croix

I am now hooked on this site. Unfortunately I AM IN INFO OVERLOAD! I have been too @10 places in the Caribbean and find St. John the best all around----for a family of 4--lushness, snorkeling, restaurants, beaches--some pricey some not.

Please tell me the closest island to St. John-----leaning toward Anguilla (i know its not lush---my second bible is the 02 Fodors Carib.) but think it may be somewhat decent snorkeling and very good beaches with very good food. Concessions have to be made and Anguilla makes me somewhat nervous about the food costs----others have opined about the beach bars, but it all looks high.

IDEAS?

DAVECAROL

:

We feel the same about St.J. We went to Anguilla one year after St. and John. I can't say we were too impressed - it just didn't live up to the hype nor the expectations St. John set. Obviously there are people who are just nuts over it, but in most cases (I think) they aren't the same people who rave about St. John.

So far we haven't found an equal, but we're looking toward Virgin Gorda as a possible.

croix

HI DAVECAROL: What unimpressed you specifically about Anguilla? If they have great beaches/ some snorkeling/ gourmet food and great beach side rest's that are not as pricey as the gourmet ones then I'm ok. Still miss the hills and hikes in St. John---just need a change.

penny

Well I love Anguilla and St. John!!
I love the beaches, little beach bars, casual & fine dining,ALL the waterfront stand alone spots for dining, this beats St. John hands down! Its very easy to get around, not hilly (not crazy about the roads during the rain),
more hotel choices. Anguilla should not make you nervous about food prices-
Tastys, E'Oven, Corner pizza, Fat Cat take out, Engish Rose lots more!

I love the snorkeling in St. John!
I enjoy funky little Cruz bay. I love Ascolare, Paradisio, Caneel Beach terrace. The roaming donkeys, mongoose
and lots of sea turtles. As far as prices they are about the same!

Its really a toss, but Anguilla and its people won my heart. L

DAVECAROL

:

Well, since you asked what didn't impress us .....here goes. Prepare for the onslaught of Anguillaphiles who will vehemently disagree .

But before I start - for the record we had a good time on Anguilla. It was certainly not a bad experience. I just don't think it was any where near as good as the hype, or worth the money, and I doubt we would go back. That being said....

First, I think the beaches are far better on St. John - why you may ask? Because the beach to me is more than just the sand, it is the whole panoramic experience. St. John's beaches are carved out of the hilly landscape, protected from the wind, with places to hide from the sun when you want to. And the sand and surf is identical if not better (particularly on STJ's north shore). Anguilla is just sand. Miles and miles and miles of the same view (Grace Bay on Provo is in the same category, but we found the island more charming than AXA).

Anguilla is windy. Not ridiculous windy like Aruba, but I didn't care for it.

Anguilla is scrubby and flat. Not just sparse, but downright unattractive. It doesn't just want for some hills, it wants for some trees as well.

To me the windy hilly roads were one of the best parts of exploring StJohn. Don't believe that the driving experience is better on AXA because there aren't any hills or turns - the roads are mostly deplorable.

It's not that the snorkelling is bad on Anguilla, it's virtually non-existent.

The food is outrageously priced on Anguilla, but to be fair, it was actually worse on St. Lucia. But the upside is that the food is as advertised - quite excellent. Not a bad meal to be had. And there are some more reasonably priced restaurants as Penny mentioned. But also like Penny mentioned, St. John has some great food as well.

Here's one that won't go over very well ... but remember it's my opinion and my observation from one 11-day visit. I thought the island was fairly pretentious. Not the locals - they were mostly very courteous and friendly - but other travelers. It was a "see and be seen" kind of crowd. I didn't get that impression on STJ, or St Lucia (at the Jalousie), Turks & Caicos, or any other island we've been to. St. John in particular was very down-to-earth.

You mentioned that you are a family of 4. I don't know if that includes any small children, but we didn't care for the attitude of other travelers regarding our well-behaved 3 year-old (see pretentious comments). We received disapproving looks from others on more than a few occasions - and I'm not talking about places like really hoitee-toitee restaurants, I mean mid-afternoon on Meads Bay (beach), and Sunday afternoon at Scilly Cay. No big deal, it just adds to that intangible feeling (again, see pretentious). And before anyone tries to justify ..... she was not misbehaved or bothersome when these looks came. Maybe it was just when we happended to be there, but that was our experience.

