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Hi Experts….of USVI…..
We are two adults and one kid ( 2 years) We will be staying in Best Western Emerald Beach Resort in July and will be arriving on Friday afternoon and will be leaving by Monday afternoon.
we are not very adventurous persons and neither we are into shopping or night life. plus with our kid who is just 2 it is all kind of challenge to do so…our main aim is to see and feel the turquoise green waters and beautiful beaches just relax on them and play with our 2 year old in the water for a short duration ideally on a beach….we also plans to do some snuba ( turn by turn as one has to watch our kid!!) just to get a feel of how it feels to be under water….again just for a sake of experience. Not as a day long activity…..
We are also concerned about feeding food /milk for our two year old ……
Considering our above concerns….we have decided the see some of the most popular and main attraction of the two islands….apart from just relaxing on the EBR beach…. ( which is kind of a if we have the time …or our kid is too cranky to let us go any where else…..)
General questions for the experts
Q Should we rent a car or depend on shared taxi's we will be seeing only Magens Bay, Coki beach, Paradise Point in St Thomas….and In St John just trunk bay beach with some snuba if they do it there…..
Q what is the approximate rental rate per day of a small size car do they have child car seat ( if it is required and how much extra that is….)
Q how easy it is to get a shared cab at EBR do one has to wait or they are just there ready for u and will the shared cab goes to nearest grocery stores etc or we have to take a private taxi? How much will it cost to go to nearest grocery store…..
Q. Can we bring our own cooler to get food / milk for the kid ? Will that be a good idea…as we do not have to rush to get milk etc for our kid the day we arrive... As we are not sure if the EBR can provide us the milk etc they claim they can provide milk for the kid and they will warm also if we ask them…but I hear different replies when ever I have called them …so I am more confused….also assuming that we do not get a cooler and EBR does not provide milk….how much will it cost to get the milk / grocery EBR for one person…( round trip from the nearest store….)
Firday questions for the experts:
ST Thomas: Arrive in EBR after 4 .00 PM in evening ….go out for dinner to a fast food place like Mc Donald's or Pizza hut / sub way nearby
Q. Is there any such place near by ? If the answer is yes then to go to the nearest place and how much it will cost us for a round trip from EBR on a shared taxi ? Do we usually have cab waiting for customers at EBR or we need to call a shared cab to go to a nearest place….for fast food.
St Thomas: Saturday
Q Magens Bay beach...: on Saturday morning have lunch there how much it will cost from EBR to Magens bay per person in shared cab and then from there to Paradise point ….will there be shared cabs …to take us to PP?
Q. To Paradise Pont in afternoon after lunch at Magens Bay where we can eat cheap on the Magens bay beach….?
Q. Any thing that you can suggest near the Paradise point where we can have dinner ( fast food or cheap food ….cost per person to eat ) how much will it cost us to return back to EBR form PP.
Trunk Bay beach St John : Sunday
Q. How much will shared cab cost us from EBR to red hook and then ferry to Cruz bay and then another shared cab to the trunk bay beach and return
Q. any good eating joints again cheap ones on the beach itself….how much they cost…for two adults approx ?
Q. Coki beach on Sunday afternoon….how much will is cost to go there in a shared cab and any cheap food nearby to eat for dinner…?
Q. return fare to EBR from Coki beach in a shared cab…..
Monday morning
We will check out at 11.00 and our flight is around 3 any suggestion how can we best spend our time keeping in mind what we like assuming we take a shared cab to go there….I am think of a island tour…and then eat at airport before heading back to main land….
I know I am asking too many detailed questions…..but I hope many of you will agree that these are not very unreasonable question to ask when u have a 2 year old around..
We look forward for a advise
Many thanks in advance….
Peter & Mary
Hello Peter and Mary,
Renting a car is a good idea so you can come and go as you like and as your 2 year old allows. Also will allow you to run back and forth to the grocery store if you need to pick baby things. See if you can get a good rate as its off season. If you really think most of your time will be spent on the beach at Emerald then its not worth renting a car.
You can get a small car for $60 a day or less if you get a special price. I don't know how much extra for the car seat. It is the law here that kids be in car seats and seat belts worn.
Taxis are per person, per destination not metered. There are usually a few taxis waiting by the hotel lobby area or else one can be called. It would be a couple dollars per person to the nearest grocery, Pueblo.
You can bring a cooler with you with food if you like. The grocery store is really not far from the hotel so would not be a big deal to get to for milk.
There is a Subway, Dominos, McDonalds and KFC closeby. KFC, Dominos and Subway are in/close to Nisky Center - would take 3 minutes about to get there and likely cost a couple dollar each adult.
Hotel to Magens Bay will be around $8 each adult and takes around 27 minutes. Magens to Paradise Point will be around $6 a person and takes about 15 minutes. There will be taxis at Magens Bay to take you to PP Tram - the tram is $15 a person round trip, kids under 5 are free.
Magens Bay has a fast type food joint - pizza, fries, burgers... cheap enough. Close to Paradise Point there is Wendy's so you could eat dinner there for fast food. Paradise Point to hotel is around $7 a person and takes about 12-15 minutes depends on traffic.
Hotel to red Hook around $9 a person and takes around 30-35 minutes. Ferry is $3 a person one way. Cab to Trunk bay around $6 a person. Trunk Bay intrance fee is $4 a person.
Trunk Bay has burgers ect. at the food concession - not expensive, I don't have a figure but would guess maybe $15-18 for two adults to eat and drink.
Red Hook to Coki will cost around $4.50 a person and take about 5 minutes. You can get cheap food on the beach. Coki to hotel around $8 a person and take about 25-30 minutes.
If your flight is leaving at 3pm you need to be at the airport at 1pm. So you could leave a little earlier then 11am and take a 2 hour island tour or spend some beach time.
Note: there is a kids playground at the end of Emerald Beach a little ways - if you walk along the road its just passed the end of the beach.
If you are really trying to save on food then you might buy bread and sandwhich meats and make sandwhiches and take them with you to St. John and the beach and buy a case of sodas - if the hotel has a fridge you can put them there to get cold.
--Islander
Islander deserves a gold star for that one.
Chris, reading his response I thought the same thing.
Islander you Rock. 🙂
Thanks Guys!! 🙂
--Islander
MANY MANY THANKS YOU ARE THE BEST ISLANDER!!!
