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Looking to escape the cold for a last-minute trip to the warm and sunny island of St. John? Well you’re in luck! Our friends over at Island Getaways have some pretty good last minute deals happening for the month of January.

Chateau Margot

Chateau Margot is six bedroom, 5.5 bath home snuggled into the verdant green hillside of Bordeaux Mountain. Overlooking Coral Bay, the impressive 4 1/2 acre estate affords majestic views of St. John’s East End as well as the British Virgin Islands of Tortola, Virgin Gorda, Norman and several smaller cays along the Sir Francis Drake Channel and is just minutes to the National Park beaches.

Guests can enjoy 20% off for all available dates during the month of January 2016. Click here for more information. 

Mystic Ridge

Mystic Ridge is a four bedroom, 4.5 bath home perched high on a mountain ridge on its own private expanse of land surrounded by the National Park. This luxurious home, located just just minutes to the National Park beaches, offers dramatic and spectacular down island views of the Drake Channel, the British Virgin Islands, St. John’s East End, Coral Bay and the National Park mountainsides.

Guests can enjoy 20% off for all available dates during the month of January 2016. Click here for more information.

Rendezview

Rendezview is a four bedroom, 3.5 bath beachfront villa that offers a combination of sophistication and romantic tropical charm. Rendezview has a massive 45 X 14 pool that’s 52″ deep with bench seating throughout, surrounded by 3,500 square feet in decking. Located just steps from Hart Bay beach, known for its great snorkeling and beach combing, Rendezview has panoramic views of St. John’s South Shore, the Caribbean Sea and St. Croix on clear days.

Guests can enjoy 20% off for all available dates during the month of January 2016. Click here for more information. 

Island Getaways is also offering 15% off of available January 2016 dates at Casa Luna and 10% off of January 2016 dates at Villa Madeira. Click here for more information. 

All offers are subject to availability.

For more information on any of these villas, please call Kathy McLaughlin at Island Getaways at (888) 693-7676.

Sponsored Post

If you love the Soggy Dollar Bar and let’s be honest, who doesn’t, if you love the islands, and if you dream of St. John on a daily basis and need a daily fix other than reading our fun little website here, you’re going to love this … Soggy Dollar just launched a new online radio station!

We received a ton of emails over the past few weeks asking what happened to Love City Radio. Well today we can tell you that the folks behind the radio station have moved over to the Soggy Dollar Bar where they just launched Soggy Dollar Radio – a sunny place for a shady broadcast. You can access the radio station online 24/7 at www.soggydollarradio.com.

Another fun part beside the music is that the website has a slideshow of sorts, making you feel like you’re right there at the Soggy Dollar Bar. Painkiller anyone?

Ut oh, the secret’s getting out…

Well it looks like our little slice of heaven may soon be getting a flurry of new visitors because it just appeared on the home page of the New York Times! How fancy is that?!!

The New York Times printed a list of 52 places to go in 2016, and you know who is number four on the list – Coral Bay! Here’s what they had to say:

It’s a big world out there. From ancient temples to crystalline waters, here are our top destinations to visit this year. 

4. Coral Bay, St. John: Visit the US Virgin Island’s quiet corner before big development

The beaches are less crowded, the emphasis is on local over commercial, and the people share a friendly sense of neighborhood pride. Among the town’s attractions: monthly full-moon parties at Miss Lucy’s, and a Thanksgiving “Thankspigging” pot luck pig roast hosted by the community at Skinny Legs, where the eating often swells into a singalong. But this quiet community may soon change. Visit before a proposed outlet mall and megamarina, expected to engulf the bay, transforms the laid-back atmosphere of this little corner of the United States Virgin Islands.

I’m happy that Coral Bay made the list. It shows just how special this part of the island is.

We have two great events happening here on St. John tonight. The first is a play that’s being put on by the students at Gifft Hill School – Bugsy Malone, Jr. The second is a fun event happening later tonight at Mongoose Junction.

Bugsy Malone, Jr. is a collaboration between Gifft Hill School and the New England Youth Theatre out of Brattleboro, Vermont. Staff from the theater group travels to St. John several times each year to work with our students on pretty incredible productions. This show features 35 students from Gifft Hill as performers, set design crew, costume designers, pit band members and tech crew members.

Here’s a quick synopsis of the play:

Two gangs in a fictitious city populated only by children are in a rivalry of Capone-ian standards. Dandy Dan’s gang has gotten the upper hand since acquiring the “splurge” gun (a weapon that shoots whip cream). BugsyMalone, a one-time boxer, is thrust into the limelight when he becomes the last chance Fat Sam’s gang has of surviving. All Bugsy really wants to do is spend time with his new love Blousey…but that just isn’t in the cards for our hero.

