Hi. I am trying to plan an April vacation to St. John for my family of 6. (2 adults, 4 children-15, 13, 11, and 8). I've got the plane tickets lined up at a good price but the villa is really causing a problem. I am so confused at this point. We'd like a pool and want to be very close to a beach that has snorkeling. (a five minute drive or better yet, a walk!) I understand that we will have to drive around to see the various beaches but we don't want to do that every day. So, is Coral Bay closer to the North Shore beaches? Is that where I should be focusing my search? I've looked at so many villa rental agencies and can't seem to find the right place. We'd like to visit St. John because we love to snorkel. Having said that, we like to relax on vacation, as well and don't want to spend every day driving all over the island to find snorkeling. We'd like to have a beach option nearby to our villa. If anyone has any advice I'd truly appreciate it!

Along these same lines, does anyone have any information on Rara Avis, a beachfront ville in SJ on Hart Bay?

Virginiafish,
We stayed in Andante by the Sea villa, which after checking out Rara Avis online, it’s one of the villas we overlooked. Here’s my opinion on what I saw of it. In September, Rara Avis had 6 houses under construction surrounding it. Personally, I think the construction would drive me nuts. It was loud from our villa, but we were high up on the hill so it wasn’t too bad, and we were out of the house most of the day visiting the beaches so it didn’t bother us too much. Rara is at a lower elevation and is nestled among the construction so I’d imagine it would be much louder there. Also, we looked down on their patio, so it didn’t seem like it has too much privacy-we could see the people on their deck whenever they were out. Also, it’s not right on the beach. It’s a little ways up in the mountain, but you can take a short walk to Hart Bay beach from there. The picture of Hart Bay beach on their site makes it look nice. It’s actually very rocky/coral-not good for laying out or swimming-although you can hear the waves from the house which is really nice. My husband tried going out to snorkel there but it is very shallow and the coral is close to the surface. He ended up falling on a sea urchin and had about 20 needles in his hand-ouch! He actually had to go to the ER a month ago as his thumb swelled up when one of the embedded needles was growing out. I think it would be okay for walking the shoreline there, but wouldn’t recommend swimming. There are so many other beautiful beaches in St. John, I’d stick to those. Rara Avis does get a gorgeous sunrise view (which we had as well). It is magnificent! If you look at our pictures, Rara Avis is located directly in front of our villa, in the valley by Hart Bay-near the house that’s being built. The pictures on their site look nice, but I guess I would call and see if the construction is complete before booking. Some of the villas didn’t look anywhere near completion. When were you looking to go? I would recommend Andante over Rara if that helps at all. I think the location of both are great-close to Cruz bay and the north shore beaches. Good luck!

Part 1:
http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slidesho...uf3aj&Ux=0

Part 2:
http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLan...share&Ux=0


jcjc-
if you can get a ferry over to Virgin Gorda from St. John or somehow change your trip to there, Mahoe Bay on Virgin Gorda sounds perfect for what you’re looking for. Unfortunately, villas ON the beach in St. John are very rare, and the ones I saw didn’t have pools. Mahoe Bay villas are directly on the beach and that beach is as good as any on St. John in my opinion. Here are my pictures from there.

http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLan...share&Ux=0

Also, if you do stay on St. John, I’d recommend staying closer to Cruz Bay with teenagers. There is a cute town with restaurants and shops-more to do for them on that side of the island. The north shore beaches are in between Cruz bay and Coral bay, so it doesn’t really matter which end you stay on if you’re looking to go to those. Hope that helps.

jcjc: Have you considered Gallows Point? Not on a beach, but on the water, with decent snorkeling. Has a pool and hot tub. Many beaches close by. Cruz Bay an easy walk. It wouldn't be a villa with everyone staying in one accommodation. You'd probably want to rent 2 condos, maybe a top and bottom unit. Or if you don't mind a squeeze, perhaps you could even accommodate all of you in one (fold-outs etc) There's lots of info here and on Trip Advisor on Gallows Point.

