Jump to content

St. John's/St. Thomas VI


HoustonHorn

Recommended Posts

54 minutes ago, VABuckeye said:

They were on St. Croix.  Unless they're idiots they would fly directly to St. Croix and wouldn't have been anywhere near him on St. John or the St. Thomas airport (STX).

Yeah they flew into St. Croix. It’s what 45 minutes on a seaplane from St. Thomas to St. Croix right?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
15 minutes ago, The Royal We said:

Cruz bay area?  You've been quite a bit, have you stayed all over or mainly in that part of the island?

Twice closer to chocolate hole.  Twice on Bordeaux and last time northshore over cinnamon.  Will send detailed when not mobile.

  • Hook 'Em 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

My recommendation is that you make sure you rent a villa that has a generator.

Electricity goes out frequently. When we were there two years ago, it was out on both STT and STJ for 18 hours. The big problem was there’s no water if the electricity is out because every house has a cistern with an electric water pump.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 1/9/2023 at 3:09 PM, The Royal We said:

Cruz bay area?  You've been quite a bit, have you stayed all over or mainly in that part of the island?

Spoiler

First 2 years we went (2016 and 2018) stayed at Bordo Mare near Chocolate Hole w/views of Little and Great St. James.  Loved it.
The next two years 2019 and 2020 stayed at Calichi at Picture point on Bordeaux overlooking Coral Bay.  Had some issues with the stay both times.  First stay, and they were only open for a couple of months – issues with no water in the cistern and the dishwasher wasn’t working.  We may have been the first guests in that particular villa.  They gave us the next year for free.  (in lieu of not blowing them up on yelp or whatever)
This past year we stayed at La Jolla Caribe with extended family.  High up overlooking the north shore between Trunk and Maho.
We’ve also used Palm Tree Charters twice a year since we found them in 2018.  Ask for Captain Sarah.  She’s the bomb.  If you want to go to the BVI’s have a long convo with them about what custom’s looks like and how much it will eat into your time.  This year was the first time we’ve gone since 2019 and you just don’t get the bang for your buck anymore with how fucked up custom’s has become.  We went to the Baths with the whole crew - 9 of us.  2 hours there and back, so only had time for one other stop (White Bay/Soggy Dollar).  If you do the BVI’s and don’t do the Baths then you need to do Willie T’s and The Indians.  You can stay USVI and get some great snorkeling spots.
My favorite beach is Maho, but you have to get there early to get parking (prob no later than 9-9:30).  Beautiful beach, decent snorkeling and food/drinks within walking distance.  All the beaches are beautiful – explore.  If you do Palm Tree Captain Sarah will give you the run down on beaches and which are best for different tastes.
The ruins – St. John has a long history in the slave trade and sugar/rum production.  Do some research prior to visiting the ruins.  There’s not a ton of on-site info and getting an understanding/history prior to going adds to the experience.  David Knight wrote a series of books – Understanding Annaberg reads quick and gives some history of ownership and production.  Takes like 30 min to get through.
Petroglyphs – you can do a long hike to them, or Captain Sarah can take you by boat to the shortcut.  Interesting but not amazing.  My opinion slightly jaded by taking a wrong turn, walking way out of the way (missed a little sign) and having a flip-flop blowout.
Food – longboard, lime out, lime in, high-tide etc etc etc…. you can’t have a bad meal.  We did Lovango and it’s an experience, but not worth it imo.  Skinny Legs is a must.  Especially later in the trip when you just want a cheeseburger.
Ram’s head.  Long intermediate hike but the views at the end are spectacular – even by St. John standard.
Nightlife.  We never really did but I know it’s there.  We typically get up for sunrise, do our thing all day and are wasted and have no energy.  The beach bar has live music almost every night.
If you rent a villa talk to the owner about provisioning prior to arrival.  We always have dinner for the first night brought in plus basics (Rum, flavored rum….. food, etc.)  Just makes that first night easier.
If you want to go fancy one night, you can have food prepped in-villa.  We did this for Christmas dinner.  There were nine of us and it came out to $150 a person (plus tip).  Six courses including desert.  

Rent a jeep - or now you can get a new bronco.  don't do the taxi thing or walk.  you're blowing time, when you should be getting to the next thing.  
Bring lots of cash.  Everybody lives on tips and prefers cash.  Mrs. PFlood had presorted envelopes for everything.    Sorry for the wall of words.  
 

maybe I'm doing the spoiler thing right?  we'll see.  wall of words.

