News of St. John

Haulover, August 2019

Hello and happy Friday! So we are on the cusp of super low season on St. John. But that doesn’t mean that there isn’t a lot of great things to do, places to see and food to eat. One great thing about low season is the prices. This is the least expensive time to travel to the island. You do, however, have to keep an eye on the weather. So trip insurance is encouraged when traveling during this time of year.

Today, we thought we would point out how many great restaurants remain open. Here is the full list:

• 18°64
• 420 to Center
• Aqua Bistro
• Art Bar at Bajo el Sol Gallery
• Banana Deck
• Bikinis on the Beach
• Cafe Roma
• Columbo’s Smoothie Stand
• Coral Bay Caribbean Oasis
• Cruz Bay Landing
• De’ Coal Pot
• Dog House Pub
• DR!NK
• Greengo’s
• Gwen’s
• High Tide
• Hillside Terrace
• Indigo Grill/Rhumb Lines
• Irie Pops
• Little Olive
• Maho Crossroads
• Margarita Phil’s
• Miss Lucy’s
• Morgan’s Mango
• Nella’s Lounge
• North Shore Deli
• Ocean 362
• Our Market Smoothies
• Pizzabar
• Quiet Mon
• Ronnie’s Pizza
• Sam and Jack’s Deli
• Shaibu’s Grab & Go
• Shambles
• Skinny Legs
• Sosa
• St. John Provisions
• St. John Scoops
• Sun Dog Cafe
• The Tap & Still
• The Tap Room
• The Longboard
• Trunk Bay (concessions)
• Uncle Joe’s
• Westin
• West Indies Delight
• Woody’s

Now go ahead and do a little daydreaming at work today and check out some airfare prices. And for those of you who’d like to daydream a bit more today? Here is a link to our webcam page: www.newsofstjohn.com/webcams/

Have a great day everyone!

Today we have a very cool story to share with all of you. I’m sure you all know by now that the Willy T – the large steel ship that was anchored off of Norman Island and served as a bar/restaurant – was heavily damaged during Hurricane Irma. The vessel was so severely damaged that it could no longer be used, and for nearly two years, it sat smashed against the shoreline near Pirate’s Bight. A new Willy T was built – it was the third vessel that served as the Willy T – and it was first anchored off of Peter Island and reopened back in June 2018. The new Willy T finally moved back home to Norman Island last month where it remains today. Who says you can’t go home… 🙂

Phew, that’s a lot of backstory! Ok, so now you’re probably wondering what happened to the old Willy T that was damaged during the storm. Well it recently received a new life… on the ocean floor. The old Willy T is one of the British Virgin Islands’ latest artificial reefs. How cool is that??!

It all happened thanks to a nonprofit group called Beyond the Reef. The BVI organization is comprised of a group of collaborators who are passionate about the ocean and include an underwater engineer, an oceanographer, a metal sculptor and an environmental filmmaker. Their goal, with a little help from the community near and far, is to create the most impactful artificial coral reef system in the world. And in our opinion, they’re well on their way to doing that.

Now this is clearly a cool thing. But makes it even cooler is how they turned the old Willy T into a pirate-themed wreck. Check out a few pics:

Amazing, right??!

The old Willy T was sunk on August 7th in Key Bay on Peter Island. It sits 65 feet down between coral heads with the top of the wreck sitting about 35 feet underwater. The organizers of Beyond the Reef are asking all companies that dive the wreck to donate $5 per person which will go back into the community through an initiative that teaches local children how to swim. Snorkelers can check out the wreck too, but you really need to dive the site to truly enjoy it all. Here are a few pics taken the day of the sinking:

I’m not sure about all of you, but I’m pretty excited to check this out.

Beyond the Reef is also working to sink three airplanes that were also damaged during the hurricanes. These planes are being converted into sharks and will be sunk near Great Dog in the Dog Islands. Check out a pic:

I know I’ve said it before, and I hope it’s not too annoying to hear me say it again, but so much good has come out of those storms. I am thankful for everyone who has had a part in it.

For more information on Beyond the Reef, please visit its website at www.1beyondthereef.com

Well folks, we have a second business opportunity to tell you about this week. St. John Inn just listed for sale. The asking price: $2,990,000.

The St. John Inn is a small hotel located in Cruz Bay just beyond the roundabout. It was recently renovated and offers complimentary breakfast and sunset happy hour. The property has a pool and is located within walking distance to the shops and restaurants in Cruz Bay, the ferry dock, grocery stores and the tennis courts.

