USVI-On-Line

We are returning to SJ next summer for the third time. We thought we would stop first in Tortola for a few days, to see what the BVIs are like. We absolutely love SJ and wonder if we should stay put on SJ and do a few day trips to the BVIs instead. We are a family of 5, so uprooting after a few days would not be too tough. We have planned a 10 day trip. We would like to see Tortola, but there is so much we love to do on SJ and we worry that we will run out of time, if we spend a few days on Tortola! Advice?

Thanks!

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I total agree! 9 days on STJ and a day charter. Don't wait your time and money on Tortola. I spent two of the longest weeks of my life there a few years ago and never want to see Tortola again except from the East end of St. John or a charter boat.

why not a couple of days on Jost?

well...we spent 6 days on st john last year and 6 days on Jost. I liked Jost because we stayed in the pink house and just walked down to the beach in the morning and over to the bars when we wanted to talk with pp. the snorkeling is nothing like St. john; but it is more laid back. with all this being said; we have planned our whole 13 days this year on St. John with a day trip to where-ever we want to go. Jost was awesome but st. john is the best ever!

One of the advantages of the BVI is affordable accomodations on or near the beaches. We had a great time in a little cottage across from Cane Garden Bay a few years ago; walked to the beach, the bars, the restaurants, the grocery store, etc. Snorkeling doesn't compare to St. John.

We also spent several days on Virgin Gorda - again affordable accomodations on or near the beach. If it were as easy to travel to VG as St. John, we'd probably visit more often.

It all depends on what you're looking for or rather if you'll spend the time elsewhere thinking that you're missing St. John.

I started visiting Tortola first. After a half dozen visits I'd say that I actually prefer St. Thomas. But, I like VG, JVD and Anegada even more! St. John really is our favorite. Tortola is so big that you really need a vehicle and time to explore.

Cheers, RickG

Last year we spent 3 nights on Tortola at CGB and then 7 nights on STJ. It was the first time on Tortola and really enjoyed staying in CGB and walking from beach bar to beach bar.

We are going to do the same schedule next year but only because the villa wasn't available for all 10 days on STJ. I would like to try Jost or VG next time but it is much harder to coordinate ferry schedules so you are not wasting a day going back and forth.

Thanks for all the input. After confiring with all the family (esp the teens), and read the advice, we figured out what we already knew: 9 nights on SJ is what we need! We will look into both a charter and a few days trips. We thinks its easier to settle into a dream villa for the 9 days vs waiting to get to the dream villa for 6 days! Thanks!

In the spring we split 5 & 5 between Jost and STJ. This was our exploratory trip as we'd never been to STJ and had only day tripped to JVD.

For the purposes of experiencing new places, it was great. We got a decent taste of each and can use that in planning future trips.

This was actually fairly bold for me since I usually stick with a known quantity...over & over & over.

I'm glad that we explored but the next few trips will likely be confined to one island.

Sometimes its best to just go with what ya know.

We stayed one week Tortola and one week in St John in Jan 2009. We flew into St Thomas spent the night and took the ferry to Tortola.

We rented a house in Tortola and a car. We liked Smugglers and Brewers bay to snorkel. We liked cane beach for the crowd. We went to Virgin Gorda for the day and the Bath's. Loved the restaurant there at the top of the hill for lunch. We went to a full moon party that was fun. The fire balls they had were amazing.Hiked Sage mountain trail.

We fell in love with St John and all the hiking and trails ato beaches. The snorkeling was fantastic. We felt St John was much easier to drive than Tortola.

Would we go back to Tortola? Yes in the future but this year we are staying 17 days in St John. We found the people more friendlier than on Tortola. We did feel like we lost a full day when we transferred islands.