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We just returned from a fantastic trip to Water Island!
We stayed at a private rental we found on vrbo.com, it's called Flamingo Point. They also have a web page for it, Flamingo Point.. What an awesome place. This house is perched on the southern tip of the island, high atop a rocky cliff, remote and unbelievably peaceful. The house has a massive wrap around deck where you can always find the cooling trade winds. That was a key feature of this house. We’re from Wisconsin and found it quite hot there in July. But, it only took us a day or two to comfortably acclimate to the heat. You just slow down and strip down (well, you know, to appropriate levels.) It was my wife and I and our two girls, 11 and 14. My girls struggled with the isolation in the beginning, but they soon began to realize what a gift and opportunity was unfolding in front of them. We got the, “best vacation ever” label at the end!
We arrived on a 2:40 PM flight from Chicago (stopping in Miami), and took a taxi to Crown Bay/Gourmet Gallery...getting there by 330. We had our first rum drinks and ate a great early dinner a Tickles, next to where we pick up the ferry for the ride over to the island.
We did a little grocery shopping at Gourmet Gallery (the rest of the groceries were provisioned by the Grocery Goddess the next day. The Goddess, Julie, was awesome – highly recommended!) We hopped on the 515 PM ferry and were met on the Water Island dock by the property manager. We were given the keys to the Flamingo Warrior, a very bad-a$$ Nissan pick-up truck that has been outfitted with a safari cage in back. Given the state of the roads and the steep terrain of the island, this truck was perfect.
Our only other time to the USVI was on a cruise ship stop a few years ago. On that cruise, we realized we wanted a Caribbean vacation that was more like the iconic Corona beer commercial. Back in December of 2009 we read a story about undiscovered Caribbean getaways and Water Island was featured. Perfect!
Our days were mostly spent at Honeymoon beach. We never tired of the serenity this beach brought us. It is stunningly beautiful with its soft white sand beach, calm waters and tall palm trees. It was also very empty while we were there. This was our Corona vacation! The benefits of the low season, I suppose. Heidi’s Honeymoon Grill provided grilled burgers/dogs/polish sausage, chips/soda/beer daily. Those burgers were unbelievable and the kids devoured the grilled dogs! On our last day, a cruise ship excursion came in – two large sail boats with a 100 or so people to eat and swim. Glad that was just one day.
I had read that snorkeling was fair to poor on this beach, but we found it to be perfect for us. The rocks to the left and right of the beach offered lots of tropical fish. We also had a resident turtle and a few sting rays swimming in the sea grass of the main swimming area. I think the lack of people allowed these guys to feel safe to come into the area. My girls and I were watching the turtle when a little sting ray swam right under my daughter. This was our first encounter – the water muffled the screams.
We went on a day sail with “Island Girl” – it sails out of Charlotte Amalie harbor and he agreed to pick us up right on the Water Island dock. No long taxi ride in the morning! We went out to Buck Island for two perfect snorkel dives. The food was just okay, but the aquatic experience was out of this world.
Renting this house was a leap of faith for us. We typically do hotel stays. But, the owner of this house couldn’t have been more helpful and kind while we planned and organized for this trip. She was always generous with her answers to our(my) continuous questions, whether it was related to the house or just general information about Water Island or St. Thomas. If you are looking for that Caribbean escape, where you feel you are the only one on the island, rent this place, sit on the south deck and look out over the ocean and listen to the waves crash against the rocks below. Priceless.
Glad to hear you all arrived back home safely. Thank you for your kind words. You know I was thrilled to participate in the building of excitement counting down to the trip and once you got there, we thoroughly enjoyed hearing about your adventures and "seeing" the island through you and your family's eyes. We welcome you back with open arms any time!
Thanks for the great review! and I have a few questions. How did you get hooked up with the Grocery Goddess? Were the prices alot:-) higher then a regular grocery store on ST. Thomas? Did you get a list to choose from and they delivered to the house?
You said the snorkeling was great- did you go to Buck Island- lots of fish? Food not so good? We are thinking about booking but I would like to know more.
There are so many charters to choose from, was your trip a half day or a full day? We are also renting a private home on Water island so we are very excited to learn as much as we can- it will be our first time there.
Thanks again for all of your help.
Hi, Emmilu.
I found out about the Grocery Goddessess through the welcome packet provided by our home's owner. Here is the web site. It highlights her (Julie) service charges...19% of the bill, plus a $35 delivery charge and any cost incurred if she has to ride the ferry. She will provide a generic list of foods that you can choose from, plus you are free to add items. The more detail the better. Julie will then shop at a number of stores to get the best price and quality. We were extremely pleased. In our case, she went to Kmart, Pueblo and Gourmet Gallery on St. Thomas to get our food and other dry goods. Of course, there is nothing on Water Island. There is a Gourmet Gallery right next to where you pick up the water ferry, so you have that convenience. In our case, we shopped a little at Gourmet Gallery when we arrived - for our first night and morning - and had Julie deliver the rest of our goods the next morning. She came over to the island on the ferry, I met her, she dumped off the food, I paid via a wireless credit card reader and then she hopped right back on the ferry. Smooth. The ferry cost her (me) $15 ($10 round trip plus a "luggage" fee for the groceries). You could also arrange to have her deliver all your food to the house just before you arrive. There may be more cost for that though.
Food is expensive down there, but I wasn't shocked by it. It was like grocery shopping at a 7-11/convenient store in a larger metro area. We cooked up a lot of chicken breasts and burgers the first two nights and ate the left overs through the week, using them in other recipes. Creativity by necessity. We probably spent $500 on food for our 8 day stay, that includes our groceries and the occasional eating out. Oh, go to Bumpas in St. Thomas for breakfast. It's right downtown, next to vendor's plaza. It sits on the second floor and looks across the main road into the harbor. The food was great and it was fun to watch the action from the elevated perspective.
We did go to Buck Island for our snorkel trip. We did the full day sail...the half would have been too short for us. It was perfect and I do recommend it. We chose "Island Girl" for the convenience of getting picked up at the Water Island dock. Captain Mike is a very competent sailor and we enjoyed him and his first mate, Heather. Heather goes in the water with you, while Mike hangs back on the boat. At Buck Island, we snorkeled in Turtle Cove where there are always turtles grazing on the see grass below. Lots of sting rays there as well. Lots of tropical fish/coral on the rocks. Then we went around the point to Ship Wreck bay. It is a protected bay with a similar rocky snorkel. Plus, there is an old drug running boat that was sunk on purpose by a dive group. You get to snorkel over the top of it. Yes, the food was just okay. But, we weren't that hungry anyway. Food was far from our focus. Free unlimited drinks were offered.
If you have any more questions, please feel free to ask, private message me or whatever. I planned for this trip for over 6 months and loved every minute of it. I would be happy to share what I learned as a newbie to this wonderful island.
Steve
