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Thank you to everyone on this board for all the great suggestions and advice.
Flight from NY direct to STT no problem. Call Dependable rental car when we landed, picked up our bags and headed out to the curb. Within 5 muinutes the van from Dependable was there and took us to thier office and our car. 5 minutes of paperwork and we were off. I opted to not rent a Jeep because of cost. We had a 2005 Toyota Corolla - nothing fancy but i good shape and $300 a week.
Drove to Sapphire Beach, no problems. Arrived at Crystal Cove Condos and our room wasn't ready yet so we went to the Food Market for grocries. As expected, food is expensive. We brought a small cooler with frozen meat and stuff with us. Really glad we did. Next time I don't think I will bring the cooler because the meat was one of the cheapest things at the store. It is all the packaged things that cost a lot. Bring along some crackers, microwave popcorn and coffee from home.
Back to Crystal Cove condos at Sapphire Beach. Condo was ok but the bathrooms and kitchen were a bit dated. As I said, Ok but would not recommend to a friend. We actually moved to another condo in building D for the last 4 days of our trip. This other condo is owned by the same person and is in much better shape. Really nice condition - would recommend it in a heart beat. I will look to reserve this second condo for our next trip down. Goes to show that the condos really vary from one unit to another, even in the same building or the same owner. Location of the condo was great. About 100 yards from Sapphire beach.
First thing we went out and snorkeled the far right side of Sapphire. Great snorkeling. Spent he next few hours in the water or playing on the beautiful beach at Sapphire. Early to bed.
The next two days we spent in St John. Got up early and were at the car ferry at about 7:40 am. Waited about 15 minutes and got on the ferry no problem. Backing in was no big deal and we never waited more than 30 minutes for the ferry. Once on St John we headed directly to Watermellon Cay. A good long hike around the bay and we are off. My 10 year old backed right into a sea urchin. It only poked him once in the ankle but hurt like the devil for about 10 minutes. We put an ice pack on and it didn't swell up or give him any more problems. Watch out for them, they are all over the place. THe snorkeling at Watermellon was great, the best we found our whole trip. Went back there two more times. Saw turtles, rays, baracuda, etc. Next was Salt Pond. Snorkeling was ok but not great. Moved on to another beach and then decided to head back to St Thomas. Thought we would leave the car on St John and take the people ferry back. Cost $30 to leave the car in a lot for the night. Another $12 for the people ferry back to St thomas. The people ferry was packed, much worse then the car ferry. NBext time I would not leave the car on St John. Did not save anything due to cost of parking and cabs and the car ferry was so easy. Spend the next day on St John again visiting beaches. Hit 4 different beachs during the day. All beautiful. Took the car ferry back to St Thomas again, no problem, no wait.
Suggestion - get the family pass to Trunk Bay - $15 for the family - go to trunk first thing in the morning, leave at 10:00 am when the crouds arrive and use the fresh water showers. Then go and do your other activities and return at 4:00 pm. Enjoy the empty beach again for a while and rinse off in the fresh water shower before heading back to St Thomas or out to dinner. I love getting the salt water off before changing into dry cloths.
The next two days we rented a 18 ft boat from Pocket Yachts right at Sapphire Marina. Nice people, solid boat, good cost. Boat cost $375 for 2 days, gas was about another $40 per day. We ran the boats for about 4 hours, at least, each day. We completed all the rental paperwork the day before with Dan at Pocket Yachts. He even helped with the customs forms for the BVI. The morning of the rental we were off in 5 minutes.
I will complete this report soon. Need to get to work.
Part 2
We rented a 18ft center console boat from Pocket Yachts at Sapphire Marina. The paperwork takes about 30 minutes so I suggest going there the evening before to get that out of the way. On Friday morning we arrived at the marina at about 8:00 am and within 5 minutes we were off. We headed straight to West End Tortola and customs. Took about 45 minutes to get there and once there another 45 minutes to clear customs. Not a lot of people in front of us, they just move slow. For 2 adults and 2 children it cost $46 for one day in BVI. Once thru customs we decided that we would stay in US waters the second day. From West End we headed straight to the indians for some snorkeling. All the bouys were taken and we had to wait about 30 minutes for one to open up. The wind had picked up and the water was a bit rought - the snorkeling was ok but not great - it was too rough to go into the shallow water. I did swim thru an underwater tunnel in the coral that was about 12 feet long about 10 feet underwater. That was cool.
After about an hour at the indians we headed over to Norman Islands for lunch at Pirates. Cool beach bar/restuarant with good burgers. Chose not to go to Willies because I didn't think it was the kind of place for my kids and I was told the food was better at Pirates. After lunch we cruised by the Caves but chose not to stop because it was crowded and I didn't think the snorkeling was very good there. For the afternoon we cruised along St John and hit a few more snorkeling spots including Watermellon Cay again. Then to Cruz bay to check back into the US. This process was fairly quick but be warned, you must were shoes and everyone has to come into the office. We were back at Sapphire marina by 4:30pm. By the way, the day was overcast, lucky for us. Even overcast you could tell we all had gotten a lot of sun.
