i say try punta cana, dominican republic. great people, great beach. scooby

We stayed on Aruba for the 1st time in March and liked it alot. I've heard you either love it or hate it. It's not STJ, but it's very hot, and deserty. We stayed at the Tamarijn, an all inclusive right on the water. The beach was nice, the endless drinks and food was nice, the restort was ok, a little older, but still adequate for sleeping. The Divi was a little nicer. Again, it wasn't as beautiful as STJ, but we will go back again at some point. Worth a try!!!

Karrieb, since we all had so many suggestions and completely envious of your acquired sum of money -- keep us posted as to where you will go! Please don't be sensible and save it! You only blow through this life once, so make the best of every minute!

Finally, a topic I can contribute to (as opposed to information farming about our first upcoming St. Thomas/Jost/St. John Trip).

Go to Belize, specifically Caye Caulker.

Wonderful people, as laid back/uncommercial as it gets, delicious food, great nightlife, and inexpensive. I've been there twice and would go back in a heartbeat (and probably will).

Send me a PM if you'd like more info... Caulker is one of my favorite places on this earth, and we need to enjoy it before it gets too commercial.

Good deals can be found at capricornleisure.com for most of Central America.

Wow, such a great topic, and not the least bit controversial for a change! thanks again to all. Today's story is that we're just thinking of adding a little luxury to a trip already planned to look at retirement land near the Georgia or NC or SC coast (loooong range planning, we're not that old yet!), maybe staying a couple of nights at some lux place on Jekyll Island or something like that which I'm researching now. Or, we might just add a little lux to our trip planned for late 2007 to Italy and stay on one of the island off the Italiana coast for a few nights- who knows!! I'll tell 'ya, when you're given some "free", unplanned money after a lifetime of scrimping and careful savings, its weird. But what a dilemma to have! If all else fails, we're planning on STJ again in 2008 and maybe this time we'll skip the camping and get a villa with AC!!! Now thats luxury! BTW, I think MSmyth wins with Caye Caulker as a suggestion- something for the short list!! MS- you are gonna love STJ and JOst and may change your mind about where you want to go back to later!

We are very much looking forward to our first VI trip... 2 nights in STT, two on Jost at Ivan's camping on the beach, and 7 at Windwardside Guest Cottage on STJ. As a bonus, this is the GF's first trip to the Carribean, so I'm going to enjoy seeing her reaction to all things warm and wonderful.

As a side note, this board has been an immense help, and I'll be sure to post my sometimes poxy and illegible trip report when we return.

If you go to Caulker, be sure to hit I&I Bar... and have a Belikin for me.

Try Virgin Gorda or Nevis or Saba or Barbuda or St. Lucia or the French side of St. Martin or.... the list goes on and on and on. Sure STJ is an option, but sometimes you should explore beyond the comfort of what you already know to see what else you may discover and add to your collection of fabulous memories. Best of luck with your trip!

Funky and affordable - but not in the USVI or BVI for change of pace.....

-Grenada
-Anguilla (SydAns Apartments are affordable and recommended)
-St Vincent and Grenadines (pick one and explore the others)

I would say Grenadines - island hopping!

Aruba was great last year-- 82 and breezy not very humid or not bugs that were noticable. Lots of open air good restaurants best kept secret--que pase. beaches away from the resorts like your own very private and good snorkeling. car rental easy we were at marriot surf and walked next door to casino for nightly gambling and free cocktails while the kids enjoyed the evening pool.

Again thanks to all who offered up and obviously its one of our favorite subjects being the Caribbean-crazed mainlanders that we all are. Guess what- after searching a million websites and books, we decided on....drum roll please.....coming back to STJ for the 5th time this next NOvember!!! NO big surprise right? Why? For several reasons: 1) snorkling opps which are great here and are much better than sights we went to off St Martin, Florida and Jamaica 2) easy access to other islands 3) familiarity with the roads (and after battling the roads of Jamaica once, we were very leary of islands described as having bad roads and drivers) 4) inability to find an all-inclusive as good as the one we had a couple of years ago on St. Martin, which is now not an all-inclusive 5) money- despite STJ not being cheap, we got pretty good airfare we think and we stay at Maho which is affordable and this time will have big fans they tell me- I may have come into a small unexpected chunk of change but I still have 2 kids in college! 6) the guarentee that a great time is ahead of us- we love STJ, period. Each island we looked at had some plusses but some minuses too and based on our experiences on several islands and Florida, we just finally looked at each other and said lets go back! the end! Save a cold one for us at Shipwreck Landing or at Skinny Legs, we're on our way...

Ahhh! A true addict. "Misery" loves company -- glad to hear it! Enjoy your trip, as though that even needs to be stated...

Nobody has mentioned Dominica, so I will. There aren't any white sandy beaches but there aren't many cars, no Kmarts or big-box resorts either. However, they do have 365 rivers, waterfalls and lakes and probably the healthiest marine environment in the entire caribbean.

G- we did look at that island after reading a wonderful piece on it in a magazine but I think we vetoed it, if I remember correctly, because of the lack of beaches. I am married to a Jimmy Buffet wannabee who can't live without all his beaches. Alas!

Ha ha! KarrieB, you are officially "hooked" - STJ hook that is!

Good choice!

AND Blue water, I have the Jhook ring to prove it which I wear all the time! Trip #5 here we come, I already went out and bought shorts on sale to get ready!

ahhhhh....traditional folklore about the STJ hook - you'll never go anywhere else once you slip on a piece of hook jewelry! The spell has been cast!

I was wondering if you could give me a little more info on belize. our friends were wanting to go but we thought it was too laid back. we have only been to sandals resorts and loved the night life. does belize have good nightlife?
what kind of rooms do they have. i only saw hut like things that you stayed in.
tell me everything you know and where to check into.
thanks

Sorry Karloff, but I have zero info on Belize- I can't remember what I wrote above but I don't recall doing any real research into too many places. As it was, we decided to just go where we are always genuinelly happy so we return to STJ in November. Wish I could help. We are not resort people and nightlife to us is dancing at tiny little Fred's then back to our tent cabin by 11PM so we would not have researched resorts with big nightlife anyway. Google and good luck!

Reading this thread made me have to go look at the Cruz Bay Dock Cam just so I could say "Awwwwww, I want to go back!" I vote for going back to STJ, which you know and love, and shaking up your usual trip by staying in a totally different area and style so that you have a really different STJ experience but with trips to your favorite places thrown in! Stay near Cruz Bay (Gallow's Point, etc) or in a fab Villa somewhere on the island... eat at the places you've always wanted to but never tried... take one of the excursions that you haven't yet (new part of BVI or fishing, etc)... take the ranger guided tour to the petroglyphs (if you haven't done that)... you get the idea, just make a list of the things you haven't had time to do before while on the island you love and go for it with a longer stay or different digs to hang out in! Of course, I also liked the idea of visiting the brother in San Francisco... I LOVE San Francisco too, but it's nothing like my love of STJ.

I didn't see this thread when it started. The funny thing, about 2-3 months after this post started I started to try and talk my family into an island vacation. I did some research and considered Turks and Caicos, the Florida Keys or the Bahamas, thinking they would be more economical than STJ. (They aren't). I of course started looking at this forum again and I came to the conclusion that we should go to STJ again and bring the kids this time. What better place is there to snorkel offshore? I found a reasonable villa close to Cruz Bay. I think I would have a hard time going to another Island!