Jeff

Family looking for first Caribbean experience. Requirements include (in order of importance) 1) easy access (travelling with toddler) from U.S. mainland (i.e., direct flights from Miami, Atlanta, Dallas, or Houston -- we are from the West Coast), 2) exellent uncrowded white-sand beaches with 2a) good swimming/snorkelling, 3) hiking or some sort of nature excursions, 4) decent shopping and dining, 5) friendly people, 6) golfing accessible within a reasonable distance. We are planning on renting a villa. <BR> <BR>Extensive research led us to dig deeper on Grenada (water not that 'aquamarine' we are looking for and harder to get to), St. Lucia (mostly black-sand beaches), St. Martin/Maarten (realtively dirtier and higher crime), BVI (no golf on any of the Islands), leaving Barbados and the USVI as our 'finalists' and we are leaning towards USVI (with Barbados still in the running.) The problem is which USVI to choose. <BR> <BR>St. Thomas seems to have it all but seems maybe a little too overrun by cruise-ship passengers, beaches are probably relatively more crowded and many less to choose from the St. John. <BR> <BR>St. John appears to be almost exactly what we are looking for as we can take the Ferry to St. Thomas for shopping if we don't get enough on St. John. The quality and selection of beaches here looks astounding. One problem, no golf. So maybe the question is, how much of a pain would it be for our golf enthusiasts to take the passenger (or car) ferry over with their clubs and go golfing on St. Thomas? I guess they could take the passenger ferry and rent clubs or hop a taxi to the course? <BR> <BR>St. Croix has the golf courses but it appears the quality and selection of its beaches falls a far third place behind the other two islands, except for Buck Island. <BR>

escarabajo30

First keep in mind I have only been to ST Thomas. <BR> <BR>1) easy acces: To enter any of the USVI you'll have to get into a small airline to travel from San Juan, PR over to those islands(you can flight in American Eagle, Cape Air, Liat, which are companies you can trust) <BR> <BR>2) uncrowded beaches, ST Thomas will always be crowed, ST Croix has many beautiful looking beaches, but ST John since it's the less visited, you're almost guarantee you'll find a beach only for yourself(at this time of season) <BR> <BR>3) hiking and excursions: St Thomas doesn't offer as many excursions as ST John, or maybe even ST Croix, since ST Thomas is mostly for shopping and nighlife at hotels <BR> <BR>4)decent shopping: The best shopping is on ST Thomas, but if you're on one of the other island, you just can hop in one of those ferries and spend almost a day in ST Thomas. <BR> <BR>5) friendly people: All of the island have friendly people, since most of the economy is based on tourism, they just can't have a bad attitude against tourist. <BR> <BR>6) St Croix is the only one of the 3 USVI that has golfing... <BR> <BR>I guess that ST Croix will be the best option for you, but if you still haven't decided yet, you can always check ST Kitts/ Nevis, which basically have all that you've said in a relatively small 2 island nation. <BR>

