As we prepare to leave the Eastern Caribbean to begin our exploration of the Western Caribbean, we have been reflecting on our time spent and the islands we have visited. This week’s blog will focus on our traveler’s guide to the Eastern Caribbean:
The Bahamas: I am skipping the Bahamas because they are technically not part of the Caribbean. Also, we did not get to spend any quality time in the Bahamas since we were attempting to dodge hurricane season and The Stupid at the time. My one comment would be: The Bahamas are absolutely beautiful but definitely pack your credit cards because you’ll need them! Dominican Republic: An amazing island that is a must visit. Easy daily flights from the US at affordable prices. It would take a couple of weeks at least to see the DR and if you rent a car, you’ll need nerves of steel. If you only visit Santo Domingo or Punta Cana, you will miss the true DR (you can skip Punta Cana if you have been to Florida because it is basically Ft Lauderdale Jr). We would recommend visiting Samana (you can see whales from February through April), Las Terranes and Cabarete. Prices are very affordable and the people are very friendly. We loved the DR and rate it in the top three countries of the Eastern Caribbean. Practice your Spanish as English is limited outside the tourist areas. Puerto Rico: We have visited Puerto Rico three times since the beginning of our adventure and we have enjoyed each visit. Puerto Rico has the convenience of the US, the benefit that many Puerto Ricans speak perfect English and very tasty food. In PR, you can visit beautiful beaches and mountains as well as historic San Juan. Transportation from the States is very easy and a short plane ride without any customs and immigration for US citizens is a plus. So, if you are new to international travel and want to test the waters, PR would be an excellent place to start. Hotels in San Juan can be pricey but there are many Airbnb options that are more affordable. Our favorites in Puerto Rico are the forts in San Juan, Coffin Island, El Yunque (the only rainforest in US) and the barbeque along highway 175 in the mountain range above Caguas. You can also take a day trip to Vieques or Culebrita via boat which are both amazing places to visit. US Virgin Islands: Transportation options to the USVI’s from the States tend to be a little less convenient and pricier than Puerto Rico but the USVIs are worth the trip. Everyone in the USVIs speaks English and you do not need to worry about customs and immigration for US citizens. The USVIs is VERY expensive so pack your wallet. The majority of activities in the USVIs are water focused so if you can afford to charter a boat, I would recommend chartering as a good way to see the islands. However, most of the islands are accessible via ferry boat or day charters. The USVIs have amazing snorkeling and if you love turtles, the so-called “endangered” green sea turtles are everywhere here! When you visit the USVIs, I would recommend spending the least amount of time on St. Thomas, a few days on St. John and definitely get to St. Croix. St. Croix is the furthest of the islands but the snorkeling and diving on St. Croix are some of the best in the Eastern Caribbean. British Virgin Islands: The BVIs are a lovely group of islands that are worth a visit but for land folks, it can be a challenge to get there. Most of the flights to the BVIs connect through the USVIs and then you take a ferry over to the BVIs. In all honesty, chartering a boat is the best way to enjoy these islands. The BVIs have hundreds of small islands and even visiting the most popular islands, you need a boat. Ninety-nine percent of activities in the BVIs are beaches and water activities. Hurricanes Maria and Irma destroyed a large portion of the BVIs reefs so snorkeling and diving areas are limited but the local companies know where the best spots are. We recommend spending a day at Jost Van Dyke, some time in The Bight bay on Norman Island to have a drink at Willie T’s and to snorkel/dive The Indians and the Pirate Show at Leverick Bay. Brace for extremely high prices on food, drinks and lodging as these islands are not for the budget traveler! Anguilla: Unfortunately, due to Anguilla’s ridiculous daily charges for boaters (currently $100 a day!), we chose to skip Anguilla. We have heard the beaches are beautiful so we were sad to miss it. Anguilla has a ferry from St. Maarten so as you’ll see in the upcoming islands, St. Maarten can be a great jumping off point to visit other islands. St Maarten: By now, all of you regular blog readers know that St. Maarten is our favorite island we have visited. St. Maarten has easy and affordable daily flights from the States and you get to land at the famous airport next to Maho Beach! The variety of restaurants is amazing on both the Dutch and French sides of the island. You can travel between the two sides of the islands with no border worries so it is a bonus island….two countries for the price of one! Phillipsburg is our favorite capital city in the islands with its ocean front board walk and beautiful beach. Everyone on the Dutch side of the island speaks English and I would recommend staying on the Dutch side and then visiting the French side for day trips. Amazing food, fun people and a great energy….St. Maarten has it all! St. Barths: While St. Barths’ was a beautiful island, we cannot really recommend it for a vacation destination for the average traveler due to the exorbitant prices. We enjoyed our time on St. Barths but we had “free” lodging on our boat which was the only way we could have afforded to see the island. I would recommend taking a day trip ferry from St. Maarten over to St. Barths and you can hire a taxi to take you around the island. The island is only 10 square miles so easily doable on a day trip. Pack a picnic lunch or prepare to suffer the consequences! We paid $90.00 for one entrée, one appetizers, two beers and a Sprite! Saba: My Saba information is based on hearsay from