Hello everyone and happy Saturday! We have such great news to share with you all today. The ranger-led Reef Bay hike has finally resumed! More progress! So exciting!
Foe those of you who are unfamiliar with the Reef Bay hike, it’s a 2.6 mile trail that leads you down past some of the oldest and tallest trees on the island. As you make your way down to the sea, you will pass Danish sugar plantation ruins, stone walls from cattle grazing and the petroglyphs, ancient rock carvings created by the pre-Colombian Tainos. The sugar mill at the bottom of the trail is the longest running sugar mill on the island, and it is very well intact.
The ranger-led hike ceased following the hurricanes, as the boat that picks hikers up at the bottom – the Sadie Sea – needed repairs. The Sadie Sea has since been repaired, she passed her US Coast Guard inspection, and now she’s back picking up hikers at Reef Bay. I love it when a bit of normalcy returns to our world. 🙂
The hike costs $60 and it’s approximately four-and-a-half hours. It is being offered on Tuesdays and Thursdays this month, and on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays beginning next month.
Hikers meet at the National Park Visitor Center where they will board a safari taxi, which will them them to the trailhead. A ranger, as mentioned above, will lead them down the trail, discussing the flora, fauna and history of the area along the way. The Sadie Sea will be waiting for you at the bottom of the trail and will bring you back to Cruz Bay.
Want to know a little more about the petroglyphs? Then please check out this story we wrote back in 2017 complete with amazing images taken by Steve Simonsen.
Ready to book the hike? You can do so by clicking here.
Happy hiking everyone! Now I’m off to see Santa at Mongoose Junction!
Just make sure to use plenty of mosquito repellent!
The petroglyphs are beautiful and the sugar mill is incredible.
Well worth your time.