Want an easy shallow benign snorkel, then Maho Bay is a safe bet. It’s easy to get to, shallow, calm and although I wouldn’t classify it as spectacular, it’s just about guaranteed to be interesting. Snorkel the reef on the east or just snorkel over the grass just off the beach. The following photos were taken during the course of a fifteen minute easy snorkel.
I found a message on my cell phone today that arrived quite late for some unknown reason. It was from a friend in New York who mentioned having read my name in the New York Times and that surely I already knew about it. But, in fact, I didn’t. So I looked up the Times on the internet; checked it out and sure enough there I was:
From an article by By BENJI LANYADO, Published: December 6, 2009, Sunday Travel Edition
“…Guests here (Maho Bay Campground on Little Maho Bay, St. John US Virgin Islands) often compare notes on what they’ve done. Have you seen the glass-blowing room yet? Did you try a ceramics lesson? Or make jewelry in the workshop? But on our first day, we decided to do very little. Down on Little Maho Bay, reached by a cascade of steps from the camp’s main walkway, we watched as a beachcomber trotted up and down the sand, pecking at the tiny fish that washed up in the surf.
“Little Maho Bay, reached by a cascade of steps from the camp’s main walkway, we watched as a beachcomber trotted up and down the sand, pecking at the tiny fish that washed up in the surf.
“Lying stationary on sarongs pinned down with driftwood on a brochure-perfect strip of Caribbean beach, we couldn’t believe our luck. In a guidebook I purchased at the port, the excellent “St. John Off the Beaten Track” (Sombrero Publishing Company) by Gerald Singer, I read of another visitor who was equally captivated by the bay. Sailing past the beach on a sloop bound for Tortola in 1947, Ethel McCully, a secretary vacationing from New York City, leapt from the deck to swim to the “small, perfect beach backdropped by emerald green mountain valleys.”
“She eventually bought some land, which would abut the campground when it arrived three decades later, and built a small house primarily through the labor of six donkeys. She wrote a book about her experience, which was eventually published as “Grandma Raised the Roof” in 1954, after the publishers insisted that she change her original title from “I Did It With Donkeys.”… read NYT Maho Bay article
Yesterday a pair of dolphins put on a show for boaters at moorings, kayakers and swimmers in the vicinity of Maho Bay. The pair cavorted around the spectators, blowing out air from their blowholes and bringing their tails, heads, and dorsal fins to the surface.
Getting good photos of these guys are not easy, especially without a telephoto lens and excellent timing, but I was able to capture two fairly decent shots of the dolphin surfacing while three girls, visitors from our neighboring island, Puerto Rico, swam after them as their mom followed in a kayak.
On Sunday mornings Chelsea O’Brien and I meet at Maho Bay for our weekly Sunday morning swim.
We’re doing a nice long swim. It used to be three miles, but we’re presently down to two and working our way up again.
Just about every Sunday morning we see the same St. John characters either here at Maho or running along the roadside; familiar exercise addicts like ourselves; serious runners and swimmers and bike riders; people like Miles Stair, Hank Slodden, Moe Chabuz and Pat Mahoney.
There’s no Sunday morning sleeping in for this crowd.
At sea, like on land, it’s the same story, we see the same familiar characters, only here its fish and sea creatures instead of people.
There’s the one big turtle and the two little ones swimming over the seagrass in the middle of the bay, who I like to think of as the mama turtle and her two children.
There’s the schools of fry surrounded by jacks and Spanish mackerel in the shallow waters along the edge of the bay as we turn to swim towards the point between the two Mahos while pelicans await in the trees or circle above.
Green Turtle
When we reach the big rocks at the point, you can bet that we’re going to see those same schools of yellow French grunts hovering above some submerged boulder.
Then nothing much as we pass by Little Maho and the beach at Francis Bay, until we arrive at the northern end of the beach where the sand gives way to the rocky shoreline and there’s that same big barracuda claiming his territory.
Sunday morning Maho with its familiar cast of characters. Check it out. We’ll all probably be there, at least for now, being as we are – creatures of habit.
St. John Sunday Swim
Chelsea O’Brien and I have re instituted our “St. John Sunday Morning Long Distance Swim.” Next week we’ll be at Maho Bay at 8:30 AM and the course will be from the Green Building on the west end of the beach along the Maho Bay shoreline to the end, then around the point to Little Maho and on to the northern extreme of Francis Bay and back. We believe the course is about a mile and half or maybe a little more. Today we were joined by Sam from Pond Bay. Anyone who wants to join us is welcome and can do as little or as much of the course as they want.
Sea Turtle
Maho Bay: The Place to Find Sea Turtles
On the first leg of the swim along the Maho Bay shoreline, we saw turtles, just like last week and the week before. And I mean lots of turtles, I counted twelve today. There are several small ones some medium sized and one big mama turtle. I believe she’s a mama because she has two little ones following after her most of the time. They are Green Sea Turtles and are most commonly are around the grassy areas just about ten yards off shore.
Anyway, I know a lot of visitors like to see turtles. If you do, Maho Bay is the place to find them know. You can’t miss. Just snorkel around the grassy areas around the middle of the beach and look around.
The Rocky Point Between Big and Little Maho
The large rocks around the point between the two Mahos are a good place to see fish, especially these large schools of bright yellow French Grunts. There’s also some nice sponges, sea fans and some coral.
