Will anyone tell me the differences? I am surprising my new husband with a coconut wrapped in a bow for his 30th birthday. Inside there will be a note telling him we are leaving for the Carribean the next day. However, where?? I have narrowed it down to St. Lucia and St. John. They sound similar but St. John sounds more secluded. I do not want to run out of things to do – we will be there for 4 nights. We are pretty active people, food quality and choices are important to us, would like to do some hiking, snorkleing, and of course some laying on the beach, but not the whole time. How secluded is St. John? I want to see other people around every once in a while. Any advice, comments, observations would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

hey leslie... i did a very similar thing by surprising my husband with a 32nd birthday trip to st. john. it was great...amazing beaches/water, lots of hiking and great restaurants. you won't be bored for a second!

St. John will be a GUARANTEED GREAT time and you won't feel secluded at all UNLESS you want to.

St. John. Caneel Bay. No comparison

Vever been to St. Lucia. We just came back from St. John. Was our second trip there in 9 months so am a little biased. St. John is incredubly beautiful and you can be secluded if you like. 2/3 or more of the island is national park so it's not over developed. We rented a jeep which gave us an opportunity to explore the east end of the island and go "off the beaten trail" so to speak. Main roads are in really good shape because it's national park but off road was not as easy. I actually enjoyed doing a little 4 wheeling. We did some nice hikes down in the southeast corner of the island which landed us on some beaches completely by ourselves.

Leslie,<BR> I have been to both islands and loved them both. However, it takes a LONG time to get to St Lucia and our plane was delayed last time I went.You can fly into St Thomas then ferry to St John a lot easier and probably a lot cheaper than St Lucia.Also, the airport is a long way from the resorts in St Lucia- so add another 40 minutes. <BR>It's easier to get around St John...you will love hiking there. I'm not sure what you mean by secluded...Caneel is pretty secluded. The Westin might be a better choice for you- it's been remodeled and is lovely.There are great restaurants on St John and pretty good shopping- shopping isn't spectacular on either island, really. It's difficult to get around St Lucia- most resorts are kind of stay-where-you are except for group tours (day sails, rain forest, etc)and you REALLY don't want to drive there.Be sure to check the cruise ship schedules if you go to St John and avoid Trunk Bay on those days. Schedule your hiking trip or something. Hope you have a wonderful time!

I have heard from a magnificently informed travel agent that the Hilton believe it or not on St. Lucia is wonderful and they have individual little villas. Apparently the people are just the friendliest, etc. For only four days, you won't be touring much, you will want beach, pool, romance. St. Johns is wonderful but still involves various transfers, etc. to reach

FYI, the only "transfer" involved in getting to St John is a 20 minute ferry ride from Red Hook to Cruz Bay. We leave Thursday at 8am from NY and will be on St John by 1:30pm.<BR>