Welcome - Cannot help you with Water Island, but definitely come ashore to visit STT and maybe a daytrip to STJ

Hello BeckyMac,

It looks like Villa Terra Nova doesn't have a kitchen / kitchenette (I could be wrong) so I think you'll be on STT almost daily for meals. There are only a few options for food on Water Island - a small deli and Heidi's on Honeymoon beach. There is a ferry which runs from Crown Bay Marina on STT to Water Island regularly. Catching a dinghy ride from someone I have found to be just as easy. Water Island is very quiet and relaxed. Enjoy your vacation.

Thanks for the info. The villa does feature a full kitchen I believe, so we will eat in some. Not real big "foodies" so pizza, burgers and the like will suit is just fine for the most part.

Is there a dining option near Crown Bay that offers a nice night time view and good menu? Mafolie looks nice, how close is that from ferry dock. I think our only concern will be the lack of ferry service after 6 pm through the week, but maybe private transport could be arranged

Hope to do a day sail on the Rumbaba from Red Hook as we did that last year and really enjoyed it.

Thanks again,
Becky

Becky, Water Island and Villa Tarra Nova are excellent choices and you will not be disappointed. The villa does have a kitchen. When you arrive at the airport and take a 5 minute taxi ride to Crown Bay Marina (to catch the Water Island Ferry .....the WI Ferry schedule is posted on VINOW.com), Crown Bay Marina has the Gourmet Gallery which is a grocery store that has all the provisions you may want/need including wine, beer, liquor. We normally do some "speed shopping" that day we arrive and buy just what we will need for that evening and the next morning and maybe some luncheon meat or whatever for lunch the next day. Then, the day after we arrive and are settled in, we may take the WI Ferry (about an 8 minute ferry ride that runs on a regular and frequent schedule) to St. Thomas to do the rest of our provisioning either at Gourmet Gallery or at Pueblo (which is another grocery store about a block away from Crown Bay Marina).

Regarding Day trips to STT and whether you'll have time. Absoutely! We usually (just like the song) "take the 8:15 into the city". We walk a couple of blocks to Charlotte Amalie Car Rental and rent a car for the day or we take a safari taxi to downtown or the east end. If you're going to just go to downtown, Safari "dollar" taxi is the way to go. If you're going to beach/destination hop, rent a car for the day. In both cases, just eyeball the last WI ferry run for the day and allow yourself enough time to make that run. If you want to do a trip to St. John, we take the 8:15 into the city (STT), hop on a dollar safari and get off at the tent market downtown. Across the street is the 9:00 ferry to STJ. I recommend you buy a one-way to STJ so that you will have flexibility to take whatever ferry from STJ back to STT. You could take the Cruz Bay to Red Hook ferry later in the day or the Cruz Bay to Charlotte Amalie later in the day. Either one, again, just get it set in your mind the time you will need to be back at Tickles/Crown Bay Marina to catch the Water Island Ferry. No worries mon' ! You're going to have a wonderful time and at the end of the day, you will be enjoying quiet and gorgeous views on Water Island.

Restaurants nearby. Tickles offers great food and on certain days of the week, live music. The WI ferry does make a run at 9:00 pm. from STT to WI - though you need to tell the Captain ahead of time that you'll be staying on STT and needing the 9:00 run. (If there's no one on the ferry, there's no need to make the run so be sure to mention to the Captain that you're planning on being on the 9:00.) Other restaurants nearby via dollar / Safari are located in Frenchtown. Craig & Sally's and a few others are wonderful. You know of course that Heidi serves lunch every day at the beach as well as gourmet meal on Saturday nights (Honeymoon Beach). She also has Monday Night Movie night. Also, I believe there's Wii Bowling on Wednesday nights. Check the bulletin board as soon as you get to WI at the ferry landing for details.

If you're thinking of taking a sail from Red Hook, just catch an earlier ferry from WI to STT. Take a taxi over to Red Hook to meet your sailboat. Be sure to inquire with the charter/captain what time you get back and ensure that you get back before the last Water Island ferry from STT to WI. If you find that you will be later than the last scheduled run, just work with the Captain for a "special run".

Hope this helps.

**In respect of full disclosure, I own a vacation rental home on Water Island that is advertised on VINOW. I do not have any business or other affiliations with Villa Terra Nova.

Hello all:

I have just reserved a week next April at Villa Terra Nova on Water Island. Anyone have experience to share about this Villa or Water Island in general.

I realize the location is very "away from it all" but that will be perfect for relaxing but still easy enough to get to St. Thomas for a day trip or two.

Any advice appreciated.

Becky

Thank you for all the wonder info FL Barrier Islander. Looking forward to a great stay!

BeckyMac, regarding the Water Island ferry, you might consider buying the "commuter pass" or we also call it the "punch pass" for the Water Island Ferry. Talk to the Captain about the most economical option for getting to/from Water Island during your stay. The punch pass is probably the way to go if you're going to be there a week or so and going over to STT. And, if you have any punches left on your card at the end of your trip you might be able to sell or give the leftover to another passenger on the ferry.

a block to Pueblo from CB? I do not think so

stevef, I do this a lot. Walk out of Crown Bay Marina, thru the pedistrian gate, pass by the Escargot rest. (which I'm not recommending), and dodge parked cars with no sidewalk until you get to the Pueblo on your left. ok. So, while it may not be a "block" in the true sense of US Continental perspective.....I willingly give you another block on the distance and call it even. There are not really any cross streets....that I recall... between the Crown Bay Marina Ped gate and the Pueblo. The Gourmet Gallery is definitely more convenient, easier, cleaner, friendlier, cooler, more selection, and just a wee few percentage points more $ than Pueblo. I'll also willingly admit that I shop Gourmet Gallery MOST of the time just because of most of those reasons I just mentioned...and happily pay the few extra points on the price.

