usvi-on-line
Fish Bay ??
-
PaminMaine
- Posts: 398
- Joined: Wed Feb 16, 2011 8:19 pm
- Location: Maine
Fish Bay ??
I have not been to this particular part of the island yet.. spent too much time of the lovely north shore side. I cant seem to find too much information online either. Can anyone help me, what is the area like. ALl the villas seem to be in a lush tropical forest type setting.
Relatively speaking, if Cruz Bay is considered downtown, then Fish Bay is basically the suburbs. It's the last neighborhood before you run into National Park Land on the South Shore.
We just got back from a stay at a villa in that area (actually on the Reef Bay side) and as far as I could tell, it wasn't much different than any other South Shore STJ neighborhood...it's just further away from Cruz Bay. Roads are decent, hills are steep, vegetation is lush and it features an assortment of old and new villas (probably more newer ones) similar to what you'd find elsewhere on island. On the right side of Fish Bay is the posh, gated community of Ditlef. (Make sure you say that with your pinky extended).
That said, unless you're staying in a villa there, I don't know that there's much reason to venture out that way unless you just like driving around. The bays are pretty, but they're not very accessible by land and there aren't a lot of places to stop and take in the sights like on the North Shore. Almost all the land surrounding the bays is private too.
If you find a villa in the area that suits you, I wouldn't hesitate to book it. The drive to Cruz and the North Shore beaches isn't bad and you can use Gift Hill road as a shortcut over to Coral Bay.
We just got back from a stay at a villa in that area (actually on the Reef Bay side) and as far as I could tell, it wasn't much different than any other South Shore STJ neighborhood...it's just further away from Cruz Bay. Roads are decent, hills are steep, vegetation is lush and it features an assortment of old and new villas (probably more newer ones) similar to what you'd find elsewhere on island. On the right side of Fish Bay is the posh, gated community of Ditlef. (Make sure you say that with your pinky extended).
That said, unless you're staying in a villa there, I don't know that there's much reason to venture out that way unless you just like driving around. The bays are pretty, but they're not very accessible by land and there aren't a lot of places to stop and take in the sights like on the North Shore. Almost all the land surrounding the bays is private too.
If you find a villa in the area that suits you, I wouldn't hesitate to book it. The drive to Cruz and the North Shore beaches isn't bad and you can use Gift Hill road as a shortcut over to Coral Bay.
It’s not about yesterday or tomorrow...It’s about today, for come what may – Sun, rain, or hurricane – we've only time for a smile, and none for sorrow
I would agree with everything that 54b said. And on that note, we found a lovely villa in Fish Bay and will be spending our 3rd year there next February. We love it in Fish Bay. It's very quiet. It's nothing to drive to Cruz Bay from there. Takes a little longer to get to Coral Bay, but that's okay too.
Tami
***************************
[/url]
***************************
[/url]-
jess116000
- Posts: 74
- Joined: Wed Jul 07, 2010 12:01 am
- Location: ringgold, GA
-
jess116000
- Posts: 74
- Joined: Wed Jul 07, 2010 12:01 am
- Location: ringgold, GA
-
GotToGetAway
- Posts: 396
- Joined: Tue Mar 08, 2011 10:55 pm
- Location: FL
I'll offer a different take on Fish Bay.
We stayed on Caribe Rd a year ago. The drive to get to North Shore beaches got old, but that's probably mostly because of my two kids in the back saying "Are we there yet?"
I'll also say that there are different areas to Fish Bay. We stayed on the west side of the bay, we had a nice view with a few switchbacks to get to the villa. The Skytop area offers great views, but the roads are quite scary to me (I'm from a very flat island). I wouldn't want to make that drive everyday or multiple times a day. You can drive further east around the bay and get to the area 54b stayed where it borders Reef Bay. I've heard that the water in Fish Bay is a shark nursery and that though it looks blue from up high is actually quite brown and shallow far out into the bay.
Don't want to sound like a downer, just want to offer you another opinion. Obviously, people live there and vacation there and love it. It has it's pros and cons as every area does, and comes down to a matter of opinion. We stayed in the Hart Bay area after our trip to Fish Bay and preferred the Hart Bay/Chocolate Hole area.
