Trip report - Our first visit to St. John!
Posted: Mon Apr 25, 2011 8:02 pm
We visited St. John from April 14-24, 2011. Unfortunately, that was a school break and it was very busy. I am off that week, which is why we chose to go then, but if I went again I would certainly avoid it. The main beaches were very crowded and even the harder to get to beaches required 8:00 a.m. arrival times.
That aside, we had a WONDERFUL trip. We loved St. John. We stayed at a really beautiful villa on Bordeaux Mtn (Summer Wind). We had a terrific property manager. The villa was even better than I thought it would be.
We did a day trip with Captain John Brandi from Palm Tree Charters that was absolutely wonderful. I can't recommend that enough. Visited Tortola, snorkeled at Indians and Waterlemon, lunch at Willy T's, drinks at Soggy Dollar.
We rented a dinghy one day from Noah's Little Arks and had a lot of fun visiting various beaches and docked at Caneel Bay for drinks.
We spent a lot of time at Gibney beach (our favorite - beautiful, great swimming, good shade), but also visited Jumbie (nice), Denis (nice), Trunk (groan - too crowded), Vie's (interesting, but also crowded, and her food stand wasn't open), Hawksnest (crowded - tons of kids), Reef Bay (hiked there), and Little Cinnamon (sweet). Considered stopping at Maho but it was too crowded.
Ended most days with drinks at Beach Bar.
Had meals at:
Shipwreck Landing (our favorite - 2 just fabulous meals)
Banana Deck (excellent meal)
Zozo's at sunset (sigh, wonderful)
Aqua Bistro (good)
Cactus Blues (good)
Skinny Legs (good - just hamburgers)
Beach Bar (good drinks, so-so food)
Donkey Diner (terrific breakfast)
Mojo Cafe (terrific breakfast burritos)
Sandwiches for beach from Deli Grotto (good)
Bought wine, cheese, and delicious sausage (that's what we packed for lunch sometimes) at the place across from Star Fish Market. The Island Hoppin' IPA Beer was great.
The food was wonderful and there were many restaurants I would love to have tried. We nearly always ate at the bars, which is so fun to talk to everybody.
Rented a car through St. John rental. We did use their free parking several times, and if it hadn't been for that we wouldn't have been able to spend much time in Cruz Bay due to NO parking.
Had two hellish flights there and back. On Easter Sunday US Air stranded 36 passengers in St. Thomas because they got too small of an airplane. Last heard, they weren't getting out until Weds. or Thurs. It took US Air almost 2 hours to figure out who was on the plane and who was being left behind (which I don't think they ever actually straightened out, lol). Many missed connections of course. Ridiculous chaos.
If we get to go again here's what I might do differently:
I'd consider saving money and (maybe) renting a condo in Cruz Bay. It would be a much different experience than our wonderful villa, but it might be ok.
I would suck it up and check through a suitcase with toiletries and food. I sent a box which never arrived (had probably $200 worth of stuff in it). Spent way too much money on very basic toiletries, not to mention the inconvenience.
I'd rent the smallest jeep possible. They gave us a Dodge Nitro (basically a Jeep Liberty) and we really didn't need a vehicle that big. (They didn't have something smaller.) It was hard enough to park and drive there!
I'd book Rachael for the ride from the airport to Red Hook. We were very tired when we got in, and it would have been really nice to see her standing there with our name on a sign...
I'd provision the villa for first night's dinner and breakfast at least. It was pretty hard to have to go back out to Cruz Bay that night.
We brought very few clothes (carry on), and that was fine. I brought 2 pairs of shorts, but only needed one. I brought 4 t-shirts but only needed 2. I brought 4 bathing suits and loved having them all. I brought sneakers that I only wore once - on a hike to Reef Bay. (I thought I might run, but I have an injury and really needed the time off.) I brought one very little dress and wore it to Zozo's. It was also great the next night when I had a sunburned tummy and shorts felt awful. lol
I'd leave the snorkel stuff home. Heresy I know! But I wasn't that into it. I did bring my binoculars and enjoyed birding, although it is limited there.
