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WOW!!!
My wife Janis and I spent 12/17-24 on St.Croix and had a wonderful time (barring the flights getting there and back home...more on that).
Flight from Philly to San Juan on American Airlines was uneventful.
However, we'd only have 1 hour to make our connection to Caribbean Sun, and found out on Friday that CSA closes their ticketing desk 1 hour before flight time, so we had to hang around SJ airport for 3 hours to catch the next flight. This was compounded by the fact that the connecting flight was 90 minutes late, so, instead of arriving around 2pm, we didn't get in until after 6pm!!! Long day of flying and arriving in the dark to have to drive our rental car left-side to our guest house was quite unsettling to say the least!!
We stayed at Villa Margarita on the North Shore near the Salt River Marina. It was a little tough finding them in the dark, but when we arrived, Adele and John, the owners, fired up the blender to welcome us! Gotta love it!
We had to swap cars on Sunday morning, since the rental car company, Centerline, did not have a clean car available the night we arrived, despite having made a reservation 2 weeks prior. We spent the rest of the day in C'sted, exploring, touring and taking in the sights. We toured the Fort, which I enjoyed, although some of the "off color" remarks (foul language, derogatory comments about 'W', etc.) by the NPS employee bothered me a bit. Never had THAT happen at other NPS locations.
Back at the villa, we enjoyed happy hour drinks followed by dinner nearby at Lobster Reef. Frank was very friendly and the food was great.
We spent Monday hanging out at Cane Bay beach, sunning and snorkeling. Back at the villa for happy hour again, and then Janis and I ventured into C'sted for the crab races at the brew pub, followed by dinner at the Paradise Cafe. Good beer and good food for few $$ make me a happy camper!
(Neither of us are gourmet eaters, so we did not venture to either Kendricks or Bacchus all week, but some folks staying at VM on their honeymoon went to both, and liked them very much.)
On Tuesday, we hit the beach in the a.m., and then trekked down to Estate Whim around midday. It was pretty empty, but the tour was nice and the history lesson was very informative. From there, we made our way to the Cruzan Rum factory. Upon arrival, we were told that the factory was closed for holiday/cleaning, and we could take the tour but there wouldn't be much to see. We were told we could step up to the 'tasting bar' for free, so we did. For about 2 hours!!! I took it sort of easy, playing the designated driver, but Janis enjoyed it, to the last drop 🙂 We then drove to F'sted because I wanted to see Cottages on the Beach. Looked like a very nice place to stay in the future. Unfortunately, Changes in Latitudes was closed, but we had a sunset drink at the nearby Sunset Grill before heading back to the villa. Dinner at Columbus Cove at the nearby marina was uninspiring, but at least it was close by.
On Wednesday, we and the honeymoon couple took the Discover Scuba program. We'd booked it with N2 The Blue, also nearby in Cane Bay. The instructor came out to our place at 9am and gave us the initial instructions right in our pool, which was preferable to starting in from the beach like most of the other operators offered. 2 hours later, we drove to F'sted, got on a small boat for a short ride just south of the pier, and dove a site known as The Swirling Pool of Death. Most of us had some great fun, but Janis had a lot of trouble clearing her ears, gave herself a nosebleed trying to, and bailed out before long back to the boat. The dive was a lot of fun, and I am already looking forward to taking lessons here at home. I'll have to work on Janis on that, but she seems like she'll be willing to give it a go. N2 The Blue offered to take us out again the next day and work with her some more, but her ear was pretty sore, so decided not to go again.
Dinner that night was a BBQ back at the Villa. The honeymooners had gotten some chicken the day before. Adele and John whipped up some nice salad, veggies, and blender drinks. We had run out in between scuba lessons and the dive itself to get some fresh tuna at a roadside stand that we were told about. It was excellent!!
