Thanks to this board, stayed at Scott Beach - great, great, great - wonderful room, excellent beach - our only mistake was thinking the grass was greener on the otherside, we spent too much time exploring the island and other beaches, the best beach turned out to be the one in our backyard....Miles was great, very nice guy and sends greetings to the board...we thought the food was very overpriced within the resort, for lunches your best bet is to hit one of the Beach Bars in town or ask for a refrigerator for your room and shop at the Starfish or Dolphin Market for food. For dinner our favs were 10 Tables (Chilly Billy's daytime), Tage, Lime Inn, and ZoZo's. The breakfast buffet at Caneel was pretty awesome, but again at $27 per person, pricey. Donkeys and deer were abundant, with a few mongoose. Only saw goats on the drive to Coral Bay. Best Burger - a surprise, the Beach Bar across from Stone Terrace. You must make reservations for dinner, we tried to be spontaneous one night, didn't work. Deli Grotto was great for sandwiches and nosh, but also check out the bakery on the 3rd floor of the Starfish Marketplace - think it was called Here Comes the Sun - great pastries, excellent sandwiches. For snorkeling, Waterlemon Cay was our favorite, went by boat, too long a walk by car; Scott Beach saw turtles in grass to left and spotted eagle ray center beach, to the right rocky ledge with abundant fish. Hawsknest Beach in Caneel check out rocks along left of beach, really great, tons of bait fish, pelicans diving, great fun. Taxi service charges per person ($4 from Caneel Bay to Cruz Bay, so for 4 or more or frequent trips into town, renting a jeep is well worth it. More later...

Oh, did you make me jealous!!! We loved Caneel the two times we were there. We stayed in the deluxe oceanview both times and loved the location. The best part is being able to snorkel in two minutes without driving anywhere.

This fall we are going to Peter Island instead of Caneel. It will be interesting to compare.

Thanks for the report and keep going!! Owa

Glad to hear that you had a great trip.We went in June and stayed in a villa.Next time we want to stay at Caneel Resort.We saw the most in the water..at Caneel Bay.We saw a starfish,stingray,seaturtle and a ton of fish.We really liked that beach.We never went to any of the other beaches in Caneel Resort.Again..thanks for the good report..it just makes me more excited for me next trip.

Thanks for report, I'm going in April with wife & 1 year old. Staying at Little Caneel Beach (only beachfront unit we an stay at). We're going to do breakfast at Caneel but wondering if dinner plan is worth it w/infant. Are there any informal dining rooms appropriate for child? How was Little Caneel Beach? Also, how easy was car rental and driving into Cruz Bay or did you taxi? Thanks for the report.

cotes:
Caneel beach is a great beach for kids..the water is pretty calm.Caneel Resort is not far from Cruz Bay..I would atleast rent a car for a few days to explore.Also renting a car is easy however I would reserve one in advance to be safe.We did not stay at Caneel...but we enjoyed the beach and wished that we had stayed there.Have fun on St John.

Thanks for the report trafs. We're going to stay at Caneel next June. I've requested Hawksnest beach front. Reading your report has me thinking I might change to Scott...hmmm.
330 days to go!
-Bill

Great to hear you enjoyed Caneel so much. I stayed on Scott last year and thought it was worth every dime. It's so incredible to walk out your back door and be on one of the best beaches in the entire Caribbean for swimming/ snorkeling. It faces west: incredible sunset and night view of the lights on St Thomas.
OWA: I was on Peter Island last year for a week and it's a tie with Caneel in beauty; but hands down, Peter Island wins in service, quality of food, rooms, and staff attitude is incredible. Snorkeling is probably about the same. I thought White Bay on the other side of PI is slightly better then Caneel. Have a great time!

The food is generally better as you state at Peter Island but I am not a fan of buffets and on my last visit in April we had 4 buffet dinners in 7 nights and 5 luches as I remember.
I am not a snob but buffet stlye has the problem of keeping hot items hot.
Peter Island has a bit more class but it is also a bit more formal, in my opinion.
At Peter Island arrange to get a snorkel trip to a few spots near Tortola. Their basic trip is very good-take it- but to equal Caneel I think it wise to go out twice.

I agree; if we had buffet 4 nights, I might have been a bit frustrated as well.
We went in October, being off-season we didn’t have one buffet. Even breakfast was set up as order off the menu with the exception of breads, fruit etc.
I did see a lot more underwater sea-life at P.I. then Caneel. I even saw what looked like large Grouper lurking in the depths off the reef.
But a day trip is not a bad idea; we chartered a boat one day and went to some incredible spots.

WaywardSeal and StanKase, Thanks for the advice to take day trips from PI as snorkeling is the main purpose of this trip.
I was thrilled to read that snorkeling will be at least comparable to Caneel or better. I am so excited. Owa

For iamq, Hawksnest Beach at Caneel is more comfortable because of the tradewinds coming off the water to the east. You can live open air with ceiling fans. Also the upper rooms on Hawksnest are more private, with a screened porch at the rear overlooking the gardens and a deck over the beach. More shade on Hawksnest, particularly in the afternoon. Scott beach is just a short stroll away for snorkeling variation.

Thanks xkenx. I'm sticking with Hawksnest.
-Bill

Wow, its been tough to get off of island time and back to the reality of work...we certainly miss Caneel and especially Scott Beach. Regarding Hawksnest Beach versus Scott Beach, we never did see the units at Hawksnest, our room was fantastic and as we reflect on our 8 days in paradise we truly think that Scott Beach was the best beach, the snorkeling was much better...let's not forget that Miles does not serve drinks on Hawksnest, only on Scott for now anyway - we actually thought about staying next time on Turtle Beach, less money and a bit more activity (the teen room is right there and afternoon teas as well), but it is true that the sunsets and the view of St. Thomas at night from Scott would be sorely missed.

As far as taxis versus renting a jeep for the stay, it costs $4 per person to take a Taxi into Cruz Bay from Caneel; don't know if they would charge full price for an infant - we renting a jeep for two days and must say we did not need to do so - there is really not much to see on the island, having a jeep for one day to explore and to eat at Miss Lucy's in Coral Bay is about all you need. If your family were bigger, than a jeep makes sense; we even shopped at Starfish market on our first day and came back to Caneel by Taxi loaded down with tons of groceries and water.
We did not pay for the meal plan and were glad, we found the quality of the food in Cruz Bay superior to the Resort, except for breakfasts, which we splurged on at the resort - but the buffet is quite good and a good breakfast can last thru the day with a snack from the market for mid-day before dinner. We only ate lunch once, that was at Miss Lucy's while exploring the island.

Also, in regards to renting a jeep, strongly suggest you do so ahead of time, we were spontaneous and got stuck with a 2 door with zip up windows - not very comfortable...the rental was thru Caneel, although because of our last minute decision, they could not get us a jeep with their regular rental.