coryandcarissa

My husband and I are looking into renting a villa in St John in July. We are looking for advice from oher St John travelers in terms of what side of the island is most desireable. Most villas seem to be in the Cruz Bay area or in the Coral Bay area. Our vacation will be primarily consisting of snorkeling, beach-going, and R&R, but we would like to go out to eat a few nights into town. (From one villa it states a 45min drive from Coral Bay to Cruz Bay, hmmm...) What is your favorite side of the island and why? Thanks for the input!

Tuxedocat

While it can take a while to drive from Cruz Bay to Coral Bay, I have never taken more than about 25-30 minutes. Well, there was the time when Moses' cows paraded down the middle of Centerline Road followed by 10 cars going at "bovine" pace. The roads are hilly and windy and in most places it is not advisable to drive faster than 25 mph, but usually, it only takes about 25-30 minutes from one end of the island to the other lengthwise. Also, from either end of the island, it is about a 15-20 minute drive to the famous northshore beaches. It never seems that long to me anyway, as every inch of the island is beautiful. Your choice of villas should depend on whether it has the amenities you'd like and how close it is to either Cruz Bay's more populated and busy center, or Coral Bay's more spare and spread out restaurants and conveniences.

Nowski

We prefer Coral Bay or Bordeaux Mountain/Carolina Ridge (try Notre Ciel), because you can always go to the "bustle" of Cruz Bay, but it's less easy to escape it (although honestly, bustle and St John's - anywhere- don't go together very often). However, the previous poster's description of the pace of the bovine on Centerline is accurate (but 20-25 minutes from Coral to Cruz at best). Hard to go wrong although. We're planning our 2006 trip.

sueoz

Hi - we love the coral bay end as it IS much more peaceful and laid back. And it does have a few excellent restaurants. It all depends on your personal preferance. We ended up out to eat half the time and grilling fresh fish half the time. Never drove to the Cruz Bay end til we had to catch the ferry! All in your likes and dislikes. sue

tpatricco

We tend to prefer Coral Bay area for Villas as well. We've stayed twice in Concordia (near Salt Pond Bay) and in May we'll be in Carolina area above Coral Bay. We do drive to Cruz Bay to go to restaurants a few nights, but mostly we enjoy grilling dinners at the villa and relaxing. Our favorite beaches also tend to be out that way, so it's not a far drive to any of them from the Coral Bay area.

If you want to be able to have a short drive to many restaurants or even walk to places, Cruz Bay would be better for you.

Tuxedocat has explained the roads & driving times well. We typically wouldn't want to drive back to our villa from Cruz Bay after too many drinks!

Your location choice depends alot on how you plan to spend your time in STJ.

Inkspot

For your first visit to St. John I would stay closer to Cruz Bay, which is the epicenter of the island. Do visit Coral Bay and perhaps rent a nice villa with a group of friends on your next visit.