PaulMassUS

Looking for a little guidance. My wife and I are taking our adult age kids (son 16, daughters 18 and 20) for their first caribbean vacation (last week of June).

I hope to do a lot of snorkeling, site-seeing, and perhaps spend some evenings in town with a little activity. I will have a car. I am hoping to rent a condo or villa so we can stock the fridge and cook most meals -- probably eat out at dinnertime perhaps three times.

My question is... Do I stay on St. Thomas at a place like the Elyshian Beach Resort where I know there is a lot going on, or rent a waterfront villa that claims to be in walking distance to Red Hook for the restaurants, shops, etc? .
OR
Do I opt for a place on St. John? I personally would prefer the more natural setting of St. John, but am not sure there is enough going on for the rest of the family once we are done with the beach.

Can anyone give me some idea of what I can expect to find "in town" if we are looking for shops, restaurants, etc. on St. John? And where would we find that? Cruz Bay? Can I drive into the area and park a car? Also notice that the villas here are in the hills, any suggestions to the best place to stay, best beaches, etc.

Thanks for any help you can offer me.

wliwl

I have never stayed on St Thomas, so I'm probably not the best judge, but the villas on St John really are wonderful. In general, the activity on St John is you rent a jeep and visit a different beach everyday. This could present an issue with your kids. Unless they had their own jeep (and they're too young) they might feel too tied to your schedule. There aren't really many waterfront places in St John. You can charter a really fun day trip that will include sightseeing, snorkeling, beaching, drinking, etc. whatever you want!(I recommend Palm Tree Charters - he will pick up in ST Thomas too) and you'll have the BEST day ever.

We were way too tired for much night life in Cruz Bay, but there is some live entertainment -- my guess is that it's not a real young crowd.

From what I've seen I personally would never opt for St Thomas over St John, but I'm not dealing with your kids...lol. If we were bringing our kids (22 and 25) -- which we won't because this trip is always OUR time -- we'd still go to St John, but you're the best judge of what your kids will want.

virginia

not sure how to advise you but there is more going on on st. thomas than st. john. if you stay near red hook you can easily day trip to st. john - the ferry takes 20 mins & if you rent from the right company you can take your car over with you.
elysian is in good location, but also take a look at secret harbour beach resort. shbr is a condo style resort with outstanding beach (shade avail, gradual sandy entrance) with really good walk in snorkeliing & good restaurant (3 meals avail) & fun beach bar/cafe.
about the "waterfront" villa. that normally means no beach - possibly no water entrance for swimming at all. i've looked through 100's of villas to find the ones we've rented (none on st.t) so if you want to put up a link i'll look at it & give you my opinion.
ps. once you daytrip to st.john you will decide to go back when you can go without the kids.

PaulMassUS

Thanks to both of you.

wliwl - My wife and I figured we would have tons of opportunities in a few years to take OUR vacations. So we thought this might be one of our last opportunities to do something like this with the girls. Before they totally lose interest in being with us. Thanks again for your input it is very helpful.

Virginia - Here is one villa choice on St. Thomas - http://www.vrbo.com/340405.
I do realize we would not swim at the base of the cliffs but she tells me that it is a short, two block walk to Secret Harbour Beach Resort and we can use there beach. (The Elyshian had some units for $300-$350/night and there was nothing close at Secret Harbour).

I also found this "funky little place" on St. John that I can rent for as few as 2 nights.
http://www.homeaway.com/vacation-rental/p377400
It is over on the Coral Bay side of the island. Any thoughts to staying in that location?

My kids (even at their ages) are really not look to "tear it up" at night. They will love to explore beaches, snorkel, hike, and maybe find a little open-air restaurant with some steel drum music playing at night before we turn in. (Just not sure if they would be up for that for the entire week that is why I am considering breaking it up).

Thanks again for any further advise you might have.

wliwl

I love Coral Bay. It is a quiet little place with a few awesome restaurants. BUT your kids will prefer Cruz Bay - which is still a relatively quiet small town, but it has some fun, lively spots. If you could find a villa within walking distance (keep in mind St John is REALLY HILLY, so you can't judge by distance alone). There are two nice condo developments within walking for sure - Gallows Point and Grande Bay. If they didn't want to tag along with you to the beach they could take taxis. Or ask on the St John forum for a villa suggestion near Cruz Bay.

http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.co...wforum.php?f=1

Good luck. I can't imagine you could go wrong either place. One thing your kids could find really fun is to rent a dinghy from Noah's Little Arks and head off on their own or with you. They'd need a little experience running an outboard motor, and some life jackets, but they can snorkel, pull up on several beaches, and generally explore.

virginia

the house looks fine. has ac. good deck - you'll have a great sunset view and the pool. only drawback i could think of is the walk home from shbr beach is uphill.
the cottage on st. john is cute as all get out.
i would not advise moving part way through - too much in 6 days.

hawksbill

I would rule out the waterfront villa that is within walking distance to Red Hook, for two reasons. First, having walked the whole stretch from the ferry dock to the high school a number of times, I don't think that such a villa actually exists. Second, although I've mostly been at Red Hook during the day, I really don't think there would be much there in terms of night life. It's kind of a big strip mall, rather than a happening town. Duffy's Love Shack and Molly Malone's are there, but I think you could duplicate those experiences in other locations.

brennynp

Paul, your kids will love St John. Agree with Hawksbill above regarding Red Hook. For a first time visit, I'd try to stay on the Cruz Bay side if you can.

Kathva

If you hope to do a lot of snorkeling, stay on St John and rent a jeep to explore the island. Regular car will not do. You & your kids could visit 2 beaches everyday and return to a beautiful villa nicely exhausted. Research which area appeals to you. We are returning to the Coral Bay area for the third time. We love the "quieter" side of the island and are taking our young adult kids with us this time. There are some fun restaurants out this way. Enjoy!

PaulMassUS

Again, thank you all for your time and thoughtful advice. All of the information I have been gathering is priceless.
Kathva - Do you have any villa recommendations for the Coral Bay area. I seem to be drawn to that area with some of the funky little restaurants and such. I am hoping for a 2 or 3 bedroom (something to sleep 5) in the $2,000/wk. range. I have look at looked at countless options on the internet but as you know probably know what you see is not always what you get.

ALSO - can anyone fill me in on what to expect traveling there in June...is it busy, slow, deserted?

wliwl

PaulMass - You can find good villa reviews here (overall it's a GREAT forum for St John):

http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.co...ws/index.shtml

Also, there are great (and funky) restaurants in Cruz Bay. Trust me, Cruz Bay is very small town feeling, but the waterfront bars and such are probably better. (Having said that, Coral Bay has great restaurants too...but it's a small island and nothing precludes you from checking out both towns.)

June will be slow, but very nice. Be sure to reserve a jeep ahead of time regardless. We've only stayed at one villa - Summer Wind on Bordeaux, but we love it and will be back there in a month. It's sort of half way between the two towns and in a very private, fairly remote area. We rent directly from the property manager, although CaribbeanVillas.com also rents it.

Kathva

My husband & I stayed at SailView (a guesthouse) our first two years in Coral Bay (fabulous!) Year 2, my brother in law & spouse rented the other room there. So that is not big enough for your family.

This year we will be 5 adults and one baby. We are renting Coconut Breeze (3 bedroom) through destination St John. I think it's beyond your 2,000 budget range. Be sure to get a villa with A/C at least in the bedrooms. You will need it that time of year. Good luck with villa shopping! Be sure to look at VRBO and homeaway.com plus tripadvisor forum.