"Should I rent a car or does the island have a transportation system?"
I recommend renting a car, as the taxis can be a little pricey since they charge per person, per destination.

"What time of year do you have the LEAST TOURISTS?"
May thru mid Dec. is offially the "off-season", but we still have many tourists here during that time. Intead of the hotels being 100% full, they may only be 40 or 50%, but the Marriott alone has 504 rooms, so you can imagine the number of tourists on any given "off season" day. Tourism is our ONLY industry here in St. Thomas and St. John. St. Croix has the rum factory and the oil refinery, too.

"What time of year is the coldest?"
Check this link: http://www.weather.com/activities/other/other/weather/climo-monthly-graph.html?locid=00801 and you can see the averages. Being from Michigan originally, I don't think ANY time of the year is considered "cold" here! Haha! 86 in February is average...and that's our coldest month!!

Hello Diana,

Visit www.vitraders.com
and select Planning from the navigation. There are books, vacation planning kits, videos, dvds... available there. Order a few books and you should be well prepared for planning your family vacation to St. John.

The hotels on St. John are:
The Westin; pretty quiet resort and it’s on a beach. Caneel Bay, quiet resort, 7 beaches within access and trails in the area. Gallows Point is in Cruz Bay, walking access to town, ferry, shops, and restaurants.

There aren't any villas on National Park land but there are some private properties bordering the National Park lands... like in the Cinnamon Bay and Peter Bay area. Contacting a villa company would be your best bet; they can point you to properties that suit your needs or do the looking yourself and visit villa web sites and see which ones appeal to you and contact the owners. Visit the accommodations section for St. John and you will have a few of both to start your search with:

https://www.vinow.com/stjohn/accommodations/

Renting a car is a good idea. You can find transportation information at:

https://www.vinow.com/stjohn/getting_around_stj/

Off season is around May to November. Carnival in St. John is in June... ending on July 4th and gets busy around that time. Late July, August, September are the quieter months.

You can find average temperatures, rainfall ect. on the following page:

https://www.vinow.com/usvi/weather.php

Happy Planning. If you have any questions about restaurants, need opinions or have questions about the hotels/villas you are considering, post them here. Also you might search through the board and read past questions about St. John. The search option is at the top of the board on the left side.

--Islander

Diana
If you only buy one book, make it 'St John Off the Beaten Track'. It contains a wealth of information on hiking trails, snorkeling locations, history, etc. We purchased the 4 pack and did not regret any of them.
You should consider villas if staying a week or more. You will find them competitive and perhaps save on the food budget. We don't eat much for breakfast and made our own lunches. Dinners at the villa 4 nights and out on the town the rest. Much cheaper than hotel or food plan.
Begin by comparing Hi & Lo season rates at the hotels to several villas with features of interest. Then determine which season your budget can handle and make your selection(s) based on budget/interest. Finally, see which of your selections are available when you want them.
As Islander suggested, use this board to get details when preparing for your trip.