There is one tradition that is quite common in Caribbean island life. People gather to watch the sun go down as it slowly sets over the horizon, making room for the visual delights to be found in the night sky.
Locals and visitors enjoy a tropical beverage as they share their stories of the day’s adventures and enjoy the lovely colors created by the setting sun. Depending on the time of year or the viewing location, people in Cruz Bay on the West End of St John see the sunset either over the island of Saint Thomas or one of the offshore cays.
But people on the East End of the island, where Coral Bay lies, get treated to a slightly different but no less satisfying experience. They watch the sun set a few minutes earlier than their western part of the island.
They get to watch it gently slip behind a towering 1000-foot high peak called Bordeaux mountain. Afterward, all eyes turn to the east for the “reverse sunset”. In this phenomena, the pastel colors of the western sunset are reflected on the eastern clouds that dance across the sky on the trade winds. These wind-driven clouds create a moving canvas of endless shapes and sizes that are splashed with every color of the sunset.
This sight is a treasured part of St. John’s East End experience and it’s a sight that the guests of Pepper get to enjoy during our daily sunset over Saint John sailing trips!