We are 2 couples who have spent a week in St. Johns the last winters. We are now thinking of staying in St Thomas this year. My question is.For a quite spot away from the crowds do we want to be on the north shore or the east end? We will rent a car to explore the out of the way beaches,

My recommendation on STT would be Secret Harbor. It is on the East end, but the resort is located on a nice secluded bay that has great snorkeling right off the beach and the Blue Moon restaurant is also very nice.

I concur with Secret Harbor.
We loved it there.

The restaurant is very good.
The Snorkeling is very good
Ask the Dive shop manager to take you out one morning to "cow and
calf" rock for some great snorkeling.

Be sure to have a romantic
dinner at Agave Terrace one evening.

Enjoy

Mark

If you are thinking about a villa rental, I'd go with the north shore area. East End outside of the resorts runs the whole gamut between low-rent to luxury. North shore locations tend to be at a premium because of location near beaches like Magens Bay and is further removed from the more commercialized areas. East End/Red Hook area is nice for conveniences though. I would suggest you research the area of any prospective resort or villa. If you look up the address on satellite map, you might also get a better sense of the density.

Amen to Secret Harbor.

We also loved Secret Harbor. The sunset views and snorkelling are terrific.
The only drawback we could find is that the pool is way up on top of a hill. If you don't use the pool much, this is your place.

Forget the pool (small and not well located) -- enjoy the beach instead.

East end-Red Hook area is a bit more crowded than North Shore. If you have a car, then I would opt for North Shore if you want less crowds.