USVI-On-Line

Hello-

My wife and I are traveling to St. John in late July. Our plane lands on Thursday at 3:30pm. I have reserved a Jeep from Budget (yes i know, i'll take my chances) through Orbitz and plan on taking the 7pm Car Ferry to St. John. We're staying at Viewtiful on Mamey Peak. I have several questions for you experienced travelers.

1. I would like to stop at a grocery store and pack a cooler full of supplies. Is Cost-U-Less the best option? Does Cost-U-Less (or whoever) sell cheap zip-up or Styrofoam coolers?

2. What sort of weather should we expect for late July/ early August? Windy? Hurricanes? Swarms of flesh-eating locusts? Should I buy trip insurance?

3. <--- is the magic number.

4. We're a young active couple (25 yrs old). What activities would you recommend that most people overlook (money is an object)? Obviously there are lots of hiking trails, which two are the "Can't Miss" candidates?

5. For anyone who has been to both Barbados and St. John, how do the North Shore beaches compare to Crane Beach and Bottom Bay?

6. Tranquil, calm beaches are nice. But I like having some waves to play in. Do any of the beaches have decent waves for body-surfing?

7. Anyone stayed at Viewtiful? (i've searched and read previous comments)

8. Anything you wish you had known beforehand about the STT airport, getting to Red Hook, taking the car ferry, arriving in Cruz bay, getting to the Mamey Peak area, flesh-eating locusts, Donkey's Gone Wild, etc?

9. Have I overlooked anything? Any other advice/tips/suggestions?

THANKS IN ADVANCE!!!

i have also posted this message in the Trip Advisor Forum.

Welcome to the forum!

2. What sort of weather should we expect for late July/ early August? Windy? Hurricanes? Swarms of flesh-eating locusts? Should I buy trip insurance?

Trip insurance is never a bad idea. The weather will be in the high eighties.

4. We're a young active couple (25 yrs old). What activities would you recommend that most people overlook (money is an object)? Obviously there are lots of hiking trails, which two are the "Can't Miss" candidates?

Hike the Reef Bay trail. You can do it on your own, or sign up with the National Park Service. If you go with the NPS, they'll send a boat to pick you up at the bottom of the trail so you don't have to hike back up. I also recommend you hike the Ram Head trail. Go early and make sure to carry lots of water--it's a hot hike.

6. Tranquil, calm beaches are nice. But I like having some waves to play in. Do any of the beaches have decent waves for body-surfing?

Not really. You could try Cinnamon Bay.

9. Have I overlooked anything? Any other advice/tips/suggestions?

Yes. Relax and have fun!

My husband and I have always rented from the STT airport and never had any problems (knock on wood). This June will be our 6th annual trip (our first was for our honeymoon). When we started going we were in our early-ish 20s and now we’re in our late-ish 20s. This is the second time we’ll go in June, all other years we went in late July/August. We have never purchased trip insurance, and so far it would have been a waste, as we’ve never had any issues. If we were to go in September I might be slightly more concerned, but so far we haven’t decided to bite the bullet and get insurance.

We always experience at least a little bit of rain, but usually it isn’t a big deal. The worst was in late July/early August of 2006; locals told us that the storm we experienced was the worst yet of the year. We lost power a couple nights in a row and lost a day and a half of beach time.

We always stop at the Food Center which is shortly before the ferry dock in Red Hook. Cost-U-Less might have slightly better prices on some things, but you probably don’t need the large quantities they sell. We’ve purchased styrofoam coolers from the Food Center for $10 or $12 I think…they are high up along the back wall of the store. Then we leave the cooler at the villa at the end of the trip and hope somebody else is able to use it.

As far as waves go, Cinnamon Bay has a reputation for being windy, so you could try there. Others might have more ideas on this, but STJ is pretty calm.

Honestly, with the problems I’ve heard others have had with Orbitz, I’d cancel your reservation through them and make one directly with Budget www.budget.com. We always make our reservation through the website and have never had a problem. Another forumite has used www.budgetstt.com without any problems, but apparently they don’t give you a confirmation, which would make me nervous.

If Budget doesn’t give you a map, make sure to pick one up at the airport. There are little starfish signs pointing your way to Red Hook, but sometimes they’ve been hit by a car or are missing so I wouldn’t rely on them.

Make sure to have cash for the car ferry. There are a few different car ferries and you can either buy a one way or a roundtrip ticket. On trips 1, 2, 3, and 4 we bought round trip tickets and it worked perfectly every time…but on trip number 5 we decided to do a one-way ticket and were glad we did because we took a different ferry back to STT.

All of the beaches (except Trunk) are free, so they’re about as cheap as it gets. I recommend taking snorkeling equipment with you…you can get a decent set for $40 or $50, and renting it there can cost you more than that…plus, if you have your own, you don’t have to bite down on a mouthpiece full of others’ bite marks.

I love the smoothie truck/hut/shack; it’s near the intersection of 10 and 20. Their mango smoothies are amazing. I love rum, but I prefer smoothies there without the rum (so no “STJ style”).

If you have any more questions in particular, just ask