others but it is also an easy day trip from St. Maarten. Most of Saba is a nature reserve that hikers love. We did not visit Saba due to time constraints this season but it looked worth a trip. St Kitts and Nevis: After two years of trying, we finally made it to St. Kitts and Nevis in 2023. Currently, St. Kitts visitor bureau is trying to make St. Kitt’s more accessible to visitors from the US. We enjoyed our time on the islands and there were several interesting historical spots including the best-preserved British fort and a long history of links to the early founding fathers of the US. St. Kitts and Nevis were affordable and everyone spoke English. Most of the beaches were volcanic so do not expect soft white sand beaches. St. Kitt’s is more of a hiking and historical destination than a beach bum destination. Antigua: Antigua is a history buff’s destination….especially naval history! We enjoyed learning about the British, Spanish and French trading routes as well as the battles that took place in the Eastern Caribbean. Nelson’s Dockyard delves into this rich history and was a wonderful way to spend a couple of days. Antigua also boasts having 365 beaches and they are long and beautiful white sand beaches. If you are a history buff but also like to lounge on a quiet beach, Antigua is the place to be. You can also take a day trip over to Barbuda for some famous beach bars and pristine beaches. Definitely check out Antigua! Monserrat: Due to routing issues and The Stupid, we did not stop at Monserrat. Monserrat has suffered in the past two decades from catastrophic volcanic eruptions and they have lost over half their population to migration as they fled to other countries. As we sailed past, Monserrat looked quiet and lovely. I would have liked to visit this small island. Guadeloupe: Guadeloupe was one of the bigger islands we visited and it had many attractions including lots of rhum distilleries, cool rock formations and a zoo in a rainforest. It also had one of the best botanical gardens in the Caribbean. The side islands were The Saints and Marie Gallant. We enjoyed our time in Guadeloupe more than we thought we would and made our way through with no French. As long as you can point, you can survive! Dominica: For anyone who loves hiking to remote places, Dominica should be the number one choice. With an abundance of waterfalls, boiling lakes and Pirates of the Caribbean movie sets, Dominica was a winner! While we prefer shorter hikes, we loved Dominica for the Indian River tour which was a highlight of all the islands. We also loved the friendly people and admired the pride they took in their island and their ability to survive on the land in difficult times. Dominica was building a larger airport when we were there so they are looking forward to more tourists in the future. To me, Dominica was the reason REI Sporting Goods store exists. Supply yourself and head out to explore! Martinique: The infrastructure of Martinique was the best in the Caribbean. Modern highways as well as modern traffic cameras so driver beware! We enjoyed visiting all the rhum distilleries on Martinique as well as the zoo and the Habitation Clemente distillery which had the botanical gardens with the modern art sculptures. If you do not know French, Martinique can be a challenge because much like mainland France, the locals are not very patient with non-French speaking people. I would say Martinique is worth one visit in your lifetime. St Lucia: St. Lucia is a must for a visit. If you are an adventurous hiker, St. Lucia has the Pitons to challenge you. St. Lucia is also home to a rainforest and we loved our day ziplining through the rainforest. The best day for us was driving into the crater of the active volcano and sitting in the mud baths among all the steam spewing into the air. I would recommend taking a local guide on St. Lucia if you are not accustomed to traveling in the Caribbean because the locals on St. Lucia are a little more pushy with selling to the tourists than the other islands. St. Vincent and the Grenadines: St. Vincent and the Grenadines are another set of islands that really require a charter boat to fully appreciate. If you do not charter, you can start in St. Vincent and then take ferries to the other islands for side trips. A day charter to the Tobago Cays is a must as it was one of the prettiest spots we visited. In St. Vincent, you can easily hire a day taxi to take you on a tour which is much easier than trying to find locations on your own. A must stop is Chatham Bay on Union Island which had the most amazing snorkeling as well as the best beach bar restaurant/shack in the lower Caribbean. Bring your wallet to the outlying islands because as you make your way down the chain, the costs rise! Grenada: Of all the islands, Grenada was our least favorite. To be fair, though, Grenada did have some interesting sites to visit and if you were on a weeklong vacation instead of several months, Grenada would probably be a nice visit. Grenada has many long hikes to a variety of waterfalls and it also has the monkeys that come when called! Grenada is an easy flight from the States but it is a bit longer because Grenada is located at the bottom of the island chain. Grenada does have some beautiful beaches and all the locals speak English which makes it an easy trip. Trinidad: We did not make it to Trinidad on Galt, however, we would like to visit via plane in the future. Trinidad reportedly has remote islands and amazing food so definitely a place we’d like to see. When you do decide to visit the Eastern Caribbean, I would recommend tackling one island at a time instead of a cruise ship itinerary. The cruise ships do not stay long enough for you to enjoy the individual cultures of the islands. Each island has a different vibe and you need some time to enjoy them! Or better yet….buy a boat and make your own adventure in the Eastern Caribbean! If we can do it, you can do it! I'm off to the States for a few weeks so no blog until I return!
