YL--

Schooner Bay market is a couple of miles toward C'staed on the main road. We've stayed at Tamarind every year since '95. Tell Kenna (bartender at the Deep End) I said hi.

David

redman,
Thanks for that info. It helps.

Must be a good place if you keep going back there. I'll tell Kenna hi and maybe get a free drink....*LOL*
I'm sure we'll be at the Deep End quite a bit!
email me at [email protected] and give me the whole scoop on the Tamarind Reef and the places around there. I'm sure I will have a few questions.

We used Judi of Croix for our three week visit in April. Chris met us at the airport with a sign with our name on it. He had us on the road in no time (the left side that is!). We rented a Toyota Echo and it served us well taking us everywhere we needed to go. It took the steep hills very well and was also easy to park in town. I would highly recommend this rental agency. Be careful driving as it is a bit nerve-wracking at first. The traffic moves at a good clip and can get congested around Sunny Isle shopping center. Centerline road does some zig-zagging between the airport and Christiansted that is a bit confusing at first. The area around Tamarind is pretty straight forward to drive around though.

Tamarind seems very nice. We drove through there a couple of times on our visit. It is just down from Cheesburgers which is a lot of fun. For a great view of Christiansted at night and a really good meal, don't miss making a reservation at the Bucanneer. It is no more expensive than most other restaurants. Truly memorable. Don't pass up the crab dip or bar-b-que ribs at the Case Place in Gallows Bay either.

Schooner Bay Market is close to Tamarind for shopping but it is a bit higher than the larger stores. Don't pass up the pastry there or the deli. Great selection of alcohol as well. On out toward east end where we stayed at Coakley Bay Condos is a small deli / store called Solitude. They have good meals at reasonable prices. On the side is a small outdoor bar that is full of people most nights. They have a movie night out there showing a movie on a canvas against the wall. They also have theme food nights like Mexican or Bar-b-que. Very casual and fun.

Be sure to take a half-day Buck Island snorkel trip.

Check out the other places to stay because you will definately go back!

Kerry,
Thanks much for all the tips.
Did you guys drive at night?
You mention, On the side is a small outdoor bar that is full of people at night and shows movies and has food theme nights. Where is this located??

Is Cheeseburgers on the water?

Hello YL,

Chesseburgers is not on the water. Good casual atomosphere with good burgers and drinks!!

--Islander

Paula, It is nice to see someone who once lived their eager to go back years later. I feel the same and did not live there longer then 16 days in 78". I am hoping to buy land there in a couple weeks . If you don't dream and try you get old and die. Tedd from Michigan

Thanks, Islander

Looking forward to where the get together will be on the 8th.

Yvonne

YL,

We did drive some at night mainly to come home from events we had attended. The hard part about driving at night is getting a feel for where you are going. One might think that since you are on an island that you can't get lost but you can do some circling before you get the feel for the island. The longest drive we made at night was getting from Pirate's night at Carambola all the way back to Coakley Bay on the east end. You would make a similar drive getting back to Tamarind.

Cheeseburger's is not right on the water and is not the type of place you would go for the view. It is a series of canvas covered areas designed for very casual dining / drinks and at night to listen to some good music. It is just down from Tamarind toward Christiansted. You will pass it getting to Tamarind from the airport. In contrast, Off the Wall near Cane Bay is right on the water, has some entertainment and a much larger menu selection. It is a bit smaller than Cheeseburgers with less cover to sit under during the day. Both are worth a stop for the dining experience.

Solitude is going to be east of Tamarind probably a couple of miles or so down the road on the left just past Coakley Bay Condos. It is a small grocery / deli that has an outdoor dining area and bar on the side. We ate a reasonably priced typical breakfast there. This is a very casual place under somewhat new ownership that is trying to make it. We did not attend the movie night but talked with several people that really enjoy having a drink and watching the movie. The mexican food night is supposed to be awesome and is made fresh by a resident. In our quest to try the larger restaurants, we missed a lot of what was going on here and I'm sure we would have enjoyed it as well as we did going to other places at night. Sometimes we could hear the music from our balcony from Solitude. Bar-b-que night is supposed to be good too.

I'm not sure how long you are staying so you will have to decide what is important to you. There is way more to see and do than a week will allow. We were there basically three weeks and still have some things we wanted to see that will be for our next trip. Our main goal this trip was to stay long enough to have to shop for groceries and do some normal things that we might do if we lived there. We had time to sit and do nothing but soak up the view as well. Our trip was very relaxing and fun. One other goal was to check out in person what we have seen and read online. We found most things accurate but not all.

We found Tamarind to be nice but a bit motel looking. The beach outside the rooms is a bit rocky but the beach a bit farther down seemed nice from a distance. We did not walk down there. The restaurant, The Galleon, at the yacht basin is very nice inside. We did not eat there but went in to look at it. I thought the prices were higher than most we saw with most entree's in the $30 range. That may be just where my eyes settled on the menu. We did ride out there at night to see what view we would expect from the restaurant and found no view for that kind of money. It was basically very dark with no major focal point. In contrast, the Terrace restaurant at the Bucanneer and the view from Villa Madeline was fantastic. Pricing here was in the mid to upper $20 range on the average. Villa Madeline is closed for the off season now.

I could probably do chapters but will stop here!!

One other thing about Judi Of Croix. Don't be surprised when Chris takes you off the airport grounds to sign your paperwork. He is not a part of the airport car rental so he has to do this. We drove out of the airport and stopped on the side of the road to sign our papers. No big deal really. We then went back in and dropped him off. When we returned the car, we left it locked up in the airport parking lot and he picked it up later.

