USVI-On-Line

First time to St. John and very much looking forward
to it. Please help. Best way to get there from
St. Thomas. Best place to rent Snorkel gear. Best
bars. Best beaches.

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Getting to STJ: If you are renting a jeep on STT, your only option is the barge. If you are renting on STJ, then you can take the ferry or hire a private water taxi. We rent our jeep on STJ so we take a taxi from the airport to Red Hook (ferry leaves on the hour) it is about 15 minutes to Cruz Bay

We have our own mask and snorkel and rent fins. We like Just Beach in Mongoose junction because the parking is easy

Best Beach? No such thing. There are so many great beaches that I think it would be hard to say there is a best. I highly recommend picking up a copy of Feet, Fins, and 4WD
http://caribmart.com/stjohfeetfin.html
It is an amazing resource

Best Bar? The next one! I have never been to a bar on STJ that I didn't like!

Congratulations... there's not much you can do wrong on STJ... it's all WONDERFUL!!!!!!

We like taking a taxi to the Red Hook ferry and then renting a jeep on STJ. It's a bit more relaxed - no car barge to deal with -which many people don't mind, but seems limiting & a pain to us.

The first 2 times staying on STJ we rented our snorkel gear from Cruz Bay Watersports - very convenient and fantastic quality of gear - way better than the $55 snorkel mask sets I ever bought... and if there's a problem, they'll exchange as needed. Last time we stayed on the Coral Bay side of the island and rented gear from Crabby's - also fantastic quality.

We're not bar people but our favorite restaurants are: Rhumb Lines (fabulous, pacific rim food - romantic, bohemian ambiance in outdoor courtyard - my favorite, hands down), Shipwreck Landing - American cuisine with islandy flair, Miss Lucy's - delicious authentic Caribbean food - in a rustic setting on the water - LOVE IT, Morgan's Mango & Banana Deck - also very good... and Zozo's -which is a bit more expensive than the others mentioned and although it is casual, more that "business casual" feel- and has a spectacular view for watching the sunset.

And those beaches... we love them all - they are all unique & have something wonderful to offer. The only one we avoid is Trunk - and that's only because there are a lot of people there and there are so many other beautiful choices with hardly any people.

You will have a magnificent time no matter what beaches, restaurants or bars you end up going to - it's all good, mon!!!

Yeah - that's the thing about STJ beaches - they are unique and each appeals to a different person. My wife LOVES Cinnamon. Me - not so much. I'm a Maho and Salt Pond fan. For a snorkeling beach, we always to the Leinester trail and Waterlemon Cay.

Explore! That's the awesome thing about the island - it's only 30 minutes from one end to the other, so feel empowered to try different beaches early in the week, then return to the one(s) that really catch your affection.

Good Luck! Have Fun!

We get our jeep on St Thomas as we like to stop and get provisions at Cost U Less- island version of SAMs,Cosco,etc. and we love our car barge ride over to St John- it tells us we ate almost home!! We arent big lay around the beach folks -we are get underwater kids! Saying that- I do like Gibney to hang out on for awhile in between snorkels! For snorkeling- so many to pick from and it seems like each trip, we find new hidden treasures at new places! We love Maho,Leinster, Salt pond, Lameshur, Haulover (north and south) to name just a couple.
Bars- gotta love High Tide, Quiet Mon, and Beach Bar in Cruz Bay. In Coral Bay- can't go wrong with Aqua Bistro, Skinny legs, island Blues, or Shipwreck landings - good eats too!!!
ENJOY!!!

I'm sure you will get lots of different answers and the thing about SJ is that they are all correct.

Our favorite beaches - Hawksnest, waterlemon; bars - Woodys, Beach Bar and Quiet Mon; restaurants - Rumblines, La Tapa, Candi's bbq. As excited as we are to go to each of these every trip we also go to at least one new beach and restaurant each trip which is equally fun. Last trip we went to Salamon for our new beach and Sweet Plantains as our new restaurant, both excellent.

Ditto the recommendation for Feet Fins and FourWheel drive, we don't leave home without it.

For snorkel gear we've rented from Low Key and Cruz Bay watersports, both excellent.

Have a wonderful time.

Thanx for all of your input! the one great thing about traveling to the islands
is how helpful everyone is!! thanx again!