Loved St. John -- Where to go next?
 

We had a fabulous trip to St. John in July. We are now planning our next trip. Any ideas that would come close to St. John? Snorkeling is a top priority. Maybe Cayman? We would love any suggestions. <BR> <BR>Thanks!

If snorkeling is really your top priority, I recommend that you go to Anegada in the British Virgin Islands. Otherwise Micronesia is your next best bet based on what we have heard. The red sea is another alternative.

I have been to St. John and agree it is a wonderful place to snorkle. <BR>Cayman is known for snorkling, the most famous is to snorkle with the sting rays at Sting Ray City a must do if you go there, don't miss it. A lot of people will tell you that this snorkle trip is too touristy, but it was great. Try scuba while you are there if you have ever wanted to try it, they have day resort cources.

I agree with the post from "test" above me. We have been to Grand Cayman, Virgin Gorda, St. John, and Tortola. By far, our two favorites were GC and SJ, and we plan to return to both. They are vastly different islands, but both are great. GC is very clean, poverty-free, and the roads are flat and well-maintained (unlike SJ, huh?) While there may be less "adventure" found on GC, there are plenty of terrific things to see and do. Snorkeling is fabulous (the best we've found on the four islands we've been to), as well as Stingray City, and other sites to see. If you enjoyed the restaurants on SJ, you'll find ones equally good on GC, with wonderful ambiance at them all. We ate every single lunch and dinner at a different place and never had a bad meal anywhere. Check out either the Westin or the fairly new Turtle Nest Inn. www.turtlenestinn.com. Have never stayed there, but it is getting good reviews. We stayed at the then-Radisson, now the Marriott. The room was uninspiring but was ideally located on Seven-Mile Beach and had a great view. No complaints. Forget the jeep on GC; rent a car with some A/C. It's a bit hotter there than on SJ! Do go!

I love St. John too. I especially like the empty beaches,snorkeling and different resturants. How busy is 7 mile beach. Is the island very crowded? <BR>The snorkeling sounds fantastic? <BR>Thanks

Thanks for all the suggestions. We are checking out Cayman as well as Hawaii.

<BR>We also loved St John.Last year we went to Virgin Gorda and we were pleased with the snorkeling, we saw squid,turtles ,rays,parrot fish,queen trigger,a pretty big permit fish,just to name a few but we really did see a lot of variety.My favorite was a school of blue tang it was beautiful.

We tried St. John earlier this year and absolutely loved it! Next year we are trying Grand Cayman. Read a lot about it being expensive but heard it is the best for snorkeling and that's what we're looking for.

If you go to Grand Cayman, go snorkeling at Cemetery Reef. The locals will tell you where it is. It's on 7-mile beach, in an area where there are no hotels. Fabulous. You have to swim out a ways, but it's worth it. Another place that has great snorkeling is the beach off Hopetown Harbor Lodge in the Abacos. You have to catch it just right though, when the there's an offshore breeze. But my FAVORITE snorkeling of all time was in French Polynesia, at a lovely little motu off Taha'a. We were on a cruise aboard the Paul Gauguin, and they had a day at their "private beach" at this gorgeous place. I have never seen so many gorgeous fish in my life! The water was crystal clear, not very deep, athe perfect temperature, and no current. Absolutely perfect. There are lots of places like that in Tahiti.