usvi-on-line
We just got back from our first STJ trip
We just got back from our first STJ trip
...And it certainly won't be the last. It really might be the perfect island. Thanks to all on this board who assisted in our many logistical questions. I'll try to attach photos later, but will need help from the wife.
We stayed in Greater Cruz Bay area at Villa Bijou. The property exceeded my expectations, it was really first rate. It had a magnificent view of St. Thomas and the Westin harbor area with a large (for the islands) pool. The grounds were much more lush than I thought, perfectly landscaped and exceedingly private. There were several large iguanas sharing the villa with us. We never figured out exactly what it caused it, but I actually did get violently ill my first two days there. Then another one of us in the villa got similarly ill about the 4th day there. Seemed like food poisoning symptoms. Don't know what it was exactly although we thought it weird that only 2 of us 5 got it and got it at different times.
The villa is advertised as walking distance to the beach but all I can say is you'd have to be in great shape to relish that even if you were not carrying coolers, chairs, etc. The hills in this area (and everywhere we saw) are no joke. On one rainy morning excursion to the store, I started to slide down hill a bit at the top of a hill when I realized my 4x4 wasn't engaged. 4x4 is a must as far as I'm concerned, not a luxury.
The beaches? My god the beaches. Our first stop was Hawksnest, which was a bit of a mistake in retrospect because it was all downhill from there. I was actually quite moved when I first stepped foot on that beach. At the end of the day I imagine this is the most perfect beach I'll ever step foot on in this lifetime. If Hawksnest was a 10 (and it was) I'd give Cinnamon a 7.5, Maho a 9 and Trunk a 9 or so. One day we hit Caneel because we needed the resort amenities nearby (see illness above.) The Caneel beach you see at the heart of the resort where the ferry terminal is nothing special, maybe a 5. But my friend and I snorkeled around to the eastern side and the more celebrated beach at Caneel and would say that's about a 8 anyway.
We didn't spend much time at Coral Bay- one long day really. With that caveat in mind, we were glad we decided to stay in the Cruz Bay area after having considered a few Coral Bay villas originally. Coral was a bit more remote than we needed or wanted and we preferred the proximity to the North Shore beaches that were only 10-20 minutes from our Cruz Bay villa. While we loved the privacy of the villa itself, we also loved being able to get into town quickly for provisions, dinner out, etc. We did do Vie's at Coral, which was lovely. . It took a long time and the poor cat who was trying to get his fleas onto us instead of him was not the end of the world. The conch fritters were great (and expensive) but I thought the Johnny cake and fried chicken leg ( stewed chicken meat would have been better and that’s what I pictured when the menu said “garlic chicken”) was not good (and difficult to eat w plastic fork) and the rice and beans w meat sauce was good but too expensive for a small side even considering island staples costs. Obviously Vie and staff were very friendly and sweet and we were nothing but complimentary in return.
We did much of the cooking at our villa. As recommended (thanks again!) we brought down a carryon with frozen chicken, pork, dogs. We were glad we did as the first night we hit Dolphin there wasn't any raw meat for sale at all. That said, the markets were better overall than I worried they might be. In order with the one we found most useful at the top they were:
1. Pine Peace- this was a life saver. By far the cheapest of them all, with a good selection all around except for meat- which they don't really do at all as this is more of a glorified convenience store/liquor store. We hit this place about 7 times. Hard to imagine the trip without it. Cheap vittles.
2. Dolphin- the best real "supermarket" I thought. Meat selection was patchy- but that seems to be life on STJ. Bigger selection of grocery than you'd have a right to expect on an island of 4000 (or an American town of 4000 for that matter.)
3. St.John Market- too expensive but when they finally finish it (still looks like it opened yesterday) it might have one of the best selections. They seem to have the infrastructure in place to have the best seafood/meat counter on the island, if they end up filling it that is.
4. Starfish- nice market, too polished and thus pricey for my tastes. Just felt like you were getting gauged to pay for the fact that it looked like a mini-Whole Foods. If you are not concerned with prices, this is probably the nicest market of them all, but for us it was just a bit too high end retail for my decidedly wholesale shopping habits.
