From: LPS [#1]
8 Feb 22:39
To: ALL
From: Willis (WESTIE12) [#2]
8 Feb 23:20
To: LPS [#1] 9 Feb 7:17
A couple years ago we stayed at the Marriott's Frenchman Reef. But i am not sure it's the same place your staying at. It' s a nice place but you have to do a lot of walking just to get down to beach & the one swimming pool. We rented a vehicle & drove downtown to go shopping & we drove to a couple of the other beaches around the island. We also took the vehicle on the ferry over the St. John's island & went site seeing & went to a nice beach over there. It scary driving because they drive on the opposite side of the road. There is a couple of nice place to go snorkeling. There is a golf course but didn't get to play golf there.
Good luck,
From: BRENTW4 [#3]
8 Feb 23:54
To: LPS [#1] 9 Feb 7:17
Love the USVI. We go to St. John -- we're only on St. Thomas to get on and off the plane (and take the world's wildest white knuckle cab ride from the airport to Red Hook, where we get on the boat to paradise).
We have friends who stay on St. Thomas and really like it, though. The thing St. Thomas has that St. John really doesn't is nightlife, from what I understand. And a golf course. No golf on St. John.
It takes a couple days to get used to driving on the other side of the road -- especially considering all the rental cars and trucks are still left hand drive. So you're always "riding the curb" so to speak from the driver perspective. My wife acts as the co-pilot/reminder person for the first day or two, then it sinks in. Then I come home, and driving on the right seems weird ... :o)
As with any island destination, don't be lulled into a false sense of security by the beautiful surroundings. Be aware of your family and possessions just like you would be anywhere else. St. Thomas is not immune from common crime issues. If you're going to be mostly on the resort, this is less of an issue, but just be smart when you're out and about.
From: noblesrobert [#4]
9 Feb 8:41
To: LPS [#1] 9 Feb 8:49
From: BobP (BP4455) [#5]
9 Feb 9:41
To: LPS [#1] 9 Feb 10:10
We've been to St. Thomas dozens of times on cruises.
If you go there be sure to take the tram to Paradise Point. The views are breathtaking and the Bushwhackers outstanding!
It's great for a port-of-call but I'm not sure I'd want to spend a week there.
From: Gizmo (JEFFERSON CCGUY) [#6]
9 Feb 13:07
To: LPS [#1] 9 Feb 13:20
We time share down there, really for us it's a relaxation destination. Drink, hang out at the beach, read, etc.
There's plenty of shopping, restaraunts and night life downtown, but you'll pay Island prices for everything which means any night out is expensive.
If you're going for a week would highly recommend a day trip to St John as well.
From: LPS [#7]
9 Feb 17:17
To: BRENTW4 [#3] 9 Feb 18:54
From: BRENTW4 [#8]
9 Feb 19:21
To: LPS [#7] 9 Feb 20:31
The Marriott is already east of downtown Charlotte Amalie, so best option for getting to St. John for a day trip (on your own) would be to take a cab to Red Hook -- which is on the far east point of the island. It's a shorter boat ride from Red Hook than from any other launch point as St. John is due east of St. Thomas -- maybe a 25 minute trip, depending on the chop ... :o)
The beaches on St. John are really something special. They are not long, open stretches of sand. They tend to be smallish, curving, shrouded in palm trees and not very crowded. Hawks Nest Beach is my favorite. IMO, it would be worth renting a car there for the day and checking out the whole island. Most of St. John is national park, so it's not very commercial compared to St. Thomas. Only one big hotel. Visitors mainly rent villas.
If you just do the planned day trip out of your resort, they will probably take you to Trunk Bay. It is a stunning beach with a really cool snorkel trail over the reef with an amazing array of sea life to see. But it will be more crowded -- it's where the cruise ships dump off their passengers for the day. But even if you don't make a day of it on your own, I still think you'd enjoy the excursion out of your resort.
I'm dying to go back ... it's been a couple years. My wife and I are trying to figure out how we can afford to spend the winter months on St. John for retirement. It may take some creative number crunching, or a winning lotto ticket.
From: LPS [#9]
9 Feb 20:44
To: BRENTW4 [#8] 9 Feb 23:34
From: BRENTW4 [#10]
9 Feb 23:43
To: LPS [#9] 10 Feb 7:50
Absolutely -- a couple real nice reefs there. Lots of rays swim up and down Hawks Nest.
I was thinking -- I have no idea how much it would cost you to rent a car on St. John for just a day -- always do it by the week. I'm sure they probably get you pretty hard for the one day. But if you did rent, you could spend time at Hawks Nest, Trunk Bay, and do a quickie island tour before catching the boat back.
From: LPS [#11]
10 Feb 8:12
To: BRENTW4 [#10] 10 Feb 9:09
That's great. One of the most memorable days of my life was swimming with the rays in the Cayman Islands. Unbelievable.
I'm not too worried about the cost of the car - realistically, how much can it be? $200 max? I'm under no illusions that anything will be cheap there; I'm going to a Caribbean island with 5 people, it's going to cost money. I set a target for how much I wanted to spend for spring break, and I should be within sight of that target, anyway. We try to go on two trips a year, one like this one, and the second to a beach in NJ in the summer. The spring break one always costs more because airfare for 5 is never cheap. The NJ beach vacation is my favorite week of the year; we rent a big house right on the beach with our best friends. Our kids have known each other since birth - we actually met them at Lamaze class. He and I play golf 3 times, and just hang out with the families on the beach. No airports, no rental cars, no flight delays, no taxis - just absolute relaxation.
Thanks for all your help on this topic. I really appreciate it. If you think of anything thing else that would be helpful, please pass it along.