Any BVI island comparable to St John?

[susan & herb]

Hi everyone,
We are back from out third visit to St John and are already thinking about next year.
This year we stayed in Point Rendezvous (Le Virage)and loved it, was our second time at this villa.We are trying to decide if we should possibly stay in Coral Bay (another island as far as I am concerned) or investigate the BVI.
We are looking for an island similar in size to St John with similar casual, layed back atmosphere. We have been to St Kitts, Grenada, St Barts, Anguilla and so far St John has been our favorite.
Any suggestions? I like to snorkel, but my husband doesn't swim so snorkeling is not a big must for us. Reading lots of books, eating good food and some wine by the water and we are set.
Would appreciate any suggestions.

[snorkelqueen]

Cooper Island Beach Club comes to mind...check it out on the web. (don't have the site but you can google it). We stopped there to visit some friends - very very quiet and layed back. We liked Virgin Gorda but found it really expensive, it had very few good places to eat unless you wanted to spring for Little Dix Bay and Guavaberry Spring House was cute but hotter than hell, Oh and LOTS of jellyfish everywhere.

[CShell1019]

I happen to enjoy Virgin Gorda - even more than St. John now. It is growing but not in the busy way that STJ is with great villas and resorts in all price ranges. It still seems like it is pretty much "untouched" but does offer some of the amenities than the less inhabited islands offer.
We recently stayed in a villa, for my first "villa experience" at Mahoe Bay and that area is just lovely. I've also done many of the other islands as well as several of the resorts and "private islands" and Tortola is the only one I would not return to. Unlike snorkelqueen, I enjoy the restaurants like Rock Cafe, Chez Bamboo and there are plenty of good choices if you want to eat out every night - some higher end (Little Dix) and some very casual.
The snorkeling is okay and there are wonderful beaches such as Savannah Bay and Mahoe just to name a few.
But then, it would be hard to pick my favorite and each spot has its own positives.

No shopping to speak of; groceries are about the same price as on STJ ... maybe a tad more. YOu could check out traveltalkonline.com for the BVI forum and gets loads of information.

HOT without trades and jellyfish are probably a seasonal problem just like they are on STJ - don't know 'cause I've never had either.

[snorkelqueen]

Oh - I did forget to say that Guavaberry has their own little market and the prices are very reasonable and its all on the honor system...the owners are lovely. I think Cshell maybe right....there were very little trade winds when we were there and maybe the jellyfish were having a convention. By the way Caribbeanvilla.com now has a few houses on Virgin Gorda in their rental pool......with A/C

[Maggy]

I second Seashell1019 about Virgin Gorda.

It's a lovely island and very laidback. We have stayed at Guavaberry and liked it very much. We also enjoyed the restaurants and the uncrowded beaches.

[RickG]

I agree that VG is the closest to the STJ experience. Tortola is rather spread out and you need to a lot of driving to see things. JVD is rather smallish for a whole week, unless you really want to be reclusive. Anegada is rather undeveloped and more rural. Cooper, Peter and Necker are smaller than JVD. We like to hit a few islands in the BVIs for some variety. But, STJ is the place that feels most like home.

Cheers, RickG

[chrisn]

FYI - Guavaberry has recently added A/C to the bedrooms of some of their homes. The cost is $20 more per night but they are so reasonable already that $20 is well worth comfort in sleeping. I've yet to see a bad review of that place! We have it booked for a split VG/STJ island stay for next year. I absolutely LOVE VG and am so excited for our first island stay there. Can't wait!!!