The beachside casual restaurants are great - we were quite fond of Johnno's and the Pumphouse (although technically not ON the beach), but it's not a deal-breaker or a deal-maker for me personally.

So again, all of that combined to make us "not impressed".

*** and please pardon any spelling errors, I'm not a gifted typist.

Diana

Wow DAVECAROL!
I don't know how you did it, but you pretty much summed up our feelings/impressions about Anguilla perfectly!
On the plus side, as you mentioned, I found the locals to be absolutely some of the nicest people in the Caribbean, and it was fun to go over to St. Martin for the day.
We don't have kids, so didn't have to deal with dirty looks (what is WRONG with people?).
Unfortunately, due to my husband's caseload, we could only go during October, and many of the excellent restaurants were closed, so we didn't even get to have the consolation of a lot of good places to choose from - although the places we went were excellent, we had to go back to several of them more than once since there were so few open.
But we found the whole place to be vastly overrated.
We are headed to St John soon for two weeks for the first time and are really excited about it.
(I did like Provo a bit more than Anguilla though...)

penny

I enjoyed reading your posts about your likes and dislikes of Anguilla. Its one of those islamds that is not for everyone. I will go back to St. John, not St. Lucia. Now Provo is a spot I want to try.

Becca

My husband and I feel the same way about St. John - we've been to many islands in the Caribbean, and so far nothing can compare! For our next vacation, I'm thinking about trying Grenada, the BVIs, or Turks & Caicos. From things I read and pictures I've seen, it seems that these places might come pretty close to what we enjoy about St. John.

sofun1

Becca, you might look into Jost Van Dyke BVI - my husband and I did a day trip there (only a couple hundred inhabitants, not far from St. John) to the Soggy Dollar Bar (adjoining Sandcastle Inn) and Foxy's. These two places are worth the visit initself! very remote, but gets visitors stopping in, which adds to it. Virgin Gorda is where we honeymooned, but is a bit more arid/deserty (we live in the desert and prefer more lushness like StJ) but Virgin Gorda is very special and the people all wave to you when you walk down the street. Happy hunting!

uh_no_ying1

wow DAVECAROL, that has got to be the only critical comments i've ever seen that wouldn't invite harsh remarks afterwards! i very rarely provide praise (as you can well see) but i have to hand it to you. ya gave very insightful reasons WHY ya didn't appreciate a place as much as ya hoped for. great work. an example for others to follow.

although i might not agree with your overall assessment, your well-stated opinion will certainly be taken into consideration for any future visit.

&gt

rwilliams

To DAVECAROL:
That was a very nicely worded summary. Regardless of whether or not others agree, a well articulated opinion stands on its own merits.
I don't really consider myself an Anguilla-phile. I would offer one comment, however, about your impressions of Anguilla. In my experience (not true of everyone, I realize) my home base hotel/resort has a far reaching effect in coloring my opinion of the host area. That's one reason I'm very picky about hotels.
On my one trip to Anguilla this summer I drove all over the island. Anguilla is not an attractive spit of land, to be sure. And I spent some time imagining what it would have been like to stay at some of the other inland and beach resorts we visited.
What I'm driving at is that I think many of the Anguilla fanatics feel as they do because they stay at resorts right on the best beaches on the island.

Wer stayed at Cap Juluca and had the best view in the resort. It was truly beautiful--SXM across the water, the manicured crescent shaped beach, nice rolling waves, beautiful Moorish buildings dotting the shore, plenty of trees. No visible scrubland or salt ponds or shacks. Just a picture perfect scene all day every day. That's what I remember most about my trip there. It's easy to recall the interior of the island. And if I'd stayed anywhere but CJ (maybe Malliouhana, maybe CuisinArt) I would have less favorable impressions of Anguilla.
Regardless, we probably won't go back soon. Too many other places to see.