Thanks for the info on the "punch pass". That sounds like the way to go!

Becky

Below is a link to a resent trip report for Water Island...enjoy.

https://www.vinow.com/wwwtalk/read.php?4,93502,93502#msg-93502

FL Barrier Island:

Thanks for the detailed response, I am thinking about a WI vacation this Winter. I looked at Villa Terra nova and Glen Laurel on VRBO they both look okay. My biggest concern is that we will get bored on WI. The information you provided Newbie was helpful.

Thanks.

Curly:

If you decide on Water Island, please post when you get back. Would love to hear some more first hand experiences. Especially if you choose Villa Terra Nova.

Thanks,
Becky

Hello Becky,

I will but it won't be about Villa T.N. as it is booked for the time I am considering....too bad, it looked nice. I am looking at Glen Laurel & Turtle Hill now.

Thanks, Curly

Curly, what timeframe/dates were you interested? We might have availability this winter depending on your dates.

We have two properties on WI we rent to guests when we are not on island. Water Island is a wonder place to relax away from cruise ship crowds. Beaches are clean and not crowded. Residents drive golf carts mainly. It is quite nice.

check out http://slowmocean.com

We have a 2 bedroom 2 bath house with a huge deck and plenty of space. The other house is a 1 BR 1 Bath. Both are very well furnished and privately located. They are both close--short cart ride away from beaches. Both come with a cart or two if you need it.

Here are two web sites for you to look at that will provide more information about visiting Water Island:

http://www.waterislandwica.com/

http://sites.google.com/site/water-island-rocky-dock/

Hope this helps answer some of your questions.

Curly, we have a vacation rental home on Water Island that has 4 bedrooms/2 baths and will support up to 8 persons. It's located at the end of Lookout Point Road, very quiet and secluded and surrounded on 3 sides by the Caribbean. Views from the porch are toward the south, west and north. We do make available a 4x4 crew cab truck with 'safari' in the back....we call the Flamingo Warrior.....for registered guests/drivers 25 years of age or older. Flamingo Point Estate is currently booked from Christmas week through the first week of March/2009. I know you mentioned you're interested in visiting this winter sometime so if your plans call for November/December timeframe, we still have some availability. We advertise on VINOW under Water Island accomodations. Web site is www.flamingopointusvi.com

FL Barrier Island,
Thanks for the information. The time frame I need is 3rd or 4th week of January. I finally decided to book Glen Laurel, hope I made the right choice.
Thanks again for your help.

We just returned from a family vaca to Water Island. First time on W.I., but not STT. We stayed at the above mentioned Flamingo Point Estate and it was INCREDIBLE!!! The owner's are so friendly and helpful. We wanted for not. A big plus is that they give you a truck to use during your stay and it is by far and away the nicest vehicle on the island. For our family it was better to have a vehicle to use than a little golfcart which is what most homes come with and if you aren't staying right on top of Honeymoon beach then you are in for some serious hiking.
The property managers who live on the island were gracious and incredibly informative regarding local island customs and critters. Not to mention that they sing beautifully. We swam out to the swimming dock in the bay off of Honeymoon beach one night and listened to Joe's Beach Shack Bar come alive with music and singing and we sang right along with them. You go Mary!
I was reading some of the other comments and I'm such a boob. I never even considered asking one of the locals for a ride to Crown Bay on one of their dinghy's, but now I wish I would've because that is my biggest complaint. For a large family travling to and from the islands became an large expense rather quickly and yes, we purchased the punch passes. Matter of fact, we purchased LOTS of punch passes, but when you have to do laundry in Crown Bay and buy all of your food supplies at the Pueblo and rent a dvd at Nisky Center it just adds up.
FYI, you'll need cash for most everything! We met locals who say that even the Peublo market is too expensive, but that is really the best deal for groceries nearest Crown Bay and when you are on foot and its hot and humid you'll think Peublo is perfect. We hated going into the Gourmet Gallery as the checkers were COLD and not social at all. take into account that they are very preicey in there we just avoided that placed like the plague.
Tickles restaurant became a haven of sorts. Drinks and snacks while laundry is tumbling in the building next door. Time to get out from the severe rain storm. Nice for live music some nights, but guess what? The ferry RUNS your life!
Hurry hurry, we'll miss the ferry and then its a 2 hour wait. Wait wait, no dinners out as there is no ferry to get you back home. Oh, there is actually, but they charge DOUBLE per person and it is only 2 nights per week and only at their time. I tell ya..............the ferry became our nemisis!
The Pirates Ridge Deli is closed for the season and Heidi's snack shack is always on the beach in the afternoon ands she is a good cook. She hosts the movie night on the beach that was a big hit with our kids, but we didn't do her Saturday night dinners on the beach because we had given all of our spare moola to the ferry. 🙂
The Safari taxis are tricky at first because they all claim to be a safari cab, but ask a local and they will tell you. We found the locals very helpful if you were polite, which we always try to be. Here's a hint: Look for an open aired cab that has mostly locals on it and then you'll know for sure that you are on the dollar cabs.
We enjoyed shopping at the Yacht Harbor Grand and even the tent city was fun for souvinors and such. We got our hair braided there. Magens Bay is the best on STT. The taxis are organized and no local vendors hassle you like on Coki beach. Man, that place freaked the kids out because the vendors fight amongst themselves over you and they are always hassling you to go to their booth and it was DIRTY! The beach was simply nasty.
On that note, we had the best family vacation! It was a dream trip and I would love to return to W.I., but I want a dinghy to go with the next house I rent..............no more ferry!