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My family will be visiting St. Thomas and St. John next week. Our two daughters are 8 and 11 years old. I'd like advice on two topics, kayak tours and restaurants. Regarding kayaking, would both VI Ecotours on St. Thomas and Arawak Expeditions on St. John be appropriate for our kids? I'm reasonably strong, so unless the tours are very strenuous, I'm assuming that my husband and I could each paddle a two person kayak with one of our daughters with us. Does anyone know how the two tours compare?
While on vacation, we'd also like to go out one evening for a special dinner. The problem is that my younger daughter is a very picky eater, preferring things like plain chicken or plain spaghetti (no tomato sauce). Does anyone have recommendations for a casual but elegant restaurant where my husband and I can enjoy fine cuisine and our daughter can find kid's food?
Thanks for your help,
Karen
Karen: The VI Ecotour on St Thomas goes through the mangrove lagoon, which is very calm and protected water. They stop and show you various flora and fauna of the mangroves, very neat stuff! On St John, I am not sure about Arawak, but I have seen folks kayaking over to the Durloes, which could be a bit rougher as it is more open water.
I just did the 4 hour kayak trip with Arawak Expiditions last Friday. I'm 46 years old but I lift weights 3 days a week and run 6 miles two days a week. That said, the trip was no cakewalk. I had a single kayak as did another person and another 4 people had 2 two-person kayaks. The other guy who had a single kayak really struggled to keep up. The two-person kayaks apparently are a bit easier with two people using paddles. If you're confident in your strength and conditioning then I'd say go for it. Leaving Cruz Bay you head to Honeymoon Beach, which is about a 30 minute paddle. There you'll rest about 20 minutes before heading over to Henley Cay, which is about a 30-45 minute paddle. At Henley Cay you'll have about a 45 minute stop where you'll have the option to snorkle (beautiful underwater scenery) or just hang out on the beach. Then it's about a 45 minute paddle back.to Cruz Bay.
East Ender and Richard, thank you so much for the information. From your descriptions, it sounds like VI Ecotours would be better for us.
I second what they said above about the tours. We did the VI Ecotours before and it is an easy paddle in very calm, protected waters with a bit of snorkeling at the end. Arawak expedition on the othr hand is more of an unprotected waters paddle. The time of year and which way the winds are blowing would definitely affect difficulty.
