Newbie Stories

[Jo Ann - VA]

I don't know if this has been discussed before but I thought it might be fun.

Do you have a STJ newbie story you'd like to share? It can be about yourself as a newbie or newbies that you took with you....

[samholtz]

Our first trip to St. John was 4 years ago, since then we have gone every year, however our first year we were snorkeling between Francis bay into little maho there is a small reef between the two. my sister in law was having trouble with her mask so i was floating in the water waiting for her watching all the fish. my husband was a few feet ahead of me and my brother to the side of me all of a sudden i hear my husband begin to make sounds, i look over at him and he goes shark...thinking he's joking i look a little closer, omg...big shark, about 5 feet long pretty wide, it swims under my husband heading right towards me and my brother. my husband who begins to call my brothers name says "LOOK DOWN" at this time the shark was almost face to face with him he begins to squirm in the water and is making this funny noise haha...my sister in law and i were in no time flat on the rocks shaking....we start to take the rocks back over to the beach cause no way were we getting back into that water with such a large creature, on our way back we come across a fisherman who asked us in a joking way "what's wrong girls, did you see a shark?" were like "YEAH"...he giggles and says that's NORM....he's normally there. he won't hurt you he's a nurse shark!

[liamsaunt]

On our first trip to St. John we arrived knowing absolutely nothing about the island other than that it was supposed to have good snorkeling. We did a lot of stuff that makes me laugh now. Here's two quick ones:

Our villa greeter told us that Maho Bay was a really great beach, so we followed the signs to Maho, walked down about 100 steps, got to the beach, and said: Huh. This doesn't look so great! So we left. Yes, we went to Maho campground! We never did find the "real" Maho Bay that trip.

We heard from someone that Drunk Bay was really cool, so we followed the signs (again with following the signs!), and walked over. And walked, and walked, and walked. When we finally got there, we were surprised to find that the rock sculptures we heard about were not in existence, and there really wasn't much surf after all. You guessed it, we walked to Blue Cobblestone! We didn't figure out our mistake until we were planning for the next trip.

The whole trip was kind of like that. We had a complete blast, but did a lot more research before we came down again.

[aroobagirl]

Took my sister newbie with me last November. Warned her the mosquitos could be bad since it had rained a lot in October, she laughed at me and didn't bring any repellant. What I didn't know is that she turned out to be allergic to sand fleas. She was a mess, but refused to go to the clinic. I don't think she'll retun anytime soon!

[PA Girl]

Our first trip was our honeymoon and a few things stick out in my mind.

Caneel dropped us off at the CA waterfront and we had time to kill before the next ferry.

We went for lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe, why I don't know. Even back then, it wasn't the type of place we would have normally visited.

I am drunk-magnet. The worst, most annoying drunk in the bar? He/she always makes a bee line for me.

No sooner did we sit down than some guy starts in on my. He had the dual feature of being a drunk and a junkie. It was really bad. My husband remembers the guy trying to grab ahold of me.

The staff and people who were either private security or the police ended up carrying him from the bar kicking and screaming.

The manageer comped our entire bill and was so worried it was going to taint our opinion of the VIs.

This was back when the violent crime was really bad in CA. When we were ready to leave, a security guard escorted us out of the complex and down the street quite a distance.

I don't remember being scared or upset but thinking "gee, these people are really nice."

We rented a jeep from Penn's. I called down to reserve a jeep and they didn't want a credit card or a deposit. We were worried we would get down there and not have a vehicle. Of course, all was fine but I couldn't get over how laid back they were.

I am sure we didn't do much research before the trip, it was prior to the internet becoming popular. All our information, which wasn't much, came from two family friends. We met wonderful people on the Caneel ferry who were full of great suggestions.

The one family had three generations and the grandmother had visited every year since the resort openned. She was a wealth of information and each time we ran into her that week, she gave us tips about where to go and what to do.

A friend's sotry - Fast foward 13 years and a close friend of the family decides to plan his honeymoon on STJ.

He based his decision completely on hearing us talk about it. His mistake was in not telling us. I could have saved him from himself. His bride was NOT a STJ type of gal.

It went terribly wrong from the start. Their luggage was lost and instead of filing a claim and leaving on the Westin ferry, they stayed at the airport all day and so late into the evening, they missed the last ferry to STJ.

Their trip was in August during one of the tropic storms. When they arrived, he openned up all the sliding screens and they were overrun by skeeters.

I believe they left the Westin's grounds twice, once to go to town for dinner and the other time they rented a jeep, drove about halfway to Coral Bay and turned around and returned it.

They ended up leaving early, 10 days into the planned 12 days. She described STJ as "scuzzy". They are now divorced.

[mbw1024]

HA
oh that's a good one PA Girl!

[California Girl]

They ended up leaving early, 10 days into the planned 12 days. She described STJ as "scuzzy". They are now divorced.

This story takes the cake! She was dfinitely NOT a STJ kind of girl and apparently not your friend's kind of girl, either!

