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Hi everyone! I've been lurking and hanging out at different forums since November and I think vinow has been the most informative forum I've seen. I should be doing other things right now but sitting here drinking coffee, reading the forum and dreaming of being a beach bum again is outweighing the desire to do anything else at the moment.
My wife Melinda, my 17 yr old son and I will be in STT the first week of June, our first trip. Until this trip, the best beach my wife and son have seen is Panama City Beach, we used to go there annually for a number of years. My wife has talked for years about a cruise and although I've never been on one, I've convinced her and myself that spending a week at one place would be a whole lot better. When I was a teenager, I lived in southern Taiwan (AF brat) and I LIVED on the beach during the summers. I would get on the shuttle bus to the beach at 6:30AM and not get home til 7:00PM in the evening. A couple of times, I went to the southern tip of Taiwan to a place called O Luan Pi where there are the most beautiful coral reefs I've ever seen. The snorkeling was out of this world and I can still see that cluster of orange and black sea snakes coming towards me. Those memories have stayed with me for 35 years and I want my son to have those same kind of memories, minus the snakes. It's going to be great to also see how my wife reacts to seeing something like a barracuda, I know how I'll react 🙂
The last five summers have been spent doing Boy Scout trips and we're due for something like this. We're staying at Crystal Cove at Sapphire Beach in one of Dave Paresky's units. 99% of everything I've read about his units has been positive, the beach is supposed to be one of the best and the proximity to Red Hook is a plus. As of this moment, we've decided on a day at Coki Beach, one day visiting a couple of beaches from land on STJ, another day renting a dinghy on STJ and yet another doing a day trip to VG and Norman Island. The rest of the time I think we'll stay at Sapphire Beach or whatever else we decide to do at the spur of the moment.
The indecisiveness is over renting a car. I can get a great deal with Hertz through AAA and I've already checked with my insurance company and we would be covered. I've read all the pros and cons on all of the forums yet I'm still waffling. Other than the itinerary I've already mentioned, I think the only other things we would be doing requiring transportation would be getting groceries and going out for dinner. I know taxis are not cheap and the safari bus goes just one way. I've never been so undecided over anything and it's driving me nuts...HELP!
Rent a vehicle. We personally enjoy a jeep. Island flavor and all.
Have spent last six years enjoying the islands. Your itinerary sounds great. Grab the car ferry to sjt that way you will have alot more freedom exploring sjt. Coki is a great beach , has alot of island flavor.We enjoyed taking an afternoon drive around the island and hitting the other beaches. You really can"t do that without a vehicle
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Get prepared, Dave, for island fever.... You won't want to go back to Panama Beach! If you're like the rest of us, once you've been to the islands you're hooked. Have a great time!
Dave,
You sound alot like us, with summers revolving around kid's activities (for years, our spare time was spent on the ball field) and this will be my husband's and mine first visit to STT. We have done a cruise, and spent a week in the Bahama's once long ago, but I can already tell you this is better than a cruise. Teenage boys liked the cruise, since they had some freedom from us, yet cant' get too far away, but its just not enough time on the islands to enjoy anything. I think most of the posters here will give a thumbs down to cruising.
As far as car rentals go, with what you're spending to go there, what's another $200 for a car? since there are 3 of you, its a per person rate, so it can get expensive. We got a midsize car thru Hotwire for $200 and that was taxes etc.
all this is JMHO tho! 🙂
Get a car. You can take the barge to St. John and visit different beaches there, plus taking a taxi with three people really adds up.
Welcome Dave A!
Hertz is a good company, but you should know that they do not allow their vehicles over to STJ. That I know of, all other companies do allow their vehicles over on the barge. Definitely get a car, you go where you want , when you want!
Enjoy!
Hey Dave,
We are renting from Hertz as well for our trip in April, but FYI - Hertz does not allow you to take their cars off the island. Bummer I know, but we are also having to plan a trip to St John without the vehicle.
Thought this information might help you plan a little better 🙂
Thanks for the feedback. I was aware of Hertz vehicles not being able to be ferried over to STJ and I guess I'm OK with that. The cost of the rental isn't really a factor either. My major concern is that even knowing the speed limit is just 35 MPH, just how much more prone would I be to be involved in an accident. To an insurance company, a claim is a claim and I'd hate to have a premium increase as a result. I think I read somewhere that the attitude towards accident avoidance is somewhat slack among the residents of STT.
Mountaineer girl, we've also done the baseball thing for five years. Boy Scouts camps for five years, 80 mile backpacking trek at Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico in 2005 and a 40 mile trek in the Adirondacks last year has left little thought for anything else. Marching band camps and practices have made it even more difficult but in retrospect, we wouldn't have had it any other way. This year, I just made the decision to do it, even though we'll still have a busy schedule, I figured if we didn't do it now as a family, we never will.
Dave, Do you have USAA for auto insurance? You'll save me a call,if so. Many military dependants have use it. I believe most of the other companies let you take the car to St. John so you may want to do the math and see how it compares. Tell your wife that this trip will be much better than a cruise. We've done the cruise thing twice and last year, 3 of the 5 of us came down with that Norovirus. You also get back on the ship with a kind of empty feeling (no pun intended) ,like you really didn't get a feel for each island. We've been to 11 different islands and this was one of the top 3. (Kauai and Barbados are the other 2, but airfare was astronomical when I checked this year).
rent through hotwire. its way cheaper than AAA. I checked both...
Dave....welcome to the site. By all means, rent a vehicle. The more we drove ourselves around STT the more we loved it! You'll really enjoy the freedom of not having to worry about a crowded taxi van or safari truck. You can also stash your belongings in the trunk while out running around. The only downside we found was parking. Others can probably give you more info about parking lots but we only used the public lot in Charlotte Amalie (get there before 10:00) and the lot behind a market at Red Hook when going to STJ. Good luck.
A word about insurance. We've been traveling to STJ for 16+ years. I always thought I was covered 'insurance-wise' insofar as my cc includes auto coverage (if I put my car rental charges on the cc) as does my mainland car insurance. However, in the 16 years, we've had 2 minor accidents in STJ and ended up not claiming either (but rather paying out of pocket!)
Why? 1st time, I learned that you basically have to pay a very high deductible upfront ($2000 if I remember right) and then the on-island car rental agency must send picture and paper documentation to the state-side insurance agency's claims department swhich the on-island car rental agencies can never seem to get around to doing. There is usually a 12-month time period to do so; neither time was any of the necessary documentation sent (though I literally spent HOURS on the phone trying to persuade them to do so). VERY FRUSTRATING.
Bottom line--it was WELL worth the $10/day or less that 'on-island' insurance costs.
St. John Lover......Two accidents on St. John? Do you mind if I ask you how many you've had at home? Maybe we shouldn't drive in St. John!
I've convinced her and myself that spending a week at one place would be a whole lot better.
I think you're very smart. 😉
I think since there will be three of you, definitely rent the car. We didn't, and even with just the two of us, taxis probably cost us more than a car would have. We still had a blast, and had fun going around the island on the "safari bus" like the locals do. That's also how we go to meet some locals. We had fun!
I know you all will have a wonderful time. I think it's awesome you want your son to have these great memories. I bet he'll love it, and he'll want to spend his college summers on island. 😀 I wish my folks had taken us on vacations when we were kids. We never did, except to go visit family. I feel I got ripped off. 😉