Kellybeaches,
This is all very helpful. If I have asked this before, please forgive me, but do you have more specific info on the villa you rented on VG? I have taken a daytrip there from SJ before and would be happy to consider returning there. Your info on Rara Avis is priceless. Is is hard to get a true feel of a villa without the firsthand such as you provided!
Thanks!

Virginiafish,
We stayed at the villa Caribbean Wind. It's part of the Mahoe Bay Villas, but is all the way at the end of the beach. It's hands down the nicest villa we stayed in (with that being said, also the most expensive-I believe it's now up to 10k for the week). If you can split it 3 or 4 ways with other couples though, it's not that bad. It has 4 bedrooms, and the showers for each room are outside-they're beautiful! The grounds are gorgeous, and it's located in the middle of the island so it's not too far from anything. The sun sets right out front over the water. The beach is steps away out front and is powdery white sand. Supposedly the snorkeling right out front is some of the best on the island, but we didn't snorkel while there. The outside sitting area is covered so you can sit out under the shade all day while looking at the pool and water. Check out their site at www.carribeanwind.com, or you can look it up (or any of the other villas on Mahoe-all of them looked really nice) at www.carribeanway.com. There you can see a map of all the villas. There is also a tennis court for the villa renters to use. Good luck!

Thanks for the suggestions kellybeaches and poss.

We really want to go to St. John because we've read and heard so much about the snorkeling.

Maybe some day we'll try Virgin Gorda. Is the snorkeling there very good? (we prefer snorkeling from the shore-is that primarily boat trip snorkeling?)

We think we've settled on a villa. It's very close to Reef Bay beach. I wrote another post asking about that location but I wanted to write here and thank you both for taking the time to give us some advice!

Before we book that villa I am going to check out Gallows Point. Thanks for the tip poss!

kellybeaches,
Andante by the Sea is looking very appealing. We are going in Aug., 2008 , and I will check to see if the construction is finished at this point. Speaking of the time of year, did you take out hurricane insurance and what are you thoughts about the weather in Aug.? Thanks for all of your help!

Kallaloo Villa, north shore..3 bed with pool and across from Gibney Beach. very nice villa. www.cateredto.com

tess53,
Did the villa have AC and would you think it needed in Aug.?
Thanks

Unfortunately, Andante by the Sea is booked. If anyone else has any specific villa suggestions for 6 for SJ, I would be grateful. We are preferring AC, since it will be Aug., and possibly in earshot of waves and then, all the other well-maintained amenities. A pool would be nice. I think the location, in terms of proximity to Cruz vs. Coral Bay, is irrelevant. Thanks, in advance.

Hi Virginiafish,
Sorry for the delay in response-I’ve been offline. I’m sorry to hear Andante is booked! It did sound like the perfect place for you. Did you speak directly with the owners? I know they stay at the house around then. They were kind enough to switch weeks with us as we had a particular week we wanted to stay for our anniversary. Just a thought. Regarding hurricane insurance, yes, absolutely get it. You never know, and you would be kicking yourself if you didn’t get your money back. For a couple hundred bucks, it’s worth it. The weather should be great. It was perfect the first week of September. (of course, a hurricane could ruin all that, but that’s what trip insurance is for). Having AC in the bedrooms was nice, but it was pretty windy so there was always a nice breeze blowing too. Good luck finding something! Maybe the owners of Andante could recommend something to you?

hi kellybeaches,
Yes, we spoke with the owner, who was lovely. I have asked her for other suggestions and we are exploring some now. Can't thank you enough for your time and help!

I was looking at Altimira (Private Homes for Private Vacations is the agent) for 2009- it says that you can walk to snorkeling. It is at Rendevous Bay which is a drive to the North Shore beaches.

jcjc:
We rented Dream Come True on Dever's Bay (south side of island) last June. It's a very cute house with a pool and jacuzzi and it's right on the water. The beach is very rocky, and there are spiky sea urchins so entrance/exit can be a bit tricky, but husband and friends snorkeled it and said it was good. It's about a 10 minute drive to Cruz Bay. We liked how private it was--we only saw a few people the whole week.

If you want more info, let me know.
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