My wife and I will be staying at the Westin St john for a week next month. we have never been to this island. A few questions:

We think we want to rent a car. How long should we have the car for? A few reccomendations on a rental agency would be great also? What beaches are a must see? I heard there was a rental place in Cruz bay that allowed us to park there when in town.

In town, or the island in general, where are some good places to eat and go out at night?
Heard that Caneel bay had good places to eat lunch and then spend the day there.

I also heard that there are some great snorkeling trips....any recommendations? We do have passports.

Any other ideas for us???

Thanks so much!

We have been on St John and stayed at Gallow's Point right in town and did it without a car, but I don't recommend it all all. The next time we got a car for a few days and the last 3 or 4 trips we have rented the whole week. You will pretty much limited to The North Shore beaches without a vehicle. The beach at The Westin is OK, but nearly as nice as the other beaches on STJ. We have rented from both Cool Breeze and Courtesty and did not have a problem with either but Cool Breeze does not have a lot in town. Parking can be a challenge but there is a lot called Slimman's right by Wharfside Village that you can park at. Courtesy just moved it's location and I don't think the proximity to town is as good as it was but I haven't seen the new location to have a better idea of that. You will read mixed reports on the rental agencies but I don't think there is a dramatic difference between them.

Some of my favorite eats in Cruz Bay are Rhumblines, Thai Excellent design your own Pu-pu platters. Cafe Roma, good Italian and large portions. La Tapa, Lime Inn are also good. These are the more moderately priced options, we don't typically do the really high end dining.The Beach Bar has good bar type food and The Banana Deck is another good one. Have to mention Uncle Joe's BBQ too for good, cheaper food.

Deli Grotto in Mongoose Junction has great sandwiches to take to the beach and Sun Dog Cafe nearby is a great lunch spot. These restaurants have been consistently good all of our trips and believe me, the restaurant scene changes quickly on STJ.

As for going out at night, not a ton of excitement. Woody's, The Quiet Mon, The Beach Bar and Joe's Rum Hut and some other small pub type places. There is a new place called Crazy Cracker in Wharfside that recently opened.

There is really good snorkeling right on STJ, so when we have gone on boat days, it has been to explore The British Virgin Islands. If you decide to charter a boat and Captain, I recommend Captain John Brandi of Palm Tree Charters.You can do whatever you want for the day. I can provide the link if you are interested. New Horizon's II is also a nice boat trip to The BVI's, but, although there is a snorkel stop, it is not the primary focus. It does take you to The Bath's,Marina Cay for lunch at Pusser's, a snorkel stop and then Jost Van Dyke.

Even though it is your first trip to STJ and there is plenty to do, it is great to go to The BVI's for the day and we do so every trip whether it be the ferry or a boat trip. It doesn't get much better then White Bay on Jost Van Dyke. Funky little beach bars, gorgeous beach, great people and blinding white sand.

We've been to St. John 14/15 times now and only once did we not rent a car for the entire week. That was when we too stayed at Gallows Point. If you really want to experience St. John and see the whole island you definitely need a car. We have good luck different car rental agencies - Courtesy Car Rental, St. John Car rental, Sunshine Car rental, Denzil Cline, etc. With a car you can easily visit the entire island and all the good snorkel spots.

Have a great trip and make sure to post a trip report.

Some of our favorite places to eat are: Uncle Joe's Bar B Q, Woodys, Cafe Roma, Zozo's, Vie's Snack Shack, Miss Lucy's & Skinny Legs.

Like Brenandg says there is great snorkeling all over St. John so if doing a trip go to the BVIs. We have used Pirates Penny/Stormy Petrel for 5 trips and they are fantastic! They pick you up on St. John and you go to the Baths and a couple of other snorkel spots. Some of my favorite snorkel spots on St. John are:
Hawksnest, Trunk Bay (not my favorite but a must do just because it's Trunk Bay), Caneel Beach (both the left & right side of the main beach), Denis Beach, Francis Bay (good turtle spot), Waterlemon Cay (another good turtle spot), Blue Cobblestone (walk past Salt Pond), Rainbow Beach, Haulover, Lameshur, Kiddle Bay, Reef Bay, Chocolate Hole, etc.

I would highly recommend renting a car. It's just easier that way.

My favorite beach is Hawksnest, but you can't go wrong with any beach on St. John!

Here's an option for a day snorkel trip:
http://sailbreath.com/

Have fun! You'll love it

Thank yo for all the replies. I have reserved a jeep for 4 days w/ Courtesy car rental. They will pick me up on my 1st morning there and also provide a place for me to park when we are back in town for dinner or other things.

Does any one know of a good company to go SCUBA diving with?

Does anyone know of the best place to purchase a few grocery items on St. John. We have a 1 BR villa w/ a semi private pool at the Westin.

What companies have people used to go on a BVI tour and snorkel. We have passports. Which tour is reccomended?

Anyone use the Westin ferry from St Thomas airport? How did that go?

Thanks

We picked up our groceries from Dolphin Market when we first arrived in Cruz Bay. I'm not sure how the prices compare to the other large market in town.

