getting close to nature

In 1976 Stanley Selengut started Maho Bay Camps as an inexpensive place to stay, while being as close to nature as possible. Specifically, "My idea was to provide intimacy with the great outdoors, in the US Virgin Islands, one of the world's most beautiful settings, with comfort and convenience, at low cost."

What is so beautiful some 3 decades later is that the same statement applies today; Maho remains one of the cheapest places to stay on St. John, and we're still offering the same tents that get you as close to nature as possible and even provide comfort and convenience.

Will you wake up to birds outside your tents telling you it's time to get up? probably.
Will you wonder how tree frogs can make that much noise as soon as it gets dark? yes.
Will you feel and hear the wind through the screens as you sleep? probably.
Will you have a tiny lizard or anole that considers your tent his home? most definitely.
Will your body adjust to nature during the week you are here and tell you its time to go to bed earlier and wake up earlier? probably.
Will your kids think its fun to toss their uneaten dinner over the porch and watch the hermit crabs come marching towards your tent? yes.
Will you go for more hikes/snorkels/sails/adventures because we don't provide you with WiFi access? probably.

And that's the entire idea of this place we call Maho. You're living and experiencing nature in a way you may not be used to and is entirely different than what it's like at your home. If you arrive with an open mind and ready to experience nature you'll see that the anole has lived in your tent for way longer than you've been here, and while he's never learned to leave his "droppings" outside of the tent, he does do a pretty good job of eating any bugs inside the tent.

Sleeping in tents close to nature here on the North Shore of St. John has forced thousands of guests to experience something new and different while on vacation. Come try it yourself and feel how strange it is to go back to your bed at home.

The large bay of water that sits in front of us, Big Maho, Little Maho & Francis, can sometimes be "home" to 1 or 2 mega yachts each night, in addition to the 10 or 20 other small sailboats (comparatively speaking!) spending the night on moorings. This year has certainly been the “year of Archimedes” – with seemingly no more than a week between visits in our bay for this large mega yacht. Whomever is captaining this yacht each week certainly enjoys “our” waters. The most interesting thing about this yacht? It doesn’t even have to drop anchor for the night; it has some sort of computer system and jet thrusters that keep it at precisely the same coordinates overnight. Then again maybe all mega yachts have that feature, how would I know?

The article in the St. John Tradewinds this week about the VINP installing 15 "big boat" moorings this summer for boats 60-100ft won't have any impact on boats the size of Archimedes. Archimedes sits at 219ft, and with all that room aboard you could invite your whole extended family for a vacation! Unfortunately the maximum number of guests allowed is 8, with an additional 10 crew members.

One thing I do know is that it costs far less to stay in one of our tents for the night, in fact if you stay in one of our tents instead of Archimedes you’ll end up saving $56,428/night! The next time you're staying with us and see this boat in the bay you can smile and think of how much money you're saving by staying in our tent cabins. Personally, I think we have a better view than they have anyway.

handblown awards

Maho Bay was responsible for more than a few different awards over the past couple weeks here in the islands, at UVI as part of the Small Business Development Center and for the Power Swim here on St. John. If you were a swimmer for the Beach to Beach swim over Memorial Day weekend then perhaps the starfish, frog, parrot fish, or sun catchers look very familiar to you.