Looking for advice for option to St John

Hi all. We LOVE St John and have not necessarily ruled it out, but are wondering what new place we could visit that is very similar. Love the calm waters, easy in snorkeling, calm island, white sand beaches and a bit of hiking options. Are wondering about Grenada, Grenadines, Virgin Gorda... but need advice. We don't want an island where the rental car gets stuck in the mud due to no real roads, but also don't need tons of night life. We like renting villas for fixing our own food so don't need hotels/resorts. Thanks everyone!

You might light Ambergris Caye or Caye Caulker in Belize. You need to take a boat out to snorkel, but the snorkeling is wonderful. Very few places to enter the water from the beach. It does not have the beaches of St John, but it is a very calm islands. Very friendly people.

I already mentioned Bequia in another one of these threads you started.
Those 2 are our favorite islands. Both laid back. Sailing, lovely beaches.
I like Ambergris but don't compare it to those two islands.
cheers
irina

Tortola BVI might work for you. We stayed at Myett's on Cane Garden Bay. We stayed on St. John a few years ago, and renting a private villa with friends will be hard to beat anywhere. One of our first trips was to Ambergris Key Belize, and didn't like it much at all. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/duh.gif" alt="" />

I've been to many of the places listed and my opinion is Belize just doesn't compare to what you get on STJ. Bequia is a good comparison, I like Bequia a lot, but you still won't get the beautiful beaches like STJ.

I am not sure about all the negative posts on Belize. The reason I compare it to St John, is that the snorkeling is better in Belize than most other places in the Caribbean. You do have to take a boat to get to the reef, but it is really nice, even better than St John.

And Belize has Placencia which has beaches.
Cheers
irina

Agree on Bequia.

Mustique if you have the coin.

Anguilla is pretty chill and has lots of nice beaches.

St. Martin also has a lot of nice beaches. The French side is more like St. John but the food is AMAZING. The Dutch side is like St. Thomas.

After many years vacationing in St. Martin we switched it up the last few years. Last year we went to St. John and this year Grenada. I don't think we were back a week before we had booked Grenada again. The beaches were fabulous and the laid back vibe took me back in time. Quiet, peaceful, great food - the produce on this island is second to none. Good luck in your decision.

Virgin Gorda