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I always fly the red-eye from Seattle to St. Thomas. I sleep on the airplane (as much as possible) and arrive sleep deprived. The one time we flew into Puerto Rico and didn't take the red-eye, it seemed like a total waste of a day. We wasted the daylight hours on the plane.
So this time, we flew First Class on American - very cool. We got to Charlotte Amalie at 12:30 in the afternoon and weren't sleep deprived. Yippee.
We rented from Budget at the airport. I've never had a problem with them, but I suggest taking pictures of the car and paying for all the insurance coverage and damage waivers they have available.
I know there's cheaper ways, but I don't want to worry when I roll the jeep off the cliff on St. John.
We changed our first day routine just a little bit.
From the airport we drove to Drake's Seat for pics of Magan's Bay to post on Facebook.
Then it's down the hill to Udder Delight for a little adult milkshake. We found a new favorite: the Jacoco, which is Coconut Ice Cream, Chocolate Ice Cream, and Kahlua (it also doubles as a paint remover).
From there, we stop at the fruit stands in front of Coki Beach to buy local fruits and vegetables, and off to the car ferry.
When we get on St. John, the first goal is to get in the water. So we drive to Hawksnest, which is our favorite limin' beach. It's beautiful. Into the water, and it seems unusually cold.
From there to the Starfish for provisions. Startfish is a bit more pricey than here at home, but they have everything. For dinner we pick up a roasted chicken and pasta salad from the deli (very good). I do recommend their deli. Then it's across the island to Coral Bay and the villa.
We stayed in SeaWing. It's the first time we've been there in 10 years, and we loved it (more about that later). I wouldn't stay anywhere else if I had the choice. In fact, I might come back to St. John next year to stay in Seawing rather than going to Roatan.
The new owners have re-done the place and it is awesome!
Post more later,
John From Puyallup
Looking forward to the trip report and any pictures. First class...very nice. At first I thought 'First class seems wasted on a red-eye' but then sleeping in First is much easier than Coach. Of course, I don't get that opportunity very much 🙁
LOL. You'd think 1st Class would seem wasted on a Red
Eye until you see me. I'm a FAT guy! I'm a powerlifter, 6'2" and over 300 lbs. I never get enough legroom in Coach.
And yes, I will do pics.
you make this sound so easy, im stressing over the jeep rental and finding our way to the car barge, any route ideas? we will arrive on the 24th of December around 1247PM . im guessing traffic will be horrendous due to the holidays and cruise ships, any help would be greatly appreciated.
thanks.
"we will arrive on the 24th of December around 1247PM . im guessing traffic will be horrendous due to the holidays and cruise ships"
@sgtrez- The cruise ship schedule only shows the NCL Gem in port on Sat., and by 1 pm all passengers will already be spread out all over the island. So, no "heavy" traffic until after 3pm as they are transported "back to the ship", in the opposite direction that you will be heading.
Rocky Dock
Water Island
Yes, always check the cruise ship schedules anytime you're arriving or deciding when and where to do things on St. Thomas. If you can be in between the docking times or at least avoid the rushes when people are just arriving or heading back to the ship, that helps. Of course, the best times for smaller crowds are when ships aren't in port or there are only one or two scheduled.