The St. John Inn listed for sale back in early 2017. At that time, the asking price was just under $4 million, so this is quite the price drop.

(Side note: The property being listed for sale does not and will not affect any current or future reservations.)

Think you have what it takes to run a small boutique hotel in paradise? Then go ahead and reach out to your favorite on-island realtor!

Hello everyone and happy Monday! Today we’d like to tell you about a new business opportunity on St. John. If you’re living on island and looking for a great new opportunity or if you happen to be stateside and looking to make a big move, this could be for you!

First let’s talk about the opportunity for those of you looking to run a restaurant here on island. The leasehold for the space where Pickles was located in Coral Bay is now available. As you know, this is a great breakfast and lunch spot with both indoor seating and a large outdoor space that was used for open mic nights, as well as morning yoga classes.

What’s for sale here is a five year lease. That comes with a five-year option to renew. The leasehold is for sale for $69,000. That price is negotiable from what we hear.

A second opportunity on this same site is the land/building complex. This parcel is .79 acres and includes the building where Pickles was plus about 30 feet across the street which has direct water access. The cost for the land and the building is $1.2 million.

These business opportunities are located in Coral Bay just beyond the Coral Bay sign when heading toward the Salt Pond area. Coral Bay is roughly eight miles from Cruz Bay.

If either or these new business opportunities sound like they may be a good fit for you, please contact Tammy Donnelly with 340 Real Estate Co. at [email protected]

Also, if you happened to miss it over the weekend, our board game St. Johnopoly – Monopoly with a St. John twist – is currently on sale for 20% off. The sale was extended a few days, so please order yours now! You can do so by clicking the Buy Now button below. (Click here to learn more about the board game.)

Choose Option Below to Buy:

ON SALE THIS WEEK! $40.00 USDREGULAR PRICE $50.00 USD

Hello everyone and happy Saturday! Who wants to bring a little more St. John into their lives?? Well you can for a little less money this weekend because St. Johnopoly is on sale!

Let’s be honest… We still have a good amount of inventory in Papa News of St. John’s garage up in Connecticut. He’s graciously asked us to move some of it out, so we’re having a sale! For this week only, St. Johnopoly will be available for 20% off. Not too shabby!

T-shirts on the island retail for about $25-$30. I recently bought a tumbler for just under $40. So to get a super amazing board game that you can play over and over and over again for only $40 (plus shipping of course) is a steal!

Not familiar with St. Johnopoly? Well it’s just like the traditional Monopoly board game that’s been around for more than a century, but this version has a St. John twist!

Rather than starting at Go, we have you start at the Ferry Dock … because where else would you start when visiting St. John??! You will land on your favorite businesses like The Longboard, The Tap Room, Miss Lucy’s and more! You will hop around the board using custom tokens like a Jeep, petroglyph, palm tree and a heart for Love City. Oh and one of the best parts? You pay for your properties using Beach Bar money! I wonder if they’ll let us use this cash to buy drinks when they reopen? Hmmm….

(Of course we aren’t promoting actually buying these businesses on the island This is simply a board game. 🙂 )

The sale continues through Sunday night. Games will ship Monday and Tuesday. Shipping costs are calculated based on your location and by the size/weight of the game.

Ready to buy? Ready to make Papa News of St. John smile by giving him some of his garage back??! If so, then please click the Buy Now button below. It will bring you to a secure PayPal page where you can enter your shipping details.

Thanks everyone! Have a wonderful weekend!

Choose Option Below to Buy:

ON SALE THIS WEEKEND! $40.00 USDREGULAR PRICE $50.00 USD

The Animal Care Center is holding its annual Dog Days of Summer potluck party, and you’re all invited!

The party will be from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Animal Care Center in Cruz Bay, which is just beyond the roundabout on the one-way section. The Animal Care Center is on your right just before Santos Laundry.

The party is a way for the shelter to thank the community for its support throughout the year. It’s also a way for residents and guests to the island to get up close and personal with some of the shelter’s pets who are up for adoption.

The shelter will provide beverages while guests are asked to bring a dish to share. This is a family-friendly event, so bring everyone!

The Animal Care Center is one of the island’s most crucial organizations in my opinion. They do such a wonderful job caring for our dogs and cats.

Several of the shelter’s animals get adopted stateside and often need an escort to get them to their fur-ever homes. We wrote about the need a few months back. Please click here to read all about it. 

In the meantime, if you want to learn more about the shelter or its animals, please visit www.stjohnanimalcarecenter.com.

For those of you who love St. John and need it in your daily lives, you are going to love this!

Steve Simonsen recently announced that his 2020 calendar is now available for preorder. The 2020 calendar is Steve’s 14th annual calendar and features images from Trunk Bay, St. John’s North Shore and more. It measures 14”x11” and retails for $18 plus priority shipping.

Steve and his wife Janet have lived in the Virgin Islands since the 1980s. Janet arrived first, in 1984, when she was recruited to manage the Aqua Action dive shop at Secret Harbor in St. Thomas. Steve arrived three years later and worked as the underwater photo pro at the Chris Sawyer Dive Center at Compass Point, also in St. Thomas. The couple met soon after and were married in 1989, the year Hurricane Hugo hit the Virgin Islands.

The Simonsens left island after Hugo and landed in Micronesia where their son Jesse was born. They moved to Micronesia to set up a photo lab, as Steve had a large dive shoot on Guam.

“(We) returned and settled on St. John in August of 1991… never looked back,” Janet told me yesterday.

For those of you who are interested in pre-ordering Steve’s calendar, you can do so by visiting his website at http://stevesimonsen.net/Home/Calendar.html. Steve also has a coffee table book available for sale. Click here to read a recent story we wrote about that. 

More progress to tell you all about today!

Ferry service between St. Thomas and Tortola’s West End – where the Soper’s Hole marina is – resumed last week. Travelers can now visit Tortola’s West End from both Charlotte Amalie and Red Hook on St. Thomas, according to the British Virgin Islands government. Unfortunately service from St. John has not resumed at this time. This is due to the fact that the customs building has yet to be reconstructed following the 2017 hurricanes.

The following is the schedule of ferries leaving from Tortola’s West End, according to the BVI government:

The Native Son ferry announced online Thursday that it will leave Red Hook daily at 7:45 a.m. and 3:15 p.m. and 5 p.m. The 5 p.m. ferry continues to Road Town after a stop at West End. Inter Island Boat Boat Services leaves Red Hook daily at 7:15 a.m. and 3 p.m.

Well folks, today’s story is going to be super short and sweet. But it’s packed with useful information.

A new gas station and grocery store is coming to the island. Midway Supermarket & Gas Station will be located on Centerline right on the straightaway near mile 3. The grocery store will be the largest on the island. The complex will also feature a laundromat.

We chatted with a few fellas on site the other day and asked when we can expect the complex to open. “Soon,” they said with a smile.

This will be the island’s third gas station and will be a great asset especially to those folks living in Coral Bay and beyond. Currently the island’s two gas stations are roughly a half mile apart, and are located in Cruz Bay and near the Westin.

That’s all we have for you today. “News” you can use!

Back in May we told you how Tom Secunda, a part-time resident who happens to be a co-founder of Bloomberg LP up in New York City, had purchased the contract over at Cinnamon Bay. Not only was Mr. Secunda planning on cleaning up the campground immediately and rebuilding it for all to enjoy, but his team also announced that all proceeds from the campground would support philanthropic and resiliency projects on the island. Pretty amazing stuff.

Well three months have passed since the announcement was made, so we figured it’s time to give you all a nice update.

For starters, a great deal of cleanup has happened so far. The majority of the campground area is fenced off with green cloth to keep prying eyes out, but from what we can see, a lot has happened. It’s hard to tell just how much has occurred on the eco tent side because it is heavily wooded, but we can see building materials here and there, so we know stuff is happening. Over on the cottages side, you can see that all have been removed. A few dumpsters remain on site in that area.

Regarding facilities onsite, the bathrooms remain closed. There are four portable restrooms available for use on site.

According to Adrian Davis, who is directing the project, most of the natural dead debris has been removed from the cottage and tent sites, and electric has been restored to the meter. Their next project will focus “on over 10,000 feet of pipe for water and sewer. All the underground water and sewer lines have to be replaced. We look forward to working with the NPS archeologists and staff as we get started on this necessary step.”

Check out these images we took a few days ago.

Looks great, right?

In their May announcement, Mr. Secunda’s team said it hoped to have the campground open for the 2020-2021 season. In an email late Saturday, Adrian said they still cannot determine an exact reopening date. “We have to get through the water and sewer project first,” he said. “After that, we can start working on bathhouses and the main building.”

We will keep you posted on the progress here, folks. Have a great day everyone.