On Thursday, we toured our way around many beaches, probably about 6, as we travelled to the East End. Our favorite was probably Shoys Beach, at the Buccaneer. It was secluded, very few people, calm water for snorkeling, and a very serene setting. We ate lunch at Cheeseburgers in Paradise, a nice spot especially for us ParrotHeads!! We made our way to Point Udall and enjoyed the view before heading down to the Diva. This looked like a very nice resort. Quite a contrast to our villa. We hit the beach and snorkeled some more. They were setting up for a dinner buffet, and we might have stayed, but we didn't have a change of clothes, and decided to head back to VM for happy hour. Later on, we went into C'sted for dinner at Savant, a very nice place just up the street from the Fort. Definitely worth a try! The courtyard out back is nicer and more romantic than dining inside.
Friday, we spent the morning back at Shoys Beach, and the afternoon at Cane Bay Beach. We then went to Off the Wall for happy hour. Unfortunately, the steel pan band never showed up. We ended up back at Lobster Reef for dinner and had a few good laughs with the bartenders, Frank, etc.
Saturday was our flight home. Of course, since we only had 1 hour to make our connection in SJ, the Caribbean Sun flight was about 45 minutes late. The worst part of that was that there was no one at the gate to give us any clue until at least 20 minutes after our scheduled departure, and when she did show up, the rep told my wife that the plan would arrive "some time soon". Fortunately, we had already made some calls to American and knew there was room on the later flight to Philly. Again, we spent 3 hours hanging around the SJ airport before arriving home around 11pm, tired, but extremely happy with the whole trip overall.
(We had hoped to ride horses one day. The honeymooners went one day with Paul & Jill, but said it was kind of boring, as she kept the pace down to the slowest of the group. We tried to connect with Steven at Equus, but his phone number was disconnected, and we were unable to track him down 🙁 )
To summarize:
1.Villa Margarita was a lovely place to stay. It was a bit out of the way, something to keep in mind if you like to drink heavily late into the evening. Blade, their German Shepard was very friendly 🙂
2.The weather was fantastic, mid 80's every day, mid 70's every evening.
3.The people we met were very nice, and we adjusted to "island tim, mon" idea pretty easily.
4.The beaches, snorkeling and diving were excellent.
5.The Cruzan Rum Factory Tour is THE BEST VALUE on the island!!!
6.Driving on the left was interesting. (It took about 2 days to really get used to it, and 2 days back home to get back to 'normal' driving without thinking about which lane to be in when I make a turn :O )
7.Flying with Caribbean Sun SUCKED! I wrote them an email earlier today detailing my complaints, but I don't anticipate getting anything more than a feeble apology in return. I will not likely book with them again.
All in all, we had a fantastic time, just as relaxing as we'd hoped for, and just enough activity as we wanted. There's a lot of stuff we missed, like Buck Island and a sunset sail, but, there'll definitely be a next time!!!
Hope y'all are enjoying the holiday season,
Rap
Good morning Rap,
Great report. We're going to St. Croix in June, staying at the Divi. We are flying out of Philly too although on US Airways. Haven't booked the flight yet. I hope to do that in January. We won this trip from a local radio station contest that included the hotel and airfare for two. Since we're bringing our daughter, we have to pay airfare for her. After reading your report, I'll be thinking about the layovers more carefully. Rumor has it that US Airways will have a nonstop from Charlotte to STX sometime in 2006. Hopefully, that will be available when we go. I have some questions regarding making reservations for the car. We will probably arrive at the same time of day that you did. We were planning on taking a taxi to the hotel and getting the car the next day. Didn't want to try to find our way on our own, especially driving on the left. Anyhow, were you happy with the rental company? Is reserving 2 weeks prior enough time?
Your restaurant reviews were just what I was looking for. We really want to go to Cheeseburgers in Paradise (7 yr. old is a Parrothead). Are the places you went to kid-friendly? Thanks so much for posting your report. I found it very helpful.
Terri
Terri,
That's pretty cool that you won a trip on the radio!
As for flights, you may want to check on American Eagle from SJU to STX. You can also catch the seaplane from St Thomas or Cape Air from San Juan or St Thomas.
