A Frequently Asked Question: What's Our Favourite Island?

This is a question that gets asked not just by non-cruisers but by cruisers alike so we've been chatting about it recently and wracking our brains to try to pick one.  The conclusion we came to is that often the island we are currently on is our "favourite" but really it comes down to what we love about each island that makes them so unique.

We're talking about our travels in the Eastern Caribbean so far so we're really looking at the islands from The Dominican Republic to Grenada.  We haven't been to Trinidad & Tobago yet so won't include them.  These are of course only our impressions and opinions - your mileage may vary.

I'm going to break this answer into four parts just to make it more manageable:

• Greater Antilles (Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico) and The Virgins (Spanish, U.S. & British)
• the outer Leeward Islands (Anguilla to Dominica)
• the inner Leeward Islands (Saba to Montserrat)
• and finally the Windward Islands (Martinique to Grenada).

By no means do I intend to recreate a cruising guide, I'll leave that to the talents of Chris Doyle and others, this is just a brief compendium of our observations about the islands and what we like or dislike about each one.  Who knows, perhaps at the end we'll even figure out if we have a favourite.

So here goes with installment #1:

Dominican Republic
The DR is a huge island and is a total enigma to me.  We visited the south shore - limited to the La Romana to Bayahibe coast, had a spell of bad weather (worst at anchor we've ever experienced), a fabulous visit with friends on a resort and a great side-trip to the capital, Santo Domingo.  At the end of it we decided that we had no big desire to revisit this island due to the constant hustle / coercion, hassle / corruption with officials, and what we found to be very unfriendly locals.  We don't speak Spanish so that was a definite barrier and we've heard mixed reviews from other cruisers who have visited the north shore.  Some absolutely love  A lasting little reminder of our time on the island was the bottom paint job we had done in what we thought was a reputable marina there.  We don't feel that the job was at all well done and after six months we had very little bottom paint left in certain areas.  It is pretty obvious to us that they didn't put on a primer and possibly less paint than was reported.  Shame on us for not doing the job ourselves - we won't make that mistake again.

In just a few words words - Love/Hate:
     Love:  Santo Domingo old city
     Hate:  Constant hustle

Insane driving with motoconchos zipping in and out.

Quaint street scenes in the old city portion of Santo Domingo.

Enthusiasm and energy of young guys is the same everywhere.

Chess and dominos - on the pedestrian street in between rain showers.

Puerto Rico
Another big island - this one is American.  We traveled westward and eastward along the south shore to get to/from the DR.  We loved our time on Puerto Rico, the landscape is dramatic and the little fishing towns are quaint and charming.  The people are friendly and welcoming and although many don't speak English and we don't speak Spanish, it didn't seem to stop us from communicating (unlike the DR).  Heading eastward is difficult as you are heading straight into wind, wave and current which means that you'll try anything to make the miles, including sailing close to reef-strewn, fish-pot laden shores in the dark of night.  Not a fun endeavour.  We haven't ventured much inland on PR and will definitely spend more time there in the future.
     Love:  People
     Hate:  East-bound passage making

Stunning mountain range behind Salinas on the south shore of PR.

The Spanish Virgin Islands:  Culebra & Culebrita, Vieques
We've spent quite a bit of time on Culebra and Culebrita off the east end of Puerto Rico but only had one visit many years ago to Vieques.  These islands used to be the back-water cruising grounds, many saying they were like the British Virgins were 20 years ago.  I think that has changed a lot and Culebra/Culebrita are soundly into the 21st century now.  The island is a weekend getaway for Puerto Ricans coming over on the ferry and their own boats, little cantinas are scattered around the beaches and in the little town making eating/drinking a fun adventure.  Golf cart rentals are the way to see the tiny little island and Culebrita can only be reached by boat.  The inside anchorage at Ensenada Honda is chock-full of boats with sheltered waters and easy access to the shops and restaurants, the outside anchorage on the west side is quieter if you discount the regular ferry that goes in and out.  The best thing about Culebra is that it is a resting and gathering spot for cruisers from all over the place after completing the difficult easting along the shores of Puerto Rico - there's an audible sigh of relief heard with each arriving vessel.
     Love:  Laid back
     Hate:  Too far west from the Eastern Caribbean

Flamenco - the most beautiful beach on Culebra and a top beach of the Caribbean.

