Caneel Bay St. John
 

10 years at Caneel. No one knows another place like it. we are going next November again for trip 11 and all ready counting down the days... but looking for a 5 day trip in March/April in addition. Want a place that is not full of lots of people, non commercialized, and offers great snorkeling and hiking and views. St. John is like 75% National Park so it is so undisturbed.

Yes, I love Caneel, too. This winter, I am trying Bonaire, just for a change of pace.

have you picked a resort on Bonaire?

You really cannot match Caneel' snorkeling for variety of spots to snorkel and quality of snorkeling left in the Caribbean, in my opinion. Tobago Caye in the Grenadines is actually a better spot but it is a 1 visit place if you stay at PSV or at Raffles but around either island itself there is no other snorkeling and neither has hiking anyway. Might you consider extending it to 7 days? If so, i would suggest going to Belize and stay at Hamanasi Resort. It is semi-luxury with 1/3 the guests of caneel when full. They offer snorkel trips every day plus they have outing to waterfalls and Mayan ruins in a package. Because the trip is 7-9 hours from NYC or Atlanta airport to resort you would want 5 full days to make it worthwhile that is why I am suggesting 7 nights. If you consider it ask for an upper room, if walking 15 steps is not a problem. at the far end. It is pleasant there and a 4-5 minute walk to dining and 6-8 minutes to the snorkel boat. They have a nice pool and a decent beach, nothing like the Caneel beaches, though. The food was quite good on both our visits considering it's location but chef's change as you have experienced at Caneel. In the 1980's to early 1990's the food at Caneel was gourmet under RockResorts. Just an idea and you can drink the water.

Appreciate the input. My sister went to Balize and loved it. Our problem is time. We have a teenage daughter who is going with another family on a trip Spring Break so we really have 5 nights at the very most that we can be away. Hard to find anything better than Caneel. We are tempted to go there a 2nd time this year but the rates are jacked up and I dont want to stay in a garden room for ocean view prices.