The play happens tonight at 7 p.m. in the atrium at the upper campus of Gifft Hill School. There are two showings tomorrow – one at 2 p.m. and a second at 7 p.m. – and there will be a fourth showing on Sunday at 2 p.m. Tickets can be pre-purchased by calling (340) 776-1730.

First Fridays at Virgin Fire … Or the Second 😉

The second event happening tonight also sounds like it’s going to be great fun. Beginning tonight and continuing on the first Friday of every month, Virgin Fire will be holding a First Friday event. And yes, we know that tonight is technically the second Friday of the month, but hey, we’re on island time!

Live music happens from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. and a dance party starts at 9:30 p.m. Complimentary champagne will be offered to all Capricorns.

Hope to see you all there!

Today we’d like to tell you all about an amazing new boat being offered for both high end day trips and term charters – Sea Mystic. This motor yacht is the epitome of luxury. For those of you lucky enough to charter it, kudos. For the rest of us, please join me in daydreaming.

Sea Mystic is a luxury 76-foot Queenship motor yacht being offered for day and term charters by Blue Mystic Charters. Sea Mystic joins the company’s 43-foot Chris Craft that first began chartered out of St. John in 2014. Blue Mystic Charters offers luxury, high end day trips, term charters, airport pickups and yacht stays out of both St. John and St. Thomas.

Sea Mystic sleeps six in beautifully appointed private cabins, each with their own bathroom. The Master cabin includes a shower and spa Jacuzzi tub and is the definition of luxury. Tempur-Pedic mattresses in the master, VIP and twin cabins, central air conditioning and all the amenities provide for the ultimate experience while cruising the Caribbean waters.

Sea Mystic will offer day charters and term charters, all of which are all inclusive of expert captain, attentive crew, alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, hors d’oeuvres and fuel (customs fees not included) for two to six people. Weekly charters are $27,950 and increase for holidays. Day charters are available in the USVI and BVI for $4,950 for the day. Additionally, the yacht will be available for a two-night charter tour in the British Virgin Islands, including stops at Copper Island and the Baths ($10,000) or a three-night charter tour including St. John, Cooper Island, Virgin Gorda and Jost Van Dyke ($14,950).

All overnight and term charters are all-inclusive with the exception of customs fees and include breakfast, lunch and most dinners, with stops for meals at Foxy’s Saba Rock and other idyllic locations. Guests can enjoy on-board meals prepared by the yacht’s chef such as Pine Nut Crusted Sea Bass or Caribbean Mango Pork Loin. The yacht is also available for overnight stays in St. Thomas or St. John, perfect for those looking to extend their Virgin Islands stay, experience boat life or simply have an alternate “villa” vacation.

Blue Mystic Charters will continue day charters with the 43-foot Chris Craft Blue Mystic, formerly named Jabulani. Day charters to the USVI or BVI will be all-inclusive with the exception of BVI customs and are available for $2,495 for up to six people. Blue Mystic will also be available for airport pickups with a St. Thomas taxi arrangement from airport to the yacht at Saga Haven Marina in St. Thomas and includes an overnight, breakfast and drop off on St. John, allowing those who arrive on late flights to have an enjoyable, relaxing experience and easy transportation to St. John.

Both yachts are now available for booking, and Blue Mystic Charters will pay a 20% commission to any referral source that leads to a booked charter. Yacht photos, charter options, full rates and details are available online. For more information on the new luxury yacht Sea Mystic and Blue Mystic Charters, please visit www.bluemysticcharters.com

If you’ve been lucky enough to be on island over the past few weeks, chances are you’ve noticed an absence of leaves on certain small trees around the island. It’s also probably very likely that you’ve noticed a very attractive little caterpillar nearby. Well no need to worry, the leaves aren’t disappearing around the island. It’s simply frangipani season.

Each year the pseudosphinx tetrio, which is a fancy way of saying the frangipani caterpillar or frangipani hornworm, makes an appearance on St. John, eating up all of the frangipani leaves in its paths. The black caterpillars are very flashy looking with bright red heads and almost neon yellow stripes along their bodies. They can eat up to three leaves a day, which means you might have a gorgeous frangipani tree in the morning and simply a tree trunk and branches in the afternoon. But no need to worry, the caterpillars don’t kill the tree; they simply eat all of the leaves. 

