Honeymoon in May '01: Tortola or St. Johns???
 

We narrowed it down to Tortola & St. Johns, but it's tough making a choice! We're looking for a relaxing vacation with: <BR>-great beaches <BR>-lots of outdoor activities (hiking, biking, etc) <BR>-lots of different things to see <BR>-good restaurants <BR>and a very nice place to stay. Nightlife is not important. Help!

I prefer St. John mainly because of the beaches. Tortola falls far short of my expectations for beaches and would definately check out some of the other BVI islands with great beaches if your heart is set on the BVI.

Bill: <BR> <BR>There are some stunning beaches on Tortola, (Smugglers Cove, Cane Garden Bay, Long Bay, Brewers Bay)you just have to find them! I like Tortola because it's a convenient point to visit the other BVIs, (ie. Virgin Gorda, Jost Van Dyke, Peter Island) which are gorgeous! Definitely lots of things to see!

Hands down Tortola or one of the other BVI's. Check out past posts and you will find that many others share my opinion of liking the BVI's much better than USVI'S. Staying on Tortola is enough for any person but add to it the ability to jump off to the other surrounding islands and you could have many additional things to do.

True, you have to "find" them ... Smugglers was nice but a long hard ride to get there and then you can rent a chair and there are no "facilities" if needed. Long Bay was rough and rocky and impossible to get in the water ... but it is a pretty beach. Brewer's was nice ... but none hold a candle to the other BVI's or St. John! Tortola is a "jeep about" island and, imho, it is enjoyed by those who love to commute beach to beach and not what I enjoy. I want a georgous calm swimmable beach right outside my door ... kinda hard to find on Tortola. But all those sailors couldn't be wrong as for years it was used mostly as a jumping off spot for the BVI's ... and I think that appeal remains for me! Thank goodness we don't all like and expect the same!

Considering your criteria, I am not certain that you really want the Caribbean. At best I don't that either of the islands are a biking area unless you both are long distance mountian biking types in topical weather. Hiking is really limited although there is a lot of areas to walk around. They both tend towards water activities such as diving and sailing. Outside of nature, there is not a great deal to see on either of the islands in the normal tourist sense. Restaurants are mostly at resorts on either island as the locals cannot afford the food you would like to eat. Are you certain that you don't want to go to the Hawaii where, depending on island, they really offer almost everything that you have in your wish list? Other than that, if you are not really familiar with the Caribbean, I would suggest that you go to Caneel Bay in St John if you want the best there. In Tortola it gets a little tougher without going to out islands. It is hard to know what your budget is as the Caribbean can be expensive.

How dumb can I get. I just notice that they are going on May 1. I wonder where they went and what happened?

I am even dumber yet. I just noticed that it is May 1, 01 for the honeymoon. I guess I have a hard time understanding why you would want to wait almost a year to get married unless you needed to need the first divorce to become final. I know that I had to wait 3 months and our 50th will be in January 2001. We are still happy and plan to go white water rafting down the Rogue River in a week.

Please . . . it's St. JOHN, not St. JohnS!!! <BR>

Trust me on this one, if it is beaches you want and good, interesting restaurants---ST. JOHN. While there you can take a day trip to the BVI and see if Tortola or another is your cup of tea. But start with ST. JOHN, you won't be sorry.

Ditto to last message. Stayed in St. John & Virgin Gorda. Visited MANY MANY rentals and hotels and there are only 2 which are supreme (that's relative when you speak of the Virgin Islands, but still exceptionally nice) Caneel Bay StJ, and Little Dix Bay in VG. Gallows Point and Lavendar Hill were great condo's. St. John is more tropical than arrid Virgin Gorda - BUT 4 times as many people. Just depends on your taste, I guess.

Hi Bill, <BR>I'll have to agree that I didn't find the beaches in Tortola to be too agreeable. Virgin Gorda has nicer beaches but the island is very dry and desert-like. St. John is much more green and lush and offers better beaches, just like you see in pictures - only they're not the same as actually seeing it first-hand. As St. John is mostly national park, you can definately find private areas to hike or bike (a bit rugged, I might add) and you can always take the ferry to BVI for day trip. The two make a good combination for a honeymoon. <BR> <BR>If BVI is your choice I would suggest Peter Island Resort. This private reserve will cater to your every need yet is low-key. They will even pack a picnic for you and drop you off on a secluded "honeymooners" beach to just be by yourself. You can use bikes throughout the private island and explore as much as you like. Should I ever get married again, I think Peter Island would be my resort of choice for all-around good options.

St. John has good restaurants, hiking at the national park and great beaches at Caneel Bay and surrounding areas. <BR>As for Hawaii-they are not as tranquil as one may think. Besides, Caneel is a bit tropical like some resorts in Hawaii-just calmer waters! <BR>Good Luck!!!(you may want to try Caneel(USVI) and Little Dix Bay(BVI)-they have a nice package combined together!!)