The rental car company was fine, except for the car swap issue. They met us promptly, even tho we were about 3+ hours late, as we'd called from San Juan. 2 weeks should be plenty of time, as I don't imagine June is 'high season'. They are not close to the Divi, tho. Probably easier to contact the resort and see if there is a closer company, or one that will drop a car off at your resort.
The restaurants were all kid-friendly. There were tons of kids at the crab races at the brew pub, and they are also held at a few other spots on island as well. The only restaurant I'd question would be Savant, as I don't recall the menu being kid-friendly. But the place itself is fine, as were the other restaurants.
There are also several typical places on island, e.g. McDonalds, KFC, Subway, in case your daughter NEEDS a Happy Meal 😉
Have a great time!
Rap
Rap,
Glad you had a good time on STX. We stayed at Cottages by the Sea last October. Great place. Not fancy, but we went swimming every morning before breakfast. The rooms have full kitchens and there is maid service every day except Sunday. Kind of a cross between a villa and a hotel at a reasonable cost. And if you like local food at a good price, next time try Kim's in C'sted, especially if you like curry. We also used Centerline twice with good results. Their website says that they will deliver and/or pick up at any of the hotels.
Your experiance with Carribean Sun was typical for them. My son and D-I-L as well as another couple who came with us (flying out of different cities/days) had similar experiences with them. We have flown AA all the way from JFK though SJU with never any problems. always on time or very close to it. No lost luggage, missed filghts. It's worth the few extra dollars IMO.
We're already planning the next group vacation to STX with the othe son and his wife and her parents for Nov. '06.
Bassman
I know there are direct USAIR flights from Charlotte every Saturday.
I would have to agree with the use of Centerline car rental. We have used them the last two years with out incident and highly reccomend them to anyone very pleasant aqlways had our jeep ready and waiting for us they always greated us with a big island smile and welcome even when our flight was delayed one time very easy to work with nothing like the horror stories I have heard about other rental companies onthe island. we stayed in a condo last year at coakley Bay and loved it there planning on buying a place there in summer of 2006 for our big move and this feb we stayed at hibiscus beach resort and loved it there also you will love the island enjoy your stay and have fun remember greating locals with a good morning day afternoon etc will get you far with them infact I find myself using it more stateside now esp since our move will be in only 367 more days and counting
I was so glad to read your report. We're just getting ready to make reservations in STX and I love reading every morsel I can get about the island. Thank you so much. Half of the fun going on a new vacation adventure is learning about all there is to see and do before we go!! Thanks again.
agreed phyl. exactly 1 week from now we'll be landing on st. croix and i am SOOOOOOOOOO excited! never been to the carribean before and am kind of beside myself in anticipation. looking forward to just chillin for 10 days....
phyl & Topaz.... have an awesome trip to STX! It's hard not to have fun if you make any effort at all to get out and explore. We don't have some of the touristy excursions some people want when they arrive expecting to be entertained 24/7. If you like active outings and can make your own fun happen, this is a great island to spend time on. Most people leave lamenting that they needed another week to do more of the stuff on their list or that they just heard about from someone they chatted with their last night here.
WE love the kind of vacations where we can explore the island and just see what there is to see. Does that make sense?? Hop in the car and go to a different beach every day and check out the local sites. That's our kind of island!!! We're just getting into the starting of the actual planning (Ive been researching the net and this board ALOT) and it's so exciting.
thanks.
Glad to hear you had a good time.
Thanks for the Caribbean Sun info. Already booked USair from Philly to San Juan and Caribbean Air from SJ to STX for March '06. Originally we had a couple hour layover BUT, USair changed my flight times on Caribbean Air and now there's only 40 minutes between flights and that's assuming we're on time! so I have to assume I have a problem already. Guess it's time to start makin' phone calls. Any suggetions would be apreciated.
This will be the wife and I's 3rd trip to STX, used American Airlines the last 2 years and had no problems at all. We'll have to see what happens this year.
