St. John, USVI vs Maui
 

Would like objective opinions as to which would be the better destination. We like great beaches and snorkeling off the beach. Must be kid-friendly. We do love St. John.

Are you a troll, Betsy?<BR>Now come on, be honest.<BR>This question has been asked twice lately and always results in knock-down drag out, insult-laden arguments.<BR><BR>I'll summarize (and I've been to both):<BR>the majority (definitely not all) of respondents favor the Hawaiian islands (not always ranking Maui as their favorite Hawaiian isle) over St. John.<BR>Biggest reasons cited: more variety of things to see and do, better choice of good eateries, better choice of lodgings, safer, better economy, more consistent weather (rare hurricanes vs. Caribbean), lack of racism toward tourists, other islands close by with very different character for change of pace.<BR>Proponents of St. John feel the bluer water around St. John is prettier (and warmer), some of the beaches are very pretty and uncrowded, easier to find good snorkelling, if you live in the eastern US, SJ is a lot more convenient.<BR><BR>I'm sure the same lame arguments and insults will follow as always. But the above points are the main ones usually mentioned.

Ben, Why would you assume Betsy isn't serious? Are you saying people actually fight over which island is better? Now that is truly ridiculous. I've been to all the Hawaiin islands, but never St. John and would like to go.<BR><BR>Betsy, where do you live? Which is faster, easier and cheaper to get to? Both are kid-friendly, they're tropical beaches! If you've never been to Hawaii, why not try something new?

I lived in the USVI for a while - post college - and worked on a snorkle/dive boat. The USVI is beautiful, easily accessable to the Eastern US, and very warm. <BR><BR>The BIG downside of the USVI (St. John included) is that the islands are much more impoverished than Hawaii. The reason why the first respondee treaded very lightly with his description is because since the majority of Caribbean residents are black - the answers can be interpreted to be racist instead of informative.<BR><BR>Let's look at some facts. The population of the USVI has a much lower per capita income than the population of Hawaii. Caribbean resorts aren't owned or operated by locals, which means that most tourist dollars don't impact the locals. As a result, St. John has way, way, way more poverty than Maui. People often see this as a good thing, or a bad thing.....<BR><BR>In St. John you will certainly have a feeling of "I'm not in the US anymore". (Even though you are in the USVI......) <BR><BR>My personal opinion is that since I've already experienced the USVI culture and people (I had a great time by the way) I'd probably not wish to return there on vacation. I have since returned to Tortola since the trip to Hawaii is simply too far away. I like to vacation on Hawaii SO much more.

I answered you over at the Caribbean Board.

<BR>Author: nina ([email protected])<BR>Date: 12/30/2001, 08:14 am<BR>Message: Ben, Why would you assume Betsy isn't serious? Are you saying people actually fight over which island is better? Now that is truly ridiculous. <BR><BR>Nina: feel free to search through the archives to verify for yourself (though many of the insulting comments were deleted by the censors last time as I recall). Sorry if you choose not to believe that people will argue and become angry about things they feel strongly about, but it's true.<BR><BR>The reason I replied as I did was to try to keep the flamers away and hopefully keep the thread travel related (which it's not now).<BR> <BR>

Ben, Oh I know people will become angry and feel strongly about things they believe in like politics, child-rearing and religion, but which island is the better vacation spot? Just seems like a silly thing to argue about. I do believe you though, I've seen arguements about far sillier things on this board now that I think about it!:)

Sorry to have started a controversy. We are very fortunate,though, to be able to even consider these questions. Ben, I was serious. Perhaps I should have been more specific, strictly comparing the snorkeling off the beaches on the 2 islands. I would like to say though some of the negatives mentioned for St. John were not a problem for us when we went in June, 2000. Thanks for the info though.

Betsy, I meant no offense asking if your post was serious.<BR>Specifically comparing snorkelling quality alone, I'd choose SJ over Maui. Maui certainly has some decent snorkelling but the water clarity, warmth, crowding factor and serenity favor SJ in this area IMO.