jon7,
Since you and your brother are 23 and 24, I think you would like STT as you will have more options for your night life. I hate to break it to you, but you can't be close to the beach and the city at the same time..... or at least within walking distance!
Since you plan on renting a car, first make sure that the company you use will rent to someone under the age of 25 and yes, there are some that do and some that don't. You don't want to get here and run into not having a car!
Any villas that are on the beach or real close to a beach are (that I know of) more expensive.
You can ck out: www.mclaughlinanderson.com to look for a place that has the amount of bedrooms you need.
Didn't answer all of your questions, don't have time right now, but this is a start!
Good Luck!

You should check www.vrbo.com for condo rentals at Sapphire and Crystal Cove (both on beautiful Sapphire Beach) and Secret Harbour too (also beautiful beach.) These are all on the East End of St Thomas and close to the Red Hook ferry terminal (for trips to St John and the British Virgin Islands as well as plenty of boat charters and daysails) while Red Hook has a pretty active night life which should suit you just fine. "City" on St Thomas is Charlotte Amalie which we call "town" and although it's a hub of activity during the daytime, it's not a place generally considered as a night-time venue. Happy planning!

Thank you both for your responses. I think based on them, that STT would be a better place for our family to stay when we come down and I will look for locations by Red Hook as I think that would suit what we are looking for: reasonably close to the beach while also within walking distance to an active island nightlife. In regards to renting a car, we are coming with our parents so the age thing shouldn't be a problem. We were initially planning on staying at either Charlotte Amalie or somewhere on STJ. I guess STT is the better choice though.

Could someone recommend the best beaches to visit (i.e. the beaches that if we didn't visit while we were down there it would be a crime haha). This could include both STT and STJ as well as some of the other islands both in USVI and BVI as we are hoping to go on a boat trip.

Is St. Croix worth going to? We are going to be down on the islands for about 2 weeks. There is so much we want to see. I hope we have enough time!!

Also, are there going to be any cool celebrations going on for new years?

As always, thanks for all everyones advice. We are extremely excited to go to the VI and want to make the most of our time there.

Cheers.

Beaches on STT include Magens Bay (rated among top 10 by National Geographic.) The beach is a mile long with full amenities, (beach restaurant/bar/gift shop/lifeguards/showers/restrooms/kayak rentals) but with plenty of space so you can get away from it all if it gets crowded (as on heavy cruise ship days.) NOT good snorkeling unless you swim quite a way out. Small entrance fee.

Sapphire and Secret Harbour for beautiful beaches and also good snorkeling. Sapphire has basic beachside amenities plus a restaurant up on the hill which services the beach for drinks and snacks.) Secret Harbour has the Blue Moon Cafe on site which is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Lindqvist (now Smith Bay Park) a beautiful beach, small entrance fee and no real amenities as yet but those are in the works. Coki Beach is busy busy for the most part. The Coral World Aquarium is right there along with many local vendors selling food and drinks. All except Magens are on the East end of the island.

A day trip to STJ is a must (you can take your rental vehicle over on the car barge with the main exception of Hertz) and there are, as previously noted, ample opportunities for daysails around ST John and charters to the BVI.

St Croix is much further away and the best way to get there is via seaplane (www.seaborneairlines.com) There is an inter-island ferry between STT and STX still operating (see "Ferry Schedules" top of this page) but the trip is over open water which can often be quite rough and takes about one and a half hours. Also not always operating so check frequently.

A caveat - although the places I mentioned earlier (Sapphire, Crystal Cove and Secret Harbour) are close to Red Hook, this is NOT a "walking island!" Sidewalks are non-existent, the roads are twisting and turning and in many places very steep. From Sapphire during daylight hours you can catch a $1 safari bus to Red Hook but they only run West to East and close down shortly after sunset so if you end up in Red Hook after dark you would have to taxi back if your parents with the car aren't with you. If you go to "St Thomas" at the top of this page you can scroll down for information on taxis and rates.

Several restaurants and bars offer NY Eve celebrations (or "Old Year" as its known locally) and you can check out the weekly free advertising newspaper, "Island Trader" via a link at www.virginislandsdailynews.com for local listings closer to the date. The Trader is published every Thursday and hard copies can be found throughout the island.

The "big" celebration for New Year's is Foxy's in the BVI and you can google for info on that. Hope that all helps. Cheers!

PS: Right now to visit the BVI you need the same ID as you need to exit the USVI to return to the mainland, i.e. if you don't have a passport you need a government-issued photo ID (such as state driver's license) and raised seal birth certificate. Passports are easier if you have time to get them.

Some other things you may want to consider:

1. Night snorkeling. Homer on STT usually offers an outing, and there are maybe a couple on St John that do, too.

2. Kayaking on either STT or STJ. On STT it's VI Eco Tours, and on STJ its Arawak Expeditions.

3. Paradise Point was a popular place for New Year's last year, because there were fireworks in the harbor. Hopefully they'll repeat this year, but with the economy, sadly probably not.

4. Water Island Mountain Bike tour. You can Google for more info.

5. There's some new, popular water board something sport (obviously I've forgotten it's name!), but last year they had a tournament for it at Morningstar Beach near Frenchman's Reef. This might be something else for you to try.

Bolongo Bay Resort always has fun night activities like karaoke, Carnival night, etc.

Do some hikes on St John sponsored by National Park or on your own. Hiking trail maps are available at National Park Center in Cruz Bay on St John.

