If you have cable at Watergate, it comes on Monday at 10:00 PM on Channel 6.

Who are you renting from at Watergate?

Renting from an owner at Watergate Villas East - anything I should know? Thanks!

We were thinking of renting at Watergate. Since there is a long list of folks to rent from on VRBO we were curious who you rented from. Have you rent there before? Looks like a nice place and the fact that you can walk to Bolongo is a plus.

Rented from the Brownings at Watergate. They have a studi & 2 bedroom units, reasonable, nice people to deal with, lots of local info.

Jersey Girl:
We're renting from the Thomas family - I will let you know how it turned out when we get back!

I will be looking for your report - thanks.

Jersey Girl: Just got back from St Thomas and had a wonderful time. RE: WG Villas/Bolongo - we were happy with our unit - plenty of space. Not new but certainly maintained well and was clean, and the owner was wonderful to work with. If I had it to do again, as this was our 1st trip to St Thomas, I think I would stay at Sapphire Beach. First of all, it was a much cleaner and prettier beach than ours - the surf at our beach was so rough we couldn't even snorkel, and there was much seagrass which limited visibility.
Also, I was not prepared for the driving conditions - terrified me to be driving or riding on the treacherously steep and winding mountain roads just to get to any of the towns or beaches. We rented a car from Avis (which would't start after we had lugged 6 pieces of luggage across 2 streets and up a flight of steps to get to it! - they had me come back to the terminal to switch it out!). I would skip Magens Bay (too crowded - you could barely find a place to step and we went when there was only 1cruise ship in! Coki beach was crowded as well, but a great place to snorkel and dive. We took the car ferry to St John then drove to Trunk Bay. I was literally in tears by the time we got there - many places along the steep hairpin road had no guard rails and I was terrified! Plus, before we left St. Thomas, the ferry we were waiting in line for broke down and we had to wait for another one (about an hour). TIP: If you do take the car ferry, buy a one-way ticket over so that when you're ready to leave St. John, you can buy a one-way ticket back on whichever ferry pulls up first as you're waiting. We bought round-trip ($50) , then went back to the dock at 2:30 (the scheduled time) and was told OUR ferry wouldn't be there until 4:00. It was quite hot and we were very tired, so we paid the one-way price ($26) and got on the ferry without having to wait.
When we go back, we plan to stay at Sapphire, rent a car to go ONLY to Red Hook for eating, Havensight for shopping and eating, and Coki Point maybe. I don't think I will ride or drive to any of the other beaches due to the crowds. Definitely eat at Duffy's in Red Hook, and definitely eat at Shipwreck Tavern (best and most reasonable meals we had all week). We have 2 teens with big appetites so our dinners were $100 - $130 everywhere else, which is more than I usually spend for 2 weeks of groceries!
SO, I hope this info helps you. If you've never been there, you'll fall in love with the water colors and great weather (didn't rain all week and had light breeze every day). If you want to dive, St Thomas diving club at Bolongo Bay was great to dive with. We did 2 resort dives - one reef and one wreck. My teens loved it.
Something else I'll throw in - if you'vre never been to Grand Cayman, consider it. As much as we LOVED St. Thomas, we still prefer Grand Cayman as the diving and snorkeling are better and its much easier to get from one point to another quite fast although it's hotter at Grand Cayman. Feel free to email me with any questions! Hope you have as much fun as we did!

Thanks for the report! We hadn't decided whether or not to do the car barge or people ferry when we go to STJ, but you may have just help us make that decision. I think we'll try to park in Red Hook and ferry over, then taxi to beach.

What really amazed me was that you have 2 teens and you only spend $100-130 every two weeks for groceries?? When both my boys are home - I spend that every couple days! You must have light eaters. 🙂

I think Sapphire has only 1 bed/1bath and with 2 teens i think i need the extra space. I will keep checking around but thanks for the great report.