Francis Bay
Francis Bay: An Active Hunting Ground
At the northern end of Francis Bay we are seeing a lot of activity. Fry of different sizes, some rather tiny, some sardine size and some larger sprat sized ones abound and all the usual suspects are ready for the feast. Lurking on the outskirts of the schools of fry are the predators, jacks, Spanish mackerel, barracudas and tarpons darting into the masses of fry while from the air pelicans swoop down grabbing mouthfuls of fish. None of these guys seem to pay any attention at all to the two big fish, Chelsea and I, swimming in the middle of all of this commotion.
Back to Maho We return to Maho Bay good and tired after the swim. Feels good!
Strange Maho Bay Fauna
Sunday morning Maho Bay fauna almost always includes a sub species of human beings called physical fitness fanatics. Today, of course there were Sam, Chelsea and I and we saw Miles Stair taking a swim after his morning run. Last Saturday we bumbed into Hank Sloddin who does a cross country Sunday run starting at Maho, on to the Leinster Bay Trail, the Johnny Horn Trail over to Coral Bay and then up Kings Hill Road and back down to Maho. Talk about eight tough miles! Also last week we say Pat Mahoney, who was finishing up a twelve mile run. There’s always someone we know. Something about Maho Bay Sundays.
Yesterday was another spectacularly clear day, even more so than the day before. You could see as far as Vieques and Culebra in the west and St. Croix in the south. The horizon line was distinct, skies blue, hillsides green, clouds white and fluffy like its supposed to be. It was a day for photography. The following photos are images taken from some of the overlooks on the St. John roadways. Enjoy!
It was the first good photographically correct day in quite a while. The rain had stopped, but not before doing it’s job of greening up the island and the haze had dissipated leaving clear blue skies, green hillsides and white fluffy clouds – Good T’ing!
The following video was shot from the Maho Bay Overlook on the North Shore Road at about 4:00 in the afternoon 5/30/09. The long sweeping bay embraces three named beaches, Big Maho, Little Maho and Francis Bays along with a small pocket beach between Francis and Little Maho.
As the self-proclaimed “Official World’s Foremost Authority on St. John Beaches,” it has become my job to uncover those fine nuances that separate one St. John Beach experience with another. As I have always maintained, “It’s a tough job, but someone has to do it. Today we’ll talk about Maho Bay.
In a nutshell, Maho Bay is the beach of choice for families with children and novice swimmers and snorkelers, who want to seek out calm, shallow, waters to enjoy our tropical wonderland without the anxiety of choppy seas and quick drop offs into deep water.
How to Get There
Maho Bay is located about 1.25 miles past Cinnamon Bay or 5.2 miles past Mongoose Junction going east on Route 20.
Calm Waters, Gradual Entry
Calm Water
Maho Bay is the most geographically protected of all the north shore beaches., surrounded on the windward side by high steep hillsides. This keeps Maho Bay calm even when the trades pipe up and other north shore experience choppy conditions.
Maho is not completely immune to winter ground swells that come out of the north and west, but it is certainly less affected than most of the other beaches.
The downside of this geographical protection is that mosquitoes and sand flies are more active where there is no breeze. The wetlands behind the beach also contribute to a higher than usual mosquito population. Therefore, during times of mosquito activity, after a rainy spell for example, it would be advised to bring along some mosquito repellant along with your usual beach gear.
Gradual Entry
The entry into the sea from the beach at Maho is gradual. There are no steep drop offs into deep water and you can walk out quite comfortably to find a water depth that suits you.
The Sand
Maho Beach sand is hard packed and not quite as sensual as the soft white coral sands found on other beaches on the north. This hard-packed sand extends into the sea where there are patches of areas with scattered small rocks making it not quite as comfortable for those, like me, with ultra sensitive feet. Of course, you can choose you can just as well choose a spot on the beach without small rocks and problem solved.
Interestingly, Maho Bay, now a relatively narrow beach, was once one of the widest beaches in St. John. The “horse kids” of St. John took advantage of this characteristic, as well as the great length of the beach, to have horse races on the sand. The narrowing of the beach came as a result of the removal of sand by the government to construct Cruz Bay roads and the Julius Sprauve School. This was done at a time when the dynamics of sand production and sand loss were not yet understood.
The Name
Maho Bay was named after the Hibiscus tilaceus or beach maho, a tree commonly found on the St. John shoreline and throughout the tropics. The beach Maho has a distinctive heart-shaped leaf and produces attractive yellow flowers that later turn purple. The small green fruit of the maho is not edible, but a bush tea can be made from the leaf.
Easy Access
Maho is the only beach on St. John’s north shore that you can drive right up to. It’s the very informality of this beautiful and often-photographed beach that makes it so special. It’s right there by the side of the road, no parking lots or signs, just the beach. Stately groves of coconut palms line both sides of the road. Just pull over under a maho tree and there you are!
Vegetation
Maho Bay has some nice shoreline vegetation. On the south there are some coconut palms and bodering the rest of the beach are Beach Mahos, of course, Sea Grapes and some scattered Mangroves and genips. Good for finding shade and hanging hammocks.
Snorkeling
I have changed my mind about snorkeling at Maho and would list it as one of St. John’s best snorkel destinations, especially for novice snorkelers.
You can snorkel along the rocks on the north end of the beach to the large boulders on the point between Maho and the next beach Little Maho, where you can expect to encounter lots of reef fish, interesting rock formations and some nice corals.
Snorkeling over the sea grass, can also be very rewarding. Your experience will, however depend on luck, time of day and time of year. Give it a chance and you may find, sea turtles, rays, even spotted eagle rays at times and occasionally conch and star fish.
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