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We just got back from St. Thomas on Sunday. We had a great time.
The weather was not as nice as we would have liked but that just can't be helped. There was rain almost every day except one or two. Only two of our eight days had a significant amount of rain. We went to dinner at Hook Line and Sinker on Thursday evening and it rained for several hours that evening and off and on all day. We did get plenty of sunshine, though! 🙂 Hook Line and Sinker had pretty good food. Not a big variety. The service was so so.
We went to St. John on the car ferry on Wednesday. Spent the whole day there. Getting on and off the car ferry was chaos but it was a small price to pay. We went early in the a.m. around 7 and got right on. We didn't get down to the dock (Cruz Bay) until around 5ish and there isn't alot of room there and people going on different ferry companies so it was chaos but they got us all on. My advice to anyone taking the ferry is to get to Red Hook very early. If you wait even till nine you will probably not make it because they had lots of work trucks, semis, gasoline trucks etc and let them all go before us even if we were there first. The next day we went at 7 and got right on.
We took the Sky Ride to Paradise Point on Wed. night (it was free). It was a beautiful view of the city from above at night.
We stayed at the Island Beachcomber Hotel. It is just a so so hotel. No pool, no special stuff. Clean rooms. But Lindbergh Bay is a really nice calm, quiet (except for an occasional airplane ) beach. The people at the hotel were wonderful! The lady who cleaned our room offered to wash our laundry and would not take money (although I made the manager give it to her later). The men who do the clean up etc were fun and joked with the kids. Gave them busted coconut shells for them to play with on the beach in the sand. The beach bar is very nice and the bartenders were fun and friendly. Made the kids yummy fruity drinks so they felt on top of the world.
As far as shopping. Tid bit of info. We learned that you need to look thru lots of shops. Alot of them have the same things but at VERY different prices! We liked the change color T shirts for the kids. The first store we saw them at had them for $22. We shopped around and found some places had them for $10 and one place had them for $5!!!! The vendors with the tents used to have the cheapest prices years ago but I found now that you can get the same merchandise cheaper in the shops in town. Just my two cents for anyone shopping.
Coki Beach was the kids favorite. Some great fish came to feed and we saw a pelican having lunch - swooping down and grabbing fish- just about ten feet from us! I recommend it to anyone that wants to see lots of fish.
We went to Magens Bay. Got rained out there but had a fun time never the less. Beautiful
We really wanted to go to Mandahl Bay but could not get down there. Couldn't find the right road, then later our bartender at the hotel told us he didn't recommend it without a 4x4 so we didn't get to see it this time.
Saw the donkeys and goats on St John
Saw Iguanas on St Thomas
The fruit stands by Coki are great! Got yummy produce and the people working the stands were so extremely friendly. Gave the kids some goodies for free and had very fair prices. We had a good time visiting with them.
I just have to say we had the most wonderful experience with the people in St Thomas and St John. Everyone was so wonderful and nice. Everyone. We made some new friends on the island that we will be keeping in touch with too.
We can't wait till our next trip. That is for sure!!!
When you say that it rained almost every day, are you referring to the "30-minute showers" that the islanders talk about???? Or was it more than that?
I'm scheduled to get married there next weekend and we are seriously considering cancelling this because of what we are seeing in the weather.
Thanks for your help.
There was only significant rain one day. And it was mostly late afternoon and evening. Most of the rain lasted anywhere from 10-30 minutes. There was complete rain in our forecast too and we still had lots of sunshine!
Oh, good luck on your wedding! What a great place to get married. Where are you getting married?
Thanks! You have put my heart at ease. . . . . . . . my fiance and I were scrambling to make a Plan B, but after hearing your experience, I have a bit more hope.
Weddings The Island Way is doing my wedding coordination and have a site at a garden terrace on the north side of the island overlooking a bay in a private residential area.
Vals: Cancel your wedding because of a little rain? What about the really big stuff that will come along? 😉 There is a local saying: "No rain, no rainbow". And another one: "This place in the rain is better than most places in the sun!" Hey, best wishes for a great life!!!
Hello 5bchbums - Great report!! Lots of families ask about vacationing with kids; any tips? Did you have trouble finding things for them to do? Did they have fun? How about at restaurants, kids meals?
Vals - congrats and I hope your wedding and trip to the VI is WONDERFUL!
--Islander
Well as far as kids, it went really well. Our hotel was right on the beach and our room was literally right on the beach so a few days we played all day on the beach and the baby still got her nap (I took the baby monitor to the beach and could still see our room). We stayed at the Island Beachcomber. Alot of the restaurants don't have kids menus. Hook Line and Sinker did but it was very limited. The Greenhouse did not. We had to split up an entree for them.
The kids loved the beaches. Especially Coki. We didn't do alot other than beach it. We shopped some, saw the ruins in St John etc but they were happy just playing all day at the beaches. Brewers Bay and Lindbergh Bay are good places to see sea turtles.
We used 45 sunblock on them several times reapplying and they did not burn. The baby wore a shirt part of the time and a hat always.
Magens Bay has decent restrooms etc as does Trunk Bay and Cinnamon Bay on St John.
If your kids love the beach there is no shortage of fun. Cinnamon Bay on St John had lots of fun stuff for the kids to find so they had a ball. (coconuts, coconut shells, flowers, etc)
Hi Vals,
I am also planning a wedding in St Thomas in Dec 2005 and I am also in a process of speaking with the same agency (weddings the island way) and was going to pick the same location as you have, but then the planner told me that they would not allow reception there and I would really like to have everything in one place.
Where do you have your reception? How many guests are coming with and where are you staying?
I was thinking of an alternative of having it at the villa and order catering there, but after she sent me the prices - it is very expensive....
Any suggestions?
Olga,
I understand that you want to simplify matters by having everything at the same place. Although I am sure that the wedding coordinator could arrange something for you at a nearby restaurant. There is supposed to be a very nice one in the same area, although I cannot remember the name of it.
We ended up cancelling out wedding/honeymoon in St. Thomas at the last minute due to bad reports of weather and the hotel we chose. We ended up in Maui instead (and it turned out perfect).
Just about all your options are going to be expensive. That is just the nature of having a destination wedding. Have you checked out the Saphire Resort? I've read many reports that they are great.
Good luck to you and have a glorious wedding and marriage!
