St. Thomas trip report
Feb 1st, 2008, 09:05 AM
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St. Thomas trip report
We have recently returned from a trip to St. Thomas and I would like to give back information after gratefully getting a lot from this site.
We started off at Secret Harbor which has been reccommended often on this site. We loved it!!! We stayed in a studio on the beach. Although the inside definately needed updating, you could not beat the location. Our place had a little patio in front and on the other side of the wall was the beach, literally steps away. We have stayed in many hotels but this was by far our favorite for the location. The view was spectacular, a small harbor with boats anchored, and beautiful palm trees. The beach was small and quiet with calm beautiful water. You can rent snorkel equipment right at the beach from the dive shop for $10.00 a full day. The snorkeling was fantastic! We saw so many varieties of colorful fish, baracudas,morey eel, an octopus, and several sea turtles. We even got to swim along with a sea turtle for about 5 minutes. He seemed to be in no hurry and was not bothered by our prescence. The snorkeling is best on the right, but you can also go staight out to a little reef that is nice too. We noticed you have a better chance of seeing the turtles in the morning.
We ended up staying on that beach for 2 straight days from early morning to sunset. The sunsets are incredible by the way. One man we met on the beach said he has been crusing to st. thomas for years and secret harbor is his favorite beach. I would definately stay on the beach though. The other places are across the street and up a hill. They said there is a pool up there but we never even looked.
We took a cab to a nearby grocery store and got some supplies.Try not to be shocked by the high prices, a bottle of rum was actually less than a box of cereal! We thought it was worth it however because we had breakfast and lunch on our terrace and strolled back to our studio to make rum and cokes! Secret Harbor also has a bar and restaurant. We ate there one night (Blue Moon) and it was very good.
We were celebrating our 25th anniversary and my husband surprised me by arranging a vow renewal on the beach!! We had made plans for dinner and he told me I had to be ready early because he had something planned. I thought he ordered a limo for us. Imagine my surprise when he led me back to the far end of the beach where there was a beautiful arch with island flowers and petals, and a table with champagane and glasses, and a beautiful bouquet of pink lillies and a boutinere for him!! A woman named Leslie Thomas Dawson was there as the wedding planner. There was also a photographer and a minister! It was so beautiful and it took place as the sun was setting and by the end it was a beautiful sunset. I would highly reccomend Leslie who works at "Perfect Weddings of St Thomas". My husband got her name through the Secret Harbor Site and said she was wonderful to work with.
Later that night we went to Blue Havana which was highly reccomended on this site. It was incredible. They serve a kind of cuban fusion food that was delicious!! I had a skirt steak and my husband had short ribs. They were both delicious!! Our cab driver said they had the best plantains he has ever had so we got an order and they were incredible. We also got the raw tuna appetizer which was amazing. The atmosphere is great there too. There is a waterfall when you come in and blue lights inside and lots of candles. There are big open windows with billowing white curtains. I made a reservation and asked for a special table since it was our anniversary. They put us at a great table right next to a window where we looked out over the beach. It was also the time (7:30) when all the cruise ships were taking off and it made quite a sight with all the lights.
