We are taking a trip to St. John the week of July 4th and I am wondering if anyone can give me some guidance on good hiking on the island and also any ideas for working out while I am there. We are renting a villa (Treasure Ridge) so we won't have direct access to a gym. Does anyone know if the resorts open their facilities to outsiders or if there is a public gym on the island? Thanks-Jennybg

Jennybg - there are others with more expertise than me but I thought I would respond to get this thread going. I think the resorts would only open their gym to you if you used the spa. It is possible they sell a day pass. I know there are several well known hikes on St. John (Reef Bay hike led by the park service, its a hike, snorkel and boat ride back - reservations required and Ram's Head I believe on the Coral Bay side). There are a couple of St. John experts on the www.tripadvisor.com forumn and the following web site:

http://www.vinow.com/wwwtalk/list.php?4,page=1

I used these very active forums to plan our family's trip to St. John last year. Have a great trip!

Another great website is virgin-islands-on-line.com

Hello Jennybg,
My husband and I are very active as well and work out in a gym a lot at home...but St. John truly is an outdoor paradise and there are a lot of options for working out without being stuck inside. I strongly suggest looking at a book such as Feet, Fins and Four Wheel Drive. This book was fantastic for suggesting great hikes and trails around the island. We did several hikes throughout the week and got several great workouts without being stuck in a gym. The Reef Bay Trail is great (do it on your own and hike back up). We didn't do Ram's Head but have heard great things about it. There are so many hiking trails that I don't think you'll get bored. Plus, the island is quite hilly that you can get a workout that way too. I hope you have a great trip!

You have already heard about the Reef Bay trail so I will give you a little bit of personal account. As the other posters have pointed out, STJ is an active person's paradise. Spending time in a gym IMO is a waste of your precious on island time. The Reef Bay trail is about 2 1/2 miles of incline. Easy down, but your buttocks will hate you on the way back up. If you try to march up this hill at a good clip, I guarantee you, you will feel the "burn" better than any machine. Also, the challenge of working in heat will make you sweat buckets. The resorts do have gyms but I don't know what their policies are but there is also a gym in Cruz Bay in the Starfish Marketplace. My husband and I are pretty athletically inclined, and we never have a problem finding a great and natural way of working out. We've recently taken up kayaking there and it is a total blast. Running in the early morning is also terrific, but do keep our wits about you for cars. Otherwise, the roads are very challenging with the hills. There's also running on the beach or power swimming.

I think the Westin offers a day pass for their fitness center usage for $20/day. We decided that it was only two weeks and that we wouldn’t miss it too terribly. As a couple that works out daily, intensely, we thought the break from work and working out did our mind and bodies good. The Reef Bay Trail is a great workout….I don’t know if I’d want to hike it every day, however. Running is pretty much out of the question due to the hilly, winding roads that are prevalent on the island. There are great swimming beaches along the north shore.

Not to contradict Caribbeansoul, but a lot of people do run on STJ. I wouldn't recommend running on the more busy Centerline or North Shore roads, but out in the East End and towards the south to Salt Pond area, there is much less traffic.

Jennybg,

I like to work out while in St John, and I often buy the weekly gym pass at the Westin (the daily pass is too expensive). I don't remember exactly, but I think weekly passes are $60, and daily passes are $20. If you're a runner, there are two problems - unless you run at 6AM it's really hot/humid, and secondly, there are no flat places. So I run on the treadmill/lift weights at the Westin (call me a sicko for doing this on vacation, but there it is). Having said that, I also hike the trails, and yes, I too like Reef Bay, but a shadier, nicer trail IMO is the Cinnamon Bay trail from centerline road down to Cinnamon Bay (or do it in reverse, or both ways). Ram Head is nice, and while you're out there check out Salt Pond Bay (great snorkling) or Lameshur Bay. Also, there is a little known, but well-maintained trail from Lameshur to Reef Bay which is an awesome hike, and take the Europa Bay spur trail to see the huge salt pond which usually has ducks on it. If you hike reef, go to the petroglyphs pool. One almost unknown trail, and it's not on National Park maps is the Fish Bay trail. That one is more like rock climbing than hiking, but if you're interested I can give directions.

Oh, and do scuba. If you're not certified, do a "resort certification" and you can dive to 40 feet with a divemaster. The fish and coral (and sea turtles and lobsters and eagle rays) are incredible. We went with Down Under Watersports, Bill and Cindy are the owners/divemasters, and such nice people. You could not meet a more patient, nicer instructor than Cindy, and they really know the dive spots. www.downunderstjohn.com Not sure their email works right now, but their phone does.

Enjoy.