npurpleh2

Hi - Here is my long overdue, much too long trip report for a week spent on St. John in January. I hope that it will provide some useful information for others planning a future trip to that incredible island!!

US Virgin Islands National Park – St. John Trip Report

Saturday, January 20, 2007

Our trip to the US Virgin Islands National Park in St. John started off with a flight to St. Thomas via a layover in Chicago. After landing in St. Thomas we picked up our luggage in the zoo that was the baggage claim area of the airport and then got a taxi to take us to the Red Hook ferry dock. Taxis were lined up waiting to take groups of people to the ferry so it was easy to get to Red Hook. Once we made it to Red Hook we stood in a long line to get tickets for the 4pm ferry to Cruz Bay, St. John. Fortunately the ferry was running late so we were able to get on it and still make it to St. John before the car rental shop closed for the day. NOTE: the taxi and ferry required cash, no credit cards.

After docking at Cruz Bay, we picked up our luggage, met the villa manager for the property we were renting for the week and walked a couple of blocks with our bags to pick up our rental at St. John Car Rental. Our first impression was that our car was in horrible condition and I should insist on a better vehicle. The check engine light was on and it had dents, missing paint, scrapes, etc all over it. After well documenting all the blemishes on the rental contract, we took the car. NOTE: Supposedly most of the vehicles on St. John end up with the check engine light being on due to some reason regarding vehicle emissions but everyone swears that it doesn’t impact the vehicle’s performance.

We left the car rental agency and headed over to the grocery store to pickup a few things we would need for the week. The villa manager suggested Starfish Market and led us to the market and waited for us while we shopped since he still needed to show us where the villa was located. After spending a few minutes adjusting to the sticker shock of the prices, we finished up shopping and were ready to head to the villa.

After navigating through the winding, hilly roads to get to the Francis Bay area of the island, we finally made it to the villa. By this time it was late evening; we’d been traveling since 6am and were getting tired quickly. So we made some quick dinner and checked out what would be our home for the week.

At first we were pleasantly surprised. It was a cute house tucked away in the woods with an incredible view of the British Virgin Island, Tortolla. It appeared to have either recently been renovated or was newer construction. All the appliances were new stainless steel, granite countertops in the kitchen, it was well stocked with everything we could possibly need, had a TV & DVD player, washer dryer, queen bed, Jacuzzi, etc. It was very cute and spacious for a one bedroom house. We learned it was on the market for sale for $1.6 million dollars.

It was later that night that we began to think twice about our decision to stay at a villa! While the bathroom sinks and toilet were indoors, the shower was outdoors! Literally, it was outdoors. I’ve heard since then that this is very common for villas on the island and it is called a “garden shower”. The concept is good but the reality of it for us was that we had to shower with “critters” and bugs. Each shower meant scraping the daily ocean grime off our skin as quickly as possible so that we weren’t eaten alive by insects! Plus, it became a regular affair to check for how many Cuban Tree Frogs were staring at us while showering. In addition to the “garden shower” we also learned that lizards can infiltrate a house through the tiniest of cracks so we spent the week catching lizards and releasing them back into the woods surrounding the house. Plus we had a ton of bugs that the locals called “palmettos” scurrying around the house which seem to be some form of a Caribbean roach, as much as I hate to type that word!

All this said, there were incredible parts to staying at the villa to offset the negative. Each morning we were awakened by a gorgeous sunrise and a team of hummingbirds who made sure we knew they needed their daily allotment of sugar-water! Also the location was wonderful as the end of the driveway met the trail to get to Francis Bay Beach. Having a villa on the north shore of the island as our base for the week proved to be a great location for getting around to different parts of the island throughout the week. We could get to Cruz Bay in about 20 minutes or could get to the east or south end in about the same amount of time.

Critters of the day:

Rooster on St. Thomas
Anole Chameleon
Cuban Tree Frog

Sunday, January 21, 2007

We started off our day by going to Francis Bay for some snorkeling. This seemed like a good choice for our first beach since it was the one closest to our villa. It was a wide, gorgeous beach with lots of trees along the edge to offer shade from the morning sun but still provided plenty of area sand for people to set up camp. The water was very calm on the surface but underneath the sand was getting kicked up so the visibility wasn’t great. We did see a Nurse Shark and a 5 ft barracuda though, both of which were very easy to see from both in and out of the water. Also in the water we saw goat fish, skipper jacks, several 1-2 ft barracudas and crabs.