On the third day we spent the day at St.John. It's just a 15 minute ferry ride from St. Thomas and costs $5.00 each one way. We ended up renting a car which cost about 95 dollars. Since we wanted to check out a few beaches we thought it was worth it since cabs are so expensive. We rented snorkel gear in town (Mango something?) and took off. Most of the beaches are on one road and the scenery is spectacular! We really enjoyed it. One tip on those steep roads-it's best to go over on the flatter part of the road to the right when attempting to go up a steep curved road. Our truck had some trouble and was sliding back a bit, the bologna skin tires didn't help!! The driving wasn't bad though, even though it's the opposite side of the road, no one goes very fast. We were out early so we had Trunk Bay practically to ourselves. The water was a little choppy so the snorkeling was not the best but the beach is gorgeous. We went to Cinnoman Bay next-gorgeous. We got lunches there and made our way up to Waterlemon Cay. We parked the car and walked about half an hour along a beautiful path. The scenery was so beautiful. Then we came to the rocky ( and I do mean rocky!) area where we could put our stuff and head out to the island where the snorkeling was. This is not a spot to lounge around on. We found a small place for our things. It was difficult to put our snorkeling gear on and get into the water because of all the rocks. Finally we made it and began to swim toward the island. We were told by the snorkeling rental place to swim clockwise around the island so the current would help you. It turned out to be bad advice for this day as the water was choppy and we felt like we were being slammed into the rocks! We managed to get on the little spit of a beach to recoup. Once we went on the other side it was better and we saw some great fish and sea turtles, conchs,and starfish. We carefully made our way back to our stuff and went back along the trail until we came to a little beach we could sit on and have lunch. It was great-so peaceful and beautiful. We brought the car back and had drinks at a great bar overlooking the harbor, right next to where you get the ferry. What a spot! I forget the name but it is easy to find.
When we returned we went to stay at the Ritz Carlton for an event for my husband's work. The Ritz Carlton is beautiful, but I'm not sure it's worth the money. The service there did not seem as good as other Ritz's,they seemed to be short staffed. The rooms were nice, but not spectacular. Our room was far away from everything. We got some rain on the night of an event we were going to and there is no way to get to the function room from the lobby without going outside. The view at the beach was full of blue chairs, and the snorkeling was not good at all. I couldn't help comparing it to Secret Harbor!
One other event we went on was a blast!! We got into teams and went to a place called "OnDeck Ocean Racing". Each team member was given a colored bandana and taken to a beautiful racing sailboat. These are professional boats used in races around the world, built in England. The crew was great and explained how to do things and we all got a part to do. (You could opt out and be on the lookout for icebergs if you wanted). Then we practiced a bit and went out to the starting line. We had such a blast. It was a perfect day for racing and we got to do all kinds of cool maneuvers. When it was over we went back to their place and had rum punch and watched all the pictures they took of us on a big screen. We all had such a great time and I would highly reccomend it.
We also at one night at "Off the Hook" restaurant in Red Hook which was great. It's right on a dock. I had the tuna steak which was awesome and so were the painkillers! We went to Duffy's Love Shack after which was reccomended on this site. The music was fun, but the atmosphere was kind of creepy. Our husbands almost got into a fight with these guys who were bothering us (and we are women in our 30's and 40's). Some creepy guy was even taking pictures of one woman we were with. There seemed to be a lot of creepy guys around and we ended up leaving earlier than we thought we would. I would definately not reccomend this place to a young girl on her own, or even a few young girls on their own.
We had a great time in St. Thomas and St. John. I would like to spend a few days on St. John next time and check out more of those beautiful beaches!
We started off at Secret Harbor which has been reccommended often on this site. We loved it!!! We stayed in a studio on the beach. Although the inside definately needed updating, you could not beat the location. Our place had a little patio in front and on the other side of the wall was the beach, literally steps away. We have stayed in many hotels but this was by far our favorite for the location. The view was spectacular, a small harbor with boats anchored, and beautiful palm trees. The beach was small and quiet with calm beautiful water. You can rent snorkel equipment right at the beach from the dive shop for $10.00 a full day. The snorkeling was fantastic! We saw so many varieties of colorful fish, baracudas,morey eel, an octopus, and several sea turtles. We even got to swim along with a sea turtle for about 5 minutes. He seemed to be in no hurry and was not bothered by our prescence. The snorkeling is best on the right, but you can also go staight out to a little reef that is nice too. We noticed you have a better chance of seeing the turtles in the morning.
We ended up staying on that beach for 2 straight days from early morning to sunset. The sunsets are incredible by the way. One man we met on the beach said he has been crusing to st. thomas for years and secret harbor is his favorite beach. I would definately stay on the beach though. The other places are across the street and up a hill. They said there is a pool up there but we never even looked.
