Trip Report Nov 30–Dec 7, another wonderful trip to paradise

[jwwj]

Our 7th trip to St John and our 2nd in early December for our anniversary and our 1st at Gallows Point. We sent a box with our snorkel gear, sun screen, some snacks and toiletries by priority mail to Gallows 11 days prior to our arrival and it arrived in 4 days! We used miles for the airfare and got a good deal on the unit at Gallows and decided we were not going to do any cooking this trip.

Saturday
We had scheduled with Rachel for the ride to Red Hook but she had a conflict and set us up with Dave. Very friendly and loves his lifelong home, St Thomas. We enjoyed the conversation and commentary on the way to the ferry.

It was a pretty grey day and had some rain during the ferry ride but not enough to chase us from the top deck. Check in at Gallows was quick and easy and we loved Gallows immediately, love the grounds, view, closeness to town, snorkeling right there, market, staff.

We walked to Motu, out first time there, had drinks and chatted with the very friendly bartenders and some locals. Had a wonderful dinner at Lime Inn. They have new wicker chairs which is a nice change. Someone must have found a bargain on the chairs because we saw the same ones at several other places in wharfside. After dinner went to the Beach Bar to listen to Inner Visions, great as always! We had a lot of rain throughout the evening but managed to make it to bar, restaurant, bar and home between the showers.

Sunday
We were woken up several times overnight by a big storm, very heavy rain, thunder and lighting and still had light rain in the morning. Walked to Café Livin and had breakfast, did a little shopping, picked up our car from St John Car Rental, very friendly as always and a nice wrangler with 16,000 miles. Relaxed on the "beach" at Gallows and went snorkeling. The snorkeling was very nice but we didn't get to see the resident 4' barracuda. Had lunch at Bananna Deck, very good, back to Gallows to relax before drinks at Motu and then dinner at Fatty Crab. Some of the dishes were good and some were really good. Back to Gallows for nightcaps.

Monday
Had breakfast at home before going to Hawksnest for the day. Had occasional rain and a lot of clouds but had a wonderful day. The snorkeling wasn't great, I'm guessing because of the amount of rain (we were told several times that it had been raining pretty steady for the last week and it wasn't the usual caribbean rain with quick showers and then sun, it was cloudy most of the time with lots of periods of heavy rain). We had a great day, had our favorite spot, all the way to the right against the rocks.

Drinks at Motu and a great dinner at Virgin Fire. The servings are rather small but the quality is great. We ordered 5 small plates and could have eaten more. Highly recommend the Himalayan salt block!

Tues
Picked up sandwiches from Deli Grotto, went to Jumbie, snorkeling was pretty good, lunch on the beach and then the rains came. Back home to get ready for our nightly drinks at Motu and an amazing dinner at La Tapa. Jazz night and everything was wonderful, grilled langostinos, crispy pork belly, scallops. Still my favorite restaurant in SJ, dined here 8 times and everything we've ordered has been delicious. Back to Motu.

Wed
Went to Caneel to make the walk to Honeymoon. It was raining but we waited a while in the covered area in front of the beach till it stopped. Walked to Honeymoon and it's really different from what it use to be, we aren't fans. Several boats anchored off shore blaring loud music and a lot of people. I guess if you are going to spend an entire day the concessions are ok but it takes up a big portion of the beach and the odor from the latrines was horrific. I couldn't get within 50 yards.

We left after about 20 minutes and went back to have a very good but very expensive lunch at Caneel, 2 ice teas, 2 entrée salads and tip - $75, but is was very good. Then on to Francis where the snorkeling was good, saw rays and a nurse shark. Mid afternoon the mosquitos started swarming and we had to leave.
Extended drinks at Motu and a very good dinner at Rhumblines.

Thurs
Storming today, hung around Gallows and relaxed and read. Went to Candi's for lunch (excellent as always) but had to bring it back to our room since there was no dry place to sit. Went for a ride around the island, did some shopping, stocked up on cruz bay grill rub from St John Spice, and had a break in the rain and got in more snorkeling at Gallows before drinks at Motu and another excellent dinner at Lime Inn.

Fri
Got to Trunk early because the sun was out! Enjoyed the sun and white sand, had leftover Candi's for lunch (our nearby neighbors were very jealous). Great Day!

By this time our drinks were ready at Motu as soon as they saw us coming. Went back to Gallows for dinner at Ocean 362. The menu is a mixture of Indian inspired dishes and the usual fare. The grilled mahi was kinda bland but the shrimp curry was amazing. They haven't been open very long so they still have some kinks to work out but we'll give them another chance next trip

Random Notes

Dave is a good alternative if Rachel isn't available.

The produced on island mosquito spray, Love me not, worked for us! My wife is a mosquito magnet and had no problems. It is kinda oily but it's natural and works!