Special car rental note....One tip for those who go with families who might rent large 4x4s. We reserved a Jeep Commander, which is the three row 7 seater. They handed us a Dodge Durango instead, which is the same class. (Didn't actually see a Commander on the island at all.) You don't want this truck. It's an uncomfortable pig of a truck and you'll have a tough time getting around, parking, or god forbid you have to turn the thing around on a narrow road- which you will. Ours anyway had lazy brakes and a reluctant powertrain and was very difficult to drive. We turned it in for the one class smaller Dodge Nitro. (Chrysler seems to have an unusual market share on SJU.) This was much better, much more maneuverable, drivable and just about as roomy.)
We stayed in Greater Cruz Bay area at Villa Bijou. The property exceeded my expectations, it was really first rate. It had a magnificent view of St. Thomas and the Westin harbor area with a large (for the islands) pool. The grounds were much more lush than I thought, perfectly landscaped and exceedingly private. There were several large iguanas sharing the villa with us. We never figured out exactly what it caused it, but I actually did get violently ill my first two days there. Then another one of us in the villa got similarly ill about the 4th day there. Seemed like food poisoning symptoms. Don't know what it was exactly although we thought it weird that only 2 of us 5 got it and got it at different times.
The villa is advertised as walking distance to the beach but all I can say is you'd have to be in great shape to relish that even if you were not carrying coolers, chairs, etc. The hills in this area (and everywhere we saw) are no joke. On one rainy morning excursion to the store, I started to slide down hill a bit at the top of a hill when I realized my 4x4 wasn't engaged. 4x4 is a must as far as I'm concerned, not a luxury.
The beaches? My god the beaches. Our first stop was Hawksnest, which was a bit of a mistake in retrospect because it was all downhill from there. I was actually quite moved when I first stepped foot on that beach. At the end of the day I imagine this is the most perfect beach I'll ever step foot on in this lifetime. If Hawksnest was a 10 (and it was) I'd give Cinnamon a 7.5, Maho a 9 and Trunk a 9 or so. One day we hit Caneel because we needed the resort amenities nearby (see illness above.) The Caneel beach you see at the heart of the resort where the ferry terminal is nothing special, maybe a 5. But my friend and I snorkeled around to the eastern side and the more celebrated beach at Caneel and would say that's about a 8 anyway.
We didn't spend much time at Coral Bay- one long day really. With that caveat in mind, we were glad we decided to stay in the Cruz Bay area after having considered a few Coral Bay villas originally. Coral was a bit more remote than we needed or wanted and we preferred the proximity to the North Shore beaches that were only 10-20 minutes from our Cruz Bay villa. While we loved the privacy of the villa itself, we also loved being able to get into town quickly for provisions, dinner out, etc. We did do Vie's at Coral, which was lovely. . It took a long time and the poor cat who was trying to get his fleas onto us instead of him was not the end of the world. The conch fritters were great (and expensive) but I thought the Johnny cake and fried chicken leg ( stewed chicken meat would have been better and that’s what I pictured when the menu said “garlic chicken”) was not good (and difficult to eat w plastic fork) and the rice and beans w meat sauce was good but too expensive for a small side even considering island staples costs. Obviously Vie and staff were very friendly and sweet and we were nothing but complimentary in return.
We did much of the cooking at our villa. As recommended (thanks again!) we brought down a carryon with frozen chicken, pork, dogs. We were glad we did as the first night we hit Dolphin there wasn't any raw meat for sale at all. That said, the markets were better overall than I worried they might be. In order with the one we found most useful at the top they were:
1. Pine Peace- this was a life saver. By far the cheapest of them all, with a good selection all around except for meat- which they don't really do at all as this is more of a glorified convenience store/liquor store. We hit this place about 7 times. Hard to imagine the trip without it. Cheap vittles.
2. Dolphin- the best real "supermarket" I thought. Meat selection was patchy- but that seems to be life on STJ. Bigger selection of grocery than you'd have a right to expect on an island of 4000 (or an American town of 4000 for that matter.)
3. St.John Market- too expensive but when they finally finish it (still looks like it opened yesterday) it might have one of the best selections. They seem to have the infrastructure in place to have the best seafood/meat counter on the island, if they end up filling it that is.
4. Starfish- nice market, too polished and thus pricey for my tastes. Just felt like you were getting gauged to pay for the fact that it looked like a mini-Whole Foods. If you are not concerned with prices, this is probably the nicest market of them all, but for us it was just a bit too high end retail for my decidedly wholesale shopping habits.
