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Here Goes… the days tend to run together so I am going to try to give the quick & dirty…
Arrived on St Thomas on time, picked up a rum punch drink from the nice lady at the airport and collected our bags and jeeps from Budget. (Budget DOES allow their vehicles to go to St John and they also allow you take the top down as long as it is back up when you return.) We Love having a wrangler/jeep – you do not get the sides to the jeep and the floor is bare metal and that made our life’s easier… We stopped at Duffy’s at Red hook for a beer or three and then caught the car barge (whichever one was there). Landed in St John and headed to our villa…. Holy Cow, we were at the top of a mountain in Fish Bay, took a little getting used to (we had to cross a few dirt roads, I don’t think we had to use 4 wheel drive, but would not have wanted something without). We have stayed at several villas on St John & St Thomas, this one was the biggest climb to get to, but the views were worth it. (www.seaviewhomes.com we stayed in South Shore Villa) We sent the guys to Starfish to get some supplies for the evening/morning and enjoyed the Infinity Pool and views.
We got up early and had breakfast and headed to Starfish to shop for the rest of the week. We then ventured to Cinnamon and snorkeled and relaxed. The snorkeling was good; we like to swim around the island there. We headed to Woody’s for HH and then back to the Villa for the evening. (Still a little afraid to try and get back to the villa after dark, but that changes real fast…..)
OK, seriously Born to Rhumb is fantastic. We LOVED it and I can not recommend this day highly enough. I would have gone out several more times. Capt Kevin is awesome and so is Andi. We stopped in Tortola for customs and then headed to The Indians (great snorkeling – I wish we would have stayed there a little longer), next The Caves and the lunch at Foxy’s on Jost. Then we headed to Sandy Cay (The Opening scene from Gilligan’s Island filmed here) beautiful island with just our crew and Painkillers – I could have stayed all day. Finally, we headed to the Soggy Dollar (I think Soggy) great place, great people, just perfect. Customs back in St John was a breeze, no problem, Kevin and Andi take care of setting the stage for you and you just show up. We went to Woody’s (again) and then back to the villa, it was dark this time, but we made it.
Breakfast at the villa, packed a cooler of beer, drinkie drinks and sandwiches and off to Maho for a day of relaxing sun and fun. The cruisees would drive by and stop and take pictures (it seemed like of us) – so glad we get to stay as long as we want. Went to the Beach Bar that afternoon and then back to the villa for a late night.
Breakfast at the villa, packed a cooler of beer, drinkie drinks and sandwiches and off to waterlemon (great snorkeling). We then headed over to Coral and had lunch at Shipwreck Landing (excellent lunch) and them over the hill to a beach and I can’t remember the name…. We were the only ones there and it was very rocky. Went back to the villa Cleaned up and went out to dinner at a place right on the water next to Panini (again can’t remember the name), but I had a Burger and it was great.
Breakfast at the villa, packed a cooler of beer, drinkie drinks and sandwiches and off to Cinnamon. Great day of snorkeling. Went to a bar/hut in Mongoose and then to Joes Rum Hut for a LONG time (great place – great views). Back to the Villa for another later night.
Breakfast at the villa, packed a cooler of beer, drinkie drinks and sandwiches and off to Maho and then to the Beach Bar for a drink , Starfish for Wedding Meal supplies and off to the villa to prepare for the wedding. Beautiful Ceremony and Great food.
OK, I am going on to long, Friday, Cinnamon and Saturday flight home. Dinner at Rhumb Lines was awesome and every other place we ate at.
I love the Deli Grotto in Mongoose, the Starfish Market has everything, great selection of chicken, steaks, veggies, cheese, etc…… everywhere we ate the food was excellent (and we are kind of foodies). Snorkeling we saw so much… A nurse shark, HUGE Stingray and Turtle, Flounder, Squid, crabs, fish fish and more fish! If you get a chance book a day with Born to Rhumb, it was the BEST! Love on Tigger the Dog at Low Key (Beach Bar too) say hi to Jimmy give him the rock and he is your friend forever. Enjoy every moment, it goes by too fast!
Great report!! Sounds like you had a great trip! Glad to hear you had a good experience with Budget renting a Jeep. A previous report had me scared silly with the UNcustomer service-orientated people there. We also are renting a Wrangler in late June. Welcome home ! 🙁
Loved your trip report. How was your villa from Seaview Homes? Were renting from them next June and have a deposit already in. Did Mark meet you at the dock? Did you like him? Anything else you can tell me about Seaview? Thanks, Leslie
We had no problems at all with Budget and have rented there before. I sent my husband on a mission off of the plane to get in line just in case, but it wasn’t necessary when we arrived (we came in on a Friday, not a Saturday - when leaving on a Saturday the line was VERY long).
We love Seaview, we rented from them last year. I would definitely recommend using them. We met Mark at the Ferry dock, but we actually went up the mountain with one of his employees (he led some others in our group to a different villa). Last year we stayed at Beija Flora and I prefer that villa over South Shore, both are extremely nice and you won’t go wrong.
Any photos you can share? Would love to see them. We cant wait to return next June.
