US Virgin Islands - Virgin Islands Coral Reef National Monument

The Virgin Islands is straight up gorgeous, especially the area on and around St. John. We set out to see the Virgin Islands National Park, and the Coral Reef National Monument is the water surrounding the island, so its impossible to see one without seeing the other.

The beaches are amazing, but the coral reef is something that you think only exists in National Geographic. We got our first taste of it sort of by accident. We had goggles along, and I purchased a mask and snorkel at the local grocery store. We were in the National Park, on a hike to a sugar plantation ruin, when we ran into another person. He had snorkel gear, and told us that he was headed down the beach to "the best" spot to snorkel on the island.

After looking at the ruins, we headed in the direction the guy told us about, and learned that it was a MILE hike down the beach. I didn't mention that it was SUPER hot, and SUPER sunny, so we just stood there at the trailhead for a minute and watched some other snorkelers that were in the water right there. Those people came out and couldn't get enough words out to describe how beautiful they thought it was. They said they learned of THIS spot from a local tour guide the day before. This spot was re-planted after the recent hurricanes.

So, we ventured out - and I wasn't prepared for what we saw! That is - I didn't have an underwater camera. The purple fan coral was huge, we saw sea anenomes and so many different coral. In between everything, there were fish of a million different colors. It was SO cool, and spoiled us for the snorkeling right at the beaches - where the coral is not nearly as alive.

Next, we went to Maho beach, and were told that there were sea turtles that fed on the sea grass right offshore. We put the goggles back on and ventured out. Within seconds, we saw our first sea turtle - and she was HUGE!!! I estimate about 3 - 4 feet wide. I had no idea! The turtles don't do much, so most of the people on the beach were just hanging out there, not looking at the turtles. It was surreal. We also saw a red starfish that was about the size of a steering wheel, lots of fish, and a stingray.

The next day, we came back to see more turtles, and this time we bought a thing so we could use the iphone underwater. This was so cool!