Feeding time at the Dinghy Dock bar - patrons, birds and fish all partake.

The morning market is open in Culebra - best chance to pick up some fresh veggies.

The U.S. Virgin Islands:  St. Thomas, St. Croix, St. John
St. Thomas (the island of the Big Hurry), St. Croix (once an industrial island, now in decline) and St. John (the island of nature), along with a few smaller islands make up the U.S. Virgin Islands.  The three islands are quite distinctly different and we have spent most of our time on STT and STJ with a couple of short visits to STX.  We have friends on STT which makes it a special place for us after having Mowzer based there for five years of charter.  This is the island where people can easily fly in/out and from there disperse to the other islands.  Cruise ships disgorge thousands (sometimes 10s of thousands) of passengers here on a daily basis in high season so you have to keep your patience and your wits about you.  Keep your wits about you too if/when you drive here:  American cars (driver on the left) but drive on the left as in Britain.  Our favourite of the islands is St. John.  You are immediately transported to the white sand beaches and clear turquoise waters of your Caribbean dreams.  Nature trails abound with a good dose of plantation history.  In some bays on the south shore you cannot see a single light at night other than moon and stars, if you are lucky enough to be there by yourself.  On a short visit to the Virgins, we have been happy to spend our time on STJ and not bother crossing over to the BVIs.
     Love:  Entry to "the Caribbean"
     Hate:  Americanization of the Caribbean

Leinster Bay on the north shore of St. John.

Looking west to St. Thomas.

St. Thomas on a busy day.

The British Virgin Islands:  Jost van Dyke, Tortola, Norman Island, Peter Island, Salt Island, Cooper Island, Ginger Island, Virgin Gorda, Anegada and many other islets
Each island in the BVI does have a unique element or attraction but they are all similar topographically other than Anegada which is a low-lying limestone island.  The others are all old volcanic islands and all of the islands in this region tend to be quite dry and scrubby.  The BVI have become home to one of the largest charter fleets in the world.  There are probably thousands of bareboat and crewed charter boats plying these waters and with good reason.  The waters are protected, the islands are close together, there is entertainment provided in every major bay / anchorage.  The place has been filled up with expensive mooring balls ($35US / night), loud beach bars and plenty of people that probably shouldn't be trying to sail a boat.  However, these are all reasons (other than that last one) why we actually love the Virgins - the sailing is easy, the waters are lovely and clear and there's always something to do, even if it just means sitting back and watching the antics in the mooring field each afternoon.  This is really where we learned to sail and fell in love with the idea of living on the boat so these islands are rather like coming home to us.  Those who complain that it is too busy and the anchorages are too full, just have to spend a little more time with their charts and look for the quiet little bays where the charter boats won't go (no beach bar or mooring balls.)
     Love:  Easy sailing
     Hate:  Expensive

Overlooking Eustatia Sound on Virgin Gorda.

Hazy, relaxed afternoon overlooking Tortola.

Anegada - a world apart from her sister islands.

There we have it - what's your favourite of these islands?  Stay tuned for the next instalment as we move east and south through the islands.

Kids About Town

Coral Bay is an itsy-bitsy town at the east end of St. John and the vibe is all about being laid-back, the last cruiser hang-out in the U.S. territories. Some of the folks here look like the last time they left was the 70s, and others just look like that's what they're trying to look like. Make sense? Hippies are cool these days.

