Caneel Bay, St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands
Submitted by:	Joe Collins
Date:	10 February 2005
We left from Newark Airport 12/9 (13 degrees F when we left) on a 9am flight and flew directly to St. Thomas airport. We walked over to Caneel Bays reception area at the airport and they took it from there. They took our luggage from us and placed it on a taxi. We then hopped on that taxi and it took us to the harbour at Charlotte Amalie. There we boarded their boat for the 30 minute ride to their Caneel Bay dock at St John. They offered us complimentary drinks on the boat (Fruit drinks and a tasty rum-based concoction). We were in the water at 3:30pm Atlantic Standard Time. We left Caneel Bay on 12/15 at 10:30am (AST) and flew home later that day. We asked for room 111 but it was occupied so they gave us 113, a better room, somewhat more private. These two rooms are ground floor at Hawksnest Bay, a secluded beach that faces north east. The room is a large studio. The front wall is all screens (with shades for privacy). The back wall is mostly glass (with some screens), again with shades. About 20 steps out the back door through the sea grape trees puts you in the water. The view is great- St Mary's point and Tortola are in plain view. Its been said this location (HawksNest) is the prettiest of their 7 beaches. The room has a refrigerator, some lights, chairs, a small table. The bathroom area is of 3 parts; Shower/Toilet, double sink area and a large closet (where the room safe is located). The room does NOT have a TV, radio or phone - thus very peaceful and quiet. It is NOT air-conditioned but just has a fan but this was not a problem since we had the trade winds to give us a nice steady breeze. Rooms do NOT have a kitchen or cooking area so you cannot prepare your own food per se. In effect, you must use their eating facilities. Simply beautiful, manicured. Many exotic plants and trees. They have lighted walkways and also a shuttle bus (small and simple) that can be used to travel around the property (to restaurants, beaches, etc). It is about 170 acres in size and just 170 rooms so there is plenty of trees and open space. We didn't see very many mongooses - these are large rodents that are friendly and look for handouts of food. There were many small lizards around. We also saw a huge beehive in one tree and termite nests in some other trees. [We had been here 5 years ago and mongooses were everywhere and fairly friendly. We heard that a lot were lost in the hurricane]. Beaches are the main attraction of this resort. We stayed and swam at Hawksnest - just too easy to get to. This is shallow for 10 ft or so (1-2ft) and then drops to 4 feet and gradually deepens to 50' and more. The waves were minimal, if at all the first few days but picked up to 1' high as a storm passed through the area. Snorkelling was quite good - I observed many sea turtles (2-3' across), some rays, 3-4 good size Great Barracudas (some 4' and more) and innumerable smaller fish, by the millions, of all shapes, sizes and colours. I also spotted a 6' nurse shark. [again we were here 5 years ago and snorkelling was somewhat better, octopus, lobster, moray eels back then.] Caneel bay also offers rafts so you can lazily float away on the water. We did some of this - very relaxing indeed... The snorkelling, rafts are all complimentary, as are sailboards, kayaks and sunfish sailboats. Casually dressy....off the beaches you must have a top on, i.e. a shirt. Shoes also required away from the beaches (dock siders, etc). For dinner, its somewhat dressy, i.e. very few people in jeans. Long pants required at night - in winter season, a dress jacket also required. Ladies can wear sun dresses or the like. Its an upscale sort of place but in a pleasant way - so you need to dress nice but not in an elegant way. No flashy jewelry. The resort offers a variety of meal plans. The FULL plan costs $80 per person per day. The day starts with Dinner and ends at lunch the next day. Ala Carte is what we chose and this saved us $200-$300 over the whole week. Food was very good and with a good selection all around.
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