I extracted information from this site for almost a year prior to our recent trip, so felt obligated to return the favor. Just returned from 8 days on St. John. My sister, my brother, his wife, my wife and myself were traveling together for this trip.

LOGISTICS - We managed to get First Class/Business Class Air using Alaska Airlines frequent flier miles for all five of us. Non-stop from Seattle to new York on Alaska. Stayed overnight in New York, then American Airlines to St. Thomas. On return American Airlines to Miami, stayed overnight and non-stop on Alaska to Seattle. All flights were flawless. The trick on getting the flights we wanted was to call 330 days in advance. Rented two jeeps on St. John as we wanted lots of flexibility on who was doing what when. That worked out well.

VILLA - Stayed at Monte Bay Villa. It is on Klein Bay, which is the part of Rendezvous Bay that is down towards the Ditliff beach end of the bay. Very nice place. Has trail right down to the beach. The beach is rocky, but there is decent snorkeling right in front of the Villa, and to the left towards Ditliff Beach. There is a nice pool overlooking the ocean, a hot tub, 42 inch TV (we did not use) with nice stereo, fantastic kitchen, and an exercise room. It is a little pricey, but we were splitting three ways. It has three very nice bedrooms and a fourth down by the pool that has no view. It also has a two bedroom guest cottage that you can rent separately. There is a wonderful outdoor covered great room looking out over the ocean as well. There was AC in all the living areas.

BEACHES - We love to snorkel, so that is the focus of my report here. Our favorites were Waterlemon, Hansen, Ditliff and Salt Pond. We had some rougher water that brought visibility down a bit at all beaches, but it was acceptable and we saw a lot. Lots of bleaching of the coral everywhere.

Waterlemon - Easy hike in. Fun to watch the Pelicans fish. Snorkeled from the sand beach up the right side of the Bay, out around the Cay, and back. Very nice soft corals around the island, and some interesting fish. Worth spending some time in by the sandy beach as well though. Saw both rays and a turtle in there, as well as juvenile Barracuda.
Salt Pond - For snorkeling, I would pass on this beach in less you can snorkel out to the rocks in the center of the bay. Probably a bit closer than the Waterlemon snorkel, but a ways if you are not comfortable snorkeling. However, it was fantastic out around the rocks. We saw two turtles, a nurse shark and a spotted eagle ray in this area. I had not seen a spotted eagle ray, and it was fantastic to look at.
Hansen Beach - This is way out on the east end. We were the only people there. Very protected. Nice and calm here even though windy day. Snorkeling along the left and out to the rock off the point was great. All the way around the rock is good. Saw Baracuda here as well as a nurse shark. Lots of nice reef fish.
Ditliff/Klein Bay - Sandy beach at Ditliff with eel grass then rocky either side. We snorkeled from Ditliff back to our villa. Saw Starfish around Ditliff. Saw another spotted eagle ray in this stretch. Also an Octopus and saw an eel that was moving from one spot to the next which was cool.

We snorkeled other beaches, but these were our top four on St. John, with the others we tried not nearly stacking up with these. The next best was Trunk.

TOURS - We did a day sail with Captain Phil. There were two snorkeling stops at a smaller island off St. John. Good snorkeling at both stops equivalent to our favorite beaches on St. John. He is very educational in his approach and we learned quite a bit. Not a party trip, but would recommend.
We Also did the Reef Bay Hike with the Park service. Was enjoyable and we learned some about the plants in the area. A boat takes you back to Cruz bay when you get to the bottom of the hill, so it is about a two mile hike down hill. If you like to hike fast you may get impatient waiting for the group. If you like to stop and look at everything and mosey along you will love it.

RESTAURANTS - We ate out every night. We had good meals almost every night. All places were pricey compared to what we are used to. We thought Morgans Mango was the best place overall. Rhumblines was good. If you want a good steak, Banana Boat was good. The only place that really disappointed was the Lime Inn. I had small dry piece of mahi mahi there . Only one of the five of us though we had a decent dinner there. May have just been a bad night as I have read many good reviews on them, but we would not return.

Overall a wonderful trip.