Back out on the boat Saturday morning at 8:00 am. Decided to cruise the coast of St John and hit any and all beaches that looked nice. Snorkeled at Watermellon Cay, off Mary's Point, and a few other locations. Tried fishing for a few hours in the afternoon with no luck. If you want to fish I recommend getting a guide. Back to Sapphire Marina at about 5:00 pm. Partly cloudy this day and we each got a little burned even though we put on sunscreen 4 or 5 times.
I would recommend that if the wind is blowing, rent a little larger boat. The swells were about 4 to 6 ft and while I never felt unsafe, we did get quite wet and had to move slow most of the time. On calm days, the 18 ft boat is perfect. Also, others have suggested that clearing customs at Jost is much easier and faster. Next time we will plan to go to Jost and not West End.
Sunday we planned to stay at Sapphire for the BBQ party. SInce the party does not start till noon we decided to hit a could of ST Thomas beaches. We got to Magens Bay at about 8:00 am. Nice and empty, beautiful beach. My wife and kids loved the beach but I was a bit bored - no good snorkeling and the life guards don't let you go out more then about 200 ft from shore. We left Magens at about 10:00 am when it started to get crowded. (By the way - it was neat to see a couple of weddings on the beach - seems like a wedding every hour)
Next stop was Coki Beach - heard the snorkeling was good. THe beach is tiny and by this time was already quite crowded. The wind was blowing 15 mph and the snorkeling was not great. A fair number of fish but too many people. We only stayed for about an hour and headed back to Sapphire.
The BBQ party was a bit of a bust. $12 per person for one paper plate of food (2 ribs, a chicken leg, rice and mac and cheese.) After looking over the food we decided to make our own lunch in the condo. THe band was very enjoyable and we spent the rest of the day hanging out at Sapphire beach listening to the band.
For our last day we once again took the car ferry to St John. On the ferry before 8:00 am and off at St John by 8:30. First stop was Trunk Bay - enjoyed the beach and the snorkeling at the tip of the cay was good. By 10:00 am the beach was getting crowded so we rinsed off in the fresh water showers and headed off. Next stop was Maho bay - too close to the road but a nice, less crowded beach. After Mayo we headed to Coral Bay and Skinny Legs for lunch. The burgers were just as advertised, great. There was a rotting garbage/sewer smell that took away some of the enjoyment of the place but this was still our 2nd best lunch of our trip, after Pirates.
After lunch we hit a couple more beaches, including Francis Bay, ending up at Trunk Bay at 4:00 pm. Truck was emptying out and we played in the sand, including burying my two boys up to thier necks. We left before 5:00 again rinsing off in the fresh water showers and changing into dry clean cloths for the trip back to St thomas.
The plan to to go to the Car ferry dock, find out what time the ferry left and hit Cruz Bay for 45 minutes of shopping. As we pulled into the car ferry dock a boat was loading, there was a lot of extra room so we decided to head back - no waiting. Another beautiful day on St John was over.
ON Tuesday, our last day we headed over to Megans bay for the morning and back to check out of the condo by 12:00. We drove to Charlotte Amalie with a plan to walk around for a few hours. Took over an hour to find a parking place and the spent an hour walking around the town. Next trip to St Thomas I will avoid Charlotte Amalie completely. All the shops seemed the same and unless you have a specific item you are looking for or an unlimited budget, I found it a waste of time and furstrating.
Dropped the car off at Dependable and they drove us to the airport. Dependable was great, I will use them again. The check in process at the airport is slow and confusing. Glad we were there early. Took over an hour to get thru all the processing. THe air conditioning in the main termonal was broken so we sat around sweating till our flight.
Once agian, great trip to St Thomas - next time I will try to stay a minumum of 10 days.
Thanks Midwestblues, I enjoyed reading your trip report.
I too was there from April 19 to April 26 and stayed at Sapphire Village next to Sapphire Resort. Great location and I enjoyed my unit there. I was also at the Sunday beach party and had a great time. My husband also thought the $12 price tag for the BBQ for what you got was a bit pricy so we also went back to our condo and made lunch and then returned to the party.
We had to deal with the AC being broken at the airport the day after you left and I agree that a week was not long enough and that you have to spend at least 10 days there. Right now I am dealing with the post vacation blues.
I hear you about the vacation blues! We were on STT April 14-21. Other than missing my dogs, I had absolutely no interest in coming home. 🙁 I'm still so sad...sitting here at work in a sterile cube... ugh! 😉
Boy, that AC not working at the airport was awful! The day we left, it had rained, so it was extremely humid.
Glad you had a great time! We loved WAtermelon Cay as well. I didn't get to snorkel too much there because I didn't have fins with me and the current was pulling me out. I panicked. But I enjoyed sitting on the beach and watching the wild donkeys!
You know my husband and I didn't even think about our dog Coco for several days. We couldn't believe that we actually forgot about her but once we did, we missed her. We knew that she was having a wonderful time at our fiends house because she has 2 dogs and likes playing with them.
Aw! We had my FIL come dog sit for us, so I was ok. Otherwise, if I had to put my dogs in a kennel, there's no way I'd have taken a trip. I bet Cocoa had a great time with her friends. 🙂
Funny thing...with all the feral cats, we "adopted" two of them while there on STT. These two sweet cats came to our patio every morning and every evening for food. So it helped us..having other animals to take care of while on vacation. 😉
