True Confession (STT vs STJ)

pjayer · Post by **pjayer** » Thu Nov 08, 2007 9:33 am

For various reasons, my husband, 15-yr.-old daughter, and I are taking a Southern Caribbean cruise in April during spring break. (Yes, I confess. We will be the dreaded, maligned, shunned cruise shippers for one week.

)

One of our stops will be STT and we can't decided whether to explore that island or ferry over to STJ for a couple of beach stops. We love STJ, but because of time constraints, are considering visiting a beach or two on STT.

Could someone who is familiar with STT give me some suggestions, please? We aren't interested in the tourist trap places or shopping. Hope daughter doesn't read the part about shopping!

I don't know whether we can resist STJ, but we're open to suggestions. Thanks for your help.

mbw1024 · Post by **mbw1024** » Thu Nov 08, 2007 9:34 am

when in St. Thomas we toured with a guy named Godfrey and it was a great day. Mail me or PM me if you want some more info.

liamsaunt · Post by **liamsaunt** » Thu Nov 08, 2007 9:37 am

If you are looking to spend the day at the beach on St. Thomas, consider Secret Harbour. It's a cute little beach, not usually too crowded, open to the public (chairs and hammocks are for resort guests), with good snorkeling, a beach bar and a decent restuarant for lunch (Blue Moon Cafe) right off the water. There's also a dive shop on site where you can rent gear or get a kayak, etc.

Or you could do a guided taxi tour--it might be a good way to see a lot of the island.

jayseadee · Post by **jayseadee** » Thu Nov 08, 2007 9:59 am

Hi,

Not sure why you think you have time constraints - we comfortably spent the day on STJ when in port in STT. There are plenty of taxi's that will get you to Red Hook; and plenty at the ferry dock to get you wherever. We spent a few hours on Trunk (wasn't nearly as crowded as I expected), strolled around Cruz Bay and had a couple of Bushwackers at the Beach Bar. We were back in port with time to spare, so we browsed around Havensight.

However, if you decide to stay on St. Thomas, you should be the ultimate tourist and visit Magen's Bay; it is one of the prettiest beaches, with really fine, smooth sand.

have a great cruise -

parafins · Post by **parafins** » Thu Nov 08, 2007 11:47 am

Back in 1994 we stayed on Saphire Beach for one week.This beach is public,but offers some good snorkeling.And to top it off ,you can look over to see S.T.J. in the background

Parafins...

Kentuckygirl · Post by **Kentuckygirl** » Thu Nov 08, 2007 11:54 am

parafins wrote:Back in 1994 we stayed on Saphire Beach for one week.This beach is public,but offers some good snorkeling.And to top it off ,you can look over to see S.T.J. in the background Parafins...

I don't know if I could see STJ in the background and not go there.

Pianogrl · Post by **Pianogrl** » Thu Nov 08, 2007 12:39 pm

We were in STT last year on exactly your same trip (Southern Caribbean cruise). We toured with Godfrey & had an awesome time. We went to Coki beach...it was beautiful!! Crystal clear water, lots of fish, snack shop, restrooms/changing facilities, etc. It's right next to Coral World. We had a fabulous time; saw alot of the island & had great beach time at Coki.
Have an awesome trip!

BPT · Post by **BPT** » Thu Nov 08, 2007 1:59 pm

This is just MHO but there's nothing like the beaches on St John. We've looked on STT. Nice enough beaches but once you've experienced St John and some BVI beaches with clear water, easy surf and uncrowded stretches it's hard to find a comp on STT. My friends call me a beach snob! Whatever, I know what rocks my world! The only time we were on a cruise ship at STT we just hoofed it off the ship as soon as we could to get to the ferry dock, brought some new friends with us who had never experienced St John and had a great day. I say take the extra time to ferry to St John and consider it part of the adventurous day. Give us a wave, we'll be on the beach on Virgin Gorda for Spring Break! Have fun!

traveler22 · Post by **traveler22** » Thu Nov 08, 2007 4:20 pm

Be the 1st off the ship and go to St.John. Reserve a jeep ahead of time and just pick it up and spend the day there, it will be the best day of your trip.

pjayer · Post by **pjayer** » Thu Nov 08, 2007 4:28 pm

So much to do and so little time.

Guess we'll have plenty of time to decide between now and April. Thanks for all the suggestions and good advise so far.

bayer40601 · Post by **bayer40601** » Sat Nov 10, 2007 11:40 am

What pj is not saying is we will probably spend a week on STJ in July/August, plus the day before we stop in STT we are stopping in Tortola and Capt John Brandi is meeting us there to take us to some of our favorite stops around BVI and maybe, just maybe, Waterlemon on STJ. So, even though we have done the day thing from STT to STJ, and know we have plenty of time to do that, we have never been anywhere on STT other than, the airport, downtown, and Red Hook and we thought we might just spend a day touring around the island. Thanks for the info about Godfrey's. We looked at it last night and it does look interesting, plus you get away from the cruise ship shore excurision bit.

However, having said all of that I do not know if we can actually give up a day on STJ when we have the chance. So, anyone out there who has thoughts on our quandry, please feel free to post them. We read all posters.

BPT · Post by **BPT** » Sat Nov 10, 2007 12:25 pm

That does shed a different light on it.
But...I still vote for St John!!! Go over to Caneel for the day and have lunch, a few of their wonderful rum punches

, swim, roll back to the ferry. Sounds like a heavenly day to me and one that I could do(and have)many many times a year. Never seems to get old!

Pia · Post by **Pia** » Sat Nov 10, 2007 1:58 pm

Just remember, that while in port in Tortola, should you decide to visit Waterlemon during your sail you would be required to check in at the USVI Customs and Immigration and check in again back on Tortola before getting back on the ship - alot of time wasted (imho

)

Pia

jayseadee · Post by **jayseadee** » Sat Nov 10, 2007 2:13 pm

If you're cruising in April and may return to STJ in July/August, why not just spend the day on STT.

When we did our cruise, we hadn't been to STJ in 6 years and had no idea when we might return. Since we had spent several days on STT on a previous trip (and I spent many a winter break there), we opted for a day on St. John.

We visited STJ 3 years later.

Luckily, it's a decision that doesn't need to be made until you actually wake up that morning

sherri · Post by **sherri** » Sat Nov 10, 2007 5:35 pm

Give STT a chance! Since you haven't seen much of it, now is your chance! The North side of STT isn't all that different from STJ.
Popular Beaches are: Magen's, Coki, Secret Harbor and Sapphire, the latter two with less cruise ship people. Want to try something more local? Try Hull Bay, very quiet during the week. There is a beach bar that has great burgers and plenty to drink!
Regardless of what you decide to do, enjoy yourselves!

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