At Great Lamshur Bay, we spent four days relaxing, snorkeling, making water and cleaning the bottom of the boat and dinghy. It was the perfect get away spot from the hustle and bustle of USVI St. Thomas, Charlotte Amalie. The bay was very protective from the wind, but because it was in the National Park Zone, there was no anchoring allowed. However, the bay was not crowded and we easily pick up a mooring ball. The balls cost $26 a night, except since we had a Lifetime USA National Park Pass, the cost was only $13 a night. We thought it was a bargain to be in this lovely remote bay with its crystal clear water.
Lameshur Bays consisted of three smaller bays: Great Lamshur, Little Lamshur and a third bay, Europe Bay, which was mainly coral with no mooring balls. The shoreline in Great Lameshur Bay was rocky without a sandy beach, but we think that might be why the water was so clear. We walked over to Little Lameshur Bay which had a lovely white sandy beach. There also were trashcans where we could dispose of the waste from our boat.
We swam everyday either cleaning the bottom of the boat and/or snorkeling. While there was not a lot of coral, there were a wide variety of fish, and turtles who frequently popped their heads up. I took pictures of a huge large turtle who had 3 sucker fish attached to his back. He was deep down, so the pictures were not the best, but you will get the idea.
We even saw a few squids. We had heard there were octopi hidden in the rock crevices, but we never saw one even after diligently looking. We saw a few potential dens, but if they were occupied, the octopi were hidden well. In addition, there were a lot of conch shells littering the bottom of the bay. Ben saw several rays while cleaning the boat, but we unfortunately we didn’t get to snap a picture of them.
Cleaning the bottom of the hulls was a big task as it had been several months since we had addressed this issue. I should have taken before pictures of all the barnacles, the black carpet of moss and red slime. I took care of cleaning the water line and as far as I could reach with the snorkel, but Ben had to get out the dive buddy to address the far bottom of the boat as well as the daggers and rudders. In addition, our new underwater Sea Scrubber made cleaning the “carpet” off the boat easier.
While we enjoyed our respite from the city life, it was time to return to the better protection of Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas before the next windy spell which was going to be 20-35 knot winds and higher gusts. In addition, Ron was coming for a visit and we needed to pick him up at the airport.
In the next few weeks, we will be watching the weather closely looking for an overnight weather window to begin our journey south, but until then we will continue our exploration of the USVIs.
Hope you enjoyed this pictorial of Great Lameshur Bay as we loved our time there!
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