USVI-On-Line

Hmmm...the great forum divide...Cruz Vs Coral. Matter of personal preference.

Agree with a lot of the answers...favor the Cruz Bay side myself and will even admit to enjoying numerous stays at the Westin Resort and Villas! Yes, I like the views better too. Sunset over St Thomas is just about the most beautiful sight I can think of.

While I like looking down on Coral Bay from the top of Centerline I've found the greeting when your driving into "town" of the huge mostly overflowing dumpsters a complete "buzz-kill". I'll agree with previous posters that in the past few years that Skinnys is no longer on our itinerary either. DH is in the food service business and no place that serves food should have such disgusting bathrooms. No excuse for it. None. Can't even make one up.

Cruz Bay's Harbours have very few liveaboards on moorings. Coral Bay's Harbour has a number of liveaboards that literally can't move as they are broke down and just sit in the bay.

I love Shipwreck Landing and wish it were closer to Cruz Bay, but the location on the Coral Bay side where it sits can't be prettier. Worth the drive every time, doesn't disappoint!

Those are urinal cakes? --- they told us they were giant size breath mints.

Hey Berlingirl - I don't think unsightly dumpsters should be a reason not to enjoy Coral Bay!! Ever seen the rows of dumpsters out past the Westin/Fish bay area??? Unfortunately dumpsters are a fact of life on island. AND last I knew, they don't cook in the bathrooms at Skinny's!! And why would "liveaboards" bother you - just curious??!!

Sorry to offend lazylane. It is all a personal preference.

Dumpsters are the first things I (not everybody) see when you round the Coral Bay corner. Sure...there are Plenty of dumpsters on the Cruz Bay side also, however not blocking the great bay view. (In my opinion only) We have friends who live down in Coral Bay on a boat half the year. Liveaboards don't bother me. We know many yachties, however the ones we know don't use Coral Bay as a toilet. A number of others do. However I understand that there is a very vocal local Coral Bay contingent trying to clean that up. Nuff said.

Nobody on this board has said the kitchen at Skinnys was in the bathroon.

Again, sorry to offend you lazylane.

Boy,this could get good!!!

I think we are going to stay on the Coral Bay side in Fun and Contentment. I'm learning a lot from everyone on the forum...with one of those things being that we will more then likely return many times. So next time we'll stay on the Cruz Bay side. I'm sure no matter where we stay we will not regret it.

Plus I've already told my fiance if we love it we are dragging all our friends here in 2011 and staying in one big villa.

Jbell welcome to the board Jeez guys he asked a simple ?. It's not a contest which is better I think it's more of a question of how high ya get Jbell to catch those breezes, we have been on bothsides and both are fine. Just get a jeep and get out and explore it's a blast. We must have hit Skinnys restooms on good days cause I had no problem with them but then I'm not all that hard to please. Anyhoots don't let the restroom situation scare ya away of a great burger for a reasonable price.

Thanks Captn Kirk! Just so you know I'm a she!

Jbell, it is all in what you expect in a vacation. What are your likes?

I have never stayed on the Coral Bay side of the islands so I could not judge which is better. I can say that Shipwreck Landing and Skinny Legs both have great food and that little island feeling atmosphere. From what I have seen in my visits over there, it is very laid back and more like a neighborhood.

Cruz Bay fits our mojo. We stay in Cruz Bay because it fits our wants when we go away. We like that early morning walk to JJ’s for breakfast. Our Favorite beaches are just a quick jeep ride away. We come back from the beaches park our jeep and walk down for happy hour. We usually start at Woody’s then over to The Beach Bar for the sunset. See, we prefer the sunset over the sunrise. For us, it is also the option of the many eating establishments that are in walking distance with no worries about parking. We are also the type of people that like to ham it up at night and it could get very late at times (Shut up Capt : ‘ ) ). It just eases me knowing that I am not driving around on the roads after a few good happy hours and I get my wife home safe and sound.

The island is like a mullet. All business in the front, all party in the back. Joking.

Cruz Bay or Coral Bay? The only thing that matters is what atmosphere fits your needs for a great vacation on ONE island that is simply heaven.

