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PROBLEMS UPON ARRIVAL
The only bad thing about going to the Caribbean from the Pacific Northwest is the 12 hour trip that it takes to get there. This time we flew US Air from Sea Tac and left at 9:40 PM local time and arrived at noon St. Thomas time. For some reason we had a lot of little problems to deal with upon arrival in St. Thomas.
The first problem, some of our luggage liked Philadelphia so well, it decided to stay there. Even worse, the luggage that we were missing was my 17 year old daughters clothes (not a good thing). If US Air was going to leave luggage in Philadelphia, why did it forget my TEENAGE daughters luggage? It would have been a lot easier if they had left mine – I can live with the clothes on my back for a day or two. Well, my daughter did pretty well considering the inconvenience.
Tip #1: I believe that because TSA is checking baggage more carefully in the post 9/11 era, occasionally a baggage ticket gets knocked off (I guess this is the price we pay for security). This is not the 1st problem I’ve had, and the baggage always arrives without a ticket on it. My advice: pay attention to how they put the baggage claim tickets on your luggage.
Problem number 2 – I had made reservations for a 2 wheel drive full size car for the 12th for less than $200 per week. Well guess what, it was the 13th!!!! So there were no full size cars. (Note to self: Always confirm your reservations by phone you idiot!)
Budget at the Airport was great - they rented us a nice 4 wheel drive at a discount, so I was happy and felt pretty lucky that they had done everything they could to resolve the problem. But it did cost an additional $600 for the 2 weeks I was there.
Problem number 3: Normally I don’t carry a credit card at home, so I forgot to pack my credit card. (Note to self – pay more attention to details.) Since we only brought my wife’s credit card, she would have to do the driving or we’d have to give up our firstborn so that I could drive. At first my wife wasn’t happy about doing all the driving, but she did fine.
ISLAND TIME
Next it was back to the baggage people to see if they found our baggage. Just warning – never is Island Time more annoying than when they are trying (or not trying) to find your daughter’s lost luggage. It will test your patience, I guarantee! Long story short, we left our name, baggage description, villa name, rental agency, and headed off in our fancy 4WD for paradise! (Stay to the left, Honey.)
COKI BEACH
Our 1st stop was a KFC in Frenchtown (the Food for Purchase on the airplane didn't cut it), and then off to Coki Beach! We got to Coki Beach and it was PACKED. Little did I realize, but this was the harbinger that my quiet St. John did not exist anymore.
I had decided to take my teenagers to Coki Beach because it’s simple to see schools of fish there. Coki did not disappoint! Buy some Dog Biscuits from the local vendor and you are in the fish swarmin’ business. I was glad to see that it was still this easy. After a 12 hour trip to get to St. Thomas, my kids really wanted to see a lot of fish.
Another tip. The trees around the Coki Beach parking lot are full of iguanas. The iguanas are hard to spot, so you’ll have to get close and look hard to spot them.
I used to recommend Coki to people on this board. Not so much anymore. It’s getting overrun by people. It’s a huge party! I can’t even begin to imagine what it would be like with a couple of Cruise Ships in town. As it was, there was barely a spec of sand to call our own. Like I said, my quiet VI vacation doesn’t exist anymore.
ARRIVING IN ST. JOHN
We rushed to meet the Windspree folks (the villa rental agency we used) at their office. I had requested they meet me on the Coral Bay side, because I didn’t need much introduction to the island. So they drove me to the villa, said, “goodbye,” and drove off. That’s all I needed.
We decided that after all of the travel, we were too tired to cook, so it was off to Skinny’s for Burgers. The burgers were great and the service was wonderful. While we were there, the power went out.
LILY’S GOURMET MARKET AND THE COCOLOBO SHOPPING MALL
On the way home we stopped at Lily’s Gourmet Market. Just a little note: after you shop there, you will probably feel like renaming it: Lily’s Gourmet Convenience Store, or Lily’s Convenience Store.
Lily’s is located in the brand new Cocolobo shopping complex that is right next to Crabby’s Dingy Rentals. The architecture of the place is beautiful. It has a very pretty courtyard that contains the Aqua-Bistro restaurant and bar. It’s a very inviting place. Cocolobo makes a very nice addition to Coral Bay, I expect to see it anchor more development in that area.
If you have more time than money, go the the Starfish instead of Lily's – it’s cheaper and better stocked. But we used Lily’s for almost everything. The prices are expensive, but what do you expect for a rock that’s a thousand miles from Florida? Actually, I noticed that the Supply Chain is getting better in the USVI. It may not be that many years, before prices closely resemble the mainland.
Sorry to write so much about Day 1.
JFP
Sounds like you seriously needed a vacation. Looking forward to the rest of your report.
Thanks John, enjoying your report so far. 🙂 Busy first day.
--Islander
PLEASE keep them as detailed as this one! This is awesome to live vicariously through you and your family! I will be there in Feb 2006. Please send more!
by the way, how are you sending these? wifi?
Dean
"I used to recommend Coki to people on this board. Not so much anymore. It’s getting overrun by people. It’s a huge party! I can’t even begin to imagine what it would be like with a couple of Cruise Ships in town. As it was, there was barely a spec of sand to call our own."
Wonderful report on Day 1. I'm enjoying the detail! I felt as you did after my last trip to Coki. That beach is too small for all of those ship excusrions! The crowd is akin to the Jersey Shore. That beach was a totally different place 10 years ago...and even more different 20 years ago...and 30 years ago, before Coral World, it was a remote strip of paradise. It's very sad to see what has happened to it. You can't even catch shade because they've replaced all of the trees with those vendor stalls. Ugh!
"Like I said, my quiet VI vacation doesn’t exist anymore."
It does. There are other beaches that feel like Coki used to.
What villa did you stay at and how was Windspree to deal with? I've a villa booked through them for my trip in Feb.
We stayed at Casanita. The 1st week was my family of 4, plus my wife's cousin. The second week was just my 2 teenagers, my wife and myself.
Casanita is beautiful. It faces south overlooking Friis Bay, which is south of Coral Bay. The villa has 3 full bedrooms with 3 bathrooms. In a pinch you could sleep 7 people there.
The house is 160 to 180' up from the water, so the views are excellent from the mouth of Coral Bay all the way to Norman Island.
Since we were there during hurricane season, it was a little stormier than I had ever seen the Caribbean. It was interesting to watch the squalls rush past Norman Island and into the mouth of Coral Bay.
The downside of the villa is that there is NO pool or hottub. For people like me that own a hottub, and spend most of their vacation snorkling, this is not a problem. Some people have to have a pool to be happy.
Oh, and just so that you know, we did kill a small scorpian in the house, but I didn't think that it was buggy at all.
For the price, Casanita is a great value.
Oh, and about Windspree. Use them! They were helpful. They gave me snorkling tips, shopping tips, and all sorts of local advice. I was happy with them.
JFP
