A First Timer's Adventures in St. John
 

Let me start by saying that St. John is paradise. You just cannot believe the number of stunning beaches, and mile after mile of turquoise water. Getting there, however, stinks. Here is a synopsis of our vacation, the highlights and lowlights...

Flight: US Air from Buffalo to St. Thomas. We arrived on May 20th eager to get on our flight. Roadblock #1 - Our flight from Buffalo is delayed and we won't make our connection in Charlotte. They pull us off the plane. We rush to the ticket counter to see what our options are. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention we were attending a wedding on St Thomas the next day. We find out the only way to get to STT that day was to take a 2-hour cab ride to Toronto and fly American via Miami. Like bats out of hell, we get to Toronto and encounter roadblock #2 - the AA flight is delayed. Our only option was to stay in Toronto that night, and fly out the next morning. Of course we did not make it there in time for the wedding. On the other hand, we were there in time to help ourselves to copious amounts of free booze at the reception.

Villa: Coral Rays
A fantastic and reasonably-priced villa high up in Coral Bay. Here is everything you'd want to know about this villa:
1. The drive up is as steep as anything you'll ever drive. It is only about a mile, half of which is paved, and half of which is a mixture of small boulders, dirt and random chunks of concrete. You will literally scream during this portion of the ride.
2. It has all the fancy appliances you'd need - cook-top stove, kick a$$ blender, microwave, toaster, beverage fridge, grill etc.
3. There are 16 steps from the top level where the kitchen and family room are to the pool level.
4. There are 40 steps from the top level to the level where the master bedrooms are.
5. The pool is on the warm side but is still refreshing.
6. The 4 bedrooms all have much needed A/C.
7. Getting out of the bottom parking area is frightening due to the rocky, steep drive.
8. The mosquitoes are moderate. I only saw a few, but did get numerous bites.

Beaches:
Leinster Bay - Our favorite snorkeling spot. There are tons of starfish along the southwest side of Waterlemon (when facing the Cay). From the parking lot, it is a 1 mile hike along the shore. The beach is sandyish with small pebbles. This was our only turtle sighting. We also saw a small nurse shark hanging out in the shallow water where the trail ends and the beach begins. The trail to the point of the shortest swim out to Waterlemon is about .2 miles. The swim to Waterlemon is about .1 miles, and the entry is rocky.

Francis Bay - Great snorkeling near the rocks to the left when facing the water. Warning - watch out for sea urchins!! My mother stepped on one with both feet! She had to soak her feet in vinegar for days. My father-in-law kept announcing he could go for some french fries.

Salomon Bay - A 1-mile or so hike down hill on the Lind Point Trail off of North Shore Rd. I loved the remoteness, and the snorkeling was fantastic, especially along the rocks to the left.

Maho Bay - A nice, calm beach to relax at.

Trunk Bay - The quintessential beach. Snorkeling the underwater trail was great fun.

Hawksnest - Awesome snorkeling. I loved tooling around in the shallow water with my underwater camera.

Cinnamon Bay - The waviest of beaches, but a beautiful setting.

Restaurants:
We carted enough food to feed a small army with us, but still managed to eat out at a few places.

Aqua Bistro - Coral Bay - Go here! The food, atmosphere and service are all great.

Mosquito Bites - Coral Bay - Huge $6 deli sandwiches and yummy bakery goods.

High Tide - Cruz Bay - Nice spot along the water, with excellent Mahi sandwiches.

Columbo Stand - Centerline Rd - The best smoothies on the island.

For some reason the rest of my post was cut off.

Other tips:
1. Again, watch out for sea urchins!
2. The 9:15am ferry from Cruz Bay to Charlotte Amalie is iffy. On Saturday it was canceled, and on our departure date it left at 9:45am.
3. The North Shore Rd is a much easier, and prettier, drive than Centerline Rd.
4. Bring plenty of small bills for tipping - ferries, porters, cab drivers etc.
5. Consider renting a car from C&C Car Rental. Their prices were the cheapest I found, and the service was pretty good.
6. Cabs on STT are a rip-off. Don't let it stress you out.
7. Don't plan on leaving your bags at the STT airport and going shopping on your departure day. We thought we could check our bags early, but didn't realize we had to clear through customs.
8. If renting a villa in May, you'll need A/C.
9. Any day showers passed over in about 10 minutes. It also poured every night around 2am.