Later in the day we headed into Cruz Bay to pick up some water shoes (forgot to pack them) and while we were there we stopped for dinner at Margarita Phil’s. Between the two of us we had a chicken burrito and the beef tacos, both of which were good.

Critters of the day:

Banaquit Birds at the villa
Green Throated Carib Hummingbirds
Iguanas crossing the road in Cruz Bay
Brown Pelicans at Francis Bay
Leaf hopper at the villa
Millipede
Cuban Tree Frogs in the shower
Heard only, not seen – Whistling Tree Frog

Monday, January 22, 2007

We started off the day by going to Cinnamon Bay to snorkel but when we got there the water was too rough so we decided to try the south end of the island which we had heard can sometimes have calmer water if the north end is rough. So we drove east across the island past Coral Bay and parked at the trailhead to Salt Pond Bay.

We had about a .2 mile walk downhill from the car to the beach which doesn’t sound like much but when you are carrying all the gear you need for snorkeling plus hanging out at the beach all day and you are wearing water shoes, it can seem like much further! It was worth it though because the trail led us to a calm beach where we could snorkel. We walked around the edge of the beach toward the Ram Head Trail so we could see the “salt pond”. We took a few minutes to check it out but ultimately it was a bit smelly and there were a ton of black flies everywhere and we were pretty hot by this point so we went back to the Salt Pond Beach area and got in the water to snorkel. We saw a wide variety of sea life while snorkeling in the huge bay. Some included: Tangs, wrasse, goat fish, Southern Sting Ray, barracuda, grouper, damsels, butterfly fish, goby, squirrel fish, hermit crabs, parrot fish, conch and Christmas tree worm. The highlight was definitely the Southern Sting Ray sighting. We heard others there say they saw sea turtles there but we searched and didn’t find any at this spot.

After snorkeling there and exploring the rocky areas around the beach for a while we hiked back up the hill to the car and drove by Lameshur Bay (but didn’t snorkel). We stopped off in Coral Bay for dinner at Skinny Legs where we had great hamburgers. The food was good but they didn’t have fries which I didn’t understand. How can a place serve burgers that good without fries?? NOTE: they only accept cash, no credit cards.

On our way back to the villa we missed our turn and accidentally drove to Bordeux Mountain my mistake. It did allow us to have some terrific views of Coral Bay though! After we realized it we turned back and made it to the villa without any further events.

Critters of the day:

Wild donkeys
Lots of flies
Goats


Tuesday, January 23, 2007

We started the day by going to the Annaberg Plantation to walk the ruins. From the top of the hill we had great views of Leinster Bay and Waterlemon Cay. It was interesting to see the ruins and imagine the time when the plantation was in full production.

After leaving Annaberg we drove to East End to explore. We didn’t find much going on there but we did find the famous “Vie’s Snack Shack” so we stopped in for a quick lunch.

It truly is a shack but I understand why all the guidebooks mentioned it as a recommended place to visit. We sat at the picnic tables watching the chickens and roosters wandering around the property and street while waiting for our food to be prepared. I found this a bit comical as our food arrived and I was eating the fried garlic chicken! The chicken plus the honey Johnny cake and pineapple tart were all very tasty.

When we left Vie’s and East End we traveled back across the island to the north shore so we could hike the Cinnamon Bay Trail Loop. This ended up being a very nice and easy hike were we saw wild donkeys, tons of lizards of varying sizes, more sugar plantation ruins and deer.

After leaving the Cinnamon Bay area we continued west and stopped for a short hike up to the top of Peace Hill which had gorgeous views of the surrounding beaches. Along the way we between Cinnamon Bay and Cruz Bay we stopped off to check out water conditions at Cinnamon Bay, Trunk Bay, Hawksnest and Caneel Bay.

Our observations of Cinnamon Bay throughout the week was that it seemed to always be too windy and the water too rough for enjoyable snorkeling when we were there. Hawksnest was a nice beach, as all the beaches seem to be on St. John but it was very close to the road. This could be convenient because you don’t have to drag your beach gear very far but if you are looking to get away from reality then it might not be the most ideal beach. Trunk Bay was by far the most beautiful beach. There is more to come later on specifics of Trunk Bay.