I would second that recommendation for Breath. We did a full day sail with them out of Coral Bay and it was great. Our sail was limited to the area around St. John, but I know that they have BVI tours too.

I have always used Lowkey Watersports to dive with and they are great. Cruz bay is supposed to be just as good and they have a dive center at the Westin. I would use them.

Dolphin Market and Starfirsh Market are the two most popular places toget groceries on St. John. We like to use Pine Peace as it's usually cheaper & very local. It's on the left on the way to the Westin.

Pirates Penny/Stormy Petrel is who we go the BVI's with for snorkeling. Ask them to stop at Monkey Beach.

We are also staying at the Westin villas (timeshares) next month. We've been before and we really love the entire St. John experience. As far as the ferry, I have taken the Westin ferry and I have also used the local ferry. I prefer the local ferry. When we took the local ferry we simply got our bags and caught a cab to the port. When you take the Westin ferry, you check in at the airport, but then we had to wait around for everyone else to get their bags and then we all had to get loaded onto the Westin cab to get to the port. We ended up waiting almost an hour until the cab was full of folks going to the Westin ferry. Then we had to wait at the port for almost 2 hours until the Westin ferry arrived. Although we were already on vacation and enjoyed a snack at the restaurant by the port, I was exhausted and wanted to get to the hotel! If you use the local ferry just ask the cab driver to take you to the port (there are 2 of them and the driver will know which ferry is the next one to leave). Once you arrive in St. John, jump into an open air taxi and in 5 minutes you're at the Westin. I think some folks like the simplicity of the Westin ferry since it's all figured out for you; I prefer doing it on our own.

You asked about grocery stores; there is one called Star Market which was perfect. You'll find everything you need there, and there is a liquour store in the same shopping center. It's just minutes from the Westin.

For Scuba diving, our friends always use Lowkey Watersports and find them extremely personable and professional. There is also a company at the Westin called Cruz Bay Watersports. We always go there on our first day and rent our snorkeling equipment for the week (I don't scuba)since our days consist of driving to different beaches and relaxing, snorkeling and finding a great place for lunch. Very low key and relaxing. At night we almost always go to town, which is a short 5 minute drive. We love Zozo's, La Tapa, Rhumb Lines and others. Enjoy!

Just keep in mind that if you do a day sail vs a powerboat, you will cover a lot less ground. It really depends on where you want to go in The BVI's. Virgin Gorda is quite the trek and takes up a good bit of the day to get there and back even with a power boat. Here is the link to the New Horizon's trip.

http://www.bookitvi.com/horizonp.htm

Here is the link to Palm Tree Charters

http://palmtreecharters.com/

It is pricey but it is totally your day to do as you please. We have been able to find people to share the charter and defray the cost. I highly recommend this forum for VI related topics. It is a great bunch of people.

http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.co...fbf4d8c6986fd4

There are plenty of other charters, but these as well Lion in da Sun are the only ones I am familiar with.

That's great that you took the initiative to reserve with Courtesy but I believe O'Connor is the on-site rental agency (I may be wrong but you can check with concierge). When we stayed at the Westin, it was terrific to rent right from the on-site agency because the cars are right there and they give you parking etc. I think they may also have a branch in Cruz Bay. I would check with the Westin to see if O'Connor is still their preferred agency and if O'Connor has parking available in Cruz Bay. The pricing is competitive so all the agencies are about the same.

Forgot to mention that I really liked the Westin ferry. It goes to and from its own private dock so there's no need to get separate taxis. Once you arrive at the airport, the Westin has its own VIP lounge where you can basically hand over your luggage and relax. They then arrange for you to take their own car service over to their private ferry on St. Thomas which takes about 40-45 minutes (same length as the downtown Charlotte Amalie ferry). They serve complimentary beverages the entire time, and when you get into their private dock, they'll check you in right there. Hand you a rum punch, put you and your luggage on a golf cart and take you to your room. As I remember, it costs about $40-45/pp but to me, it was worth it. It'll run you about $25/pp to take a taxi to Red Hook and you have to schlep everything yourself, and then you have the $4 or $8 ticket(not including luggage fees) for the public ferries, and then about $6/pp (again not including luggage fees) taxi to get from the ferry dock to the Westin. Oyy! Someone else can schlep my luggage for me on vacation, thank you!

Thank you so much for all the replies!

One more question:

I have been told by my Cell phone company (T-Mobile) that since St John is still in the US, I will have phone use and that my national calling plan includes the US virgin islands. What are peoples experiences with using their cell phone on St john...especially their signal strength, specifically at the Westin.

Thanks

My cell phone and our friends' cell phones always work fine. I love calling the office from one of beaches and letting them exactly where I am or calling a sponsee and telling them if they do the right things they can be here too.

chkvtzn, I have T-mobile (I'm in the US) and I just called them and they said that the national network does not include the US virgin islands and that a roaming fee will be incurred

Thanks linnaf..but I did again check w/ T-Mobile, and they said my plan works just like it would any where else in the US.