lenlu

Hi all,

Upon researching, I'm trying to decide which of the above three is best for us. We have tix to San Juan. We'd like a nice beach with nice accommodations. I've seen St. Thomas and it was fine but I'm wondering if any of you have experience with St. Croix or Vieques? I see there is a W on Vieques but am trying to find info on St. Croix too. What are the beaches like, what is your experience? Thanks!

emd3

I have stayed at the W on Vieques. We went for the beaches and for the biobay experience (brightest bioluminescent bay in the world, which is best at time of a small moon, not anytime near full moon, the darker the better). Biobay was one of the top 10 experiences of my life.

There is not really a big town on Vieques. The town square at Isabel II (Segunda), which is the largest town, has some nice restaurants, and there are some restaurants and a bar across from Esperanza beach. We hung out a the W which is very nice, the beach is fantastic and so is the service, and OH THE SPA, ohh lala. The MIX restaurant there is great. And we went to Sun Bay beach, also very nice, wide white sandy beach w/palm trees for shade. There are lots of water sports available on the island. We did horseback riding on the beach.

You are only a ferry ride away from visiting SAn Juan for a day, which is fun for shopping and for the fort and strolling. And Don Carlos cigar place if anyone in your party is into that.

Don't miss out on swimming in the biobay at night with as littl emoom as possible. You need a tour to do this. It is absolutely fantastic. Google it.

I don't know what you are looking for, and I have not been to St. Croix. But the BioBay is a once in a lifetime deal and Vieques island is tranquil and beautiful and the W is phenomenal.

saige

St. Thomas has better beaches than St. Croix overall. I've not been to Vieques.

lenlu

Thanks you guys, I appreciate the feedback!

tejana

I'd take St. Croix over St. Thomas any day, but Vieques sounds like a lot of fun. It really depends on what you want to do. If scuba diving is important to you, Croix is one of the best places you can ever go -- the Cane Bay wall is so close to shore that you can actually swim out to a wall dive straight from the beach. Croix doesn't depend on tourism the way that St Thomas does, and you only get one or maybe two ships a week instead of 8 a day, and they dock on the other side of the island. There have traditionally been no big hotel chains on Croix, but the Carambola (on the North Shore) has recently been taken over by Marriott Renaissance, and the Buccaneer (toward the East End) has always been considered outstanding. We have been going to Croix for 15 years and absolutely love it, but I'd love the chance to visit Vieques!

lenlu

Tejana, I had no idea the wall was so close, that is really awesome! Thanks so much for the hotel input too, we'll check them all out!