Frangipani is also known as plumeria. There’s a great looking one out at Annaberg. We haven’t been out there in a bit, so I’m not sure if it’s in bloom or if the caterpillars have gotten to it yet. If any of you are out there, please let us know.

Here’s a bit more information on the frangipani tree and caterpillar courtesy of Gerald Singer’s See St. John:

The native or wild frangipani has a smooth bark and long slender leaves. It produces a pleasant aromatic flower that is always white.

Its imported relative, Plumeria rubra, may have pink or white flowers.

Both varieties have soft fat twigs that serve to hold water during dry periods.

Every year their leaves are eaten by a beautiful, large, black and yellow caterpillar with a red head.

They are called frangipani caterpillars, and after they eat up all the leaves they begin a metamorphosis and eventually become a big dark moth called the sphinx moth.

I don’t know about all of you, but I think the caterpillar is more visually pleasing than the moth. But alas, the circle of life. 🙂

Enjoy sunsets and beautiful views of Pillsbury Sound, the surrounding cays and St. Thomas from this a successful short term rental. Island Living is a three bedroom, three bath home plus loft located just five minutes from Cruz Bay.

At the center of Island Living is its great room, which includes the kitchen, dining bar and living room spaces. Two bedrooms, which mirror one another, are located at each side of Island Living’s great room. A large, covered deck can be accessed from these areas, providing a great view throughout.

In addition to the two bedrooms and loft upstairs, Island Living also has a lower level, one bedroom, one bath apartment with outside deck. This is currently being used as a long-term rental. The property surrounding the home contains a lovely pebbled pathway that winds gracefully through its native gardens. Island Living is being sold as is/where is.

Island Living is being offered at $650,000. For more information, please contact Tammy Donnelly at 340 Real Estate Co. at [email protected]

Yesterday we told you how a second Coral Bay marina proposal has been released. Today we have more information with regard to the hotel and resort components. Here are the details provided by Save Coral Bay:

Overview of the Sirius Upland (Hotel and Resort) Project Components

Although not part of the Army Corps permit application, the Sirius project includes an extensive upland hotel development. Built on land behind the Guy Benjamin school and on the Coral Bay ball field, the development includes an 89 unit hotel complex, outdoor swimming pool and retail stores. The proposed hotel, resort, and new ball field was shown to the Coral Bay community in November 2014, and assuming the plans haven’t changed since then, it looked like this (artist rendering of aerial view):

Recognizing that the loss of the view over the ball field would not be well received by members of the Emmaus Moravian church, the architects made an adjustment in their plans and provided a sight line down the center of the development so at least a portion of the water could be viewed unimpeded by buildings. They provided this rendering to make that point:

We have constructed several views of the hotel portion of the project in an effort to show what it will really look like from the road or from the vicinity of the church. These images are based on our best available information regarding building design, elevations, and location. This is the view from the road alongside the ball field. Because of the lower elevation of the roadway, the two story hotel units will completely obscure the view of the water from the road.

This is the view from the front of the church property. At the slightly higher elevation of the church it will be possible to see the water over the rooftops of the hotel units, however the dominant feature offshore of the hotel will be the proposed marina (not shown below).

And an aerial view of the entire project site:

It is apparent from these images that the 89 room hotel/resort complex would become the dominant feature of this central portion of Coral Bay. The economic viability of such a fundamental transformation of land use needs to be carefully considered, and we will be providing testimony to that effect during the rezoning hearing, once scheduled.

The purpose of this overview was to provide a complete picture of the proposed development project. The Army Corps is technically only concerned with the marina project and its associated infrastructure, however the developer has told the community that they would not build the marina unless they receive permission to also build the hotel. They claim that the marina is not economically viable on a standalone basis. So, when considering the impacts of the marina one must also be cognizant of the larger picture, of which it is a part.

At the beginning of last month, we told you how the developers of the proposed megamarina in Coral Bay were facing a slew of new challenges that could very well put an end to their proposed marina for good. We were all happy and thought Coral Bay had finally been saved thanks to resident “badass” Mr. David Silverman and his efforts leading the Save Coral Bay movement. Well today Coral Bay faces a potential new challenge as plans for a second Coral Bay marina have just been released. This time it is a project by Sirius Development, LLC, also known as T-REX. Its plan is to create a marina, hotel and resort on the land owned by the Moravian Conference.

The following information has been taken directly from Save Coral Bay. You can follow their efforts and get the latest marina information at www.savecoralbay.com.