Overall, a really fun and romantic vacation. I used this forum a ton for planning, and even while were there. Thank you all for all your advice and suggestions.
If I get organized, maybe I'll post some pictures - I got some great ones.
That aside, we had a WONDERFUL trip. We loved St. John. We stayed at a really beautiful villa on Bordeaux Mtn (Summer Wind). We had a terrific property manager. The villa was even better than I thought it would be.
We did a day trip with Captain John Brandi from Palm Tree Charters that was absolutely wonderful. I can't recommend that enough. Visited Tortola, snorkeled at Indians and Waterlemon, lunch at Willy T's, drinks at Soggy Dollar.
We rented a dinghy one day from Noah's Little Arks and had a lot of fun visiting various beaches and docked at Caneel Bay for drinks.
We spent a lot of time at Gibney beach (our favorite - beautiful, great swimming, good shade), but also visited Jumbie (nice), Denis (nice), Trunk (groan - too crowded), Vie's (interesting, but also crowded, and her food stand wasn't open), Hawksnest (crowded - tons of kids), Reef Bay (hiked there), and Little Cinnamon (sweet). Considered stopping at Maho but it was too crowded.
Ended most days with drinks at Beach Bar.
Had meals at:
Shipwreck Landing (our favorite - 2 just fabulous meals)
Banana Deck (excellent meal)
Zozo's at sunset (sigh, wonderful)
Aqua Bistro (good)
Cactus Blues (good)
Skinny Legs (good - just hamburgers)
Beach Bar (good drinks, so-so food)
Donkey Diner (terrific breakfast)
Mojo Cafe (terrific breakfast burritos)
Sandwiches for beach from Deli Grotto (good)
Bought wine, cheese, and delicious sausage (that's what we packed for lunch sometimes) at the place across from Star Fish Market. The Island Hoppin' IPA Beer was great.
The food was wonderful and there were many restaurants I would love to have tried. We nearly always ate at the bars, which is so fun to talk to everybody.
Rented a car through St. John rental. We did use their free parking several times, and if it hadn't been for that we wouldn't have been able to spend much time in Cruz Bay due to NO parking.
Had two hellish flights there and back. On Easter Sunday US Air stranded 36 passengers in St. Thomas because they got too small of an airplane. Last heard, they weren't getting out until Weds. or Thurs. It took US Air almost 2 hours to figure out who was on the plane and who was being left behind (which I don't think they ever actually straightened out, lol). Many missed connections of course. Ridiculous chaos.
If we get to go again here's what I might do differently:
I'd consider saving money and (maybe) renting a condo in Cruz Bay. It would be a much different experience than our wonderful villa, but it might be ok.
I would suck it up and check through a suitcase with toiletries and food. I sent a box which never arrived (had probably $200 worth of stuff in it). Spent way too much money on very basic toiletries, not to mention the inconvenience.
I'd rent the smallest jeep possible. They gave us a Dodge Nitro (basically a Jeep Liberty) and we really didn't need a vehicle that big. (They didn't have something smaller.) It was hard enough to park and drive there!
I'd book Rachael for the ride from the airport to Red Hook. We were very tired when we got in, and it would have been really nice to see her standing there with our name on a sign...
I'd provision the villa for first night's dinner and breakfast at least. It was pretty hard to have to go back out to Cruz Bay that night.
We brought very few clothes (carry on), and that was fine. I brought 2 pairs of shorts, but only needed one. I brought 4 t-shirts but only needed 2. I brought 4 bathing suits and loved having them all. I brought sneakers that I only wore once - on a hike to Reef Bay. (I thought I might run, but I have an injury and really needed the time off.) I brought one very little dress and wore it to Zozo's. It was also great the next night when I had a sunburned tummy and shorts felt awful. lol
I'd leave the snorkel stuff home. Heresy I know! But I wasn't that into it. I did bring my binoculars and enjoyed birding, although it is limited there.
Overall, a really fun and romantic vacation. I used this forum a ton for planning, and even while were there. Thank you all for all your advice and suggestions.
If I get organized, maybe I'll post some pictures - I got some great ones.