The town is starting to look a little more upscale though, firstly noticeable with the nice new dinghy dock; a few years ago the dock would settle underwater as you stepped "ashore". Skinny Legs and The Mad Dog Trading Company are still the same, but this time we opted to walk around the bay and try out Aqua Bistro for lunch.

As we rounded the corner, our escort picked us up just outside the firehall. They'd picked out some choice rides for us but we opted to walk so they made sure we had uninterrupted passage down the middle of the street, stopping all traffic in both directions to let us pass.

They walked us quickly past the local school and even demonstrated the route should we need to evacuate for an incoming tsunami.

Wait for us, we're still coming...

Despite ambiguous directions, they figured out which way we wanted to go and when we arrived at the junction and promptly turned left,

taking a shortcut past the pink restaurant and the blue bus shelter.

At this point communications broke down a bit since we definitely didn't want to follow them into the mangroves and scrub at the side of the road.

We knew they'd be coming back shortly though, since they left some of their youngest crew by the parking lot.

As we rounded the corner and looked out over the bay we found a local launch that might be the reason the kids scampered into the bush... A little afternoon truancy perhaps? (Check out the name on the side of the boat.)

Ah, finally, some empty seats still available for our lunch outing. Thanks for showing us the way!

Note that I chose lamb from the menu and not goat ;-) ... and it was very good.

Hangin' Out

We keep getting ready to head into the BVI but we've been in a bit of a social whirl for the last few weeks. We received word that Dave (on Banyan) would be celebrating a birthday in Maho Bay, so off we took ourselves to the North Shore. On the appointed weekend a good number of crews convened and the birthday celebration, including painkillers on the beach and a competitive round of bocce ball ensued.

Maho was picture perfect for a birthday celebration. Cheers Dave!

After a few days of lounging on the beach we were in need of some more "leg-stretching", so we headed off with Banyan back to the south side. First stop was an overnight in Hansen Bay followed by a visit to Salt Pond and a hike up to Ram Head. We even fit in another visit to the 'grotto' on Drunk Bay.

Mowzer & Banyan rolling in the swell of Salt Pond.

Alex & Dave checked out the cobblestone anchorage as the wind attempted to blow us off the cliffs.

Henry say, "Yep, it's a long way down".

Beauty and the beast.

Right behind Salt Pond Bay is (surprise, surprise) a salt pond. The hike to Drunk Bay takes you right around the salt pond and this time I took more note of the pond itself. The tell-tale smell that gets in the back of your nose is typical of all salt ponds, the red colour is from an algae that grows in the pond, and the bird life is quite different in this protected area compared to the rugged seashore.

The red colour was as intense as any of the blues we see in the ocean.

This little wading bird stood on the rock bobbing his head at us...

... And then he was gone.

This time in the grotto, we found an anatomically correct mermaid.

And a dinosaur dog?

The winds have been blowing pretty relentlessly for the last few weeks and one particular morning I noticed our flag at the back of the boat had tied itself up in knots. Time to change out our colours and look a little more respectable.

Off with the old, faded with tattered stitching and frayed corners.

On with the new - looks much better.

Dave and Alex have introduced us to a new game of Wizard so we have enjoyed our evenings battling it out over a deck of cards. Henry happily took his first game last night but I, as with most card games, am still on the learning curve. Not to be outdone, we dragged Dave & Alex over to Lameshur Bay and up to the top of Bordeaux Mountain. "Sure Dave, we're almost at the top," became the mantra, but we did get to enjoy the view and a cold smoothie once we'd climbed up the Reef Trail to the Centerline Road.

A yummy mango smoothie with a good dollop of whipped cream - did we earn it on the hike today? You bet we did!

Now, we bid adieu to Banyan and we turn our sights onto the wind predictions for the next couple of weeks. There has been talk of a moderation in the winds on Monday/Tuesday for making the eastward hop to St. Martin but to be honest I just don't see it right now. We're going to keep our eye on that little patch of blue that is poking its head up around the 20th and hope that it stays in the forecast for us. That looks like a much more comfortable way to travel 80 miles dead to wind.

