usvi-on-line
Trip report
Trip report
We arrived on St. John and were met at the ferry dock by Jodi from Villa Claudia. We LOVED this villa! Great layout, amenities, view and location. I would highly recommend this place to everyone.
Rented cars from St. John Car Rental. They didn't have one of the Suzuki's we had rented so we had to take another car for the day and turn it back in the next day at noon. This kinda put a damper on the morning since we like to get an early start. It was OK though, we hung out at the villa and swam. We filled the cars up the night before leaving and the only place we went was from the station to the villa. The next morning when we turned the cars in, they said we needed more gas in them. The gauges were both on full! So off to the station, again. Then they couldn't get the bill right so we ended up putting both cars on my credit card. Oh well, it turned out OK.
Got all settled in and decided to stay in and get pizza. We ordered 2 large deluxe pizza's and the delivery driver agreed to stop at the supermarket-only on St. John can you get this kind of service- and pick us up two 12 packs of beer and one 12 pack of coke. The bill came to $146.00. We thought this was a little high so the driver said he would talk to Ronnie, the owner. The next day Ronnie called and said the price was $46 more than it should have been. We told him we would use it towards another night's purchase and that's what we did later in the week. The pizza and service were great!
We visited most of the North Shore beaches including: Trunk, Caneel, Honeymoon, Hawksnest, Cinnamon, Maho, Dennis and I think Jumbie. The snorkeling was best at Dennis, Hawksnest and Honeymoon. Went to the east end-brain cramp, can't remember the name of the beach-to snorkel but since there were 8 of us, snorkel gear, coolers, towels and beach bags, some decided they didn't want to walk that far so we didn't get to snorkel.
We visited Coral Bay a couple of times. Visited Vies, but she wasn't open. Ate at Skinny Legs, great hamburgers and chili. Bought several souvenirs from Skinnys and the Jolly Dog-good selection and prices.
We explored about every inch of St. John. Next time, I want to hike some of the trails.
We did carry in several nights. The conk fritters from Woody's are the best. We found that the tarter sauce is better on the conk than the sauce they give you. The cheeseburgers, pasta salad and the shark bites were excellent! Joe's BBQ was also a favorite, wonderful food and service. We ate out at Lime Inn, Fish Trap, Island/Ocean Time or something like that at Mongoose Junction and Morgan's Mango, this (Morgan's Mango) was by far the worst food and service we have had in a long time at any restaurant anywhere. And no one from the restaurant cared!
We did a day sail/snorkeling trip with Calypso. This was a lot of fun! We had 8 in our group and there were only 6 others on the boat. We all got to know each other and had a blast together. Great memories. Snorkeled at Mary's Point?, Waterlemon and one more place.
We were going to rent dinghies but since the water was so rough, we decided not to.
Probably the best day was our trip to Jost Van Dyke with Stu from this forum. He rented a boat on St. Thomas and picked us up at the National Ferry Dock. We weren't sure what to expect in the way of the boat, but it was really nice. Had plenty of space and shade and was very fast. When we got onboard, Stu said he was ours for the day and would do anything we wanted. We didn't bring snorkel gear so we missed out on that. But really all we wanted was to spend the day on Jost. We visited Foxy's Taboo and tried without luck to find the bubbly pools. It was neat seeing this side of the island. Got through customs at Great Harbor and then on to White Bay. Spent the day doing nothing but relaxing and drinking. It's neat at Gertrude's. We ordered Painkillers and she brings out a bottle of rum and the mix and we made our own drinks. Nice lady! We pretty much spent the day at this end of the beach. The Soggy Dollar was crowded and since we had been there on another trip, we didn't go down. If anyone is thinking about spending the day at Jost, please contact Stu. He's about the same price as the ferry but you get more time at Jost. He also saved us money on customs. He's a great guy and we had wonderful day with him!
As far as mosquitoes/no-see-ums, 4 people in our group got ate alive, while myself and the other 3 never got one single bite. Go figure that one.
Oh, I almost forgot. We met Ruth from St. John Spice. I loved her store and she is a very nice lady!
We loved St. John and Villa Claudia! Can't believe it's all done and over with already.
Thanks to everyone on this board for helping make this a vacation of a lifetime!
Denise
Rented cars from St. John Car Rental. They didn't have one of the Suzuki's we had rented so we had to take another car for the day and turn it back in the next day at noon. This kinda put a damper on the morning since we like to get an early start. It was OK though, we hung out at the villa and swam. We filled the cars up the night before leaving and the only place we went was from the station to the villa. The next morning when we turned the cars in, they said we needed more gas in them. The gauges were both on full! So off to the station, again. Then they couldn't get the bill right so we ended up putting both cars on my credit card. Oh well, it turned out OK.
Got all settled in and decided to stay in and get pizza. We ordered 2 large deluxe pizza's and the delivery driver agreed to stop at the supermarket-only on St. John can you get this kind of service- and pick us up two 12 packs of beer and one 12 pack of coke. The bill came to $146.00. We thought this was a little high so the driver said he would talk to Ronnie, the owner. The next day Ronnie called and said the price was $46 more than it should have been. We told him we would use it towards another night's purchase and that's what we did later in the week. The pizza and service were great!
We visited most of the North Shore beaches including: Trunk, Caneel, Honeymoon, Hawksnest, Cinnamon, Maho, Dennis and I think Jumbie. The snorkeling was best at Dennis, Hawksnest and Honeymoon. Went to the east end-brain cramp, can't remember the name of the beach-to snorkel but since there were 8 of us, snorkel gear, coolers, towels and beach bags, some decided they didn't want to walk that far so we didn't get to snorkel.
