USVI-On-Line

Good morning forum! Long time lurker, first time poster here with a question.

First a little background on myself....I'm a seasoned ER nurse in an urban trauma center in a high crime area. I'm used to watching my back, etc. My sister lives in New Orleans (we grew up not far from there) and I'm familiar with crime there.

I say all of this to ask the never-ending question about crime in the Coral Bay/Calabash Boom areas. My boyfriend and I will be on island in May for our first extended stay after visiting numerous times on a cruise. I've been reading extensively about St John so I can be aware of local customs, eateries, etc. Unfortunately I came across Crime Stoppers for the USVI. I'm not concerned about the things stolen on the beach or out of cars, we've got that covered. What I am concerned about is the villas being burglarized while the occupants are home/asleep. I've noticed that most of it seems to be in the same areas and I'm guessing it has to do with the close proximity to Cruz Bay. How common are these type burglaries in the areas above? I know to lock all doors and leave an outside light on, but that won't stop the most desperate/determined junkie needing a fix.

I'm not going to cancel my trip and let those a-holes win. I just want to be prepared.

BTW, I LOVE the No See Um blog. I take crazy random pics and send to my friends all of the time. Maybe I'll send some to the blog when I'm on island .

Thank you all for the great information you post on here. It has helped me tremendously in my research!

Good morning, and welcome, TraumaQueen!

I haven't stayed in the areas you ask about, but I do read multiple sites about St. John daily, and can't recall reading anything bad about them. I think these break ins could happen anywhere. You sound very well prepared...no need to worry.

If you have glass sliding doors at the place you're renting, you might consider calling the agency, explaining your concerns and asking to be provided with a broomstick type rod to block the sliding door.

We've stayed twice on Pocket Money Lane...I didn't like seeing those numbers at all

Congratulations on your first extended St. John visit!

My sister and her husband have lived in that area for 18 years full time and I visit every year we have never had any problems.

We've stayed on the coral bay end the last 3 times we've visited. Never felt at all in danger. Just do the usual things. Put our valuables in the safe. Lock the villa when we're gone. Lock the cars and don't leave any valuables inside. Even felt safe in Love City Mini Mart, which is one of the scariest looking places on the island from the outside. Shopped there several times. It's a very small town sort of feel.

Thank you for the reassurances! I had hoped this was the case, but I always want to be prepared!

one year i was the only enemy i ever encountered on stj...in an effort to be safe i bought a water wallet so i could keep my valuables with me and away from the 'bad guys'...it held money, credit cards, id, and the jeep key...problem was when i got back from snorkeling it had come loose and was long gone and i was stranded. funny part is the people on the beach who i was protecting myself from were the ones who lent me money and their jeep to go straighten things out. irony. other than that i have no bad stories covering 8 trips to all corners of stj. just come and relax.

I also read the post about someone watching as a thief stole another couple's lunch.......the thief was a mongoose .

I'm always scared to read too much about an area b/c there's always those that exaggerate things and those that gloss over things. I try to sort thru those and figure it must be somewhere in the middle. I'd already come to that conclusion until I read the Crime Stoppers site.

Now I can concentrate on asking questions about who has the coldest beer and best burgers!

Thank you all again!

Best burger is Skinny Legs. I can't imagine any discussion about that.

I hear people talk about locking their car. However, the advice I have received, and followed, is to leave the car unlocked, with no valuables inside, so theives would not be tempted to damage the vehicle by breaking in.

I'm curious to hear how many people leave their vehicle unlocked and how many lock.

As far as your safety question. I've stayed in Coral Bay area twice while traveling solo and have only wonderful experiences. As you point out, ones needs to be cautious no matter where they are.

TraumaQueen wrote:
BTW, I LOVE the No See Um blog. !

I'd never heard of this blog so I took a peek. Are you kidding me? I've never seen such bad spelling in my life, I couldn't bring myself to read it any further. Maybe I'm just a spelling and grammar prude...

See post below.

Steve S wrote:

TraumaQueen wrote:
BTW, I LOVE the No See Um blog. !

I'd never heard of this blog so I took a peek. Are you kidding me? I've never seen such bad spelling in my life, I couldn't bring myself to read it any further. Maybe I'm just a spelling and grammar prude...

Wait! You were reading what he/she is making fun of! I had to go back and look b/c I knew that's what the blog was about......

The post you are seeing is actually copied from another forum. He/she is a spelling/grammar "prude" as well . I think you'd really get a kick out of it if you looked again! The author's post title is in orange.

That blog is hilarious - Thanks for pointing it out TraumaQueen!