Trunk Bay (St. John’s Beach Escape)

Ship’s Excursion out of Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas

Ship: Norwegian Spirit (NCL)

Sailing Date: December 21, 2006

Date of Snorkel: December 24, 2006

Equipment Availability: We have our own which we take with us, but equipment for other passengers was available on site with the exception of snorkeling vests (for which they had to pay an extra $5 for some unknown reason).  The equipment for loan was clean and appeared to be well maintained.

Water Access: Beach

NOTE: Since this site is part of a large U.S. National Park, wearing of snorkeling gloves is not allowed.

This was our first opportunity to return to Trunk Bay since our Zenith trip with my Mother and Aunt in August of 1995, which was before we started writing snorkeling reports.  The site is wonderful for snorkeling in general, but on this particular day, we were not as lucky with the weather as we were back in 1995 and as others have been in the past.

Trunk Bay lies along the north side of St. John’s, about a 15 minute taxi ride from Cruz Bay.  On this particular excursion, we were taken directly from the cruise ship pier in Charlotte Amalie by launch (oddly enough named The Hurricane) to St. John’s spending approximately an hour crossing from one island to the next in very choppy seas.  By the time of our launch ride back, the weather had calmed considerably, and it only took about 40 minutes to get back to St. Thomas.

The Trunk Bay beach face extends for a quarter mile and is remarkably clean and well maintained, with a small gift shop and snack bar.  Shade trees abound along the shore line, and we found a good shady picnic table on which to store our gear.  The “Snorkeling Trail” lies off the Eastern side of the beach where a red buoy and a white buoy mark the extreme ends.  Plaques placed on concrete markers demarcate the trail, and one can swim off towards the small island where the reef is well developed with many types of corals.  Standard reef fish are to be found in an impressive variety, but no one species exists in any great numbers, which we found surprising.  Visibility was listed as “Fair” according to the Park authorities, mostly due to the windy day and accompanying rougher seas.  The current was particularly strong on this visit, and we were sternly warned to be careful of being swept into the rocks as we tried to get into the shallows for better photography. It is an odd sensation to be focusing on a fish, and then have the current move both you and the fish to the extent that you end up photographing the reef wall!

Our taxis took us back to Cruz Bay with about 30 minutes to spare for some shopping before we boarded The Hurricane again for the ride back to Charlotte Amalie.  Be warned that the shops here are exceptionally over-priced in comparison to what one can find on St. Thomas.

Snorkeling Grade: B+ (would be higher under better conditions with less wave action and currents)