Please feel free to post any questions. This forum provided all of the information I needed to plan our trip, and I'd be glad to return the favor.

Thanks, kcapuani! I am thinking of going to St. John this winter. Aside from the scary trek up to the villa, how is the driving around the island.

Great trip report - thanks for the tips!

We leave for St. Thomas (w/ several day trips to St. John planned) in less than 3 weeks!

How were the mosquitos when you were there?

SZ - Only tough road we encountered was the road up to the villa. Otherwise, the roads were well paved, albeit with twists and turns and ups and downs. My husband did most of the driving, and easily got used to driving on the left.

cawhite - I honestly thought the mosquitoes weren't that bad. We were prepared for the worst, with every type of bug spray, buzz off clothing, even supposed mosquito fending bracelets. I did get bit up quite a lot, but mainly because I was lax about using bug spray. Since I rarely saw any mosquitoes, I figured they weren't there, but the noseeums must have got me.

Thanks kcapuani!

Thanks for posting a great and funny trip report. Sorry you had a very rough start getting there. It isn't the easiest to get to or cheapest place for a vacation, but IMO that's part of why it is still relatively wonderful. Did you get out to Vie's or Miss Lucy's during your trip? Do you feel like you'd like to go back sometime? Also, it's common to underestimate the mosquito/noseeums. Alas, the rose of paradise still has its thorns.

Oh, I'd definitely love to go back. There are so many beaches we didn't get to! But, as much as I liked the villa we stayed in, I think I'd select something a little closer to Cruz Bay. I'd also bring less food along so I could try out more restaurants - I know we missed out on several great ones.

Thanks for the report. We also enjoyed eating at Aqua Bistro. When you go back, try eating at La Tapa in Cruz Bay. Good eats and nice people.

Lcapuani, thanks for the trip report!! LOL re: our Dad and french fries, but ouch for your poor vinegar-soaked Mom!!
I'll be there in just over a month..ahhhh! Love Coral Bay, and now to add to the anticipation,you've mentioned somwhere new --Mosquito Bites.
Glad you enjoyed St John. Folks say the long journey is a fun part of the adventure, but Idoubt you'd agree!

This is probably a really stupid question but did you bring the food from home and check it in your suitcase or did you buy it in St. Thomas before getting on the ferry?

Lisa1224: I'm not sure who you're addressing the question to, but my answer is: both. I wrap in clothes and towels large portions of frozen, usually vacuum sealed things like steaks, shrimp or other stuff which may be limited in selection and quality or really expensive to buy in the islands, and just check it in with the rest of the luggage. Of course it involves the risk of your luggage being delayed, but we've always gotten our luggage on the next flight (extra hour or two, knock on wood!) and have never had a problem (knock on wood again!). We have also stocked up once we've landed. St. Thomas has greater selection and the prices are better, but it's bigger and harder to get around and if you don't know where you're going, it can be too much of a hassle. We mostly buy our groceries on St. John, making a quick stop for essentials before we go to the house.

Just wanted to chime in that we brought 90% of the food from home. My sister flew out of Miami and packed frozen meat in a soft cooler in her suitcase. We attempted to bring frozen meat, but when we were re-routed to Toronto, we had to throw it all out! Honestly though, I didn't find it annoying to bring food along. We were glad we did because of the grocery prices, and so we didn't have to keep making treks to the grocery store.

Just to clarify, it definitely matters where you're traveling from which effects whether or not you should bring any frozen meats. We fly from Hartford to San Juan (3.5 hours) and then just 30 minutes to St. Thomas. The trip door to door is usually no longer than 8 hours so that frozen, vacuum sealed meat insulated transports fine. Even when luggage is delayed it's almost always on the next flight which is about an hour. If you have the possibility of being diverted, you should definitely keep it in a carry on cooler which you can re-ice if needed.