St Croix celebrates their carnival during the Christmas season, so it may be difficult to get transportation/lodging, because many people from STT will be going. Will post if other celebratory events or concerts are scheduled for that timeframe on STT.

I have a two bedroom vacation rental at reasonable prices. Look at www.stthomasvirginisland.com.

My not to miss beaches:

1. Magen's Bay
2. Secret Harbour for snorkeling
3. Cinnamon on St. John
4. Hawks Nest on St. John

Hello Jon7,

You mentioned St. Thomas and St. John; good thing about either is that they are so close to each other that if you stay on one you can take a short ferry ride to the other. Also both provide easy access to the BVI. St. John is about 3/4ths National Park; nice beaches, great snorkeling, diving, hiking. St. Thomas is bigger than St. John; also has the same activities mentioned with the exception of hiking - there are two maintained trails on St. Thomas (short one at Paradise Point and a longer one down to Magens Bay); but if you want hiking you can head to St. John for a day. Best bet is to read up on both islands and see which one appeals to your family.

Since you aren't interested in resorts, on St. Thomas you can look into condos and vacation homes, also vacation homes for St. John. You mentioned low key accommodations; there are all sorts of vacation homes and villas; from nicely appointed casual/cozy to super luxurious. Again look around; lots of options. Once you have pinpointed what you all might be most interested in, perhaps specific places you can post those places and see if anyone on the board has stayed there and have feedback to share.

As others have already mentioned - so reinforcing the point here - on St. Thomas you can't really get close to the beach and close to nightlife in terms of walking distance. There is nightlife in Charlotte Amalie/Frenchtown, some in Havensight/Yacht Haven Grande and in Red Hook. Staying downtown in a B&B you could walk to some restaurants and bars in the late afternoon; definitely would want to take a taxi back though. Closest beach from town would be about 2 miles away. If you stayed on the East End, there are several nice beaches, some with hotels/condos on site and just a short drive to others. And a short drive to Red Hook for restaurants and a few bars. Again you'd need and want to drive or take a taxi for getting around in the evening/night. If you stayed on St. John in Cruz Bay; there are a couple places that are close enough that you could walk to town/Cruz Bay but you'd need to drive to get to beaches.

During Christmas/New Years there are young and older. Some younger folks come down from the states to work for high season (which includes January) in bars, restaurants, water sports; and this group is usually out in the evenings. Some young people from the islands come home for the holidays from college; so that's usually another group out. And then you have residents and visitors. You can ask at restaurants/bars; the wait staff and bartenders usually know what is going on and what days and what time certain places will get busy.

If you parents are willing to have one of you drive the rental; you could look into renting from Budget. They are the only ones that rent to under 25 year old drivers; and they charge a extra fee or deposit for this. That person would of course then be the designated driver, so on nights they want to drink you could skip the car and take taxis.

For day trips; check out the St. John Daysails and St. Thomas Daysails sections of this site. Use the drop down menus at the top of the page to find them. Review the options; some will sail with 4 charging just for 4, and some are larger and can accommodate more people so there will be your group with a few other small groups and couples. A couple of them offer overnight trips and would help you plan the itinerary.

Check out the beach guides for each island; again at the top of this page use the drop down menu and view the beach guides.

St. Croix is worth going to but difficult/expensive as a day trip. If you wanted to you could plan STT or STJ for part of the trip and then STX for a few days. St. Croix's Carnival celebrations will be going on in late December through early January. Children's parade is January 2nd and Adults Parade January 3rd.

Check out Foxys' New Year's celebration at: http://www.foxysbar.com/oldyears.html.

On St. Thomas, Yacht Haven Grande had a big New Year’s party last year. Don't see anything on their website for this year as yet but they are likely to do something, at least at Fat Turtle (bar/restaurant). Various bars on each island have parties. Restaurants typically have a special dinner menu; reservations usually required.

You might order a guide book or two about the USVI to help with your planning. You can find some at VI Traders - Visitor Guides

--Islander

Jon7, I am 28 and came to St. Thomas for New Years 2 years ago and I am going back this year. Here are my "must do" items.
Make sure you rent a car from one of the companies that allows you to take your car on the car ferry to St. John. If you are into snorkeling, its best to find a place that will rent you snorkel, mask, flippers and vest for the whole week (many hotel beaches do). Pack some food and a cooler of beer and catch the car ferry to St. John one morning and spend the whole day going to different beaches and hanging out and snorkeling I recommend Trunk Bay (underwater snorkeling trail with signs and info on sea floor) and Cinnamon Bay. Go to Skinny Legs Bar and Grill for lunch on St. John, we had a great time there, burgers are excellent, as well as drinks.

I would also highly recommend somehow getting over to Soggy Dollar Bar on Jost van Dyke...I spent perhaps the best afternoon of drinking ever over there, it is a one of a kind place. The cost of a charter is expensive, so you should look into reserving spaces on a group catamaran sail boat, that takes about 20 people out for a day (cost was $110 per person 2 yrs ago) which will take you to some great snorkeling spots, serve you all the drinks you want all day (try the Bushwackers), and let you waste away the afternoon at Soggy Dollar Bar.

As far as night life, we went to Duffy's Love shack for new years 2 yrs ago and had fun and a few other places (memory is still foggy), but in my opinion, St Thomas is a place to drink away the afternoon, go to bed relatively early and hit the beach in the morning. If you are looking for a nice (somewhat pricey) place for dinner/drinks, I would recommend Craig & Sally's in Frenchtown...excellent food.

Hope this helps, I will be there over New Years as well this year and I cannot wait. Enjoy.