ziggy60

We are at st croix at the moment and figured I'll post about St Thomas while its fresh in mind. Love the internet in my room.

Stayed 3 nights at Secret Harbour with my wife and 2 daughters (4,5). one more day would have been perfect. Great beach - Fine white sand, gorgous setting, If you want to relax I cant imagine a better place. fealt a little out of place with 2 kids screaming "daddy did you find nemo" waking everyone. nice and specious 1 br condos a few feet from the water (they have other condos further up away from the ocean). never saw the pool. good snorkling - still didnt see a turtle in my life. Last day was much more visible than the first. Loved breakfasting every day at Blue Moon. Great Pina colada pancakes.
Went to Coki beach but decided to just check out Coral world and it was worth it. kids had a blast. Lunch there was surpisigly very good. Juicy burgers, good chicken wraps. Taxi rides were costly as I expected. But what I didnt expect was the "get as many passengers as possible without completely driving you crazy" system they have there. They tend to let you wait in the car sometimes just in case they can pick up more people. I had to literally push the driver in Trunk bay after waiting 15 minutes. shopping at Charlotte Amelie was nice. Only 2 ships = a little more harrasments just like at home on 47th st (NY). Found the most knowledgeable person and best deals at Princess Jewels. St John is a must visit if you ever in st thomas. Loved Trunk bay - nice snorkling. At this point I figured turtles just dont like me for some reason. Could be my accent. Visited Caneel but thought it was a waste. I didnt plan on spending much time there and was surprised to see nothing in the main lobby area. Workers there didnt direct me anywhere when I told them I was a visitor and would like to see more. Cruz bay had a few nice shops. Bought some spices at the spice shop. a couple of nice jewelery stores in case you ever wake up with the urge of wearing titanium cables thats the place to go. Many restaurants closed on Sunday. Was counting on the Fishtrap for lunch but it was closed for the Super ball. ALERT: THERE IS NO ICE CREAM IN CRUZ BAY. can someone do something, please.

Food:
Off the Hook: Very good. Nice snapper, blackened mahi excellent.
Blue moon cafe: Great breakfast but surprisingly bad dinner (sorry virginia). Maybe an off night. Kid's mahi was so bad I was afraid they wont touch fish again. mix grill special was too fruity for my taste. Swordfish didnt agree with the souce. wife's Mahi was tasteless. dessert was good (chocolate cheesecake).
Also had dinner at High Tides in cruz bay since everyone else was closed. Its ok as long as you dont order the lobster pasta. what a rip off.
anyway, I'm sure I missed some stuff. 5 day baccaneer - st croix stay coming up soon..

CaliNurse

Thank you for the report, Ziggy! What kind of accent do you have?
We loved Coki too--the food stands, the folks selling handmade jewelry on the beach, the walk to get there from Point Pleasant past the raised-tombs cemetery.
No ice cream in Cruz Bay? Did you get to the place in the little plaza at Red Hook, nr the ferry? A chain, but oh so good, can't recall name.Yes, that spice shop. if it's St John Spice, also has neat on line newsletter you can sign up for.
Thanks for other recommendations for eats and shopping. Keep on with your great trip with Mrs Z and the girls, and thanks for rubbing it in that you're in St Croix at this verymoment!! Enjoy!

ziggy60

A mix of Israeli/Russian accent. Didnt have a chance to explore red hook. I should also add that the ferries will not wait a second past the hour and they wont come back if you are just late. They left an old lady, and we missed it by seconds one evening to go to the fishtrap after realizing its closed on sunday and I knew its closed on Mondays. It also didnt help that the taxi driver couldnt wait 5 minutes and we had to wait for another. Thats how we got to "Off the hook" which was very good so no complains. Yes St johns spice. They moved to right off the ferry. Good coffee there too. Our suitcase smells.

Last day in st croix - renting a car in about an hour to explore so if anyone has final suggestions.

virginia

ziggy, sorry you had a such bad luck at the blue moon. i've had some great meals there and ususally don't hesitate to recommend it. glad you enjoyed the beach at least. try whispering when you are headed out to snorkel and maybe those turtles won't hear you. lol. will you go to buck island to look for the illusive creatures? i think i've read they have good snorkeling...