We stayed on Caribe Rd a year ago. The drive to get to North Shore beaches got old, but that's probably mostly because of my two kids in the back saying "Are we there yet?"
I'll also say that there are different areas to Fish Bay. We stayed on the west side of the bay, we had a nice view with a few switchbacks to get to the villa. The Skytop area offers great views, but the roads are quite scary to me (I'm from a very flat island). I wouldn't want to make that drive everyday or multiple times a day. You can drive further east around the bay and get to the area 54b stayed where it borders Reef Bay. I've heard that the water in Fish Bay is a shark nursery and that though it looks blue from up high is actually quite brown and shallow far out into the bay.
Don't want to sound like a downer, just want to offer you another opinion. Obviously, people live there and vacation there and love it. It has it's pros and cons as every area does, and comes down to a matter of opinion. We stayed in the Hart Bay area after our trip to Fish Bay and preferred the Hart Bay/Chocolate Hole area.
Tickerless 
We stayed in Fish Bay a couple of years ago and had a great time (Daffodil Villa, nice two bedroom villa with excellent views). Depending on the location of your villa, you'll likely have big water views with St. Croix off in the distance. We enjoyed watching the cruise ships as they left St. Thomas around sunset, and during the day there were usually some sailboats out there as well. Because it's the "end of the road", there's less road noise. It added maybe five minutes to our trips to the North Shore beaches, but seemed equidistant to Coral Bay. I didn't mind the extra drive time, as there are some nice views of Rendezvous Bay along the way (I enjoy driving in paradise though).
I wouldn't hesitate to stay in Fish Bay again, and I'm sure we will at some point (East End is next though, this November, can't wait). Good luck!
I wouldn't hesitate to stay in Fish Bay again, and I'm sure we will at some point (East End is next though, this November, can't wait). Good luck!
-
PaminMaine
- Posts: 398
- Joined: Wed Feb 16, 2011 8:19 pm
- Location: Maine
Thanks for all the input. The gated community makes sense now because one of the owners stated it was in an active community that enforces rules and regulations.. what does that mean?? I guess she must have meant Ditlef ?( pinky raised ) 
54b.
I dont mind the switch back roads. Quite used to scarey driving with snow in the winter here etc. I live in rural area so we have to drive to go ANYWHERE! LOL
A few I have been considering are-
Coqui Cottage.. ( hubby read that deer roam the property..loved that )
Pine Cone Drive
Sol Cottage
54b. I dont mind the switch back roads. Quite used to scarey driving with snow in the winter here etc. I live in rural area so we have to drive to go ANYWHERE! LOL
A few I have been considering are-
Coqui Cottage.. ( hubby read that deer roam the property..loved that )
Pine Cone Drive
Sol Cottage
We rented Balance Villa in Fish Bay 4 years ago and it was very nice! Great mid-bay water views. We also liked that we could go for a walk along the road because there was little traffic. We did walk down to the bay but didn't go in. We saw quite a few deer in people's yards but it wasn't super exciting for us as we can see them in our own yard at home almost every day!
-
EagleRayLover
- Posts: 1474
- Joined: Sat Feb 12, 2011 8:56 pm
- Location: St. John -WooHoo!!
We stayed in Fish Beach villa a few trips back. We saw deer nearly every trip in or out of Fish Bay area. The longest drive was to Lameshure which ended up being 50 minutes. We didn't mind it as we had our MP3 players hooked into the car stereo, our thought is anywhere on island is good, and we like to try new places.
Leslie, Kids Night In Babysitting
-
ColumbiaSCTraveler
- Posts: 528
- Joined: Mon Apr 18, 2011 9:33 pm
- Location: Columbia, SC
There are so many nice villas that we normally go for convenience to town and the North shore beaches. Fish Bay is beautiful, we've made friends with a family that lives there, but we prefer Chocolate Hole, Virgin Grand Estates, Hart Bay areas the best. No matter where we rent it is always peaceful - especially at night. I think you'll be find no matter where you end up because you are on St. John.