Karen

1. can't help much with direct flights but think USAir goes out of Charlotte, AA out of MIA but that's something that their airline websites can figure out for you! To get to St. John, you fly into STT and then ferry to St. John. Not a hassle really since the ferry can be a 45 minute or 15 minute boat ride from STT depending where you catch the ferry. <BR>2. St. John would have the more pristine beaches since most are in the Nat'l Park. But you won't find many accomodations right on a beach so you will be carrying the kids, the beach stuff and all the stuff associated with kids to the beach in the car. The exception is Caneel Bay (great beaches, high end prices) and the Westin (not so nice beach, good pool, usually specials) but from the Westin, you'll be traveling to the other beaches too! A few villas on the beach but not many. <BR>3. All three offer excursions. St. Thomas has loads to St. John and the BVI's (Virgin Gorda, Jost, etc) as does St. John to the BVI's or snorkling trips, diving, etc. You can choose to do the same via public ferry. Bigger charters with lots of people, small 6-pack boats with only 6 pax, sail and power. St. Croix offers excursions to Buck Island for snorkling. St. John would be the hiking and exploring in the Nat'l Park. You could hop a puddle jumper flight to travel between St. Croix and St. Thomas and St. Croix does have a casino now. <BR>4. All have decent shopping and good dining. St. Thomas is the mecca with the most concentrated shopping in Town and at the cruise ship dock. STJ shopping is limited to two small areas but it easy to go to STT for a "fix" if necessary! There is some outstanding dining on all three islands. <BR>5. Greet everyone with a "Good morning" or "good day" you'll find everyone a lot friendlier. St. John has a higher concentration, I am guessing, of expats than the other two. I have found no problem with the islanders and the "friendliness" on any of the three. <BR>6. Golf on St. Croix offers 2 courses, Carambola and the Buccaneer. St. Thomas offers Mahogney Run (and there are condos right there for rent). From St. John, you would take the ferry and taxi to the golf course on STT. (If you are going before Fall, check the conditon since part of it is closed now for reseeding and sodding of the greens). <BR>St. Thomas can get busy on Cruise Ship Days in Town and with some extra traffic in and around Town. There are some lovely not busy resorts and beaches on St. Thomas and the island is much more than a "cruise ship stop" for shopping! Especially out on East End or the West End you will find some very peaceful "remote" spots but West End would be further from the ferry, Red Hook, etc! I would say St. John would be the most expensive, then St. Thomas and the least expensive generally, St. Croix. St. Croix's beaches are not as nice, imo, as either St. Thomas or St. John and do not offer the opportunity to snorkle and swim, other than at a couple of spots, that the other islands do. On cruise ship days, you will find that the "tourist attractions" and "tourist beaches" do get busy - Magen's and Coki on STT, Trunk and some of the others on St. John. Don't know about St.X. but the cruisers tend to arrive mid to late morning and leave mid afternoon at the beaches where they normally go. Trunk especially can get jammed! If you want to check out some of the beaches, go to www.vinow.com for the islands or for some great pix of St. John beaches, head to www.stjohnlinks.com (there's loads of villas there too!). <BR>When you say "villa" are you referring to a free standing self catering villa? Some of the condo resorts and condo owners are calling their units "villas" now too so watch for that! <BR>www.usvi-on-line.com is an active site with an active bb board if you have other questions or want other opinions or post here. <BR>Good luck!

Rod Stewart

Well I have to disagree with Escarabajo 30 on a few points. American Airlines offers direct jet service to the USVI from Miami while Delta Airlines offers direct jet service to the USVI from Atlanta. There are plenty of uncrowded beaches on St. Croix, St. Thomas, and St. John in the off season. St. John has loads of terrific beaches with excellent swimming/snorkeling opportunites. There are a few good ones on the eastern end of St. Thomas. Popular beaches such as Coki Beach on St. Thomas and Trunk Bay on St. John tend to be crowded when cruise ships are in port at Charlotte Amaile, but you can easily work around that by visiting other beaches on those days or going to those beaches either before 10 am or after 4 pm. Sapphire Beach and Secret Harbour Beach are slao excellent choices for swimming & snorkeling on the eastern end of St. Thomas. They are seldom ever crowded. <BR> <BR>The National Park on St. John has lots of hiking trails. The western end of St. Croix has a forest with trails to explore. <BR> <BR>All 3 islands offer good shopping. St. Thomas has more shops with a better variety of goods, but shopping in Christiansted and Cruz Bay is also good. St. Thomas has several excellent restaurants as does St. John. There are a few on St. Croix also. <BR> <BR>St. Croix has 1 good 18 hole golf course at the Buccaneer on the eastern end of the island and an excellent 18 hole course at the Carambola Resort. St. Thomas has a small 9 hole course which is not so good and a good 18 hole course at Mahogany Run on the northeastern coast. You can easily catch the ferry from St. John to Red Hook which is just a few miles from this course. The ferry schedule is at http://www.st-thomas.com/week/ferries.html. <BR> <BR>You will find lots of friendly people on all three islands, but it seems to me that there is a bigger percentage of friendly folks on St. John. Perhaps because that island is so laid back. A friendly tip for dealing with all local people anywhere in the Caribbean: Give them a genuine friendly greeting when you first approach them before trying to transact any business. And always be very polite to them. New York manners are not acceptable especailly in the Virgin islands. <BR> <BR>You may wish to check out the following web sites: http://www.st-thomas.com, http://www.st-thomas.com/week/, http://www.st-john.com, http://www.st-john.com/nps/, http://www.st-croix.com, http://www.usvi.net, http://www.usvi.net/usvi, http://www.vinow.com, and http://www.usvi-on-line.com/. <BR> <BR>All of three islands are lovely, but based on your stated requirements, I would pick St. John. Hawksnest Beach on that island is the perfect place to take a toddler.

