Planning a trip to St. Thomas in September. Need some tips on Hotels and any other ideas that might be helpful. This is our first time to the Caribbean and would like to make the best of it. <BR> <BR>Thank You, <BR>Michelle

Hi Michelle, You will have a great time, but maybe another time of year would be better for your first trip. If your intention is to go off season, I would try April-June as my first choice. <BR>St. Thomas is quite a shopping mecca and there can be a lot of traffic because of all the cruise ships to this tiny island. If you are looking for a beautiful, romantic but less crowded island, I would try St. Kitts. Other than all the shopping it is really what most people think of when they think of the Caribbean. <BR>

St. Thomas is a good start to explore the Caribb! There are lots of sites to explore your options on St. Thomas and you might want to narrow it down by choosing your "wants" and "musts" and then looking at your budget. St-thomas.com, caribbean-on-line.com, vi-fun-n-sun.com are a few places to start. Feel free to e-mail me also if you want STT/STJ info as we are there frequently! The worst part of the vacation will be the planning and the decision making - can be a real struggle!

Michelle: Be sure to hire a cab to go to the top of St. Thomas to see the view. It is absolutely breathtaking. While at the top, visit the gift shop and stop for your favorite beverage at the bar inside. <BR> <BR>The ride to the top is great fun, and expect the temperature to be about 10 degrees cooler up there. Take your camera and lots of film. <BR>

Be careful, Michelle! Hurricane season in the Caribbean runs from July-November. You may get more of an introduction to the Caribbean than you desire...

We went to St. Thomas, St. John, and Aruba in July 1994. If you stay in St. Thomas, take the boat over to St. John for the 4th of July celebration. It's their carnival down the main street in town. Reggae music and locals dressed in costumes. It is a fun time! I would not book a trip to the caribbean in September. The weather is too unpredicatable, and we've had to cancel trips due to the hurricanes.

If you are intent on going in September then you should either go to one of the islands outside of the hurricane belt (Aruba, Bonaire or Curacao) or make sure that you can get refunded if you have to cancel your trip because of a hurricane.

That's why they sell insurance!! For a small fee, you can insure your trip and if it cancelled for whatever, you do have recourse. Not very comforting to a traveler who has waited all year, but I would not go in hurricane season (or anyother time, for that matter) if I were paying big bucks for a trip! I have yet to run into a resort or airlines that was less than cooperative when we had to change ... and, in fact, have had to change the February trip more times than October or early December because of a hurricane's damage. Although the ABC's boast "perfect" weather, it only takes a December such as they had this year to carefully consider such boasts! <BR>Weather is totally unpredictable ... just look at Lenny! ... but anytime during hurricane season is risky! But if the hurricane skips the island, it is usually wonderful weather!