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My wife and I just return from a wonderful wedding/honeymoon on St John. Before our trip, I would check this site daily. I learned so much from this message board that I feel compelled to share our experience with others.
We were married on the beach in Trunk Bay by Rev. Emmanuel Jaggernauth. We enjoyed his simple service that was catered to us. We highly recommend him!
My wife arranged for flowers on the beach by Susan Pratt. Her web site is passionflowerstjohn.com. She did an incredible job arranging flowers on the beach and with my wife's flowers. She even offered us an umbrella when it showered for 5 minutes before our wedding. While we were getting married, she grabbed our camera and snapped some great pix too! Thanks Susan!
We stayed the first night a Cinnamon Bay Campground since our villa was not available that night. We rented a cottage and loved it. Cool breezes at night! The food at the grill was good but pricey for what you get. Shower and bathrooms were well equipped and clean. The beach is beautiful. We actually came back later in the week to hit this beach!
Starting Saturday and for the next week, we stayed at a villa that overlooked Friis Bay called “Siempre Azul.” Beautiful place with an incredible view of the east end and Tortola. The property is completely fenced in to keep the goats out. (They still got in a couple times) The hot tub was great...I started and end each day in there. It was so nice to sit there and stare at the stars and the lights of Tortola every night. The owner’s name is Chris. Very nice fellow originally from NJ also so we liked him right away. He made sure we had everything we needed before he left. The only thing we did not like about this place was the mattress. My back still hurts! The place is for sale if you are interested for almost $2 million. We live at the Jersey Shore and we are used to outrageous real estate prices but this was kinda high even by our standards for a one bedroom place.
We tried a few different beaches during the week. Of course Truck Bay is our fav but make sure you check the cruise ship schedule to go on an off-day. We did and it wasn’t too bad. Snorkeling was incredible this trip. I’ve snorkeled there about 10 or 15 times but I have never seen so many fish as I did this trip. We really like Maho beach (seems like a Local's beach.) We were able to park our car right in front of our spot. Made packing up at the end of the day a snap! We did not like Hawksnest that much. We parked and walk to the left as you hit the beach. We stopped just before the end. There were several rocks and coral that made swimming at that end difficult. We packed up and went to Cinnamon. Finally Honeymoon Beach. What a nice place. Hardly anyone goes there. It is about a 10 minute walk from the Caneel parking lot but well worth it. Two dingies of people left after we got there and we had the beach to ourselves.
We ate out every night. After our wedding, we ate at Chateau Bordeaux on Centerline Road. Beautiful view. The place is small so you better make reservations. I had the duck which was done perfectly. The place is kinda pricey ($155 plus tip for the two of us). Sticky Fingers in Coral Bay has the BEST BBQ in the world. Skinny Leg’s has great burgers. Miss Lucys Sunday Brunch rocks. Woody’s has great conk fritters and bushwackers...of course. We ate lunch at Auqa Bistro in Coral Bay. The food was OK...not too impressed.
I chartered a day sail as a wedding present to my wife aboard the "White Wing". What can I say....a beautiful ship. The captain, Clark, told us stories of pirates and gave us a lot of history of the island. He made us feel so comfortable. He also makes a mean turkey sandwich! We sailed to Tortola for customs and then on to the “Indians” for some great snorkeling. We stopped at the “Caves” for some more snorkeling before a terrific sunset sail back to Coral Bay. WE HIGHLY RECOMMEND YOU CHECK OUT THE “WHITE WING.” Clark and his wife, Cathy, answered a ton of my questions via email before our trip. They always got back to me within a day which seems to be a rarity in the islands. They did not want a deposit. I paid at the end of the day. We had such a great time we can't wait til next year's vacation to take another sail with him.
Gas prices weren’t as bad as I expected. I paid $2.65 at Dominos. They seem to be the cheapest around.
We rented at the airport Budget and had the car for 8 days. $269.00 which I thought was high for the air conditioned compact we had. When I questioned the price, the Budget representative listed a slew of taxes and airport surcharges. Anyone have any ideas for our next trip?
