USVI-On-Line

It seems like it has been so long since my husband and I decided we needed a trip back to the rock. So much had happened since our last trip. A new baby girl for us (pg on our last trip), she's now 3. Illness and family members lost. We decided we needed and deserved a trip back to our beloved St John. Life is SHORT! And so finally our turn is Friday! A couple firsts for us based in reviews here. We shipped two boxes and our flat rate boxes sent to Connections last Wed arrived today! We are taking a 24 can polar bear cooler with great steaks, brats (we're from WI), bacon, cheese (did I mention we're from WI),etc. We're excited to see if we decide these extras are worth it. New underwater camera (not a fancy one). Pictures by Eliza Magro. Christopher Taxi. Not packed yet, however, I have been working on my list for weeks and I think it's a really good list! Excited to be taking friends who we hope will love STJ as much as we do! Also excited for some of the great restaurant recommendations and of course lunch on BVI which we got days worth of recommendations! Also so excited we have friends coincidentally stopping Monday on their cruise at STT. We will show them a great time on STJ. Thanks all for your wonderful suggestions and posts. I can't promise a trip report in real time like Agent 99 and others (maybe without pictures, because I still don't know how to do that). But will definitely report back... At some point! Cheers!

Trying to figure out what we missed on the to do list! Is renting a dinghy on the must do list?

It would be on my to do list if I had a trip planned ...I do like the suggestion about bringing a piece of rope to make into a loop to stick your foot in to help you back in the dingy....hope I explained that ok.

Have a wonderful trip! We are a week and a day behind you. Of course, I am already packed! Okay, not really packed as in actually in the luggage, but have everything laid out (do you think I am excited for the trip). Plus I am always paranoid that I will forget something "important" - like we can't purchase things in St. John.

We aren't bringing a lot of food. Though we are bringing cheese....I was born in Wisconsin

We have never rented a dinghy. We do plan to rent a kayak this trip, however. In think both would be a nice way to see the island from a different perspective.

Again, have fun!

We are two weeks behind you. I put everything in the shipping boxes last night. My suitcase is on the floor in the den and I have started 'the gathering'...These are always the longest 2 weeks...they just drag.

Have a great time!
Feel free to kill as many mosquitoes and noseeums as you can before we get there.

Renting a dinghy is not on the must-do list. It's about equal parts fun and hassle, and fairly expensive. You can decide for yourself whether the fun outweighs the hassle, but if I were you I would wait for a future trip for that.

Just curious...I see where you said you shipped a flat rate box down. I have never done this for some reason...but I wondered...what kind of things do you ship ahead ? We are planning to "try" to do carry-on only for the first time !

Thanks, Sherry in SC

I sent dish washing pods, laundry pods, extra sunscreen, bug spray, coffee, sweetener, granola bars, cereal, peanut butter, trash bags, crackers, spices, etc. that kind of dry stuff in don't want to have to buy at crazy prices when there and didn't want to carry on or pack. We'll see!

Thanks to everyone else on their comments. Jury is still out on renting a dinghy!

Hi neighbor, (I'm technically from Wisconsin, too -- Cuba City but now living in Minneapolis)

I wanted to weigh in on the dinghy rental.... because it was on my "must-do" list the past two years and finally in January we had a day calm enough to go. 4 women in a dinghy... easy to run and off we went. Our plan was to head straight to waterlemon and circle the cay. It was a long way down there in a dingy with 4 women. We had to stop and bail the dinghy on the way down. I loved being able to tie up to the buoy near the cay at Waterlemon.... but other than that, I was wishing we were onshore. I thought we'd have more laughs than we did. We certainly came away with stories.... but I guess I was expecting a bit more. Needless to say, a day on the water down there is better than anything so I would hardly say it was "bad."

We rented from Noah's Ark for a full day. Cost was split between 4 people so it was not a huge expense. I likely will not do it again but had I not done it, I'd have always wondered and wished I had done it.

HAVE A BLAST! We're supposed to hit 70 here this weekend! Nice the 6" we got a couple days ago is nearly all melted!

Where are you staying this trip?

Happy, happy travels!!