I gotta vote for St. John (I know, big shock!) with day trips to the BVI and maybe to St. Thomas for shopping if you must. Great beaches, way more laid back, more.... I dunno, "island" feeling.

Wow, Diana, you are opening up a whole 'nother discussion here. First, what do the kids like to do? Do you want to spill out onto the beach each day and be able to watch them from the room? Go hiking or horse back riding? Explore snorkel trails. Do you mind driving to get to the beach, dinner, whatever or do you want it to come right to you? Do you like to window shop or shop? Will the kids insist on videos and movies? That sort of thing will go a long way toward a recommendation.

We are planning on renting a villa, hopefully with a pool. We do like privacy but also like to be near restaurants. We love the beach and want to try snorkeling. But since it would be our first trip we would also want to do some sighseeing.

Then do St. John if a villa is the way for you to go. You can't beat the views, the beaches and the lack of crowds. Enjoy!

Thanks Pamela. I really appreciate your help. What is it that makes St John a better choice than St Croix. I saw on the web that both islands had a nice selection of villas.

I'm just biased is all. St. Croix is also a wonderful island with lots to see and do. As I am based on St. Thomas these two islands come to mind first but as you can tell from the folks here based in St. Croix it's a great place to visit as well. I don't know if you can find a villa on the ocean there - if so, definitely the way to go!

Seems that each island has it's own personality but after being to each, we definitely come back to St John as a favorite.

St Thomas is just to big city for us. It has lots of shopping and more night life and glamour. the resorts are bigger but so is the traffic and hustle and bustle.

We honeymooned on St Croix many years ago. It was lovely and Buck Island was great for snorkeling. I enjoyed the history of the of the fort, etc as well. To me it is somewhere between St John and St Thomas. Some great history, some areas where you can get away from the main activity and some shopping. St Croix always impresses me as a drier island as well. Just my impression. It is also really more off by itself. If you go to St Croix, you will probably only go to St. Croix.

St John is smaller and 3/4 national park so has lots of area to explore, lots of quiet beaches, lots of trees. There is a main town but everyhting is relative - it is small town with limited but nice shoppingand GREAT restaurants that are all really close. Villas are definitely the way to go on St John and they are addictive 🙂
Nothing is really far away on this island.
Another bonus to St John (or St Thomas) is that it is easy to visit other islands if you want. The BVI are easily accesible from both St JOhn and St Thomas and your day-to-day views include many of these islands. If you really want to power shop, take the ferry to St Thomas but be home for dinner 🙂

Like others I've devleoped a bias for St John but it really comes down to which is your style

Thanks for all your help. We are going to focus on St John. All the villa's seem to have such a beautiful view. Any recommendations for a crertain part of the Island? We are also wondering how important beach access is. Some villas indicate you can walk to a beach and some indicate a drive is necessary? Should we take this into consideration or is it common to drive to different beaches?

It's common to drive to different beaches. Go for the view from the villa and the beaches will take care of themselves.

I agree with Pam, there are so many different beautiful beaches on St John, you'll want to visit as many as possible. Driving to them is part of the adventure of being on vacation.

Diana
The one thing you may want to consider is location relative to Cruz or Coral Bay. Coral Bay is more secluded and offers more of the 'old island' feel. That said, the old island had fewer conveniences so you must be prepared to adapt some or make the trip to Cruz for what you need.
While still very 'small town', Cruz offers more shops (food, gifts, etc.), restaurants and facilities. Depending on the age and nature of your children (young and old!) it really depends on what you are looking for.

Hi All~~

I know I am probably gonna get blasted here, but I just returned from a cruise out of San Juan to STT, Dominica, Barbados & Aruba. My husband & I were really turned off by STT. I had spent a great deal of time researching where to go & what to do based on our likes/dislikes. We got off the ship & headed straight to Coki Beach,as planned, it is a beautiful spot. Fortunately we were the first to arrive, only a few local swimmers there first thing in the morning. It is a small beach & by the time the rest of the cuiseship people arrived, it was packed!! the Desitny was the ONLY ship in port that day.. I can not imagine what it would have been like if the sometimes 12 ships had been in port. It would have been a nightmare!!

I am saddened that the island does not seem to be well cared for. Such natural beauty, wonderful climate & soo many abandoned deteriorating buildings. We had considered finding a villa & staying our whole vacation there initially. I would have been very unhappy. Now I realize that we saw just a small sample of the whole island, & in all fairness, I am sure there are some great areas. We only crossed the width from the pier to Coki, but it certainly was dirty & littered.

I noticed that most people just seemed to be sitting....sitting & sitting...nothing very productive going on...I know island life is very laid back, but.....I doubt if there are many islands poorer that Dominica, but the people were always busy doing something. Raking yards, cleaning by the roadways, working doing something.

Just my thoughts on a brief stop on STT., but I would have to be persuaded to spend very much time there, everyone here said to move right on the STJ & now I know why....