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Island Update: Lots to Chat About!

Island Update: Lots to Chat About!

Hello everyone, it’s Jenn (the previous owner of News of St. John)! Hillary is setting sail from Grenada today and is heading back to St. John aboard S/V Asante. She asked me to oversee News of St. John while she is off-grid this week, and naturally I said absolutely!

People are slowly starting to trickle back in after a good month or so of pretty quiet times here on St. John, and I just love the energy they bring! Sure it’s nice to have Trunk Bay to yourself on a slow Saturday (hello September!), but I also enjoy seeing people having so much fun while here on vacation. And from what it sounds like after speaking to friends who offer villa, car and boat rentals, it is going to be another season for the books! This year was extremely busy, and it looks like this winter and spring will be busy as well.

So what does that mean for you? Two words: book early. 🙂 Is there a certain restaurant you just have to dine at on your trip? Well book now! Want to take your favorite charter boat out for a great snorkel near Watermelon Cay? Book now! Want to hang with me and take a super fun island tour around St. John? Book now! (Shameless plug: Explore STJ island tours is rated “Excellent” on TripAdvisor. Spend the day with me and have the best day of your vacation! You can learn more at www.ExploreSTJ.com or email me at [email protected])

Ok, so let’s get back to the actual island… It looks amazing! And so green! We have had a good amount of rain lately, so St. John is unbelievably green and lush, and so many of the island’s gorgeous flowers are in bloom! We haven’t had full washout days lately, but enough to keep our plants happy, our donkeys happy and our cisterns full. Yay to that!

Now let’s talk about the water…It’s been super calm lately. Almost lake-like at times. I was taking guests out to the East End a few weeks ago, and it was so calm and clear that I could actually see the buildings in Spanish Town on Virgin Gorda. It was a sight to see!

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So calm & clear!

Speaking of driving, parts of the island are a bit of a mess right now while work continues to bury our electrical lines in Cruz Bay. Work is happening just past Mongoose at the moment (toward the North Shore) and also over near Grande Bay and The Beach Bar. We also have some road work happening near the entrance of the Fish Bay neighborhood, so give yourselves some extra time when traveling in these areas. And if you are, you will see that we actually have a few stoplights on the island right now in these areas… Usually we have none. News you can use right there, folks!

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Road work happening in Cruz Bay on Oct. 16, 2021

Ok but before I go, Hillary asked me to mention two important things to you today.

1. The ferry schedule between Cruz Bay and Red Hook is back to normal after operating off schedule for a bit. I checked with Varlack Ventures Sunday, and they confirmed that the following schedule is the most up-to-date:

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Schedule confirmed by Varlack Ventures on Oct. 16, 2021

2. Hillary also wanted me to remind everyone who is planning to visit the US Virgin Islands in the near future that a negative Covid test is still required for all who visit. The test needs to be taken within five days of travel and results need to be uploaded to the portal which can be found at www.usviupdate.com. Once you fill out your information and upload your results, an orange QR code will be sent to your email. Once your information is verified and approved, you will receive a green QR code. That is what you need to show at the airport along with your ID.

The only exception to this is if you were fully vaccinated in the USVI. If so, you do not need a negative test when flying in. The USVI government is working to accept vaccinations from other states in lieu of a negative test, but that has yet to begin.

Ok, well I think I will wrap it up here. I’m posting a fun story that Hillary wrote about an upcoming event tomorrow, and I’ll be back to chat with you all on Wednesday. Have a great day everyone!

15 thoughts on “Island Update: Lots to Chat About!”

  1. Thanks for the update. Can you tell us what’s happening at Cinnamon Bay? Can’t wait to hear about the progress on my favorite place to stay. Thanks!

    • We recently travelled to STJ on 10/16 and the week before prepared our Covid test documents and submitted everything to the portal-we received our green QR code within minutes! It was very fast! Past trips it took at least a day. I expect that might change as things get busier.

  2. Hey Jenn/Hillary,

    Just curious if you think it’s worth pre-paying for ferry tickets from Redhook online or are the lines more manageable during this time of the season.

    Thanks!

    • It’s nice to have them in advance for the convenience of it, but you also pay a little extra when purchasing them online. I do not think it’s 100 percent necessary, but completely up to the individual. 🙂 -Jenn

      • Personal to Jenn: great to hear from you. I missed reading this because we’re actually on St John as I “speak”, and when you’re ON island, you’re not so likely to be READING about being on island.
        We found you in the hurricanes of 2017, and you were a lifeline to island news and to our son, who was there through the whole terrible ordeal and its aftermath. I will NEVER forget that time, or what you gave us.
        I knew you were from Connecticut. Now I just stumbled, in an old column, on the fact that you grew up in Milford! Three generations of my father’s family have lived there. One cousin still does. Small world, well and truly.
        Thank you for everything, and ST JOHN STRONG!

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