Project Overview
The project proposed by Sirius is located on the Coral Bay ball field and on land behind Skinny Legs restaurant, behind the Coral Bay fire house, and behind the Guy Benjamin school. Their stated goal is to build an 89-room hotel and marina complex with associated retail amenities. Since the land on which the hotel is to be located is not zoned for hotel use, the developers have made the unusual decision to file an application for the marina with the Army Corps of Engineers before receiving any local authorizations. Although perfectly legal, this route is very unusual.

The marina is proposed as a 92-slip project, built using precast floating concrete docks. It will require 420 pilings for the fixed main pier and guide piles for the floating sections. In addition to the 92 wet slips (including side-ties), the project proposes a “dry slip” boat garage. To support all of this marine infrastructure in the shallow waters of north Coral Bay Harbor, the developers are requesting permission to dredge approximately one acre of sea bottom to a depth of -6 feet.

The image below is a Google Earth overlay of the in-water marina project. The marina occupies approximately ten acres of the harbor, depending upon where you place the in-water boundaries.

In addition to the in-water marina, Sirius is proposing to construct a 3-storey, 30-position boat garage. In order to create sufficient level land near the water, the project calls for dredging approximately one acre in the “creek”, placing bulkheads seaward of the existing shoreline, backfilling the bulkheads and paving a roughly 1 acre “concrete apron” for the marina buildings. Additionally a parking lot for 60 vehicles will be created. These features are shown in the rendering below.

The project is currently in a Public Comment period with the US Army Corps of Engineers. The comment period extends until January 25, 2016.

Stay tuned for more information on the hotel/resort plans, as well as some concerns raised by the folks at Save Coral Bay.

We’re back everyone! Happy New Year!

We just got back to the island after spending the holidays in Connecticut and, goodness, is this island packed?! It took a little longer than expected for high season to arrive, but I can safely say that it’s currently in full swing. With high season, however, comes some minor issues – mainly parking.

Over the past 24 hours, I’ve seen some crazy parking issues happening here on island. I’m not sure if it’s due to the sheer amount of tourists visiting (thank you to all of you!!!) or if it’s due to the higher number of rental Jeeps here on island, but I do know that parking is at a premium these days. I’ve seen cars get booted, ticketed and towed over the past 24 hours, which is taking the love right out of Love City. So in an effort to curb some of these issues, we decided to write about the dos and don’t of parking in Cruz Bay and around the island in general.

For starters, if you see a No Parking sign, the police mean it. Last night, there were roughly a dozen vehicles parked along the beach across from Grande Bay and sadly a bunch of them got ticketed. The officer stated she was planning on towing too. Hopefully that didn’t occur because nothing ruins a vacation quicker than a ticket or a towed car.

Another word of advice is that if you see a “Danger” sign, you probably don’t want to park here either. (Full disclosure: I myself almost parked here once. But the sign scared me so I found another beach.)

Lastly, please do not park at any of the overlooks. These areas are meant to stop and go essentially. One of our readers referred to them as “Kodak spots” – I like that.

So you’re probably wondering – well, where the heck can I park? Here are your options in Cruz Bay:

Free Parking

There are several free parking lots around Cruz Bay. The largest is the gravel parking lot next to the car barge area and across from the tennis courts. Be mindful when parking here, however, because there is a large area specifically for police vehicles. So be sure not to park there.

Another free option on the other side of the tennis courts is the Bureau of Motor Vehicles lot. This is where the Little Olive food truck is.

You can park for free at the custom’s lot across from the Post Office.

The small lot across from the BVI ferries in Cruz Bay is also free, as is the teeny lot beside it near the walkway to the National Park Visitor’s Center.

Lastly, there are a handful of spots across from Mongoose Junction on the road that leads behind the National Park Visitor’s Center. Be careful over there, however, as some spots can only be used at certain hours and others are for permitted vehicles only.

Free Parking if You’re Using a Business

There are several parking options you can use if you are visiting a business. Parking at Mongoose Junction, Bayside Mini Mart and The Fish Trap/convenience store are all reserved for customers. Parking up at the Lumberyard is also reserved for people using a business. If you park in these areas and are not using a business or use a business and then walk around town, you will be at risk for getting a ticket, booted or towed.

Paid Parking

There are currently three paid lots in Cruz Bay. You can park at Wharfside Village, Slim Man’s which is across from Wharfside Village or L&L Jeep Rental’s lot which is across from the ball field and next to Extra Virgin Bistro.

Here’s a little map to give you a better idea of the locations: