Vicki

I recently read several posts that discussed the safety of staying in St. John's and the increase in crime, robbery, rape. In November I booked a villa in Chocolate Hole for myself and my 21 year old daughter. I was lead to think that St. John's was a very safe island. Now I am very concerned about our safety as being two women alone. I have the trip insured and I can easily get back my deposit and airfare. Please advise. Should we reconsider and visit another island where we would stay at a hotel or all inclusive??/

Mary

Vicki,<BR>My fiance and I vacationed on St John (no s) last spring. We are going back again in about 2 months. I am going back alone with my 17 year old son this summer. I never felt unsafe, nor uncomfortable for a minute. <BR>We used the entire island of St John as our resort.... I would never be happy stuck in a hotel or resort compound. Go on with your trip, you won't regret it for a moment!

steve

Hello Vicki:<BR><BR>I can only speak from my experience in St. John about three years ago with three other guys. We stayed in St. Thomas but twice took a very cool 20 minute ferry ride over to St. John. To this day, I can say that St. John was the nicest island I have ever been to, and I have been to a few islands. The beaches and snorkeling could not be beat. The laid back, easy going feeling was amazing. I never felt unsafe there, although there were four of us guys. My wife camped out at Cinnamon Bay about five years ago with her girlfriend and explored the entire island in a jeep. They loved it and never felt unsafe. The only area to be alert is where you go to rent a jeep. They get somewhat competitve with eachother and it felt a little uneasy. But no real threat. Go and enjoy one of the last unspoiled islands. If mellow and quiet is what you want, St. John is it.

xxxxx

first you can't collect on the trip insurance because you changed your ming! <BR>second if you cancel you will be missing a wonderful experience based on a few blow hard reports. Yes, there are incidents and there are incidents every where in the world. If you are that afraid, stay home and wrap up in a bubble. In the meantime take normal safety precautions like locking doors, using a safe for valuables and using good common sense. No one can answer if you should stay in a gated compound but I think that the bubble wrap at home sounds more exciting! Do some more reading and work and I think you'll find that the gremlins are here and trying to get people to react just as you are! And if someone asks if you wanna little weed, don't be an uptite asshole like the guy in the other thread who got hassled cause he was a jerk but just politely decline!

Face Facts

This is RECENT information from St. John's own online newspaper.<BR><BR>Apparently it'snot just &quot;blowhards and a$$holes&quot; who think there are emerging crime problems on St. John (even moreso on the other USVI's).<BR><BR> Nov. 18, 2002 - In a year when a soaring homicide rate and a lagging economy have the territory's crime fighters facing tough and trying times, the U.S. Attorney's Office presented its first Law Enforcement Officer, or LEO, Awards to recognize those who stand out for their hard work and dedication to law-enforcement. <BR> <BR> Oct. 31, 2002 - In response to public concern over violent crime sweeping the territory in recent weeks, top law-enforcement officials issued a plea to the community Thursday to help provide leads to investigators. <BR> They announced that a crime sweep early Wednesday morning involving 43 officers from various agencies resulted in the arrest of three people suspected of being involved in at least four of the 20 killings so far this year on St. Croix. <BR> Meanwhile, a St. Thomas man was arrested on Tuesday evening and charged with murder in connection with the Labor Day weekend abduction and shooting death of 21-year-old Travis Poleon in downtown Charlotte Amalie. <BR> The most recent homicide recorded in the territory, on Monday, was the 19th on St. Thomas this year and the 39th in the territory. The other 20 occurred on St. Croix. <BR><BR>Oct. 19, 2002 – An effort is being made on St. John to bring the resources of a federal crime fighting program to keep a residential community from losing its quality of life. <BR> Within the bounds of the community, residents and law enforcement professionals have cited a rise in drug dealing and drug houses, gambling and the number of residents who have to check in with the parole officer. Kids in the area are sometimes recruited as couriers for large amounts of cash used to place bets on cockfights on St. Thomas. <BR> Violent crime is not a real problem on St. John. The largest problem is with burglaries, the kind of crime that provides quick cash to those who want to fund illegal activities.<BR><BR>

optimist

Well, I guess &quot;Face Facts&quot; doesn't live here but he or she has sufficient information to quote the stats derived from innumerable sources (so readily available on the net) to cast a doubting Thomas (no pun intended) cloud on the US Virgin Islands in general.<BR>Where DO you live, &quot;Face Facts&quot;? Bet I could get on the net and do a whole bunch of research about where you live and come up with a whole bunch of nasty stuff, don't you think?<BR>We can all look at crime statistics and they can all be twisted any way whichway.<BR>Vicki, you'll be fine here, as so many thousands of visitors have been.

