecotours is that you'd be supporting a business on the island and they all need support right now. If you need help getting there on your own, let me know.

Did you see any sea turtles? Did you need bug spray during the hike there?

April 4th update on Trunk Bay bathroom and showers working ...no snack bar...sea bottom not pretty but fish and beach are beautiful :-)

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April 4, 2018

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April 4, 2018[ATTACH]418901[/ATTACH]

 

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Thank you for updating us...much appreciated :D

How do you get to Trunk Bay if your Princess cruise ship is docking in St. Thomas and not offering a specific excursion there. They are offering an excursion to St. John via the "Island Girl"...but it's "St. John on Your Own".

How do you get to Trunk Bay if your Princess cruise ship is docking in St. Thomas and not offering a specific excursion there. They are offering an excursion to St. John via the "Island Girl"...but it's "St. John on Your Own".

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Trunk bay is in st John. If you take excursion, when you dock at st john, there will be open air buses that you get into and they'll take you. I forget the bus fare to trunk so have cash for that. There may be a fee now to get into trunk. There

 

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We did the DIY for the first time. I preciously done explore on your own through the cruise line. It was very easy and we felt safe. We got a taxi and the end of the shops. We had to wait until our open air taxi was full. We then made a couple of stops before we got to Red Hook. $10 pp There was plenty of people there. The ferry ride is shorter than going from the cruise ship $8.15 pp.There is a shop right off the ferry to rent snorkle equipment $10. We got our lunch from the Deli at Mongoose Junction to eat at the beach ~ $12 sandwich. Caught another open air taxi $6 pp. to Trunk Bay (free right now).

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We had a 10pm departure so did the same thing as Justprettynpink .. taxi to ferry to taxi. Rented snorkle equipment from shop upstairs in ferry dock. However, the snorkel rental at Trunk was open and also charging $10 a day for MFS and had vests too. Rest rooms and showers were opened, but they all close at 4:30pm, bathrooms locked and shower water turned off. There are several pavilions with shade, still missing the top of their roof and perfectly serviceable.

Cost is not insignificant ($10 +$8 + $6 = $24 per person ... each way). Cheaper to take the cruise ship on your own, but that only leaves you an hour or so at the beach. We were there for 3 hours ... Taxi ride on St Thomas will show you some devastation and even a big dump with sheet metal roofing .. but it's pleasant .. Taxi ride on St John is spectacular ride along the beach .. you can see a bit of what is left of Caneel Bay .. beaches are beautiful.

We also got sandwiches at North Shore Deli in Mongoose, they were excellent, wonderful bread.

Cruz Bay is a cute town and ready for business, with one restaurant on the beach, some other stores, smoothie shops, bars .. etc. Mongoose seemed to be the most upscale and was fully open.

Also note that power is off several times a day, except for the ATM, so bring cash (and no it is not a trick to not tell FEMA about income as some have suggested).

The beach is spectacular with views of other islands and a vast length of perfect soft white sand. Snorkeling was very good to excellent, you snorkel around Trunk Cay rocks where there are hundreds or maybe thousands of fish. Had to take a break when a busload (or 2) of people arrived, about 100 with an accompanying paddleboarder. Once they left, there were only a few people left. We took a 5:30 pm shuttle back to ferry got to Haversight at 7pm where all the stores were closed or closing so we boarded the ship and went to another fine free meal onboard.

We had a 10pm departure so did the same thing as Justprettynpink .. taxi to ferry to taxi. Rented snorkle equipment from shop upstairs in ferry dock. However, the snorkel rental at Trunk was open and also charging $10 a day for MFS and had vests too. Rest rooms and showers were opened, but they all close at 4:30pm, bathrooms locked and shower water turned off. There are several pavilions with shade, still missing the top of their roof and perfectly serviceable.

 

Cost is not insignificant ($10 +$8 + $6 = $24 per person ... each way). Cheaper to take the cruise ship on your own, but that only leaves you an hour or so at the beach. We were there for 3 hours ... Taxi ride on St Thomas will show you some devastation and even a big dump with sheet metal roofing .. but it's pleasant .. Taxi ride on St John is spectacular ride along the beach .. you can see a bit of what is left of Caneel Bay .. beaches are beautiful.

 

We also got sandwiches at North Shore Deli in Mongoose, they were excellent, wonderful bread.

 

Cruz Bay is a cute town and ready for business, with one restaurant on the beach, some other stores, smoothie shops, bars .. etc. Mongoose seemed to be the most upscale and was fully open.

 

Also note that power is off several times a day, except for the ATM, so bring cash (and no it is not a trick to not tell FEMA about income as some have suggested).

 

The beach is spectacular with views of other islands and a vast length of perfect soft white sand. Snorkeling was very good to excellent, you snorkel around Trunk Cay rocks where there are hundreds or maybe thousands of fish. Had to take a break when a busload (or 2) of people arrived, about 100 with an accompanying paddleboarder. Once they left, there were only a few people left. We took a 5:30 pm shuttle back to ferry got to Haversight at 7pm where all the stores were closed or closing so we boarded the ship and went to another fine free meal onboard.

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Still free on 4/4 but with water on and snorkel rentals open, that could change any day. Giving $5 a day to the US national park service also would not have upset me .. not sure if they honor the annual pass for $80 ..

Best beach I have seen outside of Hawaii and Treasure Cay in the Abacos .. best snorkeling outside of Grand Cayman and the Abacos ...

We did the Princess 'on your own' tour. It was about $40pp and we were able to walk from the ship to their ferry at dock. That worked for us to limit time in the sun and walking.

thanks for the update everyone. We are headed to St. John on 4/20 and believe it or not, have never been to trunk and this is my 3rd time visiting st John. I was debating hiking the trail to honeymoon, however, we are on the self explore excursion from Celebrity and I am worried about time constraints because lets face it. I am going to st john for the beaches not the hiking. I will probably make up my mind when the ferry lands at Cruz. Either way, I will be prepared with my snorkeling gear, water bottle and protein bars.