Well....thats the highlights of our trip. Sorry it’s a little long...just wanted to help someone else out with info as much as this site has helped me. Thanks everyone for sharing info prior to our trip. It helped us out immeasurably!
Thanks for sharing. Must be very cool to get married on STJ. Now you have an automatic excuse to go back for anniversaries.
Real estate is nuts everywhere now, but at least you can understand it a little more in a place like that.
We very much enjoyed the same daysail on White Wing in late March. Props to Deb on this board for the recommendation. Seems like I've seen more trip reports lately where White Wing is popping up, so his good reputation is getting around.
Thanks for the reports!
Lovely trip report - thanks . Congrats on the wedding! I've now heard two different palces being proclaimed and the best barbeque on STJ -Sticky Finger and Uncle Joes (i think that was the name).
Are they both equal?
Isn't it a small world..We are leaving on Saturday to spend a week visiting my sister on St.John. We are originally from Pt.Pleasant and she was just talking to a girl not to long ago and found out she was from there too. It is the kind of a place that is different but also like home. We can't wait to go.
Marcella....Have a wonderful time on STJ. Where are you guys staying? What do you have planned?
Congrats 'InLoveWithStJohn'. Great trip report. Enjoyed reading it.
About the car rental: 8 days/$269.00. That's about $33 a day - not to bad for St. Thomas. Budget's web site sometimes has good deals; so you could look there. I remember someone posting about using AAA discounts and getting a good price with Hertz, if you are a AAA member that might be worth looking into.
Anyone else have tips for good car rental rates?
--Islander
I have to agree with Islander...$34/day is a great rate. Can't even get that around here. At those prices, it makes me think more about dealing with the ferry hassles rather than renting on STJ.
Great report. Best wishes for a long and happy relationship.
Rental Cars:
Check your corporate rates, if possible. We are paying $36 a day from Avis (this includes all taxes and fees) and are getting a mid-sized car (my company rates are for only midsized, as a rule)- they say a Malibu. I also have a coupon for a free upgrade (got it from USAir with my last e-reservation), and the coupon says it's good for the USVI. I called to see what they would upgrade us to and they seemed confused about it all, so we'll have to discuss it when we arrive. As far as I can tell, the next size up is a jeep. Will let everyone know how we made out when we return.
Thanks for the feed back guys. I guess 33/day isnt too too bad now that you mention it.
Gt Report...now I need more details!!! Did you check out the White Wing's cabins? Would you stay aboard it for a few days? Was your bed at S.Azul too hard or too soft?? Too far from things like restaurants, etc? Thanks and congrats,LA
Does White Wing have an e-mail address or possibly a wed site?
I tried to get White Wing for our mid-July vacation, but they are leaving before that to go to Venezuela to avoid the hurricane season. They suggested I call Connections in Coral Bay and speak to Molly to find another sailboat.
White Wings web site is.........
http://stjohnlinks.com/Charters/White_Wing/info.htm#mini
Captain Clark did mention he and his wife were taking the boat to South America to avoid the hurricances and have some maintenance done. The boat is in great shape and very clean. We did the day trip thing but would have been comfortable doing an over-night aboard! We still highly recommend him if he is available when you are in STJ.
We loved Siempre Azul. The bed just seemed old and was a little "lumpy". My back has recovered with no long lasting affects so I think we will return to that villa. It is not to far from Coral Bay (maybe 5-10 minutes) and about 35 minutes from the ferry dock in Cruz Bay. Some nice pic of the villa are available at...
http://www.windspree.com/homes/siempreazul/
or
http://www.vi-villas.com/siempre-azul/index.htm
Don't rent at the airport and save yourself 11.1% in taxes.
Budget is best.
Just curious....what is the 11.1% for? Where does the money go? Is the down town Budget far from the airport? Thanks again for the feed back! Love this board!
Hello InLoveWithStJohn,
The 11.1% is an airport surcharge. Port Authority owns and manages the airports, I think that is where the $ goes.
The downtown Budget is in Contant; that's about a 3 or 4 minute drive from the airport.
--Islander
Great report! Do you remember what size the bed was at Siempre Azul? It looks small in the pictures...thanks!
Queen!
Thanks!