Choices

[jadkins08]

I think I have narrowed it down to three villas for our trip next June: Blue Agave, Soul Island, and Aurora. Looking for a kid friendly (our son will be 2 in December), with a pool and A/C villa that is fairly close to Cruz Bay and the North Shore beaches. Also has anyone gone on a day trip with Born to Rhumb? I contacted Palm Tree Charters, but they said 6 was their max. and it will be 7 of us including the little guy. I appreciate any advice/suggestions. Thanks and God bless.

Jeremy

[kristen1206]

Somehow I didn't come across any of those villas in my exhaustive search! But if you are open to other options, the villa we did choose would meet all of your requirements www.calypsodelsol.com

Regarding the charters, I have heard good thing about Born to Rhumb and also Fly Away Charters and Lion in the Da Sun.

[Nancy_B]

We've gone out with Capt Kevin from Born to Rhumb 3 times. We really like him. I don't know who his first mate is these days as Cassidy is now on the Woody's boat.

I think you'll have a great day if you choose him and it's a good boat for kids. Our friends had their 2 year old on it and he loved it.

[PA Girl]

We used Born to Rhumb in 2008. Nice big boat, very fast. We had a substitute captain that day. We really liked the boat and crew. Our 2.5 yo stayed behind at the house with the grandparents but I would have been comfortable taking him along.

This past February we went out on Motor Yacht Cinnamon Bay and, in my opinion, this it THE boat if you have kids.

Not only is the boat big and comfortable, the crew seems to truly like kids aboard. They have all these kid toys, sea creaturs and pirate related stuff, etc. And they had kiddy treats for our son, food and drink, that delighted him. I was not expecting such special considerations. Loved the boat and the crew was fantastic.

[ColatoStJohn]

First post so I hope I do this right.

We stayed in Aurora with our son 10 years ago when he was 2. It's a nice house with a great view. Not sure if your son would have his own room, but all of the bedrooms had their own outside entry, which might be too much for that age. The bedrooms are roomy enough to put a mattress on the floor for a young one if you wanted. There's also a one-bedroom apartment that would work (it has a sleeper sofa in living area).

We did stay there, and made it work, but I wouldn't recommend it for such a young child. We did stay at Morningside a few years later because it had two interior bedrooms and I liked that set up much more.

[Beesmom]

We went out on Born to Rhumb this last May - 2 couples with 3 kids between us. We went to the Caves, Willy T's, and Jost Van Dyke. We all had a great time ( I would say it was the highlight of our trip ) and plan to use them again next year.

-Sandy

[BuffaloGal]

We haven't stayed at the other three but saw Calypso del Sol mentioned. We also stayed there, and it was very nice. However, one word of caution, the layout is not conducive to small children. The master bedroom is off the living room, but the other two bedrooms are below and have to be reached by walking outside on the deck and down the stairs. I wouldn't have wanted my toddler on his/her own that far away from me.

[jadkins08]

Thanks for all of the advice/suggestions. Probably our main concern with choosing a villa is how kid friendly it is. We don't want to spend the entire week on pins and needles worrying about the little one. Obviously with a 2 year old accidents happen sometimes, but we would like to limit the number of opportunities he has as much as possible. Does anyone know anything about Villa Divine or Villa Colorado. These two places were brought to my attention, but I can't seem to find any reviews on them. Again thanks for any and all information. God bless.

Jeremy

[petepie]

You may want to do some searches for threads on villas with toddlers. There have been a few over the last few years, but to summarize, the biggest issues in finding a kid-friendly villa is bedroom layout and pool access. Most villas have separate bedrooms with exterior access only (a series of doors out to a deck or walkway), some are on different floors from each other, or in different "pods" from each other and the main room area. With a toddler, you probably want to stick to a villa with interior accesss between at least 2 bedrooms (or a sleep sofa or space for a cot or pack n play in your bedroom if you're ok with sharing a room with him). A few I can think of off the top of my head are:
Villa villekula
Crystal Seaview
Le Lapin II
Ristaba
Eden's Whim
Croix Vista

I'm sure others can chime in, but there have also been other threads with many more listed.

The other big concern is the pool. You may want to pick a villa with the pool set to the side, so it's not right out the main living doors. Even then, we used wireless battery powered door alarms so we knew if kids were going out doors near the pool area. There is only one villa that offers to set up a pool fence - Choco Cruz. Not sure if they're still doing that.

Good luck with the search, St John is great for toddlers, calm water, sloping soft sandy beaches, and DONKEYS on the road!!!!