  • Hook 'Em 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Poolflood said:
  Hide contents

First 2 years we went (2016 and 2018) stayed at Bordo Mare near Chocolate Hole w/views of Little and Great St. James.  Loved it.
The next two years 2019 and 2020 stayed at Calichi at Picture point on Bordeaux overlooking Coral Bay.  Had some issues with the stay both times.  First stay, and they were only open for a couple of months – issues with no water in the cistern and the dishwasher wasn’t working.  We may have been the first guests in that particular villa.  They gave us the next year for free.  (in lieu of not blowing them up on yelp or whatever)
This past year we stayed at La Jolla Caribe with extended family.  High up overlooking the north shore between Trunk and Maho.
We’ve also used Palm Tree Charters twice a year since we found them in 2018.  Ask for Captain Sarah.  She’s the bomb.  If you want to go to the BVI’s have a long convo with them about what custom’s looks like and how much it will eat into your time.  This year was the first time we’ve gone since 2019 and you just don’t get the bang for your buck anymore with how fucked up custom’s has become.  We went to the Baths with the whole crew - 9 of us.  2 hours there and back, so only had time for one other stop (White Bay/Soggy Dollar).  If you do the BVI’s and don’t do the Baths then you need to do Willie T’s and The Indians.  You can stay USVI and get some great snorkeling spots.
My favorite beach is Maho, but you have to get there early to get parking (prob no later than 9-9:30).  Beautiful beach, decent snorkeling and food/drinks within walking distance.  All the beaches are beautiful – explore.  If you do Palm Tree Captain Sarah will give you the run down on beaches and which are best for different tastes.
The ruins – St. John has a long history in the slave trade and sugar/rum production.  Do some research prior to visiting the ruins.  There’s not a ton of on-site info and getting an understanding/history prior to going adds to the experience.  David Knight wrote a series of books – Understanding Annaberg reads quick and gives some history of ownership and production.  Takes like 30 min to get through.
Petroglyphs – you can do a long hike to them, or Captain Sarah can take you by boat to the shortcut.  Interesting but not amazing.  My opinion slightly jaded by taking a wrong turn, walking way out of the way (missed a little sign) and having a flip-flop blowout.
Food – longboard, lime out, lime in, high-tide etc etc etc…. you can’t have a bad meal.  We did Lovango and it’s an experience, but not worth it imo.  Skinny Legs is a must.  Especially later in the trip when you just want a cheeseburger.
Ram’s head.  Long intermediate hike but the views at the end are spectacular – even by St. John standard.
Nightlife.  We never really did but I know it’s there.  We typically get up for sunrise, do our thing all day and are wasted and have no energy.  The beach bar has live music almost every night.
If you rent a villa talk to the owner about provisioning prior to arrival.  We always have dinner for the first night brought in plus basics (Rum, flavored rum….. food, etc.)  Just makes that first night easier.
If you want to go fancy one night, you can have food prepped in-villa.  We did this for Christmas dinner.  There were nine of us and it came out to $150 a person (plus tip).  Six courses including desert.  

Rent a jeep - or now you can get a new bronco.  don't do the taxi thing or walk.  you're blowing time, when you should be getting to the next thing.  
Bring lots of cash.  Everybody lives on tips and prefers cash.  Mrs. PFlood had presorted envelopes for everything.    Sorry for the wall of words.  
 

maybe I'm doing the spoiler thing right?  we'll see.  wall of words.

Fantastic info, thank you. 

Leaning towards a house up hwy 206 above Cinnamon Bay.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 5 months later...
  • 3 weeks later...
  • 6 months later...
On 7/2/2023 at 10:05 PM, The Royal We said:

 

We just got back from a week in St. John yesterday. You were right.

I'll do a write up next week, but we really enjoyed it and I wish we were still there.


I’m going down to St. Thomas next week. Arrive on Wednesday afternoon and then board a small cruise ship (110 passenger limit) on Friday and we’re going to float around and hit 3 different British VIs. 

We float back to St. Thomas on Monday morning and then I don’t fly out until around 5pm. 

The cruise is billed as a joint birthday party for a couple who are both divorced and I think that a fair amount of attendees expect it to be a wedding. 

I tend to like to see various things and try different foods when I travel. I don’t care to lie in the sun. I don’t know what I’m going to do for the 44+ hours before boarding the ship other than sweat. 

I went to Costa Rica last March/April for a couple of weeks, so I have been in the humid decaying tropics recently, but there I did a surf camp for 5 days. 

I don’t believe that I’ll rent a vehicle and I signed up for a couple of snorkeling things that would be day excursions while on the ship, but don’t know if I will do one or both until I get on the ship and they let us know if enough people signed up for the excursions and/or too many people signed up. 

Is there any cuisine that I should try? Or is it just Rice, Beans, Plantains, & Pork?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, Napoleon said:

Is there any cuisine that I should try? Or is it just Rice, Beans, Plantains, & Pork?

