St. John Off The Beaten Track [Paperback]

Dean Hulse (Illustrator, Photographer)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2000

This unique, captivating guide takes you where no other guide book can - to the little known, hard to reach, out of the way and easy to miss parts of this special island in the U.S. Virgins. Other guidebooks can tell you where to stay, eat, shop, or rent a car. But Off the Beaten Track takes you off the road and on to the islands many hiking trails, telling insider stories as you go. Then it takes you off the trails, scrambling up rocks, walking the shoreline, and wandering up and down lush green guts. It will also lead you to the best snorkeling, the lesser-known beaches old plantation ruins and much more.

Mr. Singer is an enthusiastic storyteller and much history and culture is shared along the way. A 30-year resident, he lets you in on many places that other locals wish he wouldn't mention, preferring to keep these spots to themselves. Indeed his guide brings these places to life and takes the reader back in time to the action, adventure, history, struggle, strife, work, and play that spawned the colorful personality St. John is known for even today.

The book has everything you need to keep you busy, enthralled, and moving about. Enjoy the full color photos by St. John photographer Dean Hulse and illustrations by Natasha Singer. Read it before you go. Pick your adventures. Bring the book with you. And, once on the island, use it both to decipher the hints left behind by a culture now vanished as well as to enjoy the beauty of this pristine paradise, nearly impossible to find elsewhere today.

Editorial Reviews

Review

At the turn of nearly every page of Gerald Singer's new book, St. John Off The Beaten Track", you'll say to yourself, "I didn't know that."...For example, did you know that men once dueled (yes, dueled) at Waterlemon (that's right lemon) Cay in Leinster Bay? Before 1800, men from St. Thomas and St. John would sail off to Tortola to avenge their honor, but when British authorities outlawed dueling, they switched their locale to Waterlemon Cay.

This book isn't just about history. You'll find a map of Leinster Bay, complete with X's to mark the ruins, arrows pointing out good snorkeling spots, and dotted lines indicating trails.

Singer gives readers a potpourri of facts about the lesser-known spots on St. John...There are sections on the 1733 St. John Slave Rebellion, sea grass, and nude bathing at Salomon Bay. Did you know that...Henley Cay was the sight of the first airplane crash on St. John?

(Lynda Lohr, The Daily News March 25, 1997)

Treasures come in all sizes, shapes and colors. Mr. Gerald Singer has given us a fitting treasure in St. John Off The Beaten Track, with history, folk tales, beauties of nature, the best places to relax and wonder and the scenic vistas that make St. John the pearl of places.

Whether you swim, snorkel, dream, interact with nature, love solitude, love people or just want to be you, take St. John, Off The Beaten Track along with you. Read it at your leisure. Meet the liar from Johnny Horn or the swimmers from Leinster Bay to "Freedom" in Tortola. Go to Rams Head or the Peace Hill. You have a treat in store. Enjoy! -- Guy H. Benjamin from the Foreword of St. John Off The Beaten Track

From the Author

"St. John Off the Beaten Track" is, more than anything else, an expression of my love for St. John, its people and its culture. St. John is one of the greatest places on Earth. So come and visit, and let "St. John Off the Beaten Track" provide you with information that will greatly enhance your tropical island experience.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Sombrero Publishing Co.; 2 edition (September 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0964122014
• ISBN-13: 978-0964122017
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #521,327 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #40 in Books > Travel > Caribbean > Virgin Islands

More About the Author

Gerald Singer came to the Virgin Islands in 1969. He became a commercial fisherman and later managed a vacation rental villa and served as a captain and guide for "adventure" boat charters. He is the author of "St. John Off the Beaten Track" and "Tales of St. John and the Caribbean" and writes a weekly column sponsored by St. John's Marina Market appearing on the back page of the St. John Tradewinds newspaper.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The only way to experience the trails of St. John, January 31, 2000

By 

Bob Hart (St. John, Virgin Islands) - See all my reviews

This review is from: St. John Off The Beaten Track (Paperback)

I am very pleased with this book's mixture of island history with excellent descriptions of the diverse trails and sights found throughout the National Park (which makes up 2/3 of this island!)

We moved to St. John a few months ago and the book is now dog-eared from use while packing it along with us. It is definitely worth carrying along because you will miss so much without it.

My only negative comment is that the author did not show pictures of the different fauna that he describes. Enjoy St. John and please respect the fragile environment!

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Snorkelers Guide to Paradise, January 30, 2003

By 

Melanie J. Batstone "MKmom" (Brentwood, NH United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: St. John Off The Beaten Track (Paperback)

As marine aquariasts and avid snorkelers, this book led us to the greatest snorkeling spots and some beautiful secluded beaches. Our favorite was Yawzi Point and Little Lameshur Bay. We arrived at 10:30 and were among 4 people on the beach. The waters were turquiose and the beach beautfully sandy like Trunk Bay but without the crowd. We enjoyed the right side of Yawzi Point accessible from Little Lameshur as the waters were calmer than the left hand side with similar reef to explore. Leinster Bay/Waterlemon Cay was another great find. The thing the book didn't mention was to hang your bag as Mongooses can unzip and will eat your lunch! The best, most useful book out of the three we bought. The maps are terrific as well.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very helpful, November 13, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: St. John Off The Beaten Track (Paperback)

Mr. Singer does a terrific job of detailing St. John's numerous hiking trails. He even gives concise, clear directions on how to get to each one. Thanks to him, we found our way to the America Hill trail with ease, and I must say the view from that vantage point was certainly worth the arduous hike up that mountain! He even gives advice on the best snorkeling spots as well as snippets of St. John history. After perusing this book, you feel as if you've been to St. John even if you never have! An absolute must for properly and thoroughly exploring the island. The only drawback is the lack of color photographs of the vegetation he describes. Also, the maps are very helpful.