[PA Girl]

Yeah, I knew there was going to be trouble when at her wedding shower, she said she was planning on taking the dress she was wearing. I knew no good could come from that. While lovely, it was very fancy and I thought to myself "oh boy, she is expecting to go out every night dressed to the nines."

I tried to warn her but she couldn't comprehend that STJ is so causal.

The thing is, she is very well travelled but to resorty places. She was expecting something like the a 5 star Hawaiian resort.

[tothectothec]

On my 1st trip to visit my sister ,who was living on a boat at the time,they picked me up at the airport and we took the ferry back to St John then we took the dingy out to the boat. as soon as I got on the boat I went below to put on my bathing suit, open my suitcase and to my surprise none of the clothes were mine. I had taken someone else's suitcase!! After phoning the airport, mine was still there and a woman who was staying on St Thomas had reported hers missing. the airline sent mine over on the ferry and I sent hers back on the ferry and paid for a cab to take it to her. I always check my luggage very carefully now.

[Wakey]

Upon arrival while walking through Cruz Bay I was amazed how many people welcomed me to the island.

I asked my friend how everyone knows I'm visiting. She says "you have a rolling suitcase, you're wearing a collar and blue jeans, and it's a small island!"

I'm not necessarily known for saying stupid shit but that was pretty funny

[chicagoans]

My stupid newbie trick happened before I ever got to STJ. When looking for villas for our 1st trip I was obsessively Googling every villa name I came across. (OK I still do that sometimes.)

I saw a post with the title Villa Gravity. hmmmm... never heard of that one. Where is it? How many bedrooms? Does it have a pool? Couldn't find Villa Gravity using Google, so I started checking the villa management web sites. No Villa Gravity.

I finally read the content of the post, and realized that villa gravity is a state of mind, not an actual villa.

[brenda]

Ok, I really hate to admit this . We were "afraid" to drive there the first two trips. It really wasn't bad because we stayed at Gallow's Point and taxied to the north shore beaches. We really didn't know what we were missing and I had not even discovered this forum at this point. Our previous island experience was 2 trips each to St Lucia and Jamaica. The driving is a trip on both of those islands. St Lucia because it is mountainous and Jamaica because we really didn't want to venture off on our own. So, we were a little intimidated at first. Now we would not even think of not having a vehicle.

[Sun4MySoul]

Just took a handful on newbies on my recent trip:

One asked when someone was coming to change the sheets in the villa.

One asked why there weren't outdoor garbage cans at the villa for trash pick up, instead of going to the dumpster ourselves.

And one FED THE DAMN CHICKENS ON OUR VILLA DECK! Yes, Ruth, its true...I wanted to kill her.

[rebelbeachgirl]

Last year I took my hubby to St. John for his first visit. No major incidents...other than the usual screaming "Left, get on the left!!!!" hundreds of times. LOL But the main Newbie memory I have of him will NEVER be forgotten. (I am a bit of a weeper...and I am tearing up just thinking about it). You can describe the island and the crystal blue green water...you can even show them photos...but there is NOTHING like watching a Newbie's face when they first see it...and they "get it"!!! It was amazing and I was so proud to have gotten to experience that with him.

[Marcia (Mrs. Pete)]

My STJ newbie story is two fold. Nine years ago it was our first trip to STJ.

We booked 7 nights at Sea Turtle Villa. Back then, the roads up to it (it's in the Fish Bay area) were all dirt. And rough. And, for newbies, pretty dang intimidating. Moreover, as the villa rep took us to the villa, we had no idea where the heck we were going. We didn't know Fish Bay from Coral Bay. We twisted and turned and climbed and turned again and climbed some more, made some more turns and finally ended up at the villa. "Where ARE we and how do we find our way back here if we leave?!" It was all at once stunning and frightening. And getting dark. And we were hungry.

We knew there was a Marina Market store (no Starfish Market in those days) someplace back in town but how the heck do we get there? Armed with a note pad and pen, Pete and I got back into the little 4 wheel drive and as he drive down what seemed like familiar roads, I took notes. "Turn left at the pole that's leaning over the road." etc...

We found the market, got some food and actually made it back up to the villa that night. The rest of the week was fantastic.

When we left on the ferry, as I watched the island shrink from view, I started to tear up. Then, before I knew it, I was bawling. What the heck? Why am I crying? This has never happened to me, leaving a vacation. Pete thought I was upset that the vacation was bad or that he had done something wrong. Quite the opposite. I had fallen in love with St. John and, fallen in love with Pete even more deeply. I did not want to say good-bye to this paradise. Pete promised me right then that we would return. Every year. For our anniversary.

The next year, we went back for 10 nights. I still cried when we left. Pete promised we'd start staying for two weeks from then on.

The following year, after two weeks, I cried again. "Now what, Marcia? Two weeks is not enough?!" That next year I got two trips. I got my two weeks (which is actually 16 nights now ~ please, you need two days just to get relaxed then enjoy the vacation) and a week in the summer with our four kids.

I cannot describe what exactly it is about St. John but she has me hooked.