St. Thomas is exactly what you are looking for! Great restaurants here, the best boating (72 islands, rocks and cays in the US and British VI's), and nightlife to suit everyone's wants. Stay at Secret Harbor. It's got a great beach, beautiful sunsets, a yummy restaurant, and incredibe snorkeling. It's about 5 minutes from Red Hook (East end of the island), which has a bunch of restaurants and nightlife and a marina with lots of boating excursions and the ferries to St. John and the BVI.

Come on down! You'll be happy you did!

~Marty

Just this a.m., I read the most horrible report on Secret Harbor Resort - in Trip Advisor. Check it out.......it's a little hard to believe that these people had all of those problems!
We are splitting our vacation in Feb. - the first half of the week at the great Bolongo Bay, then to Secret Harbor for 5 days. God, I hope these people were just "picky". We have stayed in beautiful big hotels everywhere and do enjoy the small resorts best, I think.
Also, are the mosquitos & sand flies still bad? Just wondering how much spray to tote along. Looking SO forward to getting away from this nasty weather in PA!

To put your mind at ease, Myron, notice that all of the reviews are 4 and 5 stars, while only 3 of them out of 69 are 1 or 2 stars. And they are from Boston, New York and D.C....tell you anything? Not to say that there is anything wrong with people from that area, just that they tend to think that the world turns around them. While "limin" is part of our culture in STT, it seems that complaining is part of their culture up there. Don't let that stop you from having an awesome trip. Which you will!

The flies and mosquitos are always bad on these islands. More so after heavy rains. And they tend to like visitors vs. people that live here. Just buy some spray or skin so soft, and you will be just fine.

Enjoy your tip!!

~Marty

Concerning bugs and mosquitos...
'Bad' is a relative term. We are from Houston and the islands were fine for us. If you are familiar with a more humid environment, then you have a scale to judge things by. That said, the flies in upstate NY or Minnesota during the summers are ungodly.

See...no worries mon, it's all relative!

With any sizable batch of reviews (which Secret Harbour has on Tripadvisor) , probably best to ignore the 2-3 overglowing best and the 2-3 overblown worst and you'll probably have a fair picture. Hope so anyways, cuz we will be there first week of April.

Marty,

What does "Limin" mean?

Myron,

The mosquitos just about killed me when I was there two weeks ago. I figured out that they loved the lotion I used on my legs before going out at night. Once I figured that out, I put the lotion on and then sprayed bug spray on after. No more bites!!!! If you are going with a female, be sure to give her this advice!!!!

We are from the midwest and had a wonderful time on St Thomas in November. I guess everyone has different expectations. We loved the east end and everything about it. The people were wonderful! So many great restaurants and sailing options there. We had no problem at all with bugs either. Enjoy your trip - it will be wonderful!!

I believe Limin is derived from the locals resting under lime trees and laying back.
"I be limin"
Relaxing
We used to call it 'hangin out', then 'chillin',...

I was there 2 weeks ago, and as usual the mosquitos ate me alive. They flew around, over, and between my husbands legs to get to me. He might have had 1 or 2 bites in 10 days and I looked like I have some kind of plague. I finally kept a fresh application of deep woods off with deet on at all times. Not too romantic, but it worked.

This happens every time I visit SJ. It does not make my trip less enjoyable. It would take alot more than mosquitos to do that.

I "get your drift", Marty, concerning the type of people you're thinking of. We tend to be pretty laid back and aren't "Fancy Pants" kind of people. Our 28-year old son moved down there in September (the new sous chef at Bolongo)and can't wait to show us around.......undoubtedly to the great local hangouts and the best restaurants... We're just anxious to escape the BS of work and the disgusting weather we've been having!
About the mosquitoes, we can handle such with the right sprays & lotions! The little critters aren't fun here in PA in the summer......trust me. Thanks!

Best way to keep the mosquitoes away? RUM...LOTS, of RUM....LOL

Region Rat has the right idea. Rum will cure anything. I'm from the upper midwest and the V.I.er's don't even know what real mosquitoes are! Ours have a Greyhound Logo running on their sides. But they taste like chicken.

Yeah, but ours are almost invisble and they don't bite people that live here...only visitors! Haha! But they sure can cause a mess of things for vacationers! And it's true...rum will take care of 'em...well, you won't care that you're being bitten, anyway! haha!

Waht about the "sand flies"? I came home with a few of those bites. And I met a lady in the airport pretty peppered with small bites from St. John that she says were sand flies.

I don't mind....I'm from the midwest too, so I'd rather have scares from my vacation than tryin to mow my grass here!!

The best explaination I've come across comes from the book, "An Embarrassment of Mangoes" written by Ann Vanderhoof, who along with her huband spent two years sailing the Caribbean.

From the book [page 190]:

"Trinis [referring to Trinidadians] have perfected the art of 'liming' --- spending time relaxing, laughing, talking, drinking, enjoying music, taking it easy. A lime is any informal gathering for the purpose of having fun. Call it hanging out, or call it a party. 'The perfect start to a great lime', says the advertising for Veni Mange. 'Bona fide fishermen only. No liming here,' reads a sign on the fishing cooperative on the road outside Port of Spain. The etymology of the word is hazy. According to one account, it was coined during World War II, when the nightclubs and dance halls of Port of Spain were frequented by foreign servicemen. The Americans appeared to have endless amounts of money to spend, but the less-well-off British were often forced to listen to the music from the outside, watching the Americans inside dance with all the girls. Local schoolboys, who also used to stand outside listening, coined the the verb 'to lime' --- meaning to stand outside a dance hall or party as the 'Limeys' were doing."

"According to another story that dates to the same time, the sour taste of limes is behind the term: If you weren't invited to a party, you would go to the house where it was being held anyway, but just stand outside and feel sour. The was called, 'sucking lime.' Other friends might join you, and you'd all stand around outside talking. This was called 'bussin' a lime' --- which became shortened to 'liming.'"