Which part of July are we talking about? Carnival ends on July 4th. The week leading up to the 4th is PACKED and full of fun stuff. After carnival, things tend to drop off significantly. It's usually pretty hot, the water is warm. The bug situation just depends on how much rain we have had...so it's hard to say. It's usually not so bad, but this last July was pretty bad. All of the shops and restaurants are still open. Some places go to "summer hours" but there aren't any closings. Most of the closings are in September, but you will see them in August and October as well.

Good to see you here today Julie 🙂

One thing I will add is that in July it is hot, hot, hot 🙂

Pia

Thanks guys! I knew you both would come through 🙂 Julie we are thinking about being here July 3 and on for 2 weeks. Is there fireworks around that time? Normally we prefer spring but since it will be our 10 year anniversary and we won't have to worry about school for the kids, July seems to work this year!

Thank you both for the input8-)

There will be fireworks on the 4th. That will also be the last day for 'village' (the yummy food booths set up in the Customs parking lot). It will be busy when you get here, then die off...so you will get the best of both! I enjoy carnival time here so much that I would even say come a day or two before the 3rd so you can get a better 'taste' of it. On the 4th, there will be a parade in town. It's usually extremely busy, tons and tons of people. You will not be able to get around town on the 4th once the parade starts. So if you do come down for the parade, make sure you park out of town a bit so you can leave when you want to. If you don't 'do' crowds, hit the beaches instead, maybe Coral Bay. Congrats on your 10 year!!! St. John is an awesome place to spend it!

And if you don't like the heat....make sure you stay someplace that has A/C in the bedrooms. I LOVE it hot! But my blood is soooo thin!

I've been going to USVI for many years, and this past July was my first visit in the heat of summer. It's mango season...oh, yeah. We're heading to Mango Melee on STX next summer (and hoping to stay at Villa Greenleaf again) at the beginning of July. I finally got to try genips (also ripe at this time of year) and wasn't that bowled over by them. (I was warned that the genips will stain clothing, so didn't ruin my small travel wardrobe with genip drips.) I'd been looking for genip trees for years, and now know that every other tree on the island is a genip tree with the distinctive groups of 4 leaves (like a T with an extra bar across).

The village for the festival in Cruz Bay was fun. I never knew there were so many punches. Mauby, sorrel (really a Christmas drink but it was there in July), ginger punch, ginger/carrot punch, breadfruit punch. Fish and fungie. Saltfish pates. Conch fritters. I'm going to drool on my keyboard...

Lots of pan music -- the "pan 'round da neck" (marching steel drum) bands were AWESOME -- and those are some fit young folks to carry their pans all over town in the heat. Love City Pan Dragons were outstanding. The floats for the parade were cute and it was not too, too much (but bring lots of water, sunscreen and a hat if you're going to watch it all). Grotto Deli was open where the parade started and was doing a brisk business for all of us thirsty folks. I usually go to STJ for the quiet, so it took a bit of time to make my peace with all of the music and party noise. We went back to Estate Lindholm before the big all-night party (j'ouvert) even got started -- Brion and crew were just walking down to start the evening as we walked back up.

There had been freakish amounts of rain before our visit, so the water was pretty cloudy on STX and STJ both. Because of the earlier rains, the bugs were a bit above average, but the islands were incredibly lush for July. (I'm a mosquito magnet, so there isn't really a time in the islands that I don't bring my spray.)

You'll have a blast!

Thank you again everyone! We love STJ as much as we do each other. LOL

We live in STT and often go over to STJ. If I were you I would avoid, if possible the 4th weekend. Things get pretty crazy down here then, unless you want the activity. There are fewer ships in and the actual number of passengers that go to STJ or stop on a cruse is not a big issue. The water is warmer in July, about 80-82 degrees. Although we have not had many of them for several years the jelly fish may start to come by the end of the month.

July tends to be a good month for people to visit with children as that is the time most are off from school. In August the number drop off somewhat.

The days are a little longer and there are some more bugs. But it depends on the rain. About two to three days after a good rain then bugs come out and last about a week. And these summer time is prone to more storms.

It is a little warmer in the summer and more humid. And depending on where you are on the island the wind can play a big factor in how you feel. In Cruz bay there is very little wind so you will be hot but over on the east shore were the wind blows you will feel better. In general the winds blows from the east/south east in the summer and from the east/north in the winter. Also, it is more wind in the winter and there is nothing in the summer like the Christmas Winds that often blow us of the beach in STT.

In general I like the summer better than the winter. However I hate the winters up in NJ so it is a toss up.

Hope this adds to the info you got already.

You will enjoy the summer I am sure. Have a good time.

billd

txjim, When in July is Mango Melee? We will be on STJ the second week of July 2011. I LOVE anything mango and do enjoy genips too. Thanks, Laura

The date is still TBA everywhere I've seen. I'll call http://www.sgvbg.org/ next week and report back. It looks like the last week in June is the normal time to check out the 80 varieties of mango. We were at St George Village Botanical Garden the week after and there was no trace of the melee, but everyone said "sigh, you should have been here for mango melee".

(One of my favorite stories from the "Jumbie on the Loose" CD is "Jumbie like mango, too": You know plenty Crucian like? Man-GOH! And it look like jumbie like mango, too...)