We took a cab to a nearby grocery store and got some supplies.Try not to be shocked by the high prices, a bottle of rum was actually less than a box of cereal! We thought it was worth it however because we had breakfast and lunch on our terrace and strolled back to our studio to make rum and cokes! Secret Harbor also has a bar and restaurant. We ate there one night (Blue Moon) and it was very good.
We were celebrating our 25th anniversary and my husband surprised me by arranging a vow renewal on the beach!! We had made plans for dinner and he told me I had to be ready early because he had something planned. I thought he ordered a limo for us. Imagine my surprise when he led me back to the far end of the beach where there was a beautiful arch with island flowers and petals, and a table with champagane and glasses, and a beautiful bouquet of pink lillies and a boutinere for him!! A woman named Leslie Thomas Dawson was there as the wedding planner. There was also a photographer and a minister! It was so beautiful and it took place as the sun was setting and by the end it was a beautiful sunset. I would highly reccomend Leslie who works at "Perfect Weddings of St Thomas". My husband got her name through the Secret Harbor Site and said she was wonderful to work with.
Later that night we went to Blue Havana which was highly reccomended on this site. It was incredible. They serve a kind of cuban fusion food that was delicious!! I had a skirt steak and my husband had short ribs. They were both delicious!! Our cab driver said they had the best plantains he has ever had so we got an order and they were incredible. We also got the raw tuna appetizer which was amazing. The atmosphere is great there too. There is a waterfall when you come in and blue lights inside and lots of candles. There are big open windows with billowing white curtains. I made a reservation and asked for a special table since it was our anniversary. They put us at a great table right next to a window where we looked out over the beach. It was also the time (7:30) when all the cruise ships were taking off and it made quite a sight with all the lights.
On the third day we spent the day at St.John. It's just a 15 minute ferry ride from St. Thomas and costs $5.00 each one way. We ended up renting a car which cost about 95 dollars. Since we wanted to check out a few beaches we thought it was worth it since cabs are so expensive. We rented snorkel gear in town (Mango something?) and took off. Most of the beaches are on one road and the scenery is spectacular! We really enjoyed it. One tip on those steep roads-it's best to go over on the flatter part of the road to the right when attempting to go up a steep curved road. Our truck had some trouble and was sliding back a bit, the bologna skin tires didn't help!! The driving wasn't bad though, even though it's the opposite side of the road, no one goes very fast. We were out early so we had Trunk Bay practically to ourselves. The water was a little choppy so the snorkeling was not the best but the beach is gorgeous. We went to Cinnoman Bay next-gorgeous. We got lunches there and made our way up to Waterlemon Cay. We parked the car and walked about half an hour along a beautiful path. The scenery was so beautiful. Then we came to the rocky ( and I do mean rocky!) area where we could put our stuff and head out to the island where the snorkeling was. This is not a spot to lounge around on. We found a small place for our things. It was difficult to put our snorkeling gear on and get into the water because of all the rocks. Finally we made it and began to swim toward the island. We were told by the snorkeling rental place to swim clockwise around the island so the current would help you. It turned out to be bad advice for this day as the water was choppy and we felt like we were being slammed into the rocks! We managed to get on the little spit of a beach to recoup. Once we went on the other side it was better and we saw some great fish and sea turtles, conchs,and starfish. We carefully made our way back to our stuff and went back along the trail until we came to a little beach we could sit on and have lunch. It was great-so peaceful and beautiful. We brought the car back and had drinks at a great bar overlooking the harbor, right next to where you get the ferry. What a spot! I forget the name but it is easy to find.
When we returned we went to stay at the Ritz Carlton for an event for my husband's work. The Ritz Carlton is beautiful, but I'm not sure it's worth the money. The service there did not seem as good as other Ritz's,they seemed to be short staffed. The rooms were nice, but not spectacular. Our room was far away from everything. We got some rain on the night of an event we were going to and there is no way to get to the function room from the lobby without going outside. The view at the beach was full of blue chairs, and the snorkeling was not good at all. I couldn't help comparing it to Secret Harbor!
