After many years for sailing in the BVI we are changing tack, and renting a big house on St John with 3 other families. My question concerns where to do our primary grocery shopping, and if any of the stores will let you order in advance, and deliver to your house? Thx

There are two main grocery stores within walking distance of 'downtown' Cruz Bay - Dolphin Market and Starfish Market. Personally, I'm a fan of Starfish as the market and adjacent deli/liquor store provide one stop shopping for anything you may need. As for delivery, I'm not sure but it's been my experience that the rental agency you are dealing with MAY facilitate delivery for you. We've stayed in both Grande Bay and at a private residence and each time we were given the option of pre-ordering and having our provisions delivered.

After 30+ trips to STJ over the years, our favorite approach is to rent 4-door Jeeps on STT from Amalie and hit Cost U Less on the way to the car barge. Staples, frozen prepared foods and beverages are cheaper than on St. John. St. John grocery stores are good, with only Riteway on Tortola having a better selection than Starfish Market. Other options are Dolphin near the roundabout, Pine Peace Market and St. John Market on the South Shore Road. Pine Peace has some good deals.

Provisioning services are well behind the BVIs. Its not something we've ever done. Some friends have used Katilady in the past. There are a food individuals that will work provisioning for you, but I do not know them.

Cheers, RickG

We provision our rental houses every trip. It isn't as easy as we have found it on other islands (VG and Anguilla) and you will pay for the convenience. I think the fee (on top of the actual food cost) for our last trip was $150. (we had a huge beverage order, she did a lot of heavy lifting)

The past couple of trips, we used Shanna at Blue Sky Management - http://www.blueskymanagement.net/villaprovisioning.html

I like her shopping lists. Our orders have been complete and the beverages cold when we arrived. I will continue to use her and recommend her as well.

I think Katilady may have gotten out of the provisioning line of business.

I have heard that Starfish (the market) will do villa provisioning but I don't have first hand knowledge.

Cleobeach, Starfish used to have a link on their web page for provisioning, not anymore. Thanks for the tip on Shanna/Blue Sky. I think provisioning is a service that St. John has needed.

Cheers, RickG

Considering the way the Starfish operates their check-out lanes, I can't imagine them putting a lot of effort into outside sales...

I was very pleased to find Shanna. Custom provisioning is something I can see growing on STJ.

I used Katilady and Christy's over the years and their limited ordering options were frustrating compared to the ease of just ordering whatever we wanted when on VG and Anguilla at no or little cost. I think we were charged a $5 delivery fee on VG. On Anguilla, it was part of the rental company's service.

When split over the group, the fee loses its sting. I know my husband would spend more than the fee on junk/too much food that gets tosses at the grocery store.