USVI-On-Line

Posted: **Sun May 29, 2011 3:15 pm**

Hello everyone! Looking forward to a last minute hop over to the Virgin Islands. Some questions:

1) St Thomas is a little more lively and St. John is considered more beautiful and peaceful. Accurate viewpoint?

2) We are going last minute. Anything I need to do ASAP because it requires ahead-of-time reservations? Ferry from Thomas to John?

3) When weather report says "showers" is that endless rain usually, or just spurts with sunshine between?

4) Should I rent a car in Thomas and take the car ferry? or rent in John, and taxi ourself to and from the airport...

5) Is there an option for scooters, or little buggies or anything more fun than a typical ford escort rental on st john?

6) Is st john 100% motor-free on the water or can we rent jet ski's ?

7) Villa Madelaine (mentioned on this forum) looks nice, but its very small and quaint and up in the hills. The price looks to be about $300+ per night with 5 night minimum. There are much much larger villas all over the island for that much. Any ideas why that villa is priced so high for its relatively small size?

Best place to rent those bright yellow / red / orange kayaks?

9) Best social scene at night?

10) Best brunch place?

Any of the questions you do know the answer to, please feel free to chime in!

Thanks

Posted: **Sun May 29, 2011 4:05 pm**

I'll take a stab at some of these:
1) St. Thomas has a greater population, land mass, and commerce. St. John is 2/3 National Park, smaller population, and is a smaller land mass. You'll find a lot of STJ fans on this board, but STT & STX are also represented.

2) I'm not clear about whether you've got your lodging sorted out. The main things you need to have are a place to stay and a rental car. No reservations needed for the ferry.

3) You will most likely not have any completely rained out days. There has been a spell of wet weather this month, so based on the law of averages, you're probably in the clear. But don't be surprised if there's a few tropical showers.

4) The taxis on STJ only go so far. You reference Villa Madelaine, which is in Coral Bay. If you're staying there, you'll have to have a rental jeep. Not car, but Jeep. My suggestion as a first timer would be to rent your jeep on STJ, but you may not find any available with only a few days lead time. Try to secure one ASAP on STJ, and if you have no luck, start calling the agents on STT. But, if you rent on STT, make sure that the rental company allows you to take it to STJ. Some companies don't allow their rental vehicles to leave the island.

5) There are a few scooter rentals, but no one on this site will recommend them. When you get to STJ, you'll understand why. The roads are very steep and twisty. You want 4 wheels underneath you. Trust me.

6) I think you can rent jet skis at the Westin. You can rent dinghy's in Cruz Bay.

7) Not clear whether you've already rented Villa Madelaine. The rentals run the gamut. I would recommend using an agent and asking for last minute discounts.

8.) Kayaks can be rented at Cinnamon Bay Campground, Maho Bay Campground, and Crabby's in Coral Bay.

9) I'm not an expert on the nighttime scene, but you're best bet is most likely to be in Cruz Bay. If this is an important factor, you may want to look for lodging in Cruz Bay. If you're staying at VM, you'll find some nightlife at Island Blues, and Skinny Legs in Coral Bay.

10) Best Brunch. Am I correct in understanding that you're only there Thursday and Friday? If so, I don't know where to send you for Brunch, but there's plenty of places for Breakfast. If you've got an entire week, my recommendation is to go to Miss Lucy's in Coral Bay for Brunch.

Woosh... have a lot of fun and welcome to the forum!

Posted: **Sun May 29, 2011 4:14 pm**

Hello everyone! Looking forward to a last minute hop over to the Virgin Islands. Some questions:

1) St Thomas is a little more lively and St. John is considered more beautiful and peaceful. Accurate viewpoint? Yes

2) We are going last minute. Anything I need to do ASAP because it requires ahead-of-time reservations? Ferry from Thomas to John? Ferry no, rental car yes
3) When weather report says "showers" is that endless rain usually, or just spurts with sunshine between? Generally the latter
4) Should I rent a car in Thomas and take the car ferry? or rent in John, and taxi ourself to and from the airport...Depends on if you will be provisioning on STT or STJ
5) Is there an option for scooters, or little buggies or anything more fun than a typical ford escort rental on st john? Jeeps
6) Is st john 100% motor-free on the water or can we rent jet ski's ? STJ is not motor-free
7) Villa Madelaine (mentioned on this forum) looks nice, but its very small and quaint and up in the hills. The price looks to be about $300+ per night with 5 night minimum. There are much much larger villas all over the island for that much. Any ideas why that villa is priced so high for its relatively small size? Amenities?
Best place to rent those bright yellow / red / orange kayaks? Mayo campground
9) Best social scene at night?