Special car rental note....One tip for those who go with families who might rent large 4x4s. We reserved a Jeep Commander, which is the three row 7 seater. They handed us a Dodge Durango instead, which is the same class. (Didn't actually see a Commander on the island at all.) You don't want this truck. It's an uncomfortable pig of a truck and you'll have a tough time getting around, parking, or god forbid you have to turn the thing around on a narrow road- which you will. Ours anyway had lazy brakes and a reluctant powertrain and was very difficult to drive. We turned it in for the one class smaller Dodge Nitro. (Chrysler seems to have an unusual market share on SJU.) This was much better, much more maneuverable, drivable and just about as roomy.)
Wow.
Sorry to hear about the 'mystery illness'. Good to here it didn't ruin your trip entirely.
After being there 10 times, it's so wonderful to hear about newcomers experiencing that slice of tranquility.
Welcome to the club, and can't wait to see some photos!
Happy Holidays,and thanks for the TR so far.
Smiles-
MJ
Sorry to hear about the 'mystery illness'. Good to here it didn't ruin your trip entirely.
After being there 10 times, it's so wonderful to hear about newcomers experiencing that slice of tranquility.
Welcome to the club, and can't wait to see some photos!
Happy Holidays,and thanks for the TR so far.
Smiles-
MJ
-
Teresa_Rae
- Posts: 2053
- Joined: Mon Oct 09, 2006 5:44 pm
- Location: Downstate IL
Funny, I'd reverse the scores for Hawksnest and Cinnamon...I'd go 7.5 for Hawksnest and 10 for Cinnamon 
Glad you enjoyed the trip. We've been 8 times now and the most recent trip was only a month ago and I'm already dying to go back!
Glad you enjoyed the trip. We've been 8 times now and the most recent trip was only a month ago and I'm already dying to go back!
Let us live so that when we come to die even the undertaker will be sorry.
- Mark Twain
- Mark Twain
Maybe I'd reverse them too if I saw Cinnamon first. In reality, they are both probably as close to a 10 each as I'll see.Teresa_Rae wrote:Funny, I'd reverse the scores for Hawksnest and Cinnamon...I'd go 7.5 for Hawksnest and 10 for Cinnamon
Glad you enjoyed the trip. We've been 8 times now and the most recent trip was only a month ago and I'm already dying to go back!
-
darkanddietwithlime
- Posts: 117
- Joined: Tue Mar 06, 2007 6:38 am
- Location: Maine
You brought me back some 40 years ago, when, on our first trip to St John and we 'discovered' Hawksnest. We were both awestruck at the beauty of this beach.
Thanks for your perspective on the markets and the car. We will be renting one of those larger SUV's for our trip in Feb-March. Thanks for the TR.
Thanks for your perspective on the markets and the car. We will be renting one of those larger SUV's for our trip in Feb-March. Thanks for the TR.
-
darkanddietwithlime
- Posts: 117
- Joined: Tue Mar 06, 2007 6:38 am
- Location: Maine
HAwksnest was my first beach too.
Glad you liked my suggestion for Pine Peace (I was wondering if you'd brave it!). It looks a bit unconventional to what we're used to on the mainland but honestly BEST prices IMHO. Plus their guys will actually help you with your groceries if you've got a lot of stuff. nicest people ever!
I agree on the 4x4. Although some people get just fine without it, we prefer it.
Glad you liked my suggestion for Pine Peace (I was wondering if you'd brave it!). It looks a bit unconventional to what we're used to on the mainland but honestly BEST prices IMHO. Plus their guys will actually help you with your groceries if you've got a lot of stuff. nicest people ever!
I agree on the 4x4. Although some people get just fine without it, we prefer it.
*Another fine scatterbrained production
Great report...welcometo the 'Obsession'. I think Honeymoon is our fav, but we do love the beaches in Hawksnest beach area including Gibney. Our kids love Hawsnest when the surf is up and they can catch a wave with the other kids and ride up...
We have a Jeep Commander from Discount in STT for our upcoming trip.
Start your planning now for the next trip. Check airlines at the 335 day mark...
We have a Jeep Commander from Discount in STT for our upcoming trip.
Start your planning now for the next trip. Check airlines at the 335 day mark...