There's some local foods but it's 90% American bar food.  If you're on St Thomas, hit Glady's Cafe for local cuisine.  

  • Hook 'Em 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 hours ago, Napoleon said:

Or is it just Rice, Beans, Plantains, & Pork?

Not at all.  These are not hispanic islands.  Not one bit.

What islands are you hitting in the BVI?  I presume one is Tortola.

It won't be humid at all.  It's not the summer.  Judging by your comments this may be an eye opening trip for you.  Those islands are damned nice.  Take the ferry to St. John on Thursday.  Then you'll find out why people only use St. Thomas to fly into and taxi to Red Hook for the ferry to St. John and stay there.

  • Hook 'Em 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

We are starting on St. Thomas and hitting "Virgin Gorda" & "Jost Van Dyke", so I'm guessing that we'll also hit that big island between those islands on this map.

ScreenShot2024-01-03at4_17_38PM.thumb.png.c69b47d52e214f71183bbdb60902f7a8.png


These are the two excursions. The first one can handle the entire boat, basically. (Minimum of 20 people, Maximum of about 100 people)

ScreenShot2024-01-03at4_49_53PM.png.00c00b8a854fce75a2ce8703d98ddc96.png

 

The second one said "Minimum of 20 people, Maximum of 30 people" and I didn't RSVP for that trip until the middle of December... though some RSVP'd over the summer of 2023, so I don't know if that line of 30 is real, or if they may have 2 or 3 guided groups. I'm not getting my hopes up.

ScreenShot2024-01-03at4_15_03PM.thumb.png.075d20b2d1efbfd057db56a111678c25.png

 

 

55 minutes ago, VABuckeye said:

Not at all.  These are not hispanic islands.  Not one bit.

I have a good friend, former apartment roommate in LA (and Texas Ex), who lived in St. Thomas (I think) for a few years when her (British) mom chose to live there as she fought cancer. (The mom preferred the beaches of the Caribbean to a boring street in Dallas if she only had a few years to live.)

My friend stopped going to college and lived there in the 1990s (not sure how long) and they definitely didn't have money. Her stories of what it was like living there were much more "This broke down, or this person got hurt and we're driving on washed out roads in a rusty Suzuki Samari..." The stories were of someone living day-to-day in a 3rd world country rather than a person staying at a beach resort.

Rice & Beans are poor people food. Hispanic, Black, White... that doesn't matter. Isolated living drives up the prices of everything, so "local cuisine" usually ends up being "shit that's cheap & plentiful".

 

55 minutes ago, VABuckeye said:

It won't be humid at all. 

It's not the summer.  Judging by your comments this may be an eye opening trip for you.  Those islands are damned nice.  Take the ferry to St. John on Thursday.  Then you'll find out why people only use St. Thomas to fly into and taxi to Red Hook for the ferry to St. John and stay there.

In Costa Rica I stayed with an ex-girlfriend (American girl who went to tOSU) and who is very budget focused. Her living room/kitchen cube (her place was basically 3 cubes with her bedroom/bathroom cube stacked on top of the living room/kitchen cube and accessed via an outdoor set of stairs) had screens for windows and metal bars keeping people out, plus one or two sliding doors of metal bars. I had a room that she normally AirB&Bs that was pleasant, but I was most definitely NOT staying in an all-inclusive resort. I have looked at AirBnBs for St. Thomas and there was a similar vibe to the "architecture" of my friend's town in Costa Rica. Exterior paint that needs to be redone, various wires (electricity? old phone/cable/internet?) with green foliage trying to retake the land.

Good to know that it won't be miserably uncomfortable while I wait out Friday's departure. I wouldn't have slept without an A/C unit in Costa Rica.

I prefer to travel to places where English is NOT the national language, though I did enjoy my time in Ireland. I would never have picked the Virgin Islands, especially the US ones, if I hadn't been invited on a free 3-day cruise to celebrate something (not sure yet) for a friend I've known since kindergarten.

 

Edited by Napoleon
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Jost Van Dyke is one of my favorite islands.  I’ve stayed there many times and know quite a few of the 300 natives.  Your cruise ship is going to funnel you to the far end of White Bay. It’s not bad but I’d venture a ways down the beach to One Love and get a lobster quesadilla.  It’s huge so share it with one or two other people.  SoggyDollar is on White Bay.  It’s where the painkiller was invented.  White Bay is a different party every day if you’re into that although the locals from Tortola that come over on their boats tend to ruin the atmosphere some.  The snorkeling depicted is NOT at White Bay.  It’s all sand.  
 

