STJ vs STT questions

FlaGeorge · Post by **FlaGeorge** » Thu Mar 27, 2008 11:50 am

We honeymoon on STT – so STT will always have a special place in out hearts. During that trip, we got to see a lot of the island. We have also been lucky enough to be adopted by an “On Island family”, so we always spend a few days on STT before coming home.

jimg20 · Post by **jimg20** » Thu Mar 27, 2008 1:31 pm

We've made three trips so far and all of them were based in STT. One day we hired our favorite cab driver (who is no longer with us) and he took us on a tour of the entire island. It was great. We generally go to Main Street and end up taking home our limit. We've bought two cameras and a significan amount of jewlery. We have taken home our limit of bottled products every time as well.

We've snorkled Lindburg Bay, Brewer Bay, Saphire Bay, Coki, and Meagans Bay. We also took the Ecotour ( has a new name I think) near Red Hook. It was very educational and fun.

We've enjoyed the food, but some of our favorites like the Hotel 1829 are gone.

This year we are staying on STJ for the entire week. That's not to say we will not go over to CA or the BVI. But we will be "living" in Luna Vista.

JIM

Connie · Post by **Connie** » Thu Mar 27, 2008 2:56 pm

I can only be truthful here and I must say that sometimes I feel like people who go to STT are somehow look down upon from people who go to STJ. And please, I mean no disrespect because I agree that STJ is beautiful. Sometimes from reading posts, it's almost like some are obsessed with the island, and that's ok, but that's the feel I get. I've always felt like the odd person out here because I like STT so much and can't contribute alot to the forum. This forum would survive if it was ONLY a STJ forum.

It's good to hear everybodies experiences. My main reason for asking those questions is I was curious, and that's about it.

If I was going to STJ for the first time and I went from the plane to the ferry to STJ, I too would never look back at STT again. Happily, we've found STT to be "our place". We've traveled to many islands and this is the first island where we feel at home. We've met many local people and enjoy going back each year to see them. We love the beaches....Sapphire, Linqvist, Coki (ohhhhh the flavor), Magens, etc. We love driving around and getting lost only to get excited to find those starfish signs again. We love going out at night to Red Hook and just hanging out at Molly's or Duffy's. We even love "our" Villa...6 BR's, 6 BA's and all that goes with it.

Anyway, I just wanted to ask and thanks for your answers.

Ksea · Post by **Ksea** » Thu Mar 27, 2008 3:04 pm

We were first timers last June. We arrived on STT, had a couple of drinks at the airport,got our luggage, got a taxi and headed for Red Hook. We went right over to STJ to meet the villa rep as instructed and pick up our rental jeep. We took the ferry back over to STT one day during the week to eat and shop. We did not see any of the beaches, which I regret. We have not decided if we will visit STT again this year...maybe, maybe not.

USVISuzyQ · Post by **USVISuzyQ** » Thu Mar 27, 2008 3:18 pm

I've been going to St. Thomas for over 25 years (timeshare at Bluebeards Castle since 1997), many of those visits included St. John and St. Croix. They are all fun and have their own personalities. Many of these trips were a week on St. Thomas and a week on St. John or St. Croix.

Since i'm frugal, always on a budget, and sometimes travel alone, i feel more comfy on St. Thomas. Its much cheaper than St. John and everything is very accessible even if you don't rent a car. I don't go to town, the closest i get is the timeshare, and usually hang out on the East end.

Sue in AZ

Schnell · Post by **Schnell** » Thu Mar 27, 2008 3:46 pm

I completely agree with you Connie. My wife and I too like STT better that STJ. Thats not to say we don't take the jeep over to STJ for a day or two because we love it over there as well. STT just fits our style more and we feel like its a home away from home. We like having some of the comforts of home nearby as opposed to more of the small town atmosphere that STJ has.

Different strokes for different folks...thats all!

Kathyzhere · Post by **Kathyzhere** » Thu Mar 27, 2008 4:48 pm

Hi there Connie...love the avatar! I have black flip flops that have the same on the fabric part...too cute.

Anyway, All 3 times to the USVI we've stayed on STT and did 1-2 daytrips over to STJ during the visit. When we 1st stepped foot on STJ I thought I had found paradise!

