Have fun on STJ!! It's still beautiful. Any car rental place is good, but we have rented from Delbert Hill the last few years. The people are very nice, and unless you are looking for some kind of fancy car, the little 4WD cars are fine. We rented 1 year from Courtesy Car Rental and found the people's attitude a bit disconcerting. We felt as though we had done something wrong to the car the way their attitude was. Not too much nightlife, but there seems to be a band playing somewhere most nights. We have never run into any crime, just be smart about what you are doing, as you would in the states. Every year we rent a cottage in Coral Bay, and go to a different beach everyday. We are lucky enough to have a full kitchen so we cook some of our meals and go out for others. It's good if you don't feel like going out for breakfast and want to hang out and view the morning scenery, and cook breakfast right there. Restaurants? Depends what you like. Skinny's for a berger and people watching. Chateau Bordeaux for fine dining, lots of restaurants in Cruz bay. Even Mexican, (YUM) Starfish market has just about anything you want for your own cooking. Tho I 'm not local, we have been going to STJ for 9 years now, and find it a wonderfully relaxing place. Buy a current guide book, it will tell you lots of stuff. (Feet, Fins & 4WD) (St. John off the Beaten Track). Above all else, don't stress, do some limin', and enjoy!!

I have been visiting St. John since 1993 with my family. We go there twice a year now because we can't stand to be away that long. Most of the locals say we are locals too know, so I will put in my two cents about St. John. I hope it helps.

Beaches...
Cinammon Bay is by far my favorite. Mainly because it is big and so it is never really crowded. I like getting there really early at least one morning while I am down there because it is your own private beach. Another well kept secret is Gibney Beach. When driving down Northshore road, on your left you will see a white iron gate that use to read "Oppenhiemer", but most of the letters are gone now. The far left part of the gate swings open and there is a path that leads down to a beautiful beach. The nice part about this is that there is only room for about 3 cars...so it doesn't get over crowded either. Waterlemon and Lienster are great places to snorkel. You park at the Sugar Mill ruins and walk down a path to get there. It is probably about a 1/2 mile walk, but nothing strenuous. We saw a ton of starfish from the path in December. Everyone always wants to go to Trunk Bay for the underwater snorkel trail. It is really a cool thing to do, but my suggestion is to go before 10, which is when the cruise boat passengers get there, or go on a day when there are no cruise boats in St. Thomas. You can find a cruise boat schedule in the paper. Of course, Trunk is the only one that costs because it is part of the national park.

Restaurants/Bars...
Lime Inn is great...get the Key Lime Pie for desert. They also have all you can eat Shrimp on Wed night. If you want to go to that, make reservations or get there early. Lime Inn is one of the restaurants that is very popular with the locals also. Cafe Roma and Panini Beach have great Italian food. Cafe Roma is in town around the corner from Woody's. Panini Beach has one of the best Ceasar Salands I have ever had. My favorite place to eat lunch is at a place out in Coral Bay called Skinny Legs. Great hamburgers and Hot Dogs. You can check it out at www.skinnylegs.com. Around the corner from them is Island Blue which has great home cooking. You probably won't be disappointed in any of the restaurants on St. John...they are all pretty good.

Lodging...
We always stay at a villa. We stayed at the Westin once and had all of the bad experiences that you read about on the internet posts....maybe it was just a fluke. I like staying at a villa because I feel that you have more privacy...and it ends up being cheaper for my family in the long run.

Cars....
We also always rent from Conrad Sutton. He and his wife Gladys run the place. They can seem a little blunt at times, but they are really nice people. I definitly suggest making a reservation for a car before you get down there. Since you are going in high season, there might not be a car when you get there. You can also park at Conrad's when you are in town, which is good because parking is getting worse and worse down there. I think most of the car rental places offer this though.

Shopping...
I like to shop at Warfside...my mom likes to shop at Mongoose. I find that I can afford stuff at Warfside more than at Mongoose, although, there is a great jewelry store above Donald Schnell's studio in Mongoose that has good prices and cute gifts.Shaneen makes all the jewelry there, and if you buy something there, it is probably going to be one of a kind, which I like. There are some really neat shops out by Skinny's in Coral Bay also. I thought this might be of intrest to your wife :).