We unfortunately had to cut our trip one day short (only 22 days instead of 23 - poor us huh!). Judi of Croix happily refunded us one days rental to our credit card. Very friendly people to do business with and they made that part of our stay work very smooth.

Tedd,
Get ready for a great time down memory lane! We enjoyed our trip back to St. Croix so much! 30 years later it was still the same wonderful place. Though we did see some changes-- mainly I was amazed at how much the island had developed around the Sunny Isle area, and all the new homes being built in the east end area, plus some damage from hurricanes... but it was still all so familiar once we got over the shock of actually being back there! We had so much fun seeing all the old sights and discovering new ones--- can't wait to go back! Have fun down there!

Paula

Thanks to all for your suggestions, comments & opinons. It has helped very much and we are on the count down.
Also looking forward to the STX get together that Islander is organizing on the 8th to meet some of yall (yes, I'm from Texas)

I would like to know if anyone has any suggestions on what to bring in the way of food, bottled water or anything else along those lines. Tamarind Reef does have a kitchenette, but I know some things are very expensive to buy in STX and might make sense to bring. I drink a lot of water, but have heard bottled water is expensive. What about tonic? Is it easy to come by or reasonably priced? Soft drinks? Of course, I don't want to bring an extra suit case of food and drinks, but thought it might make sense to bring some things along.
Any thoughts of anything else, will be appreciated.

YL (Yvonne)

Hello YL,
I have only been to St. Thomas, but have never needed to bring any food or drink. At Cost-U-Less on the island you can get a flat of 24 (I think) bottles of water for around $11.00. K-Mart sells cold 1-liters of bottled water (Dasani) for $1. The island has most everything you need, but it may be a different brand. If you need something specific and can't live without it, then bring it. Have fun!
Teresa

Yvonne,

Since you'll be at Tamarind Reef, Schooner Bay Market will be close by for basics, but not a huge selection there. In the area just before you get to Sunny Isle (when coming from C'sted) is a huge Plaza Extra. We found everything we needed there and didn't find things too outrageous. The only thing they didn't have were paper plates--- they had styrofoam ones, but I just wanted simple paper ones . We were eating sandwiches for lunch some days, or light breakfast rolls and I didn't want to waste too much of my island time washing dishes!

Although I just hate to waste any of my precious time on island shopping for groceries, your mileage may vary. I always save the box in which I bring back liquor, pack it with mixers and stuff, and take it back down on the next trip. I'll admit I do get some strange looks at the luggage carousel in STX when retrieving it though - sure looks like I'm taking sand to the beach!

Rather than a suitcase, I'd recommend a big (but manageable) box, possibly available from the airlines or from U-Haul. Line it with a garbage bag, then freeze small bottles of water to keep food cool. Freeze anything you can that you want to pack, then check the box as luggage. I have friends who have taken lemonade, a whole roast, cold cuts, etc. this way and you can just ditch the box when you're down there.

We are planning on going to St. Croix, first time, this fall in late November/early December. What price would you charge for a 10 day trip? Tell us about the proximity to scuba diving...boat trips and pick ups at the resort? Further, we are hopeful of buying a condo unit in that vicinity, so can you tell us of the approximate price of a 2 bedroom condo down there at your resort? Thank you. David A.

My wife and I are going to St. Croix this fall. We love to swim and scuba dive. We are in our early fifties and are looking for a condo to buy so as to have a family place to go to a couple of months of the year. Do you have a thought or two on where is best to buy for use as an accessible resort for the scuba diving? How was Coakley Bay for amenities etc.? Thank you. David A.

LOve to hear about your trip and what you liked about colony cove. David A.

When you are looking for a condo check out the Reef on STX's east end. Some of the owners rent their units so you can try the life style out before buying

The Reef has its own own beach. Not great for scuba, but the St Croix Yacht club is just down the road and you can keep a boat there for trips out to the the various reefs, diving sites and Buck Island.

Don't need a big boat an inflatible zephr is fine. Twenty minutes from the yacht club to Buck Island.

Jim

We have owned at Colony Cove for a year. We love it. It is centrally located, has a nice little beach, good snorkeling, a nice pool and 2 restaurants you can easily walk to for lunch, brunch or dinner. We loved Coakley for the view, but there is no beach and there were no condos available in the better buildings (wind can be a huge problem there) and the prices have gone up alot in 2 years, which concerns me. I would definitely advise staying at a complex before you buy. We also liked Sugar Beach which is next door to Colony Cove and a little nicer, but at least twice the price. We used Barbara Richards with r &r realty and loved her. You can check out all of the MLS listings by clicking here http://www.rrrealtyvi.com/jrmls.htm this lets you go to condos specifically and get an idea of prices. Our website is www.mindspring.com/~stcroixcondo if you'd like some more information. Also, feel free to email me directly if you'd like some more detailed information.

Happy Hunting-
Abbi

Coakley Bay has an onsite restaurant called the Cultured Pelican that is open during high season, it has a very nice pool and a great view of Buck Island. Some condos have washer/dryers and dishwashers. There are several buildings that have washer/dryers available for use with purchased tokens for those that do not have them in their condos. For the ladies, there is a seemingly very busy beauty shop on site as well. The condo next to the one we rented was for sale in May for $168,500. I'm not sure if it sold yet. It was unit F-4 and has a great view. Coakley is not that far from C'Sted and seems to be a nice quiet area.

I'm sure you can scuba just about anywhere. Coakley has a beach area that you could snorkel or scuba from but it is nothing like the Cane Bay area I'm sure. There are reefs between the beach and Buck Island but I didn't notice anyone doing much serious snorkeling or scuba diving out there. Of course Buck Island is full of snorkelers.