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The week started with a bang as we rented a car and headed out supply shopping. Our first few stops (three different auto shops) were engine related so not much fun….just buying oil and filters and such. We did manage to find a Chick-Fil-A on the island and we did pretty well ordering in Spanish until we hit a block and then the cashier spoke perfect English for us. One of the major perks in Puerto Rico! Fortified with Chick-Fil-A, we headed into Walmart. Our shopping list covered a notebook page front and back but as you know, once you get into Walmart, the list expands exponentially! By the time we made it to checkout, our cart looked like one of those game shows where they give people a cart to fill with as many items as they can in 15 minutes and then they win the items for free. We had the cart filling part down pat…unfortunately, the free part never manifested itself! After closing my eyes and swiping the credit card, we headed to our next stop which was Home Depot. In life, you don’t realize what your favorite smells are until you are away from your normal haunts for awhile. Walking into Home Depot, I realized that the universal smell of Home Depot is one of my favorite smells on earth. Trust me! If you are ever away from Home Depot for a long period of time, walking through that door is like coming home. Next on the list was my search for some beauty products which turned into an impossible task for the day (at least 4 different stores!). I did discover an amazing Puerto Rican store called Salvo Farmacia that reminded me of Dollar General. It didn’t carry any of the products I wanted but it was fun to explore. Finally, the grocery store. The grocery store was huge so again, we had to walk every aisle to be sure we did not miss anything! By day’s end, we had walked at least 10 miles and were exhausted so we headed back to the boat to rest for the next day’s shopping events.
On Tuesday, we drove to Fajardo area to hit the boat stores. This trip was a definite homecoming because Fajardo was where we took our sailing lessons back in 2017. We found most of our boat items that we needed and decided a few others could wait until we reached Colombia where the prices might be better. Since we are so thrifty (thrifty, I say….cheap, Bill says), we stopped by a bicycle shop to pick up some used tires. The tires are somehow going to keep our dock lines from wearing so fast. Bill just gave me a five minute explanation that I still don’t understand so I’ll explain it to you once he gets it all rigged. All I recall from his explanation is that this solution will save us about $200.00 so I’m all in! Bill made several friends at the tire store who enjoyed licking the salt off his legs (see picture below for the frolics…ha ha). Tuesday’s shopping was much less strenuous than Mondays and we even had time for a dip in the pool when we returned. The rest of the week has been boat project after boat project as we prepare Galt for the trip to Bonaire. Changing oil and filters, cleaning out cabinets, organizing, talking to dealers in the States, lining up crew for the voyage with Bill and multiple other odds and ends. Our main item we need for the trip is a handheld GPS that supports weather reports and emergency contacts. I spent an entire morning on the phone with West Marine trying to order the Garmin Inreach Mini which would work perfectly. When we were at West Marine the day before, there were three different options so I investigated which would be best and the Mini won the vote. The first store I called was Fajardo: Clerk: “We don’t have any in stock but the San Juan store does.” Me: “Great! Can you have them send it to your location and we’ll come pick it up?” Clerk: “No, we can’t send items between locations. You have to go there and get it.” Okay….so I hang up and call the San Juan store. Clerk: “Yes, we have a Garmin Mini.” Me: “Great! Let me pay for it and we’ll pick it up on Monday.” Clerk: “You have to be a West Marine gold member to pay over the phone.” Me: “Okay, sign me up to be a gold member.” Clerk: “You need to do that online.” Sigh. I hang up, go online, pay $25.00 (they had no problem taking THAT payment!) and then call back to the store. Me: “I am a gold member now. I need to pay for the mini.” Clerk: “Okay, hold for the cashier.” Hold 15 minutes. Disconnected. Call back. Hold 15 more minutes. Disconnected. Call back