I know I could "impart' more of my knowledge about St. John, mostly because I love it there and could talk about it forever. I hope this has helped a little bit. A couple of other things that are important to know: Always say "Good...morning, afternoon, evening" when you greet someone down there. It is considered the polite way to greet someone. Also, it is against the law to have your bathing suit visible unless you are at the beach. You could possibly get a ticket for it, but if you don't, the locals still considered it rude and you might get some remarks. Guys swiming trunks are different, as long as they have a shirt on. I hope you have a wonderful time in this wonderful place.

Elasha

Elasha,

Good information!!!

Grace

Excellent info, thanks!!!

One thing, you said you usually stay in a villa. What exactly is a villa?

A villa is a home. Not a hotel or resort, but usually a stand alone house, or a duplex. Sometimes they are condos, too. Villas usually have separate bedrooms, kitchens, privacy, a private pool, parking, no maid service (most), etc.

John, you are going to love your return trip to St. John. I was there last February and am returning in October...only wish it could be sooner. We rented a condo and will rent a villa next time. Just quieter, we could "eat in" if we wanted, cook out by the pool and watch the sunsets. We were "at the top of the big hill" in Cruz Bay, so kinda close to everything. Each morning we went to the grocery, bought a loaf of fresh bread and some deli meat and fruit and headed to a different beach. By far, our favorite was Cinnamon Bay....so beautiful...one day we went over to Salt Pond Bay; now this was nice, only about 10 people there that day and this was in February! A little rocky getting into the water, but a nice change of pace. Over on that side we ate at Skinnylegs..best hamburger I think I've ever had. We rented our place through CaribbeanVillas..very nice people who were great to work with. Maybe next time we'll take advantage of some day trips to Tortola or Jost van Dyke, but once we got settled, we really didn't want to move. Have a great trip!

John,
You may want to try the South Shore Villa. It's to be completed by April and has a great website www.stjohnrental.com It has everything one could imagine including a large infinity edge pool. The villa sits 700ft in the air along the coast of the South Shore. One of the nice looking places I've seen in years. Good luck. You will have a great time. I like St John so much, I go about once a month.

wow Larry you are lucky to visit StJohn so much .

We are looking for a small hotel or a B&B in downtown area of St. Johns - any recommendations?

My sister's treating us sib's to a week in St. John from April 2 to April 9 2005! Ya mon! She's the "hotel/all inclusive" type, whereas I'd be happy to cook my usual gourmet meals for everyone every morning, noon & night (no kiddin -I love it - why I own a B&B in the mainland!), so I would really like to steer her to doing the villa thing. But, she's buying, so... I guess if anyone has any feedback on nice villas for 5 or 6, or, good villa brokers to call, I'd like to hear about that. Otherwise, buffet line, here I come (yuck!)!

Hello Big Bohemian,

Take a look at the villa agency options & villas at https://www.vinow.com/stjohn/accommodations/

On the agency web sites you can scan through and look for ones that will fit your family, and then perhaps send your sister some suggestions 🙂

--Islander

Thanks Islander!

John, lot's of good info in the posts. We will be returning to St. John for the eleventh time in July. We are staying in a villa. We have rented cars from Conrad Sutton almost every time.(Remember drive on left!!) One of the reasons you may want to consider a villa, is the Westin is often swarmin' with small kids. Also the ocean water off the man made beach is not the "freshest". (The mouth of the bay points in the wrong direction. I would also suggest a villa on the hill above Cruz Bay. So the teens can walk into town. You have to be 26 to drive a rental car in St. John. Crime on St. John is almost non-existant. If one occurs, it's such a close knit community, everybody will know who did it. Most all the resuraunts are good as mediocrity has a Darwinian effect. In looking at villas, just google "St. John villa rental" and stand back. Many villas are multi listed many are with "off island" companies. Look for rental companies with a 340 area code, and call them, tell them who's comming, and they will point you in the right direction. I have found the folks at Catered To very helpful. www.cateredto.com Hope you have a great trip...and don't stay gone so long!