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Universal Orlando Resort: Where to Stay & Play for a Few Days

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My recent stay at Universal Orlando Resort was so much fun and I’m going to share and highlight my favorite moments with you. First and foremost, I stayed at the Cabana Bay Beach Resort on the property which allowed me early access (one hour) to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter™. It was my first time experiencing Diagon Alley™. I took advantage of the complimentary shuttle service to Universal Studios Florida and was able to … [Read More...]

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Navigating Disney World During a Pandemic

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I recently had an opportunity to visit Walt Disney World as part of my Goofy Getaways FAM Training. It was exciting and I was a bit anxious because even though some restrictions are being lifted, guidelines are more relaxed, and travel is starting to … [Read More...]

Taste the Flavors of St. Thomas USVI

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Wandering the quiet trails of Reef Bay, St. John

St. John is the smallest of the three main U.S. Virgin Islands, wildly popular for its turquoise water and white-sand bays. Reef Bay sits on the south shore, and most visitors only see it briefly from a catamaran or a snorkel boat. I had been underwater along this coast before, building confidence through a gradual scuba diving course, and wanted to see the same area from above the tree line. The stretch of coastline I found rewards slow walking rather than quick sightseeing.

The Reef Bay Trail runs through the Virgin Islands National Park, which covers nearly sixty percent of the island. The terrain is dry forest, cactus, and scrubby woodland, with views opening over the bay every few hundred metres. From Sydney, the route usually goes through Miami or San Juan with a connecting flight to St. Thomas and a short ferry. It is the kind of trip an Australian family might save up for over a couple of years, which makes a quiet day on a less-trafficked trail feel even more valuable.

I planned the walk solo, with a backpack, a refillable bottle, and an old pair of shoes I did not mind getting dusty. The advice I kept reading was to start early, before the heat settled in over the limestone hills. So I set my alarm, grabbed fruit and a flat white from the cafe near my guesthouse, and met the morning shuttle with the light still soft.

Getting to the trailhead

The Reef Bay Trail starts inland and winds downhill toward the beach. The Visitor Center on the south shore is the official access point for solo hikers, and you register your name with a ranger before setting off. Australians used to walking marked tracks at home, from Lamington to the Tarkine, will notice this one feels more like a slow descent through a kitchen garden than a mountain hike. The elevation drop is gentle, but the footing is uneven and the stonework on steeper sections is rough.

I had flown in from Brisbane a few days earlier on a red-eye that landed in Charlotte Amalie just before sunrise. The ferry from Red Hook to St. John takes about twenty minutes and costs roughly fifteen US dollars, which felt friendlier than Sydney Harbour ferries once converted to Australian dollars. By the time the shuttle dropped me at the register, the air was already warming and a small lizard watched from the wall.

Trail segment Approx. distance Surface What stood out
Visitor Center to Petroglyph Pool 1.2 km Loose stone, shaded Rock carvings near the falls
Petroglyph Pool to Lower Cobble 0.8 km Open rock, cactus scrub First full view of the bay
Lower Cobble to Reef Bay beach 1.0 km Forested, narrow path Frangipani shade, bird calls
Beach return loop 1.5 km Sand and tidal rock Snorkel-friendly flats

I had brought two litres of water and was glad of it by the second stop. The Visitor Center sells basic snacks in US dollars, but I stocked up at the small grocery in Cruz Bay the afternoon before. Fresh fruit is often cheaper than back home in Australia once you skip the labelled-import range.

Down through the petroglyphs

The first landmark is the Petroglyph Pool, a shaded pocket where a small stream pours over a basalt slab. The carving here is faint and easy to miss if you walk past quickly. A ranger told me the figures are around a thousand years old, left by the Taino people who lived across the Greater Antilles long before European contact. I sat on a dry rock, watched the light shift on the water, then kept moving.

The middle section opens onto a broad shoulder of hillside, with the bay appearing in slivers between gumbo-limbo trees. I saw two other hikers all morning: a German couple with hiking poles, and a New Zealander who had been chasing Caribbean islands for the past two years. We exchanged tips on reef-safe sunscreen. Australia banned sunscreens containing filters like oxybenzone and octinoxate to protect the Great Barrier Reef, so checking the label was second nature.

The path dips through a patch of frangipani trees dripping flowers after the previous night's rain, and a small hermit crab trundled across the trail ahead of me. Reef Bay does not get the foot traffic of Honeymoon Beach or Trunk Bay, and the park service asks visitors to stay on the marked trail to keep the regenerating dry forest intact.

Reaching the bay

Reef Bay is a crescent of pale sand with no facilities, no lounge chairs, and no cafe. Most people who stop here have walked down and plan to swim or snorkel before walking back up, so the stretch stays quiet outside mid-morning and mid-afternoon. I swam, ate a banana, and floated on my back looking up at the green wall of hillside I had just come through.

The water was the clearest I had seen anywhere in the Caribbean. From the surface, you could see brain coral, sea fans, and the occasional parrotfish working across the shallows. I had done some of my earliest open-water training along these reefs, and being above them this time felt like seeing an old friend from a different angle. There is no commercial activity on the bay, so I had the snorkel flat almost entirely to myself.

I think a lot of Australian travellers underrate St. John because the Virgin Islands sit in the shadow of bigger, more marketed Caribbean destinations. Reef Bay rewards the visitor who is happy to walk for a couple of hours and accept the lack of shade, cafes, or cell signal. It feels closer to the slow hikes in places like Royal National Park than to the busier cruise-port beaches across the channel in St. Thomas.

Practical notes from a fellow traveller

A few small things are worth knowing before setting off. The trail is officially closed in the rainy months, generally late summer into autumn, when rockfalls and overgrown steps make the route unsafe. Americans with park passes register without charge, while visitors from outside the US pay a small hiking fee in cash. Bring more water than you think you need, especially if you are coming off a long-haul flight from somewhere like Adelaide or Perth, since dehydration sneaks up on you.

Closed-toe shoes made the limestone steps much less worrying, and a wide-brimmed hat kept the sun off my neck. I had a paper map folded into my pocket, but mobile coverage is patchy along the descent and offline maps are wise. There is a payphone near the parking area in case of emergency, though reception for an Australian SIM roaming on US networks can be spotty once you reach the bay.

Australia has strict biosecurity rules about what you can bring back through the airport, including soil on hiking shoes and untreated wooden items. I cleaned my boots thoroughly in Cruz Bay before flying home and declared everything honestly on the incoming passenger card. Fines for undeclared plant material or uncleaned outdoor gear are steep, and the risk is simply not worth it.

What to keep in mind on the day