We are leaving for our FIRST caribbean vacation, St. John's in a few weeks. OH my God I can't wait. We unfortunately will only be there a few days. Can any St. John's experts (and I know you are out there) give me you top picks for "not to be missed" sites? Either restaurants or destinations. We will be staying at Caneel
Bay. Specifically I was wondering if you had to pick one would it be a trip to Jost Van Dyke or the Baths VG? Are these full day trips?

Thanks.....
C

If you are only spending a few days at Caneel, I'd say you shouldn't worry about going anywhere else. Caneel has 7 beaches, so I'd just spend some time at each of them. We spent 5 nights at Caneel, and never felt the need to leave the resort. I'm telling you, you won't want to leave once you see teh beaches. Amazing snorkeling right off of each of them. We did leave on the last night. We went into Cruz Bay for dinner. I don't recall the name of the place we ate dinner, but it wasn't very good. However, we ended up and Dubby's Love Shack (i think that's what it was called). It's mainly a bar, but the serve bar food that was pretty good, espcially after 10 or 12 Caribs! I think next time we go to Caneel we might venture out a little more and take a day trip somewhere. But if you're a first time visitor and you're only there a few days, just hang at Caneel. It is amazing. Congrats on chooing one of the best places in the Caribbean for your first trip! You're going to love Caneel!

I agree with Redstripe. If you have only a few days at Caneel, it is too special a place to lose a day to travel to another island. Because of having to pass through customs, twice,both British and American, trips to BVI will take most of a day.
Caneel has very good restaurants including the Equator, a restored sugar mill, and Turtle Bay. I have enjoyed excellent meals at both plus The Grand Buffet at The Terrace.
Lime Inn has very good food. It is a wonderful place for lunch and is within walking distance of the shopping areas of Cruz Bay. Dinner is also served there. Zozo's is also an excellent dinner choice. If you like great barbecue, Joe's is a great choice for lunch in Cruz Bay. It is just a shack, but the food is terrific.

I would suggest saving Jost or the Baths for another trip.
After seven trips there, and another planned, I have never seen everything that I would have like to have seen, consequently, my mottto has become, "i guess I will have to return."
Have a wonderful time. You will find it is your dream come true.

If you want to do a day trip, the New Horizons II is a boat that takes passengers to the Baths, Marina Cay and Jost Van Dyke. It's a full day trip, and we had a great time. If you don't have plans on returning to St. John in the near future, I would take the time to see them.

The Baths are spectacular for the boulder formations, not the snorkeling.
And it is crowded whenever a cruise ship or tour are in. My son was recently to Jost Van Dyke @Sandcastle which is a small sleepy beachside hotel. However daytimes at the beach are a congregating place for many small boaters with their music blaring. Physically it would be like going to Caneel's 8th beach (if it had one), but you wouldn't get the serenity fo a Caneel beach.