St John questions
 

All this talk of St John has really got me interested! I have a few questions though: <BR> <BR>How long is the ferry ride between St John and St Thomas? <BR>Is the ferry frequent? <BR>Are there planty of good restaurants to eat in, and a wide choice? <BR>Roughly how big is the island? <BR>Are there good water sport facilities, if so where is the best part of the island for them? <BR> <BR>Thanks in advance

20 min, 20 square miles, great food, and north shore for best beaches and Cruz Bay for water sports. <BR> <BR>This will help: <BR>http://www.vinow.com/stjohn/

Oh and ferry runs every 30 min <BR> <BR>this will help: <BR>http://www.usvi.net/usvi/ferry.htm <BR>http://www.usvi.net/usvi/stj.html <BR> <BR> <BR>

28 square miles about 9 miles long and 3 miles wide

Thanks Jesse, that was quick!! Are the restaurants expensive or reasonably priced? We were last in Bermuda - that's what I call expensive! Is there any night life, pubs, etc? <BR> <BR>Thanks <BR>Angela

As far as nitelife there is not that much. Good nitelife can be found on St Thomas, the ferry runs till midnite and after that you can get a water taxi. St John has Woodys which is great place for happy hour. They also have Duffys love shack which is pretty good, they have a website. You will find live bands playing at some of these as well as other pubs in Coral Bay. <BR> <BR>Asolare has the best and most expensive food, it depends what you like. I like ribs and everyone said to check out I think it was called Uncle Joes for ribs. It is a joint w/o a sign and the best way to find it is to follow the smell. I heard that they were the best ribs anywhere, in my opinion they were aweful. Maybe it is beacause I am from Chicago and we are known for great ribs but I did not care for old Uncle Joes cook'n. I would rent a villa and eat out every other day. <BR> <BR>This will help: <BR>http://www.usvi.net/rest/st._john.html

Ferry ride is 45 mins from Charlotte Amalie and 15 minutes from Red Hook (that one runs hourly). You can also use the car ferry from STT to STJ to bring a vehicle over (STJ vechiles cannot be taken to STT). Not alot of restaurants but enuf for a different one for every nite for a couple of weeks! Some high end and outstanding and some casual "inexpensive" by Island standards and some in between. Asolare does have glorious views of the sunset - expensive and fusion food. My fav's tend to be Cafe Wahoo and Chateau Bordeaux (more traditional entrees) as well as Stone Terrace and they are priced higher end. No motorized water sports (jet skis) in the Nat'l Park Waters and on St. John (other than a small area at the Westin) but rent a dinghy to explore water-accessable beaches. Good sites are www.stjohnlinks.com and www.vinow.com for the St. John guide. Most choose villas and renting a jeep to "do" the island which is small and mostly Nat'l Park so it is more pristine and somewhat untouched.

Restaurants in St. John are mostly very good, but somewhat expensive by my standards. For a really good place (i.e. dishes with ingredients I've never heard of that look as pretty as they taste) you will pay around $25-$30 an entree. Examples include those previously mentioned. There are also some more moderately priced options, like the Lime Inn or Morgan's Mango, where entrees run closer to $17-$25 an entree. You won't find too much that's cheaper than this unless it's primarily a lunch-joint like Uncle Joe's BBQ stand (which these former Texans thought was quite good, by the way) or Skinny Legs.

Hi Angela, Above posts are quite accurate. We always fly into STT, cab to the CA ferry and are in our condo by about 3:30, plenty of time to go for a swim at the north shore. You will definitely want a rental vehicle, to many sight to see. We don't find the food any more expensive than comparable here in the States. Go explore STJ, you will not be disappointed!!! Lee in Austin,Tejas

We went to St. John and didn't eat at any of the expensive restaurants (actually ate 3 meals in our week there at Uncle Joe's), we found the prices the same as in the states, which was a pleasant suprise compared to the Bahamas on another vacation. The food was not outstanding, it was the quality you get here at a TGI Fridays or better, but it was fine and most of the time we ate for about $10-$15 an entree (except at Uncle Joe's where it was about $5 a piece for BBQ chicken, rice and beer). By the way, if you stay near Cruz Bay, call the Mongoose Deli ahead of time to order a sub and you can pick it up on your way to the North shore beaches--We split a large sub most days for lunch--another way to stretch food $.

Not sure when Pete was on St. John, but we found most restaurant prices to be much more expensive than $10-$15. Agree that a few restaurants were of Friday's quality, but they were still more expensive than any Friday's in our area. Other places were even more expensive, but their food was generally very good and the prices comparable to very nice restaurants on the mainland.

Any suggestions for a villa with VERY close proximity to water skiing facilities? <BR> <BR> <BR>Thanks <BR>Andrew

a villa close to water skiing? not on st. john unless the Westin offers it and I doubt it. Now that you mention it, haven't seen a whole bunch of water skiing on STT either. There's sailboards, windsurfing, jet skis (on St. Thomas and limited on St. John to the Westin) and parasailing but don't remember any waterskiing.

Darn! My boyfriend is obsesed with with water skiing. Anyone know of any facilities on the island? <BR> <BR>Thanks <BR> <BR>Angela <BR>