Chris

Thank you for the help about the other links onthis site- greatly appreciated!

I just got back from 7 days at the Westin on St. John and got married at 9:00 a.m. (St. John time) on Hawknest Beach. It was awesome! Top snorkeling is around Waterlemon Cay. Salt Pond was good snorkeling and Trunk was good on the right side of the beach. It definitely pays to be adventurous there, both on land and under water. Don't be afraid to snorkel out away from the beach 100 yards, sometimes that is where you will find the best stuff. I shot 3 rolls of film underwater while I was there.

ps. My girlfriend and I rented scuba gear from Cruz Bay Watersports and I got a BCD that didn't fit with my ScubaPro regulators and gauges, and my girlfriend (now wife) got a BCD that kept slowly inflating on it's own so she could never really gain neutral bouyancy. I would recommend Low Key Watersports by the ferry dock. I got good pictures underwater of : Hawksbill turtles, large lobster, nurse shark, octopus, squid, barracuda, stingray, and thousands of beautiful coral fish.

former resident ireccomend trying peace hill off of north shore road . friends married here . great views sugar mill ruins friends walked a trail to water and boarded a sailboat, and sailed to foxys at jost van dyke bvi

I am staying at the Westin in October. I am checking this site daily to see how your trip and stay were. Please let me know how you found the Westin. Thanks

We are planning a trip to St. John next Spring. We want to go to the Westin (we think). We love snorkeling and the beaches, but don't want to rough it too much (camping). We really would like something that is not too fancy or pricey and would like to snorkel offshore. We look at pictures of the Westin and it looks kind of crowded with boats. Any suggestions of where to stay?

What time is the wedding? My wife and I re did our vows last June at Trunk bay around 5 pm and it was beautiful and empty. I would only hit trunk Bay from 8-11 am and after 4pm. Middle of the day is too touristy. Sunset would be perfect.

Just got back from St John (on 8/24) with my 6 year old twins (and my wife). Loved every minute. Stayed at the Westin for 10 days and it was a great base of operations - beautiful grounds, wonderful swimming pool not to bad beach (which is saying something when you're comparing it to the other beaches at St. John) and the kids loved the "Crab Mon" who is crazy (in the sense of too much time in the sun), but cool (in the sense of the way pirates are cool). Trunk Bay was beautiful (I can't understand a prior poster saying it was "dirty") and the snorkeling was wonderful. Spent a day at Cinnamon Bay too - kids loved it. Getting to and from the beaches was easy by taxi (although we had to wait a little on our return trip from Trunk Bay). Rented a jeep one day and drove around the island (which didn't take too long). We tried to go to a different restaurant each night in Cruz Bay (and one night at the Westin - but not Chloe & Bernards, which was a little too fancy for 6 year olds). Bannana Deck, Rhumbalaya, The Balcony, Fish Trap, Pannini (I think that was the name) were all about the same price and were all very good. Dinner at Tage was a disappointment: it was the most expensive of all the places we went, it's located on the main drag, which means if you sit on the balcony (as we did) you get the street sounds and the lights from the baseball/soocer field directly across the street throughout dinner, and the service was the slowest - if you have 6 year old twins, that's a problem; if you're there with just your wife or significant other, you can call it romantic- of all the places we went to. Overall just a great trip - the kids were actually crying the day after we returned because they wanted to fo back.
We flew from California and the extra expense of getting to St. John (as opposed to going to Hawaii for example) was well worth it. We'll be back.

We will be staying at the Westin in early December. My boyfriend has daily meetings until noon everyday except one. I being the water lover would like to do a day trip to Virgin Gorda and would like some recommendations on which outfitter, boat, etc. Also thought it would be fun if boyfriend and I did a sunset dinner cruise which would include dinner and all our drinks. Boyfriend has a golf addiction, so if someone could tell me if they played the course on St. Thomas and how long it took to get there from St. John, I would be grateful. Can we get by with renting a car for just one day and take taxis and buses the other days? Is there a happy hour daily at The Westin? Thanks a bunch - can't wait to go!!

Terri, if you aren't sure where you would like to stay, (resort setting vs camping), get a Caribbean Travel & Life magazine. In the back, they have a ton of listings for home/cottage rentals. You can stay in a pleasant villa, by yourselves, do your own cooking if desired, lounge, drink, sleep late, etc. all in your home away from home. I would imagine it would be less costly than the resorts, and less "roughing it" than the campground. We camped the first 2 times on STJ and the last 7 times we have rented a cottage. Get a car rental so you'll have wheels, and you're good to go! Have a great time whatever you do.

In the spring a group of us (8) are renting a villa on St. John. This is a first for us but we thought since we will have two kids 4 and 18 months this would be our best choice. I was wondering if anyone has advice for us on villa rentals. We are renting two cars to get us around. I was just wondering how people like villa rental compared to hotels. Are there a few supermarkets on the island and do they carry basically the same things we have in New York.

Thanks for your input.

This is a very curious thread. All of you are talking about your experiences on St. John, but what ever happened to Tim, who started the thread, and his wife, who supposedly arrived on St. John on Friday the 13th last month? I wonder if they passed through the Bermuda Triangle.

I see now from another thread way down on the board that Tim and his wife arrived safely back home and had a very nice time on St. John. Whew!