Bill, <BR> Well, I will throw in my 2 cents worth - we had been to both places and we prefer St John to Tortola - it is a beautiful island, just be ready for a lot of people on a small island. The restaurants are very good and the beaches stunning. My only complaint is I prefer to feel like I'm in a foreign country and it is the U.S. - a small point but I remember it being bustling and busy even in '93. The national park will give you good hiking and the snorkeling is good. Good luck, Jamie

We love St. John. Have stayed at Caneel twice now. It is a great resort overall with magnificient beaches and setting. The problem recently has been the service/attitude of the staff which was not really up to par given the prices. <BR>That being said, there are absolutely manificent beaches on the property and also on the island which you can explore by jeep. The restaurants on the island are quite good and we had some really impressive meals when we were there. If you are going in May, it will be the "off season" and it will be less crowded as well. There is plenty of hiking and you can probably rent bikes as well. Not to much "to see" but on the islands with the great beaches there usually isn't too much sightseeing. We also enjoyed Little Dix Bay on Virgin Gorda and it is quieter than St John--however the beach was beautiful but not nearly the choice/quality of "off property" restuarants as available on St. John. One problem with Little Dix was also a significant number of small kids though I doubt quite as many in the off-season. Need to take this into account if you are looking for an adult holiday. It depends on your level of tolerance. We were on our first "adults only" vacation in a number of years so my tolerance for other peoples children bothering us during dinner at a pricey resort was low. <BR>Have a good time.

Gotta get in my 2 cents, too. We were on Tortola for a week earlier this month and St. John two summers ago. While Tortola is very nice, I think St. John is the better choice. Lots of great beaches. Lots of great restaurants. Shopping is not much at either island (who goes on these trips to shop, anyway?), but it is still better on SJ. Our personal choice is to rent a villa. Gotta get one with a private pool -- only way to go. We did so for the first time on SJ and now think we will always try to rent a villa wherever we go. On St. John, we stayed at Sea Wind, which can be found at www.cateredto.com.

Lots of emotion from the posters thus far. It really depends on what is most important. Regarding beaches, for example, if you want very nice looking beaches, then St. John probably has more of them than Tortola, but if you want your photo to not have 20 dozen tourists in it, choose Tortola. As Louis said, if you want to bike on the highways, go somewhere else, because you stand a great chance of ending your marriage early in a messy bit of carnage on either island. As to resorts, if you want some a very fancy resort, nice high-rise structure or liveried bell-boys, and gold-plated faucets, then St. John is the spot. If you want terra cotta floors, resorts that hold maybe 50-60 people in a country that does not allow buildings higher than a palm tree, then opt for Tortola. <BR>Now a personal note that betrays my own experience and preferences: we stopped going to the USVI when our room was broken into and we were hassled by street people. We saw too much of the U.S. and its problems in St. Thomas. St. John was rushing to become just like its big sister, St. Thomas. We much prefer the quiet friendliness of Tortola or Virgin Gorda. We tend to make one ferry trip over to St. Thomas or St. John during our stay on Tortola and that one trip sates our need for the USVI hustle-bustle. Much, much, better the lazy days at Frenchman's Cay on Tortola!!!!! <BR>

ST. JOHN'S IS A VERY ROMANTIC GETAWAY! <BR>The island has some of the best beaches in the world; Trunk Bay is perhaps the Caribbean's most photographed. Snorkeling is awesome and Trunk Bay offers a guided snorkeling trail. The national park service runs a daily group hiking trip that offers a boatride at the end of the trail (bring proper shoes and pack a lunch). Very good restaurants too are located on St. John's, such as Paradiso, Cafe Roma, and Morgan's Mango. You may want to rent a Jeep to scoot around the entire island, but taxi service is available. There are daily trips to Tortola (Virgin Gorda to be specific) for snorkeling. Shopping in Mongoose Junction is interesting and not as touristy as St. Thomas (good arts and crafts); there is a nice Gazebo Bar constructed of mohagany in the center and a great cafe for breakfast and weekend dancing. The locals are friendly and the island is quite safe, so evening ventures are pleasant. To get there...you have to fly to St. Thomas and take a ferry to Cruz Bay on St. John's. A taxi will take you from the airport to the ferry station, a nice scenic ride and tour of St. Thomas. Lodging on St. John's: Gallows Point in Cruz Bay is centrally located and has a good restaurant, Ellington's. The resort has a pool and spectacular views of the sea. I like the bungalow style rooms too. The Westin Resort is a honeymooners dream. The pool and grounds are great! The Westin offers all services that you can imagine a tropical resort could offer (tennis, massage, drinks). The rooms at the Westin are typical of larger hotels though, but nice.

Mich recommends Caneel and Little Dix and have to admit that either are wonderful. But there are many other top resorts that are more enjoyable now that Rosewood is doing the "family thing" with the Kids' Club and a/c'ed the resorts! Might want to check out in the BVI's: Guana Island, Peter Island, Biras Creek to name just a couple. Unfortunately Caneel and the Westin are the only two choices on St. John (and not a choice IMO) but there are many villas which offer an alternative ... however few are on the beach!

I dont know where Joel was on ST. JOHN but, for the record, there are no highrises. I just dont want you getting the wrong idea. Believe me, the island is charming.