Fauna & Flora

Not sure why, but back in high school I absolutely detested biology. It wasn't dissecting the frogs or the smell of formaldehyde that bothered me, nor the memorization of classes and families, I just never found the subject very appealing. Now, I'm wishing I had paid so much more attention!

From Lameshur Bay we set off early in the morning on one of our longest hikes yet: Lameshur Bay trail over the saddle west to the Reef Bay trail, climbed north to the top of STJ to the Centerline Road, west along the road on the ridge to the L'Esperance Road (trail) and then all the way south and east back to Reef Bay, where we picked up the Lameshur Bay trail once more for a total of 10 miles and elevations of 1100'. In the process we passed through a variety of microclimates from lush, green growth in the protected guts to arid (parched) southerly exposures. We sure were glad to have studies the topo map carefully so we had a quick ascent in the relative cool of the morning with the longer, more drawn out descent as the sun reached it's hottest.

Surveying the Reef Bay gut and the hill we're going to walk around.

Having been on some of these trails before I decided to try to focus on the small creatures and plants that can easily escape the eye. I really need a field guide for some of these.

Gungaloo, a type of millipede - we usually see them curled up in a protective circle but this one was trying to get across the trail.

Geckos skitter through the bush all around us - hadn't seen one with such iridescent markings before.

Teyer Palm - the only native palm on St. John.

The massive Silk Cotton tree at this corner is hard to miss. It has huge buttress roots as well.

Pinguin or False Pineapple: this was the only one we saw in flower and apparently the fruit is edible.

Among these ruins were Turpentine Trees, also known as Tourist Trees for their red, peeling skin.

Although the vines and thorny stuff has been cleared from this old great house, the trees and other greenery still remain. I suspect that nature reclaims these sites very quickly without park service maintenance.

Back behind the Sieben Estate ruins we found the only Baobob tree on the island, the seed most likely having been brought from Africa on a slave ship.

Now for more arid slopes covered with Pinguin. Definitely a big ouch if you stumble here.

And now into a cactus field. The little suckers in the ground are vicious to get out if one sticks to you (speaking from experience here - oops)

Ok, quiz time - what is this? One I don't know and isn't in my guide book.

Another sharpie - Snake Tongue, or more curiously named Mother-In-Law Tongue.

Our reward, a dip is awaiting us in the cool refreshing waters of Lameshur Bay.

On Thursday we were quite surprised to be hailed on the radio by friends from back home at the Nepean Sailing Club. Doug and Cherry were in the BVI and would like to catch up with us, and never shy to enjoy a get-together we were thrilled when they made their way around to Lameshur. I can't believe I didn't get any pictures, not even of Pinot their adorable teacup Yorkie, but we were much too busy catching up on all the goings on and adventures of Mowzer and Moma Cal.

Sadly, they were headed back to Puerto Rico and our destination lies in the other direction so we parted ways and we once again rounded the island to the north shore, this time to meet up with Dave and Alex on Banyan. Birthday celebrations are on order for the weekend and it appears that there will be quite a gathering. Lots of new folks to meet, many of which have been, and will be back, in Grenada this season.

Now, on a mooring ball in Maho Bay, we took an early morning walk to stretch out our legs (mine were definitely a little sore from our previous hike). My favourite part of this walk was walking with a ray for the whole length of the beach. He was only about four feet away from me in about two feet of water and you can see the length of the beach in this first pic. Pretty cool way to start the day!

Early morning beach walk before it became crowded with Easter weekend visitors. Time for some fishing.

Moving on to new hunting grounds.

My beach walk companion. Very cool!

Finally, just to pay tribute to this amazing book that we bought many years ago at the St. Thomas airport on a whim. It has become our constant companion on St. John.

A great guide not just to the trails, but what you see along the way.