Cincy, so glad you got to go on Born to Rhumb. I think he's going to be a very busy Captain considering how many people like him on this board. A side note...My friend left his watch on the boat. Captain is in Maine right now, but he brought it with him and is sending it on home. Now...that's a nice guy!
As far as Budget. It was the girl at the desk who was the problem. We greeter her with a smile and a Good Afternoon and it just went downhill from there. She never got up once from her chair, didn't say hello to us at all, just nodded her head yes or no and proceeded to talk to people on the phone as we our party stood there waiting.
When husband went back to drop off the keys, he made sure he dropped them off to the other girl and guess what?? She smiled, said thank you and was very pleasent..
Cincygirl - sounds like you had a fabulous time. Isn't Captain Kevin just the greatest!!! We went out with him and Andy for the second time last month and once again they provided the absolute best day of an already great vacation!!
Yeah, Kevin is a great guy. The day was so much more than what we expected.
Budget - I was just posting in general about our trip, not in reply to any other postings. I would say that it is like anywhere else, you get the luck of the draw.....
I will try to get some pics posted.
Glad to hear you had a wonderful time on St John. We are making our 20th trip there in November, and we are also staying in Fish Bay at the very top of the mountain at Sol Inclination, also a pretty new villa. We have seen the house in a video of Croix Vista, and wondering if South Shore Villa is nearer to Croix Vista or to Sol Inclination.
In the past, we have stayed on the north shore in Catherineberg and also at the top of Rendezvous, but I hear the road up to Skytop where Sol Inclination is located is quite daunting. Friends of ours who stayed in Daffodil said that once they arrived safely, they swore they would never leave the villa, but that the trip up and down got easier as the days passed.
Can you share a little about the road? Seems from your trip report that you guys got up and down just fine, but I would like to know just what we are in for so I can prepare the newbies. Hope our choice wasn't a mistake.
20th trip, Wow!! We only started in 2000, so we have a lot of catching up to do with you. I looked at both of the villa's you referenced above and it appears that Croix Villa is on the mountain right on Fish Bay and Sol Inclination is the ONLY villa that was above our villa. The drive to Sol Inclination and South Shore where we stayed would be identical, the drives are only about 500 feet a part (but complete privacy from each other).
Honestly, it was the unknown and just being a little intimidated. We went in and out of the villa so much that by day three it was second nature. If you have anyone coming to your villa from another villa, they will probably get lost. Basically coming from Rendezvous you cross a dirt section of road (No big deal), you turn left after crossing a wood bridge (there are old tires at the corner that will help you identify the road) this pass-through road is dirt (again no big deal - unless I guess you were to get a lot of rain , but this is in the low land - so still no big deal). The road going up the hill is paved and goes to one lane, because of the slant of the hill your lights tend to shine up and not at the road in some parts. I think we only met another vehicle twice on the road and there was plenty of room to go around each other. Going up you just keep turning left...
We walked up to Sol Inclination , it looks amazing! One thing I would have wished a little different with the view was the valley in between. As long as you look out the views are amazing, but when you look down, not so much. But, I am not complaining. One night we lost power for about 5 hours and it woke all of us up, so we were out on the decks at 3AM looking at the stars and there was a cruise ship coming into St Thomas from the distance, I think that is so cool to see the ships coming and going over the horizon.
sounds like a great trip, and i can not wait until ours in august! one question. i'm real tempted to have a day with Born to Rhumba. Did they require the passport, or do they take the officlal birth certificate? I keep hearing that a passport is not needed if arriving to the BVIs by watercraft, but i also know that it's up to the captain's discretion.
We all have passports, so it was not an issue for us. I would just give Kevin a call or email and ask him what he thinks... Kevin McKinney 340 642 7262 or [email protected] (he responds really quickly).
In my opinion, if you need a passport, it would be worth it to go ahead and get one. I know I've already said this, but it was just a fantastic day.
Thanks so much for the information on the road and the bonus info about Sol Inclination. We would have loved to do something closer to Cruz Bay and the north shore beaches but this was the only villa that had all the bells and whistles that my fellow travelers wanted. DH and I are just happy to get to St John and have stayed at many different villas, as well as the Westin, Caneel and Gallows. We will even stay on STT and ferry over each day if we go in high season by ourselves. We just love St John . We were married there at Peter Bay 5/20/2000.
Our travel companions(2 couples) wanted a villa with a pool, jacuzzi, A/C, king beds, WiFi and at least one bathtub. At first, they agreed to go with Villa Sibella, even though it had no jacuzzi it did have 2 jacuzzi bathtubs. I am so glad we found Sol Inclination before we booked Sibella, as that villa has some real issues as reported by several folks who have stayed there. So I guess the road and location is the price you pay for the beauty of Fish Bay , South Shore Villa, Croix Vista and Sol Inclination.
Thanks again for your help.
Fantastic and terrific seem to be your favorite words~
We stayed at Villa Sibella in August 2007 and had a fantastic time there. Spacious, open living rooms. Great views. Fun pool. No complaints whatsoever. Besides the villa being great, we had so much fun in St. John. We are going to go back this year! Bob