Jeff

I was leaning towards St. Croix at this point because it seems to have it all and we can get a direct flight on United from Miami. The minus is that the beaches (except for Buck Island) seem to really pale in comparison to St. John from the photos and I imagine we'll be spending a lot of time with the toddlers on the beach. <BR> <BR>It's good to here that the golf course is close to the Red Hook ferry so they can carry their clubs on the ferry and just hop a taxi to the course, right? <BR> <BR>I guess the main thing I am worried about is the transfer from the St. Thomas airport to St. John. We will have a lot of luggage and baby stuff. Seems like the best way is to rent a car and take the car ferry to St. John for $25? <BR> <BR>Maybe the best thing is spend 1 week on St. John and 1 week on St. Croix?? <BR>

Karen

Not to mislead you, the golf course is not "near" the ferry but maybe a 15 minute taxi ride. One of the web sites should have a map so you can see. Nothing is "too far" in STT since it is 13 miles from one end to the other! Yes, you can take a taxi, rent a car or even prearrange transportation with East End Taxi (and I am sure there are others) for the transfer to Red Hook. But there is also a ferry from Charlotte Amalie which is closer to the airport depending on your arrival time. The disadvantage of renting on STT and staying on STJ is that IF there are any car problems, it may take a while to straighten 'em out due to the fact that you are on another island. But, loads of people manage to take a toddler and all the assorted trappings, rent cars on STT and take 'em to STJ and do very well despite the seemingly hassle. You do realize that you will loose a whole day of your trip changing islands by the time you pack, leave the first, get to the airport, and then get to the new place and unpack again and reacclimate yourself as well as settling in? I hate that packing and loosing that time. For beaches, St. John can't be beat! Tuff decisions!

cj

St. John gets my vote. With all your baby stuff to tote, first decide what you abosolutely need and then pare down a bit. Van/minibus/taxis run right from STT airport to either red Hook or Charlotte Amalie. We liked Red Hook -- less bustle and crowds. Longer taxi ride from the airport, but a really short ferry trip. you might enjoy less time on the ferry with kids. Good luck.

tobey

If it weren't for the golf thing, St. John would be an easy choice. I think it would be a pain to schlep back and forth on the ferry with toddler and clubs, and I wouldn't want to count on playing at Mahogany Run until I knew it was fully restored. <BR>I agree that St. Croix's beaches aren't great, but there are a couple of small, decent beaches on the Buccaneer property, and I believe they have family-size cottages for rent. Plus, the resort is very close to Buck Island. There are also a couple of good but surfier beaches farther west on the island. Excellent island for golf. <BR>You didn't mention Aruba, which pretty much meets all your criteria, but is very arid and rather Americanized. The people of Aruba are fantastic and the beaches are exquisite; snorkelling (mostly NOT from the beach) is OK but not spectacular. <BR>Haven't been to Barbados - perhaps it would be a good fit, esp. if you can afford to stay on the West Coast. <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR>