What is the going rate for car rentals on st. johns? how much are cab fares?
Thanks , Regina

We stayed at Sapphire beach in a villa that was on 3rd and 4th floors.
The entire time on the island I did not see any roaches or scorpion-type of creatures, but you do know about the iguanas, right?

I don't know if they live everywhere on the island, but we saw them at Sapphire, in Red Hook, at Coki Beach and Coral World, and at Bluebeards Beach club. Since those locations are on various parts of the island, I assume they are most everywhere.

They don't bother you, but I have to say they were not my favorite part of our trip. They don't fear you, so they'll come right up to your table, etc.

One night we ate at a restaurant on the water at a lagoon and got some mosquito bites, that was it for bugs!

That's funny!!! We just got back from a week in st. thomas, and the only bugs we encountered were Sugar Ants in our condo! Pretty harmless! We encountered no bugs whether up high or down low! Not one mosquito, not one roach, not one scorpion. Only Iguanas and lizards!
You'll have a great time!

oh this is great news!!! you must think i am crazy but i would never sleep if i was waiting for something to crawl in.....don't care during the day..lol

remember my tip about barbados tooo no bugs! just those frogs at night..

THANKS.....

Have to say this eases my mind a bit, too. My other half is a little insane about mosquitoes and other bugs - of course we live in Minnesota, so there are tons of them here! He's been 'bugging' me (sorry, bad pun) about the insect situation on the island since we'll be there for 9 glorious days in late November and now I have an answer for him!
Thanks to everyone for the great info posted on the board. Have to say it's given me some great ideas of where to go/what to do. My favorite idea so far is to just relax!

Michelle

I was just in St.Thomas last week and you have NOTHING to worry about with bugs. I didn't have any problems. The only thing that freaked me out that I wish someone had told me about were the iguanas. They will just walk right out in front of you. No one seemed to scared of them but they freaked me out a little. They do have teeth and will use them as well as their tails as defense mechanisms. If your scared of these guys, one place you might stay away from is Molly Malones, it's a restaurant and has three different levels based on how much you want to spend. The lower level is sandwhiches and things like that. It is outdoors and right near the harbor where the Iguanas love to roam freely. My husband and I were there eating lunch and had to move in under a trellace because we were surrounded by iguanas and two of them were starteled and ran towards me and under my chair. I was shagging! I stayed out of their way and they usually stayed out of mine. Have fun!

One more thing, watch out for Coral world if your scared of Iguanas. I saw 19 of them sittig on a wall there. I took a pic to show everyone back home! 🙂

Hi folks
It would not be accurate to say that the USVI does not have bugs...it does. Lots of them. St John probably more so than STT or STX.

Some places have very effective insect control, others do not. You will always have to contend with mosquitos, "noseeums" and sand fleas. They don't seem to like how I taste, but it is an ongoing problem for my wife.

It is not a huge problem, it is life in the islands.

With good pest control ,your housing will be generally comfortable. You can use deet that will give you some personel protection.

Iguanas look beautiful to each other....and are no threat to humans if left alone.

Yes, we have a ton of insects here, year-round. De creepy-crawly dem mostly come out at night. They sleep during the day under rocks, in the roots of weeds, and sheltered places like that. If you open the window at three in the morning, they can sound almost deafening. At sunrise, it becomes quiet again.

Hotels and restaurants generally have an exterminator go through once a month to keep the things outside. If your hotel room is well-sealed from the outside, you'll see few insects. They stay outside, where the food is.

If you look closely at the plants here, you'll see a lot of feeding damage. Insects can devour an entire crop overnight. They are a real pain if you're into gardening.

OK well imagine this.....Waking up...Stretching out, only to glance up at the ceiling to see a HUGE Salad-Plate size Spider....Im talking LONG hair on the legs!! I think it was a Ground Spider or so i was told, but it decided it would be a ceiling spider in my room that night. lol.. All in all Nothing to worry about..The trade winds keep away most bugs 🙂 Iguana and ants are common

I am more concerned with the Gray Water they use at SH than the other pest issues, because that sounds like camping to me and had I been aware of it sooner I would not have booked there this trip. But that said, I guess I need to bring Clorox drop-ins or something.

I would stay up high, but thats me. I had a crab under the bed once at the Bucceneer that no doubt followed in the maid and less sand gets inside. But hey.... some prefer the beach and it's worth whatever happens.

Iguanas go for the color red like in maraschino cherries, FYI on the red toe nail polish when you sit outside at a restaurant having breakfast, you may need to put your feet on the chair next to you.

Don't leave your doors opened, shake out your beach gear or leave it outside, don't leave snacks around, and wipe up anything that will draw anything before housekeeping is due or it will be too late as the sugar ants seem to appear out of nowhere. Look behind pictures for little lizards if you hear noises at night, good hiding place when you thought you looked everywhere. Housekeeping leaves the doors opened when they service your room and unless the place sprays on a regular schedule, will have bugs.

Chances are that you won't see any of the big roaches, they avoid lights. I saw some as big as my hand on the unlit side of a finer restaurant once by accident. Don't look for them, trust me, not pretty.

Public works doesn't spray/fog St John for environmental reasons from what I understand. Get to the ferry before dusk if you are prone to allergic reactions from bites or you will be dinner, that's what I do.

Have a good time
LB

Don't worry about the "gray" water ag SH. It is only in the toilets. The water color in our commode was a little yellow. You don't drink that water anyway (Well, my dog might). The water coming out of the bathroom sink and kitchen sink was fine to drink and cook with. I did buy bottled water tho as we tend to use a lot of water making iced tea & crystal light (went thru 3 gallons a day for three people) and I could make it right in the container. They do ask that you conserve water. We did notice one day when there was a wedding after-party (Day after the wedding and everyone, 35 people, was at one room in our building) in the evening that the water pressure was very low but right back to normal in the morning.

Thanks for the reassurance, I’m sure we will get gallons too as I’m big on water, but I’m bummed about the G.water issue because I booked this trip at SH as a surprise since my better half wasn’t thrilled about even going this year and I hate to screw up. We were so discussed that Grand Beach went Palace (so was the staff we talked to) that we canceled our 1bd hillside suite we always stay in and were going to just skip St. T. this year. You get used to a place and family of staff and GB had its own desalinization plant on site so we conserved on changing daily sheets but didn’t fill guilty when filling up the big roman Jacuzzi tub. We were hoping to find another place to call home in St Thomas. Previous places I have stayed didn’t have the Yellow Water either, in fact I haven’t seen that yellow water since the 80’s at Mt. when they had the “go twice flush once” signs.

Frankly I didn’t think SH would have that same water as the rest room at Blue Moon, which I first thought was bad housekeeping. That colored my opinion of the place beyond the plastic chairs and the just ok food. So much hoopla about a restaurant and an award winning wine list makes everything ok I guess. We don’t go to St Thomas for wine lists anyway, as we can get all the wine lists we need back east, but good local food and cocktails we can’t. In comparison, at Agave we never expect good food and if we get it, it’s a pleasant surprise to go along with the fabulous view at the infamous bar, island ambiance everywhere, and steel pans playing in a little spot where you can drop your fork and dance with your sweetie. Not to mention walk home in the moonlight to GB with a nightcap through Fungi’s. but that’s off the subject, I just didn’t put 2x2 together about BM and SH so I’ll get over it.

I truly hope that we get that island state of mind at SH, and about the other issue, I will take disinfectant drop in’s with bleach for the tank.
LB

I was just at SH a few weeks ago and did not notice the gray water. We stayed in an ocean view condo and the water was perfectly fine. We used it for coffee and ice cubes.

Skin-So-Soft with insect Repellant, an AVON product. A must for no-seeums. That is if they bother you. Some folks like get welts from them - me being one of them!!!!!

The Grey Water used in toilets at Secret Harbor and other places in the islands is not raw, but partially treated. It is non-potable, but doesn't present a health or insect hazard, and is smart use of a limited resource. Putting clorox in the water will kill bacteria in treatment facilities, so that's not a good idea.

Guess you don't know what drop in's are. They are large tablets that go in the toilet tank and yeld 2000 flushes.

This is probably more information than I need, but thank you anyway for the info about it not being raw.... I didn't think it was but still I am not fond of the idea using what went down the drain from shower water of some guy/woman/child staying upstairs at the resort , and without getting too graphic, the thought of about what goes on in the shower or what cleansing proceedure went on. I suspose that goes for someone elses sink too. This isn't a one shot deal like the Blue Moon, I'm staying there and that is what I will hopefully make the best of.
Thanks
LB

LB: A couple of more pieces to your puzzle- the drinking water in the beach units and the Blue Moon comes from a desal plant on the premises. They have their own treatment plant and gray water system. The units on the hill use WAPA (purchased from the government water facility) water, and have a separate treatment/gray water system. These are two different things: potable water and gray water The potable water is lab-tested frequently. There is no sewer system, so the condo associations HAVE to treat waste. It is ecological to re-use the water that results at the end of the process! Max is trying to explain that it is a delicate balance that the maintenence guys have to keep- if the laundry changes their detergent or someone starts pouring bleach in the system the bacteria that are part of the process will die and you get complaints!

Recap: there are two separate systems
Potable water: sinks, showers
Gray water: toilets and landscaping use.

I hope this clears up some questions!

Thanks for taking the time to explain