Salt Pond Bay

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Salt Pond Bay:

This was definitely my favorite all round destination. everything here from the beach, to the snorkeling, to the hiking is amazing.

As soon as we got to the beach we immediately saw two sea turtles poke their heads out of the water.

Once I was in the water it only took a few directions from my girlfriend on shore to point me to where she last saw them surface and voila your swimming with sea turtles.

The beach here is nice and sandy with a little bit of coral rubble where the water meets the sand. there is great snorkeling along the eastern shoreline, with the best being the southern tip of the peninsula that separates saltpond bay and blue cobblestone beach.

It is a bit of a swim all the way out to this point, but it was some of my favorite snorkeling on the island.

There are also some great hiking trails that begin at the east end of the beach.

My favorite was the trail up to rams head which offers absolutely amazing views, not a beginner trail though.

The best part about all this is you can enjoy it with relatively no interuption from others.

when we were there, there was probably twenty five others on the beach with us, that's it.enjoy

Salt Pond Bay “great snorkeling and don't miss the walk to adjacent Drakes Bay”

It was a little bit of a stroll down from the parking spot and we were there prime time so there were at least 5 or 6 other families already there - but we found trees to park our white selves under and headed out to try the snorkeling.

We had excellent snorkeling (the snorkeling at Trunk Bay the day before was less than stellar) and were fortunate enough to see a huge spotted eagle ray a few times - had to have had a tail of at least 6' in length and the wings had to have equaled my outstretched arms.

It is a bit hard to tell how big things are as things look smaller through your snorkel - but this guy was pretty huge!

After a snorkel we followed the path at the far left of the beach (basically at the end of the sand) past the Salt Pond onto Drakes Beach.

Completely different! It doesn't have any protective reef and both waves and wind whipped the shore.

We had great views back to our hotel Concordia Ecolodge from the cliff above the beach.

The beach is populated with "sculptures" created out of washed up coral and driftwood on the rocks.

We had a great time checking them out and our kids enjoyed adding their "girl" to the mix. A very fine afternoon.

Salt Pond Bay “Quiet Secluded Spot”

A beautiful spot to snorkel with a huge reef on the left hand side that you can spend hours exploring.

We found the beach almost deserted with maybe 10 people spread out all along it.

The good thing is since this place is on the other end of the island it is not a place like Trunk Bay where there is a mob of people.

One of the best spots we snorkeled at with plenty of fish, turtles, etc.

Salt Pond Bay “Popular but Nice”

Salt Pond Bay is another quality Saint John snorkeling spot, and is nice and calm even when the north shore beaches have heavy surf/swells.

We visited the day after Thanksgiving, and the beach was very well populated.

There's plenty of parking, though signs and travel guides recommend not leaving valuables in your vehicle... apparently there have been some break-ins there.

The beach and bay are about a ten minute walk downhill from the parking area, just enough to build up a nice sweat to cool off when you reach the water!

Of course, remember that you still have to walk back UP the hill when you're done, so factor that in when you decide how much gear to pack with you!

Salt Pond has one of the longer sandy beaches on the island, and it's a good thing given the number of people that were there when we arrived.

The beach and bay, like many others on Saint John, gets visitors both on foot and from boats.

We found a spot at the far end of the beach, next to the smaller path leading to the pond, Drunk Bay, and Ram's Head.

There is ample water space for all kinds of activity, and though we only really snorkeled along the left side (facing the water), there are other quality snorkel areas in the bay. Strong swimmers/snorkelers can swim out to the rocks that jut out in the middle of the bay. We weren't energetic enough at the time, however!

While you're visiting, take a short hike to Ram's Head, or rock hop along the rugged shoreline of Drunk Bay (say hello to the coral "people" there!).

Salt Pond Bay “Sea Turtles!!”

My cousin and I took a day trip from Cinnamon Bay Campgroud to the head of the Rams Head Trail which took us to Salt Pond Bay and Blue Cobblestone Beach.

The hike down the two-track from the drop off was dry, hot and lacked shade (fairly typical of this area of the island). At times we commented that we felt we were walking through a sauna. Just make sure you bring a towel or shirt to drape over your head to create your own shade while hiking. And bring water.

There's a pit toilet at Salt Pond Bay but I didn't see any running water.

We had heard great things about the snorkeling in the bay at Blue Cobblestone Beach and it was good but we had been at Waterlemon Bay and Cay the day before which was better. But... we saw a sea turtle!! It was shy compared to the one at Waterlemon the day before which was good to see, a little more wild.

When we walked back to Salt Pond Bay we decided to snorkel a bit more before we left. Here we saw another turtle. These creatures are amazing!!

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