Virgin Gorda is great. The Baths are fun to walk through and Little Devils Bay is one of the prettiest bays you’ll ever see.  
 

feel free to ask questions. I’ve spent quite a bit of time in the BVI.  

Edited by VABuckeye
  • Hook 'Em 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Couldn’t edit more. I hate that rule on this site. 

Sandy spit is exactly what it sounds like. A tiny sandy islet.  I prefer Little Jost Van Dyke and the B Line bar but tiny beach dive bars are my jam.  Across from B Line is Foxy’s Taboo which is a fairly decent restaurant but I doubt you’ll get that chance.  I’d eat at Sydney’s Peace and Love as they’re awesome people and the food and setting is great but you probably won’t have enough time on the island for that one. 

Edited by VABuckeye
  • Hook 'Em 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Spending a week on St. John January 20 -27.  Looking forward to relaxing and enjoying the spoils of this beautiful island.  We have visited the island while on cruises, but our first time for an extended stay.  Flying into STT and ferrying over.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, VonZipper said:

Spending a week on St. John January 20 -27.  Looking forward to relaxing and enjoying the spoils of this beautiful island.  We have visited the island while on cruises, but our first time for an extended stay.  Flying into STT and ferrying over.

Rent a jeep. you will 100% appreciate having vehicular autonomy

Edited by Longhorn_Fan68
  • Hook 'Em 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, VonZipper said:

Spending a week on St. John January 20 -27.  Looking forward to relaxing and enjoying the spoils of this beautiful island.  We have visited the island while on cruises, but our first time for an extended stay.  Flying into STT and ferrying over.

Eat at Extra Virgin.  Sit at the bar at Ocean 362 and watch the sunset.  If you have a boating day hit Lime Out and enjoy tacos and drinks on the water.  Eat at ZoZo's on Caneel Bay.  Banana Deck also has good food.  Get a root beer float at St. John Brewing Co.  They're fantastic and they make the root beer.  Enjoy!

 

If you have a jeep hit Skinny Legs for lunch.

  • Hook 'Em 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

One other thing.  Take or get a passport and look at the ferry schedule and do a day trip to Jost van Dyke to hang out at the all-day party on White Bay.  One of the most famous beach bars in the Caribbean (Soggy Dollar Bar) is there and White Bay is not only beautiful but a ton of fun.  Or you can charter a captained boat for the day and hit White Bay along with Virgin Gorda (The Baths) and hit the Willie T on a bay on Norman Island.  Be forewarned, the Willie T is by far the raunchiest bar I have ever been to and I love raunchy bars.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

19 hours ago, Longhorn_Fan68 said:

Rent a jeep. you will 100% appreciate having vehicular autonomy

@VonZipper  Absolutely this.

We had an incredible trip last summer. Took 3 kids down there for a week and they are still talking about the trip, so the kids enjoyed it too. We hit up different beaches every day, would wake up and hop in the jeep and not go back to the house until after dinner most days.

@Napoleon If you have time to ferry over to St. John instead of staying on St. Thomas then you should absolutely do it. I only saw the road between the airport and the ferry terminal on St. Thomas, but it's pretty damn developed with trash and busted up vehicles all over the place. There is some of that on St. John (they really need a busted up vehicle round-up to get them off the island), but from what I saw you would enjoy St. John more.

I don't know what the beaches are like this time of year, but my favorites were:

Maho Bay - snorkeling was great here. Massive sea turtles are feeding on the sea grass 20-25 yards from the beach. There are a few food trucks and a bar that are right across the road that were surprisingly good. A Painkiller(s) and a Mahi sandwich will get your right for lunch.

Trunk Bay - there's a snorkeling trail off the beach here that was pretty cool. This was probably the best beach we went to, but it also got a little crowded so we walked way down to the end from the parking lot to set up our gear. Great food and drink options here too.

Francis Bay Beach - this was probably the best beach for snorkeling just because you could walk 10 feet out and look down and there were tons of fish everywhere. There were only ~8 parking spots so we went there early in the morning to make sure we had a spot.

Favorite food spots:

Miss Lucy's - we went here for lunch after going to Salt Pond (also a cool beach, just a bit of a hike to get to) and the food was good/atmosphere was great. It's right on the water and all outdoors. We ate under this massive Sea Grape tree and loved it.

Skinny Legs - I think this is the only place we went to twice. Really relaxed place with good food and good vibes.

We also chartered a little boat for an afternoon and he took us to Cas Cay for snorkeling and exploring on the island. We then went over to Pizza Pi which is a pizza place on a boat in a cove that was really good. It was expensive, but one of the highlights of the trip boating around the island.

  • Hook 'Em 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.



×
×
  • Create New...