and finally get cashier. Cashier: “Garmin Mini2, that will be $520.00 with tax.” Me: “Not the Mini2, just the Mini. It’s $299.00 on your website.” Cashier: “Hold on a minute.” Clerk: “Uh, we don’t have the Mini 1. Just the 2.” Me: “Then you can just sell me the Mini 1 that is on display. That will be fine.” Clerk: “We don’t own the displays. We can’t sell them.” Every time I deal with these things outside the US, I appreciate more and more the thought process of Americans versus the rest of the world. So, we have no GPS system yet and the hunt continues. No such thing as two day Amazon delivery here and Amazon can’t guarantee that the item will arrive prior to our departure window so we are pursuing other avenues that will hopefully fall into place this coming week. Other than the hunt for the GPS and the never-ending search for a 12V battery that is compatible with our existing batteries, our next week will just be more projects and preparation. Oh, I forgot the highlight of our week…we broke down the electric toilet and cleaned every part and reassembled. That task sums up the joys from the week! Until next week, go to Home Depot and enjoy the smell as well as the customer service folks that can think outside of a box! We have been on the move this week from St. Thomas to Vieques to mainland Puerto Rico. With the exception of one day, it was a quiet week spent eating lots of good food and jumping into the marina pool. On Monday, the Pirate Museum in Charlotte Amalie finally opened so we got to see lots of treasure from ships that had sunk in the St. Thomas area. It was a small museum but it was very interesting and worth the visit. The gift shop had a lot of jewelry made out of old coins which tempted me but I settled for a deck of pirate cards and moved on! Tuesday was our day of good and bad excitement. Our plan was to head over to the island of Culebrita for the night which would have been an easy three hour jaunt. Until the anchor excitement occurred. On Galt, we have a winch (called a Windlass) that pulls up the anchor when you step on a button. It is usually my job to step on the button while Bill guides the boat forward slowly. I stepped on the button as usual and the windlass began to haul in the anchor. It was chugging along nicely until the anchor just stopped. The windlass was still working and spinning but the chain would not budge. Bill came up to look and we decided the anchor was hung up on something. In the past when the anchor has been hung up on a rock or something unknown, Bill just maneuvered the boat around until the anchor pulled loose. No matter which way he tried to move, the anchor would not budge. So, Bill grabbed his snorkel gear and dove overboard to see what the problem was. Whenever someone in snorkel gear resurfaces and asks for a sharp knife, never a good sign! The anchor had become entangled in a huge pile of old chain and rope that someone had left on the bottom of the bay. Bill managed to hack through the rope which was holding us to the bottom of the bay to let the boat float free. He climbed back onboard and we proceeded to haul anchor. The windlass continued to struggle so Bill was manually hauling the chain as I stepped on the button. As the anchor came out of the water, we saw a mass of huge chain encompassing the entire anchor. We were discussing next steps when a man went by in his dinghy. I waved at him for assistance and he was kind enough to come over and help us unwrap the mess. I was very concerned he was going to lose a finger because each time he pulled loose a section of the chain, the weight of the chain would immediately drop and drag into the water coiling the remaining chain even tighter around the anchor. After several dicey minutes, he had safely extracted the anchor and we hoisted it aboard. We began chugging our way through the anchorage into the main channel when….the engine stopped. We have not had engine issues recently as Bill has figured out how to the be Larry the Lehman Engine Whisperer but our luck was definitely running low on this particular morning. Bill dashed down and worked his magic and the engine roared back to life with no further issue. However, given how snake bit we were this day, we were nervous about heading out to a deserted island for the night and decided we should not push our luck. So, we voted to head straight for Vieques which would have some options should we need further assistance.