10) Best brunch place? Take out on the beach

Any of the questions you do know the answer to, please feel free to chime in!

Thanks

Posted: **Sun May 29, 2011 7:44 pm**

Thank you both! Huge help.

I hopped right on the Rental car thing and spoke to Bobbi at Budget and she's going to do her best to hold a 2 door jeep for us. So Im set there.

Posted: **Sun May 29, 2011 10:30 pm**

Virgin burger, just a heads up about renting from Budget. We were there a week ago and we had friends that rented a jeep from Budget and first they gave them a jeep with no windows or back which is not unusual but it rained alot that week. Then on the last day they got up early to be at the first car ferry for an early flight and they had a flat tire. We helped them change it and noticed that the spare had a big knot on it. Well you guessed it about 2 miles down the road they had another flat. We had to go get them and take them to the people ferry so they would make their flight. It was on a Saturday and there was nowhere open to fix the tire. We had to call a wrecker and have it towed to St.Thomas. $210 later We rented from Dependable on STT and had no problems. If I were you I would rent on St.John for your first time and your short stay

Posted: **Mon May 30, 2011 12:44 am**

Thanks for the good advice on the rental. I will probably do that. I am just afraid there wont be anything left if I wait until I get there to walk in some place and rent.

Can you tell me the largest car rental company on St John with the biggest selection?

-VB-

Posted: **Mon May 30, 2011 1:05 am**

Dependable on STT gets rave reviews here on the forum and they will let you take their cars to St. John. Amalie Car Rental was also recently given a good review. There are tons of small rental agencies on St. John, and they all get pretty good scores depending on who you talk to. I can personally recommend Courtesy and Delbert Hill's.

These lists may be helpful to you:

St. Thomas Car Rentals:
Dependable Car Rental 800-522-3076
Amalie Car Rental 888 568 3535 or 340 774 0688
Thrifty 340-776-1500
Dollar 340-776-1500
Avis 340-774-1468
Zip car rental 340-715-1501
Discount Car Rental 877-478-2833

St. John Car Rentals:
Bougainvillea Leasing 340-776-6420 1-800-253-7107
C & C Car and Jeep Rental 340-693-8164
Conrad Sutton Car Rental 340-776-6479 Fax 340-693- 8099
Cool Breeze Car Rental 340-776-6588
Courtesy Car & Jeep Rental 340-776-6650
Delbert Hill's Jeep Rentals 340-776-6637
Hertz 340-693-7580 800-654-3131
Hospitality Car and Jeep Rentals 340-693-9160
L&L Jeep Rental Inc, 340-776-1120 : [www.bookajeep.com]
Lionel Jeep Rental 340-693-8764
O'Connor Jeep Rental 340-776-6343
Paris Car Rental 340-776-6171
Penn’s 340-776-6530.
St. John Car Rental, Inc. 340-776-6103 Fax (340) 776-6103
Spencer Jeep Rental 340-776-6628 Fax 340-693-8399 1-888-776-6628
Sun & Sand Car Rental 340-776-6374
Sutton Conrad Car Rental 340-776-6479
Varlack Car Rental 340-776-6412 fax: 340-693-8276

Posted: **Mon May 30, 2011 7:57 am**

Welcome to the forum!!
When do you leave??
we rented our Jeep the first trip on island then all the other trips from Dependable on STT. We got two flat tires during one trip and got it repaired at the gas station in Cruz Bay (the only gas station) for something like $7.
Hope you have a wonderful time and that you share your experience with us!

Posted: **Mon May 30, 2011 8:08 am**

If you want a boating trip you might want to rent ahead. Snorkeling and sailing the Pepper or the Wayward Sailor.
If luxury and being totally private not your thing you might try Cruz Views. They have a pool, AC, and views, but they are olde condos, but are really reasonable and in Cruz Bay. All the other suff has been covered. We are staying there the for the first time this week but have heard great reports. Hope to see you at the Beach Bar on Sunday at the Forum Gathereing. If you will be there this week or next week.

Posted: **Mon May 30, 2011 4:42 pm**

I read that some of the local resorts have night life and live music and whatnot. Are you allowed to attend such events if you're not staying at the resort itself?

Also is there a calendar of island events anywhere?

Thanks

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