We are coming down in June again and just got our tickets last week through continental for 390.00 + taxes each. A good price........ They tend to have sales randomly for a little cheaper say 30.00 a ticket, so a lower fare may be available.....
Our villa rental is 980.00 + taxes/wk in off season (approximately may-november and high season is december - april it varies villa to villa) The villa includes snorkel gear, gas grill, beach chairs umbrella and a small kitchen too. Our villa owners also set up a car rental for us when we book our villa rental that is a four seater 4wd for 330 + taxes/wk. All of this is just for the two of us. So, depending on how many people you are bringing would greatly determin if 5,000 is enough. It CAN be done. There are the tents at cinnamon bay that are very inexpensive and beautifully rustic. Plenty of Free things to do on the island and if you cook your own food from fresh catch or grocery store it will be less money than taking everyone out to eat for every meal!
Enjoy your trip and read through the past posts on this board. It is filled with numerous suggestion for trip ideas on STJ.

I would say absolutely it can be done for under $5000 as long as you go in low season, usually after mid April, and don't need to stay in the most luxurious villa. We are renting a 3 bedroom villa the end of April for under $1000/week. That is for 2 adults. It would be a little more for more adults. You might spend another $700 or so if you need to rent 2 vehicles. 4 adults in a jeep would be a little crowded. We also plan on cooking alot of our meals ourselves. Eating out for every meal would add up quickly.

My weddingmoon week ran a little over 7k, high season, lux villa, minimum eating out (5-6 events), a day spent on STT, trip to Baths, airfare and wedding ceremony with steel pan drummer ala carte. You can do it.

thanks for the info, there would be 5 of us (adults). Is your villa near the beach. Do you know af websites to view villas? or do you go through private owners to rent? What airport do you fly into? If you could let me know I'd appreciate the help.

hey, thanks for the info, do you rent from a realty or private owner? With the kids, it would be 5 adults. How far from the beach would you be? Do you have to take stuff for the villa or is it furnished? Do you know of any rental websites that are legit. Where do you fly into? Is the off season Off because of the temperature? or something worse? we were also there in around march awhile ago and it was perfect then. I's appreciate any info, thanks

www.Carefreegetaways.com
variety of villas in areas. i'd skip trying to get close the beach. not necessary and not easily attained w/o expense--use jeep and beach hop. most satisfying. we stayed on gift hill, sunset pointe. take a peek. fully furnished, the website lists everything it comes with, but bring own shampoo and suntan lotion. fly into STT, ferry over.

check out coral bay, too. tend to be less expensive, but you have to plan more with groc shop.

only been once. wasn't enough.

Hello Lorie,

You can rent from a villa agency or a private owner. Visit our St. John accommodations page at: https://www.vinow.com/stjohn/accommodations/ There are several agencies listed there and some private villas; you can look through some of your options and see what you think and what appeals to you. Contact a few of them for more information. Villas are furnished, some have a few things others might not along the lines of beach toys etc.

You fly into the St. Thomas Airport (STT is the airport code) and then you take the St. John Ferry from St. Thomas to St. John. There are two ferries one leaving from Charlotte Amalie and the other from Red Hook, both would require a taxi ride from the airport. Schedules are available on this site, at the top of this page click on Ferry Schedules.

You can use the various web site for airlines and cheap ticket sites to look for airline tickets, sales...

Our temperatures are pretty consistant, so it doesn't affect the visitor season. You can click on the weather link at the very top of this page on the right to see monthly averages. However, Hurricane season does correlate with our lowest point of off season (Aug-Oct).

You might order some books, vacation planning material for you and your family to look over and plan with. http://www.vitraders.com has quite a few options under Planning.

--Islander

Oh yes, you can easily do it for that amount and less. Case in pont. Last year while we were in St. John on vacation our stateside bank got hacked into. The bank promptly shut down all credit cards to protect their customers (and themselves). The bank very nicely sent out a letter informing everyone of this but it went to our home and not the islands as did our credit cards. So there we were with only our cash on hand, about $500 for the week. We had a wonderful time and learned that you can certainly stay within a limited budget while on vacation in St. John.

