truckinbob

Hi Fellow travelers,

My wife and I are in our mid-fifties and are starting to plan a trip to St. John and want to get a feel for the difference in seasons. My work schedule allows for late June or early October. We will be staying ten days.

We both like to snorkel and I'll scuba dive two or three times. Light hiking and lots of "beach with a book" time.

Car vs. jeep? We are probably staying in or around Cruz Bay, Greater Cruz bay, or Chocolate Hole and want to check out different beaches on the island.

Thanks!!!!

qwovadis

weather2travel.com June less storm risk for me

betterbidding.com Westin bidding priceline.com for me

usually from $80 join spg.com for free suite/club upgrades

maho.org many deals on VRBO careful research pay only wiht CC

Car is cheap fine cute little stiped pink jitneys are cheap

if you stay on standard routes usually do not rent personally

Just chillax it is wonderful there.

Happy Planning!

ejcrowe

We just got back from our first trip to St John and we really enjoyed it. However, in early October lots of restaurants were closed and just beginning to open when we departed on October 11. We also happened to be really lucky in weather, since late August through mid-October gets more hurricanes than any other time during hurricane season, which lasts a whopping June 1-November.

Jimmie

I think late June is a great time to go, though you will see more people, esp. kids, than in October. Late June is low summer season in terms of rates and the chance of storms is of course much lower then as opposed to October.

wliwl

Hi Truckinbob,

I can't really comment on the June vs. October thing because we've only been there in April. If you go in October buy trip insurance that covers hurricanes.

You will need a jeep - indeed that is basically all that's available for rental on St. John. We prefer the smallest Jeep (Wrangler) because the driving in not only STEEP it is tight in many places. If you rent from someplace in town (like St John Car Rental) you can park in their lot when you're in Cruz Bay.

Lots of great villas on St John. You're renting off season so the rates should be good - in many cases you'll rent a better villa for less than you can get a condo. We like a lot of privacy on vacation so you can check that out too.

Too bad you're not going in February. We're looking for a couple our age to share a day long boat charter with.

Have you been to the USVI Forum? It has good villa reviews and lots of other good stuff.

truckinbob

Hi Again,

Thanks qwovadis, we are checking out your links. Our friend has Westin timeshare points he'll sell us for cheap and we may stay in the the Westin in greater Cruz Bay though we like a bit more privacy and will probably seek out a private villa.

wliwl, thanks for the tip of getting a SMALL jeep. Will do. How did you pick out your villa? Did it have a pool? If not, do you wish you'd had one? Will you please send me the link to the USVI forum?

ejcrowe, thanks for your response, I'm juggling my schedule a bit to try to go in May to avoid both the chance of big wind and the certainty of tons of kids in the June timeframe. By the way I LOVED your blog. Great info, I've printed it and will take it with.

Thanks Jimmie, if June is good maybe May will be better!!

brenandg

Sorry to disagree on one aspect of info. You can rent many different vehicle types on STJ. We have found the cheapest to be the 2 door Jeep Wrangler and the Suzuki SX4. Honestly, we prefer the Suzuki, but you have to be careful of it "bottoming" out in some places. Much roomier than the jeep in regard to back seat and hatch space. We have used Cool Breeze many times and like them alot, but no lot in town.

Pulley

We've been to St. John 5 or 6 times in both June and Sept./Oct. Out of our 17 trips to St. John only once have we had any weather related problems. All but 1 trip has been during hurricane season. I agree with brenandg get a Suziki Viatra they are great for St. John. I've always used Lowkey Water Sports for my diving and they are located in Warfside Village in Cruz Bay. I've never used the dive operator at the Westin (if you stay there) but I have heard good things about them. Have you got a copy of St. John off the Beat Path yet? If not I highly recommend that you do. It has great information and maps about all the beaches on St. John.

wliwl

Truckinbob - Here's the link: http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.co...wforum.php?f=1

We stayed at Summerwind, and we'll be staying there again. It has a pool and a hot tub. The pools on St John can be chilly. The villa has a wonderful master suite and although it is 4 bedrooms it is wonderful for a couple, and you are only charged for two people. It is totally private, which we loved.

wliwl

To clarify on the rental -- I meant you can really only rent 4 wheel drive vehicles. I was using "jeep" sort of generically.

truckinbob

brenandg we have a request in to Cool Breeze for a Suzuki on your rec., thanks

Pulley, thanks for dive company tip. I'd only done a few minutes research on dive operations in STJ and had trouble finding many options. Is the diving there mostly wreck diving? Do you think 6 tanks is too much for 10 days? How many days do you dive in an average trip? We've ordered a copy of "Off the Beaten Path" great idea. By the way, You Tube has a video with the writer. He seems pretty cool!

wliwl thank you for the link. It looks really great and I'll give it a better look in the days to come. Summerwind looks outstanding! My wife is leaning toward being closer to Cruz bay (though not necessarily IN Cruz Bay). Tell me your feeling on that if you have the time. I am open to any part of the island since we hope to go to most of the beaches and will be everywhere at some point

wliwl

Truckinbob - Summerwind is sort of equal distance to Cruz Bay and Coral Bay, which we liked. I'd be lying if I told you the drive was easy, although it got way easier the more we did it. It is fairly remote up on Bordeaux Mtn - we liked that, but probably not everyone would.

We went to the beach everyday (packed a lunch), often stopped at the Beach Bar for happy hour, went back to villa, did a hot tub or whatever (lol), had a glass of wine or two, got cleaned up, and then headed out for dinner. So for us it works out fine.

I think it would be fun to stay right in town at Gallows too, but it is actually more expensive than the whole villa, which seems kind of dumb. Once you're in the car it doesn't seem to matter much 10 minutes one way or the other.

Pulley

Truckinbob - It is 99% reef diving - beautiful coral and fish. 6 tanks is not too much. You can do a two tank in the morning and be back to shop by 11:00 am. One of my favorite dives is around cay of Gallows Point - 35' max depth and tons of bottom time. Caravel Rock is another great one. Ask about these sites the day before and they make take to them.

truckinbob

Hi Pulley,

Thanks for the dive sites! I'm looking forward to blowing some bubbles. Been almost 2 years since my last dive. I'll request the dive sites you like.

wliwl -- we chose a villa in Great Cruz Bay called Morgan Point. The location made my wife feel good and the price was good for the two of us (less than $300/night, tax and deposit included) What I've read and seen in pics, it seems fantastic. Check it out if you feel like it.
http://www.carefreegetaways.com/home...9/Morgan+Point

Thanks again everybody, I'll keep you posted

wliwl

That villa looks absolutely lovely. You are going to love it. Have a great trip!