Tuxedocat

ziggy60: You can get ice cream in Cruz Bay if you go to one of the markets like Dolphin or Starfish, but of course, that's not like an ice cream stand. Maybe I'll open one in my retirement. That's funny about the turtle. I haven't seen one either in all the times I've been to St. John. I've seen many other creatures but not a turtle. Everybody else seems to see one, but not me. "Hey, just swam with a turtle..." "Where...WHERE?!!!"

cdt

We've vacationed in STT and STX but finally saw our first turtle(s) in Akumal, Yucatan - go there if you're desperate to see one!

ziggy60

Virginia, thanks for all your advice. You, ccresner and many others on this board were very helpful in planning our trip. I meet alot of people here who do no research and some of them seem quite miserable like the couple we met who never heard of buck island.
Speaking of which, great snorkling on the buck, stunning beach, probably the highlight of our trip and guess what? still no turtle. They hate my guts. The kids are telling everyone they meet that their daddy never saw a turtle and everyone is giving me advice. Also it didnt help that I lost my prescription nsorkling gear a few days ago. Someone just relieved me from my misery. Tuxedocat, we should open a club.
We have a flight back in a couple of hours back to NY and its 25 inches of snow.

Tuxedocat

ziggy60: I prefer to think that its the Caribbean Vacation gods that mean to hold out on the turtle-sighting until special folks like you and myself are to receive a sign of a marvelous revelation to come... sort of a "holiday" grail to be sought. We'll just have to book trip after trip for as long as it takes to receive that message. By the time you read this, hopefully it will stop snowing. I'm watching the flurries outside of my window right now and dreaming of somewhere warm with turtles.

ziggy60

Well, we never made it out. Staying in st croix 2 more days

christiegr

Tuxedo,
Try going to Francis Bay or Caneel Bay beach to see turtles.We saw some at both places.With any luck..maybe you will see some.

Christie

virginia

oh yeah! ziggy. all that snow did come to some good. you have 2 extra days of turtle seeking. i'll hope for you that this is your special sign of an imminent sighting.

BumpSetSpike

Ice Cream in Red Hook - It was a Cold Stone Creamery........I can still taste it, mmmmmmm.

ziggy60

Well Virginia, came back home still a turtle virgin. Losing my prescription goggles second day in st croix didnt help. Perhaps it was a group of turtle secret agents who decided I should stop trying. I did take a nice picture of a sea turtle and I can easily cheat and tell everyone I saw it while snorkeling. It's actually a closeup of a tiny turtle in coral world. Pathetic. But loved the 2 extra days. For some reason I was the only happy one in the airport when my flight got canceled.

I need to try that stone cold ice cream finally. what is it, extra fat?

ziggy60

Pictures uploaded. Not safe for work

http://community.webshots.com/album/547674448RTwvWu

Tuxedocat

ziggy60: Great pictures! Definitely recognized all of the St. John ones. Terrific Part II report too. It made me think I should take better note of what I eat in restaurants when I am recommending them.
Christiegr: It's funny you should mention that! I actually went to Francis Bay twice this past trip remembering what you had said about the turtles, and yes, other people were shouting that they saw them and I just kept missing them! Oh well, it's become a happy sort of mission for me now.

christiegr

Tuxedo,
With any luck...maybe next trip you will see some turtles.

We also saw some at Caneel Bay beach..in the center of the beach is an area of seagrass that attracted the turtles.

Good luck!
Christie

wordlady

Thank you thank you thank you!!!

I have really enjoyed this thread. I am leaving in a week for first trip to St Thomas, (and caribbean) and have had NO time to research before today.

We're staying at Wyndham Sugar Bay and would like to explore the islands, take a, (what do you call it?) boat tour? We 'd like to sail/boat over to St John and other BVI also. I read another thread with a recommendation for New Horizons and bookmarked it.

Is there a particular type of tour you would recommend? Our idea of fun is NOT shopping, but beaches, exploring, snorkling, and partying in the evening. (2 fun gals who won a trip)

Thanks for any help!