Thanks Boston Mike
That was really really helpful...but now I'm not sure what to do. Where does everyone stay when they go? Earlier I was thinking about Morgan Point or Fun and Contentment...opposite sides, my dilemma. We are going to St. John to get married and want a nice villa thats private...but we love our happy hour as well and would love to get to know the people on St. John. So I guess I need to continue my villa research!

jbell157 wrote:Thanks Boston Mike
That was really really helpful...but now I'm not sure what to do. Where does everyone stay when they go? Earlier I was thinking about Morgan Point or Fun and Contentment...opposite sides, my dilemma. We are going to St. John to get married and want a nice villa thats private...but we love our happy hour as well and would love to get to know the people on St. John. So I guess I need to continue my villa research!

jbell,
First congrats on your upcoming wedding. What a beautiful place to get married...
You can see both sides of the island and Boston Mike makes some really good points with happy hour and the vibe if that is what you are looking for.
Coral Bay closes down earlier. I consider it the sleepier side of the island
When I lived on island, I thought of Coral Bay as a really nice community and I did not even notice any smells. But heck when you are just praying for rain to fill your cistern, little things do not faze you.....
Saying that, people here will give you many great suggestions to get a villa.
I love the Schnell Villa's (artistic villas.com)
Debbie is my friend and they also rent jeeps. They are on the Cruz Bay side.
Whatever you decide, I would imagine you will see a good amount of the island and what you do not see, it will be there when you return for your next visit to our little paradise..
Be well and congrats
Rosi

We have stayed on both sides and love both, for different reasons. Its always a long discussion for us to decide which side we want to stay on since there are things we enjoy on both sides.

When we stay on Gifft Hill (closer to Cruz Bay and Centerline Rd), we enjoy:
- sunsets from deck of villa
- close to several good restaurants; some with nice views out to water
- being able to pop into town in a few minutes to pick up what we want at well-stocked grocery stores
- being able to get to Sogos restaurant in town to get wonderful West Indian food carry out and take it back to villa to eat on the deck
- short drive to do our one day of shopping in town, especially enjoy wandering through Mongoose Junction
- not too long of a drive to North Shore beaches
- nice views over to St Thomas with twinkling lights at night

When we stay on Coral Bay side, we enjoy:
- fabulous views over East End and BVIs
- Shipwreck restaurant (our favorite on St John)
- Miss Lucy's restaurant
- Sweet Plantains restaurant
- dinner at Concordia Cafe (nice view over Salt Pond)
- being part of a more quiet and laid back place; reminds me of other small islands we have visited
- seeing lots of donkeys
- the grocery shopping is more limited; but its easy to make do if you're not picky
- close to Little Lameshur (one of our favorite beaches)
- easy drive to North Shore beaches (depending upon where you stay in Coral Bay)
- day sail trip on Long Distance out of Coral Bay
- its not that far to Cruz Bay to get to all the things we enjoy there; we just limit the number of trips into town so we have less driving
- (I don't get up early enough to see sunrise so I can't tell you about that )

As others have said, it really depends upon what's important to you. You will probably love St John, no matter where you stay!

In addition to all the good feedback you already received, I will throw in my two cents.

In selecting a location, I would give a lot of thought to access and drive time between where you are staying and where you think you will be spending most of your time.

Some places are really out in the "sticks" with long drives (long in time, not necessarily distance) to reach the main roads.

If you are craving total privacy, that might be a positive. If you are looking to get out and about frequently, a secluded place is going to eat up a lot of beach time.

During one trip, I figured out we were spending 2+ hours a day in the Jeep because of where we stayed was removed from where we wanted to be during the day and at night.

that's exactly why we started staying in coral bay. we found ourselves always driving to haulover bay, miss lucy's, miss vie's, hansen bay, skinny's (for football), etc.

one year, got off the ferry, drove over to coral bay and did not come back through cruz bay until the day we left. the closest we got to cruz bay was probably jumbie beach.

we love coral bay for the quiet, the really private properties we've rented, the lack of hub-bub, donkey diner , amazing views of the bvi's, not having to worry about finding a parking spot... .

we are not bar hoppers, we don't do a lot of shopping, we don't need internet access and a post office and a bank. we try to shed all needs of daily life as much as possible when on st john.

our intinerary is-

wake up
breakfast on the deck, donkey diner or big belly deli.
beach
read
snorkel
lunch & cocktails at skinny's, aqua bistro, shipwreck, miss vies or miss lucy's.
back to cottage
read
nap
dinner & cocktails on the deck or at miss lucy's, aqua bistro, skinny's or pizza from donkey diner.
back to cottage
watch/listen to the night
read
sleep

repeat for 5 days.