$330?!? Don't do it! Go to www.budget.com and book that way. MUCH cheaper! I just looked, and here are the results for a week in June, Saturday to Saturday:

4 door Economy
154.99 USD
per week rental

4 door Compact
159.99 USD
per week rental

Mid-size
175.99 USD
per week rental

Full-size
185.99 USD
per week rental

We are renting the Tree House www.privatehomesvi.com. It is not near the beach. About a 10 minute drive to the nearest ones. Not a problem if you are renting a jeep (4-wheel drive a must) Great view though! 3 bedrooms, fully furnished, dishes and all of that stuff. Just need to buy your own food. Fly into St Thomas and take the ferry to St John. It is off season because people like to come when it is cold where they live.

My partner and I just spent 21 days there and spent about $4000 not including airfare.
Yes that is THREE WEEKS for that amount.
Had a great time, went fishing, charter sailing, bought copious amounts of good rum, ate out, went shopping, etc.

Our secret?
1) No rental car- rather hitch, taxi, and meet people and
2) bring your own tent to Cinnamon Bay.

Is this budget on STJ? Cause that is where we are staying and were these prices for the last week in June.........
Couple of factors to consider, but thanks for the info..........

I don'tthink Budget has an office on STJ, butyou could always pick up your car at the airport on STT and take it over on the car ferry. That'll save you the taxi fare and the people ferry $$. And, unless you want to splurge, get a cheap car. Don't rent a jeep, as it is not required on STJ unless you plan on going off-roading

My friends and I are going to St. Thomas in May and we found airfare two weeks ago on Continental for $380 round trip. We are leaving from Philadelphia. It was the lowest I have seen for over four months and I check almost every day.

Heck yes! We're off next week on 4 free FF air tix and staying at Samuel's cottages for $600/week. I don't know why this place isn't suggested more often for budget travels. Everything we hear is that it is more than accomodating/close to town.

In a word, "yes". Unless you stay at one of the expensive resorts like the Westin or Caneel Bay. The off-season for most of the villas that I have looked into (we have rented one-bedroom units at Cruz Bay Villas each of the last two Decembers) is from about mid April to mid December. High season is the rest of the year & it's even MORE expensive during the holidays.

I lived in Pittsburgh for over 20 years & grew up in Johnstown, PA. Believe me, a week on St. John is so relaxing it's not to be believed. One thing you might want to consider...vegetation grows right up to the beaches & if the wind is "just wrong" the no-see-ums (these can be overwhelmingly vicious) and mosquitoes can be more than just a nuisance. Cutters or Off will be a good thing to take to the beach.

Also, if you would enjoy a sailboat ride and/or snorkeling trip, I strongly recommend both Breath with Peter and Dorothy Muillenburg ( http://www.sailbreath.com/index.htm) and Long Distance with Rick and Robin Galup ( http://www.stjohnlinks.com/Charters/Long_Distance/Index.htm)

I have never heard of Samuel's cottages. Its great to know there are less expensive places to stay. How many bedrooms do they have? Do you have any pictures?

Thanks

Well, i don't know too much - i'm visiting first time in a week. But $600 for the week, two double beds, a kitchenette i believe and about 5 minutes walk up the hill in town. owned by well known locals. trip reports on the web say it's just fine for the budget traveller. if you're out and about most of trip, the room isn't too important if you ask me. I'll post when I return or feel free to email me.

Hi there we are traveling May 19, 2005-June 2 2005 we are going with 2 other couples and taking our 7 year old daughter we rented a 4 bedroom villa through caribbean villas, flying out of albany NY renting 2 vehicles and all costing per couple about 2500.00. I don't think you can beat that we also take about 2,000.00 for spending money. It can be done if you do a little research right online we book everything our selves. Have a great time if you have any other questions feel free to e-mail me direct.