Thought you might like to get another view of a recent trip. I will first qualify this by saying the following are my opinions and are meant only to give you what I encountered on my recent trip to St. John. We are a profession couple in our 50’s and consider ourselves well traveled. That said --here it is!

My first comments are on the taxi/shuttle we took from St. Thomas to Red Hook ferry. We arrived at about 6:10 pm and were hoping to get the 7 pm ferry to Cruz Bay. By the time the taxi was full and luggage loaded, it was past 6:30. The driver did his best [taking us on “back roads”] to get us to ferry. We made it just in time and paid driver. There were porters waiting there with carts to take bags to boat, so we put our things on cart and hurried ahead to buy tickets. They charge $2 for each bag {this is apparently a relatively new thing}. We were in a hurry so we said we had 4 bags {2 suitcases and 2 carry-ons}and paid accordingly. When the guy with the cart caught up to us, he told us we didn’t need to pay for the carry-ons, but we weren’t going to mess with that as the ferry was getting ready to leave. We watched the bags get put on the ferry and boarded. As we were sitting down, someone came on to ask for a tip for carrying the bags from the taxi and onto the ship. We didn’t realize that paying the $2 each wasn’t for getting them on the ferry. I wasn’t even sure if it was the same guy we gave the bags too…seemed like he was hassling us to give him money, which we did {$2}. We got the heads up from a local who sat next to us on the ferry. He warned that they would try to carry our bags off the ferry {for a tip} when we got to Cruz Bay, but it was a short walk and it wasn’t necessary. So at least we escaped that one!

Our experience was a bit different than most vacationers in that we stayed with friends who live in Coral Bay. They have lived there for 10 years and proved to be a valuable resource in all areas.

BEACHES:
We went to different beaches so as to compare and try out as many as possible. The water was wonderful…just the right temperature to be refreshing. We went to: Frances Bay & Maho, {both nice – saw a good size iguana at Maho}; Salt Pond {where we hiked up to Rams Head}; Lemeshur {great snorkeling – as you stand on the beach and face water…there is rock outcrop that was terrific. Saw manta ray and squid there along with lots of fish and coral}. We went with our friends on their boat to Hurricane Hole {had a sunset cocktail party and swam in a little cove}and saw a turtle on the way! Also went on their boat to Vie’s where we attended a flotilla and fund raiser lunch with a great band. We also went to the beach at Caneel {least favorite} and at Cinnamon Bay {lovely}. There were people on all, but it never felt crowded.

RESTAURANTS:
We ate in a lot, buying food in Coral Bay at Love City Mini Mart and Lilly’s Gourmet. The mini-mart was okay; Lilly’s had really nice things and prices that were not too bad. Got Cruzan Rum for $3.99 at Lilly’s.

We had dinner twice at Skinny’s – once would have been enough for me. The burgers were okay and the ambience was okay too. Most everywhere we went, people knew our friends which was nice. We had lunch at Miss Lucy’s – the crunchy fish sandwich was really good as were conch fritters but terrible service. The view was great but there were goats running around and eating leftovers off table as it was vacated. We had the cold lunch buffet at Caneel, nice but not worth $23. We ate dinner at Shipwreck, fair at best. Conch fritters were tasteless and felt like they had rubber bands in them. We had lunch at Panini which was good. We had breakfast at Maho Bay campgrounds which was reasonably priced and very good. And for our last night we ate at Aqua Bistro in Coral Bay, which was by far the best meal we had. Dockey Diner in Coral bay is temporarily closed, due to family illness back in Great Britain. Our friends raved about it, hopefully it will reopen soon.

SHOPPING:
We bought some things at Mongoose Junction. I bought an island bracelet from Caravan Gallery – it is a bit different than most as its hook is like a question mark, not just a “U” like so many had. My friend had bought one there and recommended it, good thing too as there are many places that sell them. Got a lovely bowl from “Best of Both World’s” and T shirts from Big Planet.

RENTAL CAR:
Get the smallest one that will fit you needs. The roads are narrow, steep and people tend to drive more towards the middle than the left. We used 1 tank of gas in 8 days, it cost $46 to fill it before we turned car in.

ODDS AND ENDS:
The luggage conveyor was working at St. Thomas when we arrived {I had been concerned about this}. There are wild donkeys on the island and lots of goats. Out where we stayed, they made quite a bit of noise all night long! And the roosters started their days early – 4 am! We didn’t bring our cell phones, so I don’t know about coverage. It is humid {we are from Southwest and are used to dry climate}. There are “no see-ems” on the beach {near trees and later in day} and they bite – bring bug repellent. You need sunscreen, no matter where you live normally. I used to live in Martinique and when tourists from FL and CA would come, they thought they wouldn’t need sunscreen and got bad burns. Our first 2 days were overcast, and we still got too much sun. There are assorted geckos, bugs and spiders. Be sure to check your bags when you pack to come home…don’t want any stowaways! We also killed a brown recluse spider in our room and saw a dead tarantula outside our friend’s house.

All in all, it was a super trip and we really enjoyed ourselves. I hope this gives you some info that will prove useful to you. If I missed anything, I’ll add more. If you have any questions, please ask.
Debi