usvi-on-line
STJ Trip Report Feb.4th - 11th
STJ Trip Report Feb.4th - 11th
I really don’t have anything amusing or entertaining to report for this trip, more like travel notes. About us; we are a couple in our late thirties, no kids, own our own small business (trucking/hauling heavy equipment) no employees, and we live about 1 hour north of Manhattan. For multiple reasons we had to reduce our normal 2 week stay to just 1week.
So we tried to make the most of our time just relaxing. For the most part that was done at the villa La Sirena. This was our 3rd time staying there. We love the quiet, seclusion, closeness to Kiddel Bay and the villa itself. As new villas arrive on the rental market we decide to check them out as new places to stay but we haven’t found another that appeals to us the way La Sirena does.
Anyway we flew from JFK @ 7 am non-stop to STT and arrived 30 minutes early at 11:30. We fly AA. Whenever I have enough miles for free tickets they never allow me to book the non-stop flight I want so I watch and hunt for the cheapest fare I can find, (this year it was $280pp r/t) and use my miles to upgrade to business class.
We used the Christopher/ Dohm’s land and water taxi combo. This is our major “splurge” of our trip. Why do we spend the extra money on this service? The best analogy I came up with is; it’s like taking a limo to MSG instead of the subway.
Dohm’s dropped us off at the Nat. Park dock where we were met by Kurt from L&L Jeep Rental. Our 4th time using L&L, we like that they meet you to p/u and drop off vehicle. Parking is not an issue for us; we use Slim-mans when in Cruz Bay. I found using Christopher’s and Dohm’s got us where we wanted to be quicker. Even with stopping to shop at St. John Spice and Starfish we were out at the villa by 2:30.
Both services are great especially if you have lots of luggage which brings us to our next topic…packing.
Husband and I are both scuba divers and have most of our own gear and we like to use it so bags must be checked. I figure if I’m checking luggage I might as well make the most of it. Checked items; 1 bag of dive gear (that’s a challenge when your max. allowable weight is 50 lbs.) 1 soft-sided cooler strategically layered with Techni-Ice that included some Boars Head beacon and filet mignon and lobster tail combo’s. The filets and lobster tails were a gift we had received from friends. They came from Kansas City Steak Co. We are very impressed with the quality of food from them and since they ship to us frozen they’re easy to pack. The other 2 bags we checked were a combo of clothing, toiletries, dry goods like rice, popcorn, peanut butter etc. Items for rainy days; a few books, colored pencils (I even remembered to pack the pencil sharpener), watercolor pencils and of course the drawing pad. I’m glad I did pack those items because the weather wasn’t all that nice for 2-3 days, overcast with showers and very windy.
I-pod, Sirius, laptop and all photo gear fit nicely into carry-on.
We did not eat out at all. All meals were either cooked at the villa or it was a packed lunch on the beach. We did have drinks and a coconut shrimp appetizer at The Balcony.
We had rented air tanks from Low-Key and the day we returned them it happened to be around sunset so we went up to the Balcony to view the sunset. The shrimp were delicious as well as the bed of arugula they were served on. I didn’t ask but I’d bet the arugula came from Josephine and her Coral Bay Garden. We stopped by and got bags of her mixed greens, they’re a great addition to any meal.
Any and all snorkeling and scuba diving was done right from the shores of Kiddel Bay.
La Sirena is about ¼ mile up the hill from the bay so it’s very convenient. Because of the rains and wind the visibility underwater was not as good as in the years past but I did manage to get a few snaps of a turtle we were swimming with.
I got a new Sea-life underwater camera this year and was very pleased with it both above and below the water. I’ve posted an album at community webshots, here’s the link http://travel.webshots.com/album/562553940dhcJQz
So that’s my report, hopefully the photos I’ve included show up,… if not check out the link above. I didn’t write about the villa because I did a review the first time we stayed there but if anyone has any questions I’d be happy to answer them.
jofus
So we tried to make the most of our time just relaxing. For the most part that was done at the villa La Sirena. This was our 3rd time staying there. We love the quiet, seclusion, closeness to Kiddel Bay and the villa itself. As new villas arrive on the rental market we decide to check them out as new places to stay but we haven’t found another that appeals to us the way La Sirena does.
Anyway we flew from JFK @ 7 am non-stop to STT and arrived 30 minutes early at 11:30. We fly AA. Whenever I have enough miles for free tickets they never allow me to book the non-stop flight I want so I watch and hunt for the cheapest fare I can find, (this year it was $280pp r/t) and use my miles to upgrade to business class.
We used the Christopher/ Dohm’s land and water taxi combo. This is our major “splurge” of our trip. Why do we spend the extra money on this service? The best analogy I came up with is; it’s like taking a limo to MSG instead of the subway.
Dohm’s dropped us off at the Nat. Park dock where we were met by Kurt from L&L Jeep Rental. Our 4th time using L&L, we like that they meet you to p/u and drop off vehicle. Parking is not an issue for us; we use Slim-mans when in Cruz Bay. I found using Christopher’s and Dohm’s got us where we wanted to be quicker. Even with stopping to shop at St. John Spice and Starfish we were out at the villa by 2:30.
Both services are great especially if you have lots of luggage which brings us to our next topic…packing.