villa

<BR>Vicki, <BR><BR>In the Conde Nast Traveler magazine there was an article about safety in the Caribbean -- it said when renting a private villa you should inquire about security, and if there isn't any you should consider hiring your own. That's a potential advantage of staying in a resort with security personnel and other people around -- instead of a villa where you are alone and vulnerable. Although St. John is one of the safer islands, it does have a long history of villa break-ins. I've read many a report where people were woken up at night by intruders although most break-ins occur while they are away. Most of the increases in violent crime we've been reading about are spilling over from St. Thomas and St. Croix, which are sporting all-time high records in violent crime. I wouldn't recommend that you not go to St. John, but 2 women alone might be better off in a resort with security like Caneel or the Westin.

maggie

My family of 4 (two teenage girls) just returned from St John on Dec 6th. I was a bit apprehensive about USVI after reading the forums. Upon arrival to our villa we received information about the recent breakins occuring on the island. The villa had a safe for our valuables and they instructed us to lock the doors to all the bedrooms at night and when we left the house. It would be very easy for intruders to get into these &quot;open air&quot; homes. However, everything was fine and we did not hear of any burglaries or any crimes while we were there. I would go back in a heartbeat to St John. Have a great time!!!

fyi

That's really sad that you are being advised to lock the bedroom doors in addition to the house itself. You would think the main locks to the house would be enough to keep out the evil-doers!

fyi

the doors to the bedrooms need to be locked since many villas have seperate pavilions for sleeping which are apart from the living quarters often seperated by a pool, a courtyard, a garden and are detached. They are not like the houses that you may be familiar with.

Info

Thanks second fyi for setting the first fyi straight. This is the problem here on this forum. People making brash statements about nothing they know about, instead of just reading. Why didn't fyi ask why the need to lock the BR doors and they would have soon learned that most of those villas are so open for the fresh air and Caribbean ambiance! Give info on what you know for fact, do not surmise!

joan

Vicki, when in St. John don't forget to lock yourselves in your bedrooms at night! Hopefully no one is prowling around the villa at night while your lights are on to see if there is anything/anyone worth breaking in to get! Be safe, and enjoy &quot;paradise&quot;!

Jill

don't forget to lock up your cute little surburban cube tonight before you go to sleep, when you leave for work in the morning and be sure to lock your car door in the grocery parking lot. I know you do.

tamarind

Vicki..the Chocolate Hole area has a long history of villa break-ins. I agree with the others... go for a resort with security. Or perhaps a really safe island like Anguilla. There are plenty of resorts that don't even have locks on the door because crime is so low.

Lisa

To Face Facts:<BR><BR>Perhaps you should read what you are posting. The question is about St John. If anyone other than myself takes the time to read though your massive post, they would see the info specifically on St John stated: Violent crime is not a real problem on St. John. <BR><BR>Try to make your posts more to the point so we don't have to read a bunch of crap before getting to the answer of the original question.

allan

The point of that article was that VIOLENT crime is more of a problem on St. Croix and St. Thomas, and that PROPERTY crime, THEFT, and DRUG related offenses are the main problem in St. John.<BR><BR>

johnzzz

First of all St. John is probably safer than 90% of all towns in the U.S. People say some crazy things which are very disturbing to us folks who actually live on St. John. I lived in both St. Thomas and St. John. I have been to almost every carribean island and have yet to find a more welcoming peaceful place than St. John. Don't worry about a thing! If your staying in a villa-lock your doors at night. Just use basic common sense people. This issue has dragged on way too long! Lets put it to rest please.

DJ

Hi all... <BR>My husband and I have been going to St. John every year since 1990. We have stayed at private villas and the Westin Resort. Over the years, we have come to know many locals, the restarants and the beaches...In all that time, I have never, NEVER felt that my safety was an issue. The food is amazing (my favorite meal is tuna at Morgan's Mango prepared with oil and garlic). We always rent a jeep for the week and explore all the nooks and crannies of the island. A friend of ours, who is a resident of the island, authored a book on the beaches of the USVI so we have a wonderful resource. We travel over to Coral Bay and back and have never had one problem. JUST GO! You won't regret it!

optimist

Vicki, I couldn't agree more with the last two posts.<BR>Unfortunately, the violent crimes on STT and STX are gang-related, drug-related, or domestic-related. I'm certainly not trying to make light of these things but people see/read the stats and fail to realize that they have nothing to do with tourists.<BR>I really fear saying more because I'll perpetuate this post ad nauseum and I concur with &quot;johnzzz&quot; that enough has been said and this post should be put to rest.<BR>You'll be fine, here, Vicki and you'll have a fantastic holiday!<BR>

realist

Armed robbery is a violent crime, and several instances of tourists being robbed at gunpoint occurred in the USVI during the last year. You can look up the details about those crimes on various USVI websites, or I can provide links to those stories if you can't find them yourself. &quot;optimist&quot; is lying by saying tourists are never involved. The fact remains that cruise ships stopped visiting St. Croix in 2002 in part due to the crimes against cruise ship passengers. Statistically the USVI have one of the highest homicide and crime rates in the Caribbean. You have to be very careful where you go after dark and even in daylight on St. Thomas and St. Croix, although St. John is much safer.