We visited Coral Bay a couple of times. Visited Vies, but she wasn't open. Ate at Skinny Legs, great hamburgers and chili. Bought several souvenirs from Skinnys and the Jolly Dog-good selection and prices.
We explored about every inch of St. John. Next time, I want to hike some of the trails.
We did carry in several nights. The conk fritters from Woody's are the best. We found that the tarter sauce is better on the conk than the sauce they give you. The cheeseburgers, pasta salad and the shark bites were excellent! Joe's BBQ was also a favorite, wonderful food and service. We ate out at Lime Inn, Fish Trap, Island/Ocean Time or something like that at Mongoose Junction and Morgan's Mango, this (Morgan's Mango) was by far the worst food and service we have had in a long time at any restaurant anywhere. And no one from the restaurant cared!
We did a day sail/snorkeling trip with Calypso. This was a lot of fun! We had 8 in our group and there were only 6 others on the boat. We all got to know each other and had a blast together. Great memories. Snorkeled at Mary's Point?, Waterlemon and one more place.
We were going to rent dinghies but since the water was so rough, we decided not to.
Probably the best day was our trip to Jost Van Dyke with Stu from this forum. He rented a boat on St. Thomas and picked us up at the National Ferry Dock. We weren't sure what to expect in the way of the boat, but it was really nice. Had plenty of space and shade and was very fast. When we got onboard, Stu said he was ours for the day and would do anything we wanted. We didn't bring snorkel gear so we missed out on that. But really all we wanted was to spend the day on Jost. We visited Foxy's Taboo and tried without luck to find the bubbly pools. It was neat seeing this side of the island. Got through customs at Great Harbor and then on to White Bay. Spent the day doing nothing but relaxing and drinking. It's neat at Gertrude's. We ordered Painkillers and she brings out a bottle of rum and the mix and we made our own drinks. Nice lady! We pretty much spent the day at this end of the beach. The Soggy Dollar was crowded and since we had been there on another trip, we didn't go down. If anyone is thinking about spending the day at Jost, please contact Stu. He's about the same price as the ferry but you get more time at Jost. He also saved us money on customs. He's a great guy and we had wonderful day with him!
As far as mosquitoes/no-see-ums, 4 people in our group got ate alive, while myself and the other 3 never got one single bite. Go figure that one.
Oh, I almost forgot. We met Ruth from St. John Spice. I loved her store and she is a very nice lady!
We loved St. John and Villa Claudia! Can't believe it's all done and over with already.
Thanks to everyone on this board for helping make this a vacation of a lifetime!
Denise
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Xislandgirl
- Posts: 4163
- Joined: Tue Aug 08, 2006 4:03 pm
- Location: Slightly left of center
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cruiserkcs
- Posts: 106
- Joined: Mon Aug 07, 2006 4:40 pm
- Location: Louisiana
Stu
Thanks for the trip report. Could you tell me more about Stu - how do I contact him; how much did he charge; etc?
Thanks
Thanks
Denis Bay?
You snorkeled Denis Bay?Hummm I guess I will have to try that.I thought that Denis was a bit rough and wasn't all that great to snorkel.Did you see much? I myself liked the trail down to Denis Bay.It was shaded and the beach was scenic.Parafins 
HELLO FROM MICHIGAN...
The service at Gerturdes is what is affectionately known in the islands as a "pour man's bar".
See, what most tourists don't realize is that the mixers are often more expensive than the liquor. But most folks come from an environment where they are shortchanged on the booze.
So, island visitors, thinking that they are getting a bigger bang for their buck, will fill up on the liquor, leaving little room for the mixer.
So you see, it's an island time win-win for all involved!
See, what most tourists don't realize is that the mixers are often more expensive than the liquor. But most folks come from an environment where they are shortchanged on the booze.
So, island visitors, thinking that they are getting a bigger bang for their buck, will fill up on the liquor, leaving little room for the mixer.
So you see, it's an island time win-win for all involved!
*Another fine scatterbrained production
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nothintolose
- Posts: 1960
- Joined: Mon Aug 07, 2006 10:36 pm
- Location: New Orleans, LA
Stuart Scott
E-mail Address(es):
stuart@usviservices.com
This is Stu's email address. I must have deleted the message with his phone number. If I come across it, I will post.
My husband, sister and brother snorkeled Dennis. At least I think that's the name of the beach by Hawksnest.
Thanks!
Denise
E-mail Address(es):
stuart@usviservices.com
This is Stu's email address. I must have deleted the message with his phone number. If I come across it, I will post.
My husband, sister and brother snorkeled Dennis. At least I think that's the name of the beach by Hawksnest.
Thanks!
Denise
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LandLockedBeachLover
- Posts: 374
- Joined: Mon Nov 06, 2006 9:16 am
- Location: St. Louis, MO
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cypressgirl
- Posts: 2178
- Joined: Tue Dec 26, 2006 2:42 pm
- Location: houston
You're getting pretty popular.
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Bill in Va
- Posts: 442
- Joined: Thu Aug 10, 2006 3:56 pm
- Location: Lake Gaston, Va
Good info
Hi there. Great info for all. Glad you took the time to share. Hope everyone who is on the board gives us THE TASTE when they return...God bless....Bill