Welcome!! Funny. Lots of these questions have been answered here over and over again. Just take a looksee by doing a search. I am sure there may even be answers right here on this page!! Then if you don't see your question answered, just ask!! We love to answer, but you will find some folks get short with redundancy!

RL

I can tell you that I personally don't care for pavillions and pools, but caneel bay is very nice. As far as the islands jost van dyke is absolutely beautiful and virgin gorda even more beautiful. 'when on st. thomas I really like the elysian, but again just my opinion. Hope this can get you on the right track and like the previous poster said just search the board and you'll start to answer some of the questions.

No car ferry to Tortola (that I've heard of.). In Tortola, I use Jerry's Car Rental. If you book in advance, they'll pick you up at the ferry. Very reasonable, very friendly. My favorite beach in Tortola: Smugglers Cove. I have never stayed at Long Bay, but I do often stay very near there. Do be aware that the units may not always be in the best state of repair. Try to get reviews of the specific unit in which you are staying. My favorite casual lunch/dinner in Tortola: Nexus Cafe, Bar & Grille.

Islandlola

Agapo:

1. We haven't stayed at Pools & Pavilions, but passed by there often....probably not our kind of place...go to TripAdvisor.com for some reviews. We've only stayed on the East End of St. Thomas at Sapphire Beach and the Point Pleasant Resort (where we now own a condo). We have looked (to buy) at the Elysian, Secret Harbor, Cowpet Bay and Mahogany Run. All were very nice, but Point Pleasant sold us because of the incredible view. Caneel Bay is "top notch"...a beautiful place. We like the afternoon buffet...it's like being on a cruise ship...the food is outstanding. Not to mention Honeymoon Beach next door (our favorite beach). We've never stayed overnight on Tortola, except on a sailboat. There are many good places to eat.

2. Highly recommend that you rent cars on each island. Taking a car ferry from St. Thomas to St. John (IMHO) is a pain in the neck, but you can rent one in St. Thomas and take it over for your 3 day stay. Of course you would then need to bring it back before you went to Tortola....a waste of (precious) time. On St. Thomas we use Hertz with a AAA discount, but we have also used Avis. Hertz will not let you take the car to St. John....Avis will.

3. Touring the BVIs....you can get a ferry from either St. Thomas or St. John to Tortola. There are other ferries that run from Tortola to the other BVIs. Look at the home page, here on VINOW, for the ferry schedule. Doing multiple islands in one day will probably require you to hire a boat and captain for the day (unless you want to go with another group of people).

4. As for the "must sees" you'll need to explore this forum and other sources to determine just what interests you the most. You seem to be squeezing a lot into just 11 days...just packing and moving to a different island (counting the first) will generally "waste" 3 days out of your 11 days.

5. Restaurants......I can honestly say that we have never had a bad meal at any of the island restaurants. Try a Red Hook on St. Thomas for a good selection. Caneel Bay is outstanding. Cruz Bay has many good places. Road Town, Tortola...the Spaghetti Factory. Sidney's on Jost. Bitter End Yacht Club on Virgin Gorda.

Hope this helps.

F.I.

Long Bay in Tortola is great; you will definitely need a car however. We stayed there during the holidays last year and the restaurants on site opened at odd times; closed during the week, etc. So while we did not plan to rent a car, we ended up having to. The good thing is that you can rent the car at the resort. They have a rental company on site so it was no problem. We had no trouble driving all over the island. It is really beautiful.

My husband and I stayed at long bay in September 2006. We stayed in one of the rooms by the beach. It was about a 6 or 7 on a scale of 10. Room was clean , employees were helpful and view was great. Furnishings were a little dated, tv quality not so good. For the price about $160 because of off season (since Tortola seems to be so expensive) it was pretty good. Pussers is a good place for picky eaters. Great fish and chips, chicken tenders etc. Also, we really like the restaurant in the Fort Burt Hotel. It is connected to the culinary institute on Tortola. Good gourmet food that is not crazy expensive. If I remember correctly a nice dinner was about $20. It is kinda hard to find because the driveway to the hotel is not marked clearly. On the road heading west out of Roadtown. Look to your right. Also at at Fat Hog Bob's. Really good food and a great view off the deck. A tad pricey but horrible.

As for rental cars I would rent a different one on each island. There is no car ferry over to Tortola. Sometimes you can waste a half a day waiting on the car ferry to and from STJ. Would not recommend Hertz on Tortola. Have rented from Jerry's on Tortola and it was good. Also, if you are the exploring type I would recommend a 4 wheel drive on Tortola. Roads are VERY steep, curvy and slippery (when it rains). We had one of those tiny jeep thingys and it did well.

For food on STT, I love the North Drop. It might be more pricey than you are wanting. But it has really great food and a wonderful view if you get there before nightfall.

As for your other questions, I don't have personal knowledge of Caneel but I have heard it is wonderful.

agapotravel: I'm going to gently suggest that three islands in 11 days is really pushing it where a vacation is concerned. Rather like "Eight European Capitals in 10 days" where you fly in and fly out of every major city, unpack your bags, settle in and have dinner, "do" some shops and sights and then have to repack for the next flight and the next destination. That's not a "vacation."

My suggestion would be to pick somewhere on either STT or STJ which would suit you for this short duration. STT and STJ are just a short ferry ride away from each other, and both islands offer ferry trips to Tortola (see the ferry schedule posted on this forum, top of the page.) There are charter boats operating out of STT and STJ which can take you to Tortola and even to Virgin Gorda where the famous "Baths" are located.

Ronnie (RONUSVI) gave you very good advice in his post.

You're coming to "vacate" so don't try and do everything at once, otherwise you'll end up your "vacate" time arriving back home totally exhausted. Just my opinion. Cheers!

Thanks everybody! You have really given me so many great suggestions. I think now that I have some information and some useful websites, I am going to really start researching. Then I will post again with a more finalized itinerary. I appreciate your help! 🙂

We stayed at the Pavilions and Pools on St. Thomas in March of 2005. I was disappointed. I felt they were dirty and way over priced. The concept of your own pool was wonderful. I wish they would clean the place up and maybe they have. I saw several rooms and felt even the "best" one was only average. Not worth the almost $300 a night we were paying. Let me know how things are if you stay there. I hope it is better. KK

I concur that three islands in 11 days is more than I'd want to take on. We've been going to STJ since the mid-80s and it wasn't until our third trip that we got to the BVI just for a day. We had intended to go sooner but there was always so much that we wanted to do and see on STJ that we just never got around to getting off the island.

Since your main interests are snorkeling and hiking, I'd suggest that you spend a good bit of your time on STJ. You could literally get to a different beach every day. STJ has a variety of trails ranging from strolls to more demanding hikes. I'd recommend that you pick up a guidebook or two. We use "Feet, Fins & 4wd" and "St John: Off the Beaten Track". Both are good. There's some overlap, but each has stuff that the other doesn't.

Here's a useful online site: http://www.stjohnbeachguide.com/

The only reason I wouldn't stay at Pavillions and Pools is that I would want a view while on vacation in the islands. They are fine but the view for me would be paramount. I stayed at Long Bay a few years ago over Christmas and was disappointed. Too far away from everything and the restaurant was sketchy (could have improved over the last few years, though). Also, the week I was there the water was very rough - not great for swimming. Caneel is great.