We’d heard about the Caneel Bay Resort so we stopped in there to see what all the fuss was about. We had no problem driving right onto the property, parking and walking down to the beach. We passed very well manicured lawns but the highlight was stumbling onto deer on the grounds. Overall it might be a great place to stay but it looked a little too fake and unnatural for us.

We continued on to Cruz Bay for dinner where we ate at Morgan’s Mango. The food was very good, possibly the best we had in Cruz Bay and it was there that we developed our addiction to smoothies on St. John. My first smoothie of the trip was a mango, passion fruit and banana smoothie at Morgan’s Mango and from that point forward, I had at least 2 smoothies a day! For dinner we had the coconut shrimp and the Caribbean grilled mahi mahi, both of which were served with rice and beans, and banana cake for dessert.

Critters of the day:

Antillean Crested Hummingbirds
Goats on the road to Coral Bay
Cows on the road
Donkes at Cinnamon Bay
Millipede at villa
Pearly Eyed Thrasher at Cinnamon Bay
Bridled Quail Dove
Roosters at Coral Bay and East End
White Tail Deer at Cinnamon Bay and Caneel Bay

Wednesday, January 24, 2007

Since the water still seemed to be a little rough on the north shore the day before, we decided to spend Wednesday exploring Tortolla, an island of the British Virgin Islands chain.

It was easy to take a ferry from Cruz Bay to West End, Tortolla. It was a very enjoyable ferry ride with gorgeous views of both islands and when we arrived in West End, Tortolla we were through customs within minutes. We found a taxi that was willing to take us via the scenic route to Road Town.

The journey from West End to Road Town ended up taking a couple of hours, not because it was a long distance, but because the main reason we wanted to go to Tortolla was to see a different island so the taxi driver showed us around. We stopped off at Long Bay (which seemed to have a great beach and a nice looking resort), Carrot Bay and Apple Bay. From there she took us to Cane Garden Bay where we stopped in at a 500 year old distillery and then continued on to the top of the mountain with a stop at the top for 360 degree views all around the island and then eventually down to Road Town.

After we arrived in Road Town we walked a few blocks until we found a place to have lunch (and smoothies). We ended up at a place called Nexus where we had a Jamaican jerk chicken wrap and a parmesan chicken wrap. After lunch we walked around the waterfront area of the town and then met up with our taxi to take us back to West End so we could take the last ferry of the day back to St. John.

When we arrived back in Cruz Bay, we drove over to the Westin hotel and resort to check out that area. Our observations at the Westin were that the resort property itself was nice but the water in front of the beach was filled boats, inflatable gear for kids to play on in the water and the beach itself was practically nonexistent because of the mass numbers of beach chairs lined up in the sand. The positive was that they had a very nice big pool and 2 bars very convenient to the beach or the pool that served a wide variety of smoothies!

After a couple of smoothies at sunset we grabbed a pizza and salad from their deli shop to go and headed back to our villa.

Critters of the day:

Goats on Tortolla
Pelicans


Thursday, January 25, 2007

Since the beaches on the north shore had been having some rough water the last couple of days we called the park service to check the water conditions before heading out with our snorkel. After learning the water was smooth and ideal for snorkeling, we headed out to Trunk Bay.

I’d heard that Trunk Bay can get really busy. I’m sure that is true but on the day we were there was a cruise ship that was docked in St. Thomas that had brought passengers over for a day excursion but still it wasn’t really all that crowded. Especially not compared to many beaches I’ve been to on the mainland US in the middle of summer. Trunk Bay is a gorgeous beach and it was a lovely place to snorkel. It had a very remote feel to the beach itself as it was tucked in behind trees away from the parking lot but it had conveniences such as restrooms, a food snack bar, snorkel gear rental, etc. The beach was easy to get to as it had a paved path from the parking lot. The coral seemed best on the west side of the rocks that are in the middle of the bay. It was recommended that we snorkel clockwise around the rocks. While snorkeling at Trunk Bay, we saw a sea horse, stag coral, sea fans, elk horn coral, brain coral, sea slugs, parrot fish, spider crab, lunar & spotted wrasse, copper butterflies, powder blue tangs, powder brown tangs, angel fish, gobies, blennies, squirrel fish and spotted grouper.