Husband and I are both scuba divers and have most of our own gear and we like to use it so bags must be checked. I figure if I’m checking luggage I might as well make the most of it. Checked items; 1 bag of dive gear (that’s a challenge when your max. allowable weight is 50 lbs.) 1 soft-sided cooler strategically layered with Techni-Ice that included some Boars Head beacon and filet mignon and lobster tail combo’s. The filets and lobster tails were a gift we had received from friends. They came from Kansas City Steak Co. We are very impressed with the quality of food from them and since they ship to us frozen they’re easy to pack. The other 2 bags we checked were a combo of clothing, toiletries, dry goods like rice, popcorn, peanut butter etc. Items for rainy days; a few books, colored pencils (I even remembered to pack the pencil sharpener), watercolor pencils and of course the drawing pad. I’m glad I did pack those items because the weather wasn’t all that nice for 2-3 days, overcast with showers and very windy.
I-pod, Sirius, laptop and all photo gear fit nicely into carry-on.
We did not eat out at all. All meals were either cooked at the villa or it was a packed lunch on the beach. We did have drinks and a coconut shrimp appetizer at The Balcony.
We had rented air tanks from Low-Key and the day we returned them it happened to be around sunset so we went up to the Balcony to view the sunset. The shrimp were delicious as well as the bed of arugula they were served on. I didn’t ask but I’d bet the arugula came from Josephine and her Coral Bay Garden. We stopped by and got bags of her mixed greens, they’re a great addition to any meal.
Any and all snorkeling and scuba diving was done right from the shores of Kiddel Bay.
La Sirena is about ¼ mile up the hill from the bay so it’s very convenient. Because of the rains and wind the visibility underwater was not as good as in the years past but I did manage to get a few snaps of a turtle we were swimming with.
I got a new Sea-life underwater camera this year and was very pleased with it both above and below the water. I’ve posted an album at community webshots, here’s the link http://travel.webshots.com/album/562553940dhcJQz
So that’s my report, hopefully the photos I’ve included show up,… if not check out the link above. I didn’t write about the villa because I did a review the first time we stayed there but if anyone has any questions I’d be happy to answer them.
jofus
Re: STJ Trip Report Feb.4th - 11th
this really made me laugh! Live like a rock star. Nothing wrong with that!jofus wrote:
We used the Christopher/ Dohm’s land and water taxi combo. This is our major “splurge” of our trip. Why do we spend the extra money on this service? The best analogy I came up with is; it’s like taking a limo to MSG instead of the subway.
Great report, thanks for sharing!
Thanks for the trip report. Kiddle bay is very nice and peaceful. Glad you had a wonderful stay.
We ended up doing the chckout dives no 3 and 4 in Kiddel Bay with Colette at 6paq, when her boat broke down in April last year. I was quite surpriced about the dives as they were nice with several turtles and lots of fish. Also very interesting underwater topography, with ledges, owerhangs and small caves.
We ended up doing the chckout dives no 3 and 4 in Kiddel Bay with Colette at 6paq, when her boat broke down in April last year. I was quite surpriced about the dives as they were nice with several turtles and lots of fish. Also very interesting underwater topography, with ledges, owerhangs and small caves.
-
Rachelle & Joe
- Posts: 677
- Joined: Sat Nov 18, 2006 4:23 pm
- Location: ohio
trip report
Thanks for the report! sounds like u had a great, relaxing visit to the island, have checked sirena out before on the web & it looks like a great villa! couldn't get your pic's up?? will retry! Thanks 
-
chicagoans
- Posts: 1586
- Joined: Thu Jan 18, 2007 2:51 pm
- Location: IL
lprof wrote:Your report evokes wonderful memories of our stay at La Sirena's close neighbor, Lille Paradis.
Lille Paradis was tops on my list before our group grew from just my family to 3 families. I still want to stay there sometime and I'm so glad to hear from someone who has been there, because I couldn't find any reviews. La Sirena looks wonderful too. If you had a family in La Sirena and one in Lille Paradis, are they close enough to walk back and forth?Maryanne wrote:Our friend built Sirena and Lil Paradis---the love she put into both those houses shows with all the beautiful touches. Nice you enjoyed it so much.
Glad you had a great trip! Love the pics!
wishwewerethere,
the Kiddel Bay area is on the left just past the entrance to Salt Pond. It's a loop around road that has another road that tees off to Kiddel and Grootpan Bays. The roads are ROUGH! Especialy the hill down to Kiddel it's REAL 4wheelin' lots of jagged rocks wanting to rip oil pans off of jeeps.
Both are cobbelstone beaches, I've only been to Grootpan once and just to walk around, didn't enter the water. We love Kiddel, has real nice diving/snorkeling on the west side of the bay. It's empty most of the time due to the difficult access.
There's only about 5-7 houses on the road, it's super quiet and secluded.
chicagoans,
LS and LP share the same driveway. It would be ideal to share. Realize that LP is only 1Bedroom, there's also a loft and a futon so 3 beds, 1 bedroom.
cptnkirk,
windspree.com rents both La Sirena and Lil' Paradis
jofus
the Kiddel Bay area is on the left just past the entrance to Salt Pond. It's a loop around road that has another road that tees off to Kiddel and Grootpan Bays. The roads are ROUGH! Especialy the hill down to Kiddel it's REAL 4wheelin' lots of jagged rocks wanting to rip oil pans off of jeeps.
Both are cobbelstone beaches, I've only been to Grootpan once and just to walk around, didn't enter the water. We love Kiddel, has real nice diving/snorkeling on the west side of the bay. It's empty most of the time due to the difficult access.
There's only about 5-7 houses on the road, it's super quiet and secluded.
chicagoans,
LS and LP share the same driveway. It would be ideal to share. Realize that LP is only 1Bedroom, there's also a loft and a futon so 3 beds, 1 bedroom.
cptnkirk,
windspree.com rents both La Sirena and Lil' Paradis
jofus