One other event we went on was a blast!! We got into teams and went to a place called "OnDeck Ocean Racing". Each team member was given a colored bandana and taken to a beautiful racing sailboat. These are professional boats used in races around the world, built in England. The crew was great and explained how to do things and we all got a part to do. (You could opt out and be on the lookout for icebergs if you wanted). Then we practiced a bit and went out to the starting line. We had such a blast. It was a perfect day for racing and we got to do all kinds of cool maneuvers. When it was over we went back to their place and had rum punch and watched all the pictures they took of us on a big screen. We all had such a great time and I would highly reccomend it.
We also at one night at "Off the Hook" restaurant in Red Hook which was great. It's right on a dock. I had the tuna steak which was awesome and so were the painkillers! We went to Duffy's Love Shack after which was reccomended on this site. The music was fun, but the atmosphere was kind of creepy. Our husbands almost got into a fight with these guys who were bothering us (and we are women in our 30's and 40's). Some creepy guy was even taking pictures of one woman we were with. There seemed to be a lot of creepy guys around and we ended up leaving earlier than we thought we would. I would definately not reccomend this place to a young girl on her own, or even a few young girls on their own.
We had a great time in St. Thomas and St. John. I would like to spend a few days on St. John next time and check out more of those beautiful beaches!
Feb 1st, 2008, 09:24 AM
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as a huge supporter of secret harbour and havana blue i am thrilled that you had such great experiences at both. sorry about the love shack - apparently it has changed since we went last.
i got a huge grin on my face reading about your renewal of vows. what a wonderful, romantic husband!
i got a huge grin on my face reading about your renewal of vows. what a wonderful, romantic husband!
Feb 2nd, 2008, 07:12 AM
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Thanks for the great trip report.
I wonder if you were at Duffy's on an off night or if it has gotten that creepy all the time? Things can change quickly. When we were there, my husband and my friend's husband at one point had left my friend and I alone for a minute and some guy from Miami came over and started hitting on me. My husband came back to the table and this guy still wouldn't give up. I just blew it off. Everyone else was fine. I'd like to think it is not an every night happening!
I wonder if you were at Duffy's on an off night or if it has gotten that creepy all the time? Things can change quickly. When we were there, my husband and my friend's husband at one point had left my friend and I alone for a minute and some guy from Miami came over and started hitting on me. My husband came back to the table and this guy still wouldn't give up. I just blew it off. Everyone else was fine. I'd like to think it is not an every night happening!
Feb 2nd, 2008, 07:18 AM
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We have been leaning toward Secret Harbour for our next STT trip and I have one question:
Do groups of people from cruise ships come and use the beach there?
I read somewhere that this was happening.
Do groups of people from cruise ships come and use the beach there?
I read somewhere that this was happening.
Feb 2nd, 2008, 08:06 AM
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We did see some people, including the man we talked to and his three friends, but there were not large groups like you would find on Magan's Bay, or the more popular beaches. It was always a quiet beach. They have chairs out for guests and there are signs saying only guests could use them. We did see a worker talking to some people who evidently were not guests and explaining their policy.
Feb 2nd, 2008, 08:10 AM
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Congrats on your 25th anniversary! I've always read good things about the snorkeling at Secret Harbour. That will have to go on our list if we return to STT. Thanks for the trip report. Sounds like you have some wonderful memories for years to come.
Mar 24th, 2008, 05:21 PM
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Our cabbie led us to an extremely crowded (with beer vendors and loud music blaring from the bars on the beach). Coki Point. The bars were actually shacks. Stay away from this beach (ratty beach to the right which rents jet skis), swimming beach to the left of the peninsula - crowded one. Stay away from Coki point, the shacks on the beach take away from the "paradise" reputation of the Virgin Islands.
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