Well, since you're going to the tropics in summer, it will be hot. And it will be humid, but not in the suffocating, oppressive way that some places on the mainland are. The tradewinds keep things moving and there aren't miles of concrete and asphalt to retain heat. As for a/c, it''s a personal choice. We're happy with an overhead fan, but we tolerate heat pretty well, even enjoy it. Other people would be absolutely miserable without a/c. If we lived on STJ, we'd want a/c, but for a vacation, we're fine without it. We like to feel that we're in the tropics and like hearing the night sounds and smelling the fragrances.

The question is really do YOU need a/c. People did live in STJ long before there was a/c and Caneel only installed it recently. People do stay at Maho and camp at Cinnamon. But if you think you may want it, definitely get it.

Can you sleep with no AC in July? Here in PA, there's no way, in this house that we could and there's no way that we could in the islands. That's just us....even with a ceiling fan, it's too hot upstairs. That's where the heat rises.

Many islanders do not have a/c. We don't. We live up in the hills on the North Shore. I would say there are maybe 10-15 days a year I wish we had it. In Kentucky Ric used a/c from April til November and thought he would die without it on STX, but, for us it is surprisingly comfortable without it. Our WAPA runs between $110 and $130 a month.

The thing about weather is that you really need to deal in probabilities and such when guessing, nothing is absolute when trying to predict weather...

Here;s a link to some basic stats on Cruz Bay Weather trends...

http://radar.meas.ncsu.edu/cgi-bin/sercc/cliMAIN.pl?vi1980

If you have a breeze everything will probably be ok...like up near the top of a mountain...

I have been to St. John for the past 2 years in July and would recommend air conditioning for bedrooms. Both of the villas that we rented only had ac in the bedrooms. The remainder of the villas were fine during the day and evening as the tradewinds were great and both villas were "open-air". St. John is my favorite vacation spot and I am looking forward to returning again this summer. Hope you have a great time.

The issue is to find a location that has a breeze. In general most of St. John is not on the winward side other than Coral bay, some places on the side and top of the mountain or some beach areas. The breeze tends to stop at night and pick up early in the morning.

You can sleep withour AC but there are nights that you will die. Try staking on the east enf of St. Thomas and then go back and forth to St. John for a few days. But if you are going to Coral Bay stay there.

biid