So we absolutely love it there but STT has great charm of its own and will always be a special place to us as we were married on Magens Bay Beach. We really enjoy the East End and still have lots of areas to discover.

Our 1st on-island STJ stay will be a group of 10 next Feb-March for my honey's 50th celebration. Who knows after that I may do a switch and stay on STJ and day trip to STT.

To me both islands have pros/cons and I guess it all comes down to what kind of vacation you want. We ususally go to Molly's too...love hanging out at the harbor!

Enjoy...
Kathy

Teddy Salad · Post by **Teddy Salad** » Thu Mar 27, 2008 5:54 pm

We've been to STJ twice and both times have only used STT as a stepping stone. Nothing against STT, but we are not shoppers and we want a laid-back experience when we vacation.

We never hang out on Oahu on the way to and from Kauai for the same reason.

Connie · Post by **Connie** » Thu Mar 27, 2008 7:50 pm

Teddy Salad wrote:We've been to STJ twice and both times have only used STT as a stepping stone. Nothing against STT, but we are not shoppers and we want a laid-back experience when we vacation.

We never hang out on Oahu on the way to and from Kauai for the same reason.

But that's the whole thing about STT....if you want to shop...fine...but that's not what STT is about. Sure, it's available, things are cheaper, but that's only one VERY small smart (at least to me) about STT.

This is exactly what I'm talking about. Not experiencing STT in the way that we have. Staying in Charlotte Amalie and not seeing the rest of the island.

Teddy Salad · Post by **Teddy Salad** » Thu Mar 27, 2008 8:00 pm

Connie,

If we had more vacation time and a bigger travel budget, we would like to see more of STT (and Oahu, Maui, Bora Bora, I could go on . . . )

Unfortunately, we can't go to all the places we'd like to.

Connie · Post by **Connie** » Thu Mar 27, 2008 8:06 pm

Teddy....STT is only a ferry away

)

Teddy Salad · Post by **Teddy Salad** » Thu Mar 27, 2008 8:33 pm

OK, ya talked me into it!

KPlumm · Post by **KPlumm** » Thu Mar 27, 2008 8:45 pm

On our second trip to STJ we couldn't match the flight arrival to our villa rental by one day, so we stayed overnight at Emerald Beach. Quite enjoyed it and our dinner in Frenchtowm, although I can't remember where we ate.
On another trip we decided to arrive a day early and stayed at Hotel 1829. That was interesting and their little bar made the BEST rum punches! We ate at Havanna Blue and really liked that.
Last year we spent our first night at Secret Harbor and enjoyed all it had to offer. We drove around the island and REALLY liked the northwest side. Very green, private and quiet. We would love to stay at a villa up there sometime. We checked out Mountaintop and the view from Skyline Drive was fantastic.
This May we will stay overnight again at Secret Harbor and will check out the food and view from Mafolie.
We have shopped for groceries and provisions and had lunch at Moly Malones and Delly Deck. We love STJ but it is fun exploring STT. We may well end up staying on STT some future vacation.

Robbo · Post by **Robbo** » Thu Mar 27, 2008 11:24 pm

we've only been to stj once, so i only have 1 story to tell...but we did just what you said...took the cab to st. john and never looked back. well, no..we did go to stt. we had to pick up our wedding license, and while we were there, we did a little shopping. no exploring, though...just spending.

Greenskeeper · Post by **Greenskeeper** » Fri Mar 28, 2008 6:52 am

I can't answer all the OP's questions but I can give the perspective of a newbie. We haven't been to either place but we're going to SJ in February. I do understand what the OP is saying. I come from a big sailing family. Two of my stepsisters lived on board their sailboats around the VI's for a number of years and my step dad was into racing and spent a good deal of time there as well. All of them rave about VG, Tortolla and SJ. I think it's the laid back, natural beauty and "come as you are" mentality. To them, ST was where the "cruise ship passengers go and shop".

I guess we got a bit of that mentality as we didn't even consider ST for our vacation. We've done the chi chi resorts, AI's and cruise things and it's not us. We want to escape civilization, stampedes at buffet lines, demanding, impatient tourists, large animated characters, shopaholics, and spandex clad people who are testing the limits of the fabric

. St. John seemed to be the place where we could do that.

That being said, flight costs may force us to add a day or two on each end of our trip so we may stay in ST now and explore the island more than we anticipated.

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