A few minutes into the trip, Bill asked if I was going to cast out my fishing line. Since we have not caught a fish in over a year, I doubted our luck was going to change but Bill said, “Maybe it’ll be our lucky day since the morning was so bad!” I cast out the line and after an hour of dodging seaweed patches, I got tired of holding the rod. I tied the rod to the bench and ignored it. About five minutes later, the line whirred and Bill said, “Must be a fish!” to which I replied, “Nah, it’s just going to be a large patch of seaweed”. Then, the line started to spin off the reel at top speed and we knew we had definitely hooked a fish! I grabbed the rod as Bill helped to untie it from the bench. Bill slowed the boat to reduce the pressure on the line so I could begin to reel. For the next fifteen minutes, I would wait for the fish to relax the line so I could reel in a bit before he tightened his pull again. Soon, my arm strength gave out and I handed the rod over to Bill. He played the pull and reel game for the next fifteen minutes and we still had no idea what we had caught. I only knew I was going to be very mad if it was a barracuda! As Bill got him close to the surface, we could see it was definitely not a barracuda and it was something BIG so the excitement kicked into full gear. Bill handed the rod back to me and I would reel as Bill hand pulled the line. The last minute it took to get the fish over the rail and onto the deck were tense because at this point we knew it was an amazing tuna and if it kicked off the hook after all this work, we would have been devastated! Finally, the tuna flopped onto the deck and Bill ran to get the rum. When you poor rum into a fish’s gills, it numbs the fish so it is not in as much distress. While Bill took care of the fish, I collapsed onto the bench exhausted. After taking our prize pictures, Bill went to put the fish in the refrigerator and the fish was so large that Bill had to take off the tail to fit it in the refrigerator! We don’t have a scale on board but we judged it to a 20 to 25 pound black fin tuna. With our luck on the positive side, we sailed our way into Vieques where Bill cleaned the tuna and I vacuum sealed and froze 12 meals from it! So, our rough start to the day ended in victory and we both slept very well on Tuesday night after downing several Advil each! The rest of the week was easy going and we visited several restaurants on Vieques that we had enjoyed on our previous trip and then we sailed over to mainland Puerto Rico into the Palmas Del Mar Marina where we will spend the next month preparing to cross over to Bonaire. The marina has hot showers, a pool and multiple restaurants as well as a Walmart down the street so Marina Sally will definitely be enjoying her stay! Magen’s Bay was as beautiful as we expected. It was hard to capture it in a picture because the white sand stretched for about a mile. During the day, hoards of cruise ship passengers landed on the beach but after 4pm, it became our own private paradise. We were amazed how quickly the beach chair boys could clean up at the end of the day. They were like ants and had those chairs and umbrellas stashed about 5 minutes after the cruise passengers departed. We had a beach day on Monday and the water was awesome. I’d like to say we enjoyed our lunch at the beach snack bar but our hotdog and one slice of pepperoni pizza were $17.00 and they didn’t even give me any toppings for the hotdog! On Tuesday, we taxied over to Coral World Ocean Park. For a small aquarium park, it was very impressive. They had dolphins, sea lions, sharks, turtles and birds. There was a large circular aquarium where the fish seemed to think they were swimming to Hawaii instead of going around the same circle pattern all day. I must admit that taking pictures of animals in a zoo was much easier than catching them on the Serengeti! The park had presentations every 30 minutes to talk about the animals but I think the most interesting fact of the day came from a poster on the bathroom wall. Did you know that a parrot fish poos out 700 pounds of sand per year? I did not! So, next time you are lying on the beach, give that parrot fish a little thanks.
After our Magen’s Bay adventures, we went back over to St. John’s to visit Lameshur Bay which was in the St. John’s National Park. In 1987, Bill had attended a summer study abroad program to do research on the reefs in Lameshur Bay (yeah…tough way to spend a summer at the age of 22!). We arrived to find the bay almost empty which was a surprise because it is usually hard to get a mooring. Bill asked the national park ambassador (evidently a “ranger” has gone the way of the “stewardess” and a “fireman”) if the camp was still there. Finding out that parts of it had survived the last 35 years, we hiked to the camp and went down memory lane. Most of the buildings were still standing but mother nature was in full force reclaiming the area. It was fun to see where Bill had spent his summer all those years ago and to hear about the research he had been doing. After a hot hike back to the beach, we jumped in the water for some snorkeling. The reef had a good amount of huge coral formations and I saw another Porcupine Fish which made me smile. I think if I ever need a therapy pet, I will choose a Porcupine Fish. After Lameshur, we tried to go to Salt Pond Bay but the moorings were all taken by the time we arrived so we changed our plans and sailed over to Charlotte Amalie on St. Thomas. Charlotte Amalie is the capital of St. Thomas and we had visited previously during times of The Stupid. The city was very different this visit with people everywhere and all the shops and restaurants open. We found a local joint that had a huge food bar and we got enough take away for at least two meals each. We wanted to visit the Pirate Museum but it was closed so we might stick around another day and see if it opens on Monday. Our next stop will be to revisit Honeymoon Bay where we were a couple of years ago and then we will be tracking our way back to Puerto Rico to get Galt and Bill ready for the trek to Bonaire. We are definitely looking forward to the price drop in Puerto Rico for groceries and we won’t miss the $40 per case beer prices! The blog may be a little late next week but I will get it done when possible. Have a wonderful week and I hope Spring is in the air for you all! |
AuthorSally Miller Archives
May 2024
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