After snorkeling in the morning at Trunk Bay, we grabbed lunch there and then started heading west across the island. On our way, we stopped off at Maho Bay for snorkeling but after just a few minutes learned that this was not an ideal place for snorkeling. The water was very shallow so it would be a great beach to take small kids but the only sea life we saw in the water was hawk fish and fry. Plus, we could hear traffic noise from the road even while in the water. We jumped back in the car and moved to the next stop.

We’d read that Waterlemon Bay is a good place to snorkel so we decided to try it next. We drove to the Leinster Bay trailhead, parked and headed down the .8 mile trail to the beach. Again, .8 miles doesn’t sound like much but when you are carrying snorkeling gear while wearing water shoes plus walking on a pebble covered trail after already snorkeling at 2 locations earlier in the day, it can prove to be tiring! The trail was definitely worth it though because on our way to the beach we spotted a mongoose scurrying across the trail and into the woods. Plus the trail itself was nice as it followed along the edge of Leinster Bay for much of the distance to Waterlemon Bay.

After we reached the beach at Waterlemon Bay, we quickly realized this was going to be a great place to snorkel. Several sea turtles could be spotted swimming along in the water just a few feet out from the beach. We quickly put on our gear and headed out to get a better look at them from under the water.

It didn’t take long to spot the gorgeous shells on the turtles. By far one of the highlights of the trip was the time we spent hovering several feet above and away from the turtles, watching them snack on sea grass. The shells on the turtles had beautiful designs and the turtles themselves are such graceful creatures. In addition to the turtles, we also saw plenty of cushion sea stars, several 3 – 4t Southern Sting Rays, puffer fish, 2 ft barracudas and trumpet fish. A surprise was waiting for us on the beach when we returned. A mongoose was sitting just a few inches away from our towels and clothes which gave us a much closer view than we’d had of the mongoose we’d seen on the trail on the way to the beach.

After snorkeling at three places by this point, we decided to go back to the villa and get showered before dinner. After having an early dinner at the house, we decided to check out Francis Bay at sunset. We parked at the Francis Bay trailhead and did the easy .5 mile hike to the beach. As soon as we made it to the beach we were instantly attacked by “noseeums”. There must have been itsy bitsy microscopic bugs all around us because we couldn’t see them but we certainly did feel them as they bit into any exposed area of skin! We took a few last looks at Francis Bay and then hurried to get back on the trail and away from the beach.

Critters of the day:

Land crab at Francis Bay
Turtles!! (ok, already mentioned in section for Waterlemon but it deserved mentioning again)

Friday, January 26, 2007

By this day, we were very tired! We may be the only people I know who can spend a week in the Caribbean and end up completely exhausted by the end of the week! We slept in late this day and evaluated how we wanted to spend our last full day on St. John. By this point, we’d accomplished everything on our to do list for St. John and after spending so much time in the saltwater of the ocean and being baked in the sun, we decided we needed a little “pool time”. Our villa didn’t have a pool so we had to come up with a different plan. That is when I remembered the smoothies at the bar next to the pool at the Westin.

After stopping off at Chilly Billy’s for French toast and omelets for breakfast, we shamelessly we drove ourselves to the Westin, and headed down to the pool for a swim (and smoothie) as a day guest. We spent some time hanging out in pool, sipping one smoothie after another and then it was time for the day to end. We grabbed deli sandwiches from the deli at the Westin for dinner and then headed back to our villa for our last night of lizard wrangling of the trip!

Critters of the day:

Donkeys at Maho Bay
Iguanas at the Westin
Blow up lizard at the Westin

Saturday, January 27, 2007

It was time to go home. We packed up and headed to Cruz Bay to catch the ferry back to Red Hook on St. Thomas. We returned the rental car, bought ferry tickets and were soon on our way back to the airport on St. Thomas. We caught the flight for the first leg of our trip home (not before having a smoothie at the airport of course) which stopped over in San Juan, Puerto Rico. From there we connected in Chicago and then caught our connecting flight home.

cawhite

Wow - great trip report! We'll be visiting both the USVI and BVI this summer as 1st time visitors.

Your trip report gets me all the more excited! I can't wait to see the wonderful shades of blue ocean and white sandy beaches.