Motu is a great bar! The staff is great, drinks are great, lots of locals to chat with.

It's fun deciding not to cook a single meal and eating great meals out every night.

Don't count on 4 days for priority mail.

[iowaguy]

Great report---thanks. We have taken a few years off from STJ and we are anxious to have cocktails at Motu on our February trip.

I was very suspicious of the changes at Honeymoon---it used to be such a beautiful, peaceful beach---and your report confirmed my suspicions.

[CBINPARADISE]

Where do you buy the Love Me Not mosquito repellant?

[jwwj]

We got it at the market at Gallows Point but I was told that Dolphin Market and the pharmacy above Starfish carry it as well.

[AquaGirl]

Thank you for the nice trip report. Its great you were able to enjoy your time, and fit in beach time and snorkeling, despite the rain.

In our 4 trips to STJ, we've never tried La Tapa. Your report reminded me to put it on our list for this year's trip. Glad to hear that Lime Inn has "upgraded" their chairs. Its one of our fav restaurants, especially for lobster.

Thanks for the tip about the local bug repellent. I am a bug magnet, and have tried lots of different things, so will definitely give it a try. On one trip when there was a mosquito bloom, I got over 100 bites. My husband got just a few - its no fair!

Interesting about Honeymoon Beach. The only time we've been there (prior to the addition of the concession), it was very busy with charter boats and lots of people snorkeling from those boats. Also had a few boats anchored near the beach with the music blasting, which we don't care for since we like to enjoy the sounds of nature. Its a pretty beach, but we probably won't go there since it sounds like its even busier now that the concession is there. Lots of other beaches to choose from anyway...

[michigancouple]

Thanks for the great report. Did Motu have happy hour prices? We're on our one month countdown!

[jwwj]

AquaGirl, I don't think you can go wrong at La Tapa, it's a little more expensive than Lime Inn and the menu is much smaller but it's great. We really like Lime Inn too, we even went twice this trip even though we had other places we were interested in trying. I had to have the whole grilled snapper and the shrimp dijon.

Michigancouple, I don't think Motu had happy hour prices but the drinks are a good size and pretty reasonably priced. A Tangueray and tonic in a real glass, not a dinky plastic cup, was $5 and there special cocktails were $7-$8 and also good sized (and very good). Bet SJ will feel pretty good after the winter you are having.

[Vickie12]

Enjoyed reading your vacation report. We were scheduled to be on St. John ourselves December 2-9 staying at Gallow Point. This would have been our 4th trip; however, we are usually in villas with family. Unfortunately, we had to cancel our trip and hopefully can reschedule in the summer. For future reference would love to know which unit you stayed in (harborview or ocean) and lower or upper unit. Were there any advantages over the other? We usually go May/June and have been blessed with pretty good weather. There is never a bad day on St. John...rain or shine...but is it the norm to have lots of rain in December?

[ColumbiaSCTraveler]

Thanks for the trip report! Sounds like we need to hit up Motu this year!

[PA Girl]

Thanks for the restaurant info! We are formulating our plan for our Feb 1 arrival and I am working out the restaurant planning.

We are also Motu fans and your comment about a real glass made me smile. The first time we stopped in, I was tickled to get a real wine glass.

[jwwj]

Vickie sorry you had to cancel your trip, hope you are able to reschedule.
We stayed in 15D, a upper with both a harbor and ocean view. We like the location and views and definitely like having an upper unit. This is one of the units that is managed by Suite St John as opposed to Gallows. Hopefully some form members here with more experience than me with Gallows can chime with their opinions of best location.
We were told on our first December trip that it was still in the rainy season and we had some rain that trip but nothing like this trip. Several locals we talked to said the weather we experienced was very unusual.

[Ed S]

Have stayed at Gallows upper ocean units the past 3 years - always first or 2nd week of December (including this past Dec. 7-15). Weather was fine, certainly much better than the week or two prior. We have enjoyed building 2 (2C and 2D) and building 4 (4D). All nice units..... views from 4D (and 4C where my brother and his wife stayed this past Dec. also) are great. We liked 4D alot so we are staying there again this coming May 31-June 8th. 4 years ago (our first time at Gallows) we stayed in 1B (ocean lower), but like the ocean upper's much better). Also, my brother stayed in 3C 2 years ago and liked that as well (although there is a tree which somewhat obstructs the view when sitting on the balcony).

[Vickie12]

jwwj----did you ever find noise to be a factor from your villa since it was close to the harbor?

[jwwj]

We could hear the music from town in the evenings when were sitting on the balcony but we closed the windows and turned on the air conditioning before we went to bed so that wasn't a problem for us.
The first morning we woke up when we heard the ferry horn but got use that pretty quick and it didn't bother us after that.
I will add that we are pretty heavy sleepers.