USVI-On-Line

spent a whole vacation on Jost Van Dyke? Like 2 weeks? I'm in the mode for a late fall trip with as about of as much nothing as I can handle. We've thought about a week, or so, on STJ followed by aweek or so on JVD. Thinking 2-3 weeks right after Thanksgiving. Any suggestions?

As much as I love Jost, I think I'd rather do 1 week on JVD and a second week on Cooper Island. They're both isolated and oh so lovely!

Rick on Cooper Island

Two years ago we spent 2 weeks on JVD at the Pink House (www.pinkhousebvi.com). We did lots of excursions with Colin and had a blast. We had 4 kids with us too, ages 16, 14, 11, & 8 . I thought that they might get bored, but they had a great time! We did build up to it a little staying 4 days, then 5 days... feel free to ask any questions. We've also stayed with White Bay Villas several times (www.jostvandyke.com).

debbie

BasUR,
We're looking at staying at the Pink House on JVD and I'm wondering if you have any experiences, tips, pictures, advice, etc. you could share regarding your stay there. Thanks in advance!

JT-- We're doing Jost for the first week of our trip and staying at Ivans. Second week will be on STJ.

There's part of me that wanted to just go as spartan as possible on this trip. We truly enjoyed our overnight stay at Ivan's last June and are looking forward to doing a whole hell of a lot of nothing, for as little $$$ and for as long as possible.

So if you're planning on heading down to Jost for the first week of December, feel free to drop by Casa Gromit for some good company and conversation.

Or not.

We can just sit on the beach and stare slackjawed at STJ across the water with Mic's painkillers -- one in each hand.

I have toyed with the idea of spending an extended amount of time on Jost, but I truly honestly think that I can only handle about three days of doing nothing before I lapse into a coma.

Of course, I am also ready to go home after a week on St. John. I like vacation, but when I am ready for it to be over, I am ready for it to be over.

Ivan's villas look very nice to me.

We spent five days on Jost once, before going to STJ, and really enjoyed it, could have stayed longer. Lots of reading and relaxing.

The only thing I would do if I did it again would be to provision very well. We didn't bring much food with us, and we got really tired of the same old same old restaurant fare.

How do you go about getting groceries on JVD? Is there a grocery store? Or do you have to get them on STT or Tortola? Is there a regular ferry that goes between JVD and Tortola?

We spent two weeks on Jost, and it has been my family's favorite vacation! Everyone said we were crazy to spend 2 weeks there especially with kids. We just returned from Virgin Gorda and everyone said they wish we would have gone to Jost.

If you have any questions about lodging, just ask. If it is just a couple, then I highly recommend the seaside cottages at WBV.

The Pink House is great! They have recently updated the kitchen (ss appliances, AC in the bedrooms, new linens). It was so nice to just walk out on the beach and not have to make the walk up the hill to WBV, even though, I do love the views from up there. That walk gets tough after too many Caribs and Racquel's bushwackers! The photos on the website (www.pinkhousebvi.com) are accurate. I took several of them. I'll look and see if I can find some more.

As far as groceries, we shopped in Tortola and brought them on the ferry. They will pack the groceries in boxes. After the first week, we took the ferry to West End and shopped at the grocery store at Soper's Hole to restock.

We bought for breakfast and lunch. We left dinner to Foxys, Ali Babas, Sydneys, Seddy, etc........

@17th Hole: We plan on using Bobby's http://www.bobbysmarketplace.com/

They allow you to place your order in advance and they will deliver to the dock for free.

Grocery options are extremely limited on island. We plan to check out the fridge situation at Ivan's communcal kitchen a little more carefully first before ordering so we know what will be reasonable to keep and store. Although if anyone reading this has any thoughts/advice on this I would welcome them/it.

We usually plan on doing breakfast, snacks and simple dinner like hot dogs or grilled cheese (in case we get lazy) and just eat out for lunch and dinner. We definitely plan on getting a couple cases of water though!

As for ferry, there is a ferry going back and forth to West end several times a day. New Horizon offers the service an the timing is equivalent to what you would see between STJ and STT (you'll have to scroll down to get to the Jost schedule): http://bviwelcome.com/ferries.html

Apparently you can bring groceries with you from STT easily, but honestly it seems like it would be a real hassle.

We provisioned in STT as well as Tortola. IMO it is much better to get groceries in Tortola. We used Bobby's to provision at the beginning of our trip once. We didn't get everything right but it was okay. There is a "little" store in Great Harbour next to the ice cream shop. A very nice man from Montserrat owns it, and you can get water plus some basics. I guess he is still there.

We really like the Harbour Market in Sopers Hole.

BeAsuR- We stopped at the market in Sopers Hole to stock up on our sailing trip last December. Super nice market with a wide variety of items. My only complaint was they didn't have prices on stuff which was weird. But the cost overall seemed very reasonable.

Thanks for the advice on Bobby's. Their web site urges you to double check the order and they will do everything to make it right. We'll see!

We provisioned in STT as well as Tortola. IMO it is much better to get groceries in Tortola. We used Bobby's to provision at the beginning of our trip once. We didn't get everything right but it was okay. There is a "little" store in Great Harbour next to the ice cream shop. A very nice man from Montserrat owns it, and you can get water plus some basics. I guess he is still there.

We really like the Harbour Market in Sopers Hole.