Thanks!

npurpleh2

Thanks for reading! Yeah, I didn't even get into that but you are so right... seeing the beautiful blue water and white sand is breathtaking, especially when looking at it from a higher observation point. With St. John being covered with hills there are many wonderful overlook points where you can really see the colors even better than when you are in the water or on the beach. Good luck with your trip - I'm sure it will be wonderful!

schmerl

Great report. Boy, 1.6 million and not indoor shower!!!

brenandg

Thanks for your detailed report. In regard to your day trip to Tortola, did you arrange for the taxi beforehand? I have been thinking about day tripping there but don't really want to rent a car for the day. I think we would waste too much time trying to figure out where to go. I also prefer to enjoy the scenery. Did you think it was worth the time?

ejcrowe

Thanks for taking the time to post such a detailed trip report! I enjoyed reading it very much but it leaves me with a question: did you use a guide book to identify all of the reef fish or did you know the names of all of them beforehand? Either way, the list is impressive!

caribtraveler

Thank you for the great trip report. I enjoyed it. We'd love to go back to St. John at some point. We also are exhausted after a Caribbean trip.. but physically. Mentally, we feel completely refreshed.

npurpleh2

schmerl - We thought that listing price of the house was crazy but I guess it is based on that incredible view and location.

brenandg - No, we didn't arrange for a taxi to meet us on Tortola in advance because I'd read and also heard from the ferry company that there would be some waiting in West End when the ferry arrived. We knew we wanted to just check out another island while we were there and we chose Tortola because we'd heard how wonderful the island was. The plus side was that we didn't have to plan in advance what day we would do the trip since all we had to do was show up at the ferry dock on the day we wanted to do it and we were on our own schedule so we could stop where we wanted and felt like we had somewhat of a personal tour with our taxi driver. The down side is that we couldn't experience the beaches and waters of the island and ultimately when we got to Road Town we felt like we could have been in any waterside cruise ship dock town. Was it worth the time? I think just about any experience is worthwhile and I'm glad we did it, but in hindsight, I think a better option for us would have been if I'd arranged a day trip on a tour that goes to the Baths on Virgin Gorda and Jost Van Dyke. I didn't build that into our plans originally because I wasn't sure if we would actually have a day available since there were so many things we wanted to do on St. John and I wasn't sure when the weather would work best for a day trip. (We ended up going to Tortola on a day that the water was too rough around St. John for snorkeling). Plus, everything is so expensive (lodging, food, etc) that I was trying to keep us from spending yet another couple of hundred dollars! In addition, we are very much into the scenery and nature of an area (not so much shopping) and after spending several days on St. John which is primarily park service land and therefore very green and undeveloped, in comparison Tortola looked a bit run down to us.

ejcrowe - Your question made me laugh! Actually DH and I are certified scuba divers so we've had interest in identifying fish for quite a while. For the most part we knew what they were just from experiences seeing them other places but some of them we had to refer to a guide to find out exactly what they were. For example, the first day we saw a ray we looked up what kind of rays are in that area and was then able to then identify it as a Southern Sting Ray.

Thanks to all for reading! It makes it worth the time to put it all together!

tamaralea

What a nice report! I'm impressed with the number of beaches you were able to visit. I've noticed 2 differences in our April trip vs. your January trip. There were virtually no bugs in April and no rough water. Maybe we were just lucky!

brenandg

Thanks for the Tortola info. Mind if I ask how much for the taxi and how many hours to give me a baseline? I have read that Roadtown is not that memorable, so probably wouldn't go there. Right now, its still idle thoughts. Who knows what I'll actually do after I get there. I thought about going on our last trip but never made it.

owa

I can't believe you saw a seahorse at Trunk. How lucky.

I would like to hike in August with my family, but I'm worried about how hot it will be. Maybe we need to go really early in the morning.

Thanks for the time you took to write a detailed report. It was fun to read. I also have made notes about your dining experience for August. Owa

npurpleh2

The ferry left Cruz Bay at about 8:30am and arrived in West End at about 9am. On the day that we went, the last ferry departed West End at 4:15pm bound for Cruz Bay. Since it was the last of the day we were told to get there at about 3:30am. So that gave us about 6.5 hours for exploring Tortola. It was enough time to get an overview of about half of the island and Road Town but not enough time to really spend any significant time in one spot. We didn't do any beach lounging or snorkeling on Torotla. The cost of the taxi was $25 per person. The cost of the ferry was $40 round trip.

npurpleh2

We were VERY lucky to see the sea horse at Trunk Bay. I have to give DH credit for finding it. We were circling the rocks and were in an area where the water was only a few feet deep and he saw it wrapped around and clinging onto a piece of coral that was swaying back and forth in the water. We were able to get a very good look at it and a mediocre picture of it with an underwater camera we had with us. When we got home we sent a picture of it to our villa manager and he said that in the 12 years he's lived on St. John he'd never seen one before. So much of it is about being in the right place at the right time and just keeping your eyes open. I would have never spotted it on my own but somehow DH did.

npurpleh2

oops... meant to say earlier we were told to get to the West End ferry dock at 3:30PM to catch the 4:15pm ferry back to Cruz Bay.

terric

Fantastic trip report- thanks so much. We are in the midst of planning a trip to St. John with our 2 daughters- 18 and 16. Snorkeling is a major priority as well as beaches so your tips are well appreciated. Now about those lizards....do you remember the name of the villa? We are looking at Calicaribe and Waterfall villa. I'm not one for "creatures" but I'm hearing this is common in some of the villas so I was wondering how bothersome it was. Also- did you look into renting a car on St. Thomas and shopping there? I've heard the stores are cheaper. Thanks again for the great trip report.

soggydollar

npurpleh2-really great tr. We have not been to stj in a couple of years after going yearly for a few years, so i love to hear other's reports.
you certainly did everything you could fit in, in this trip!!
Great for your that you saw a seahorse. The only place I have seen them is the aquarium at the Seahorse Lounge at Caesars Palace!! But they are soo tiny and blend in will with the vegetation, I bet it is hard to spot them in the ocean!
We love Tortola, but did not like Road Town at all, now if you could have been dropped at the west end, soper's hole to sit near the docks in the marina, that would have been more relaxing!

peggy744

Lots of good info for the "high energy" traveler. I have some other thoughts. First off, no mention of boating. I have stayed on both St. John and Tortola many times. I don't recommend touring Tortola by land. The best scenery is on the water. There are a million different ways to do so. Find a boat to tour the BVI's. My favorites being Jost Van Dyke (for the world's greatest beach bars) and the Baths on Virgin Gorda. There are lots of tour boats, which we have always enjoyed. Last year 10 of us chartered a fabulous sail boat for $1000 for the day (drinks included). The absolute best way to "tour" the Virgin Islands. If you are traveling with a group you can also charter motor boats with or without a captain. I believe they run around $500 a day. Lastly, throw out those to-do-lists. Go with the flow and relax a little. Trust me... you'll be back.

Happy trip planning!

Tuxedocat

Thanks for the great, detailed trip report. It was fun to read your "critter count." BTW, garden showers are actually a big draw for some folks. I was very skeptical about it at first, but after a while, you get used to it, and I've actually grown to love it, even at night. I don't know why, but I never seem to get bitten when I'm showering. I guess, all the hot water confuses and scares off the bugs/critters. I think it also matters how the shower is set up, with or without some walls, etc. Also, it is almost impossible to find anywhere on any island completely devoid of bugs/critters. They do find their way in. What I have noticed is: they don't like smoke, breezes from fans, and air conditioning. IMO, if you brace yourself mentally for the environment of the tropics, a villa is a great way to feel at home.

BetsyG

Great Trip report! We have not been to St. John for a while but your report brought back many memories. We have pictures in our albulms of the kids drinking smoothies at Morgan's Mango & pictures of some of the many "critters", the donkees on the beach, etc. Thanks for trhe memories, Betsy

kellybeaches

Thanks for the great trip report! It makes me so excited to go to St. John this fall!!! I’m very impressed with how many animals you know from sight-and your daily “critter count” was funny. Question-would you recommend either renting a private water taxi to St. John from St. Thomas or do you know if you can purchase tickets ahead of time? We'll be traveling with our 2 year old and the thought of waiting in a really long line for ferry tickets kind of scares me. Any suggestions? Also, if you had to recommend 3 beaches good for taking a 2 year old to, which would you recommend? It sounds like you got to a lot of them. Thanks!

I have to agree with tuxedocat on the outdoor showers. We actually look for places specifically with outdoor showers as it's so refreshing. We’ve never had a bad experience with it, although you do have to be ready for the critters to join you depending upon where you are. Our last villa was great-we could see the beach and watch the sunrise/set while showering-can’t beat that! We were upset that the villa we're renting this year doesn't have one I guess everyone has their preferences.