ST. JOHN - 2005 TRIP REPORT BY SANDY & DAVE DUDICH
INTRODUCTION - This is a trip report of our stay on St. John from 1 – 12 December 2005. We first visited St. John in 1996 to celebrate Sandy's 50th birthday. The reasons we keep returning are that St. John is beautiful, laid-back, uncrowded, and offers beautiful beaches and great snorkeling. This was our ninth stay on St. John, and we have gleaned lots of useful information from the experiences of others as posted to Internet bulletin boards, so this report is, in part, a payback attempt to share our experiences and recommendations with others, and, in part, a reference for our next visit.
If your idea of a St. John vacation is lazing on a chaise lounge at a luxury resort, and when you get thirsty, you raise a little flag, and a boy comes riding up on a donkey bringing your favorite drink, then you will find little of interest to you in this trip report. Because the experiences we found enjoyable might not be for you, I'll start by telling you a little about us. We're a married couple in our 50s/60s who enjoy sun, swimming, snorkeling, sailing, and seclusion. Furthermore, our experience has been staying at a villa, rather than a resort such as Caneel Bay or the Westin. If you're looking for advice on entertainment, nightlife, expensive restaurants, bars, or where to take the kids, read no further cause we can't provide any.
WHAT TO PACK - Supplies on St. John tend to be more expensive than at home, so we have learned to pack in most of the stuff we'll need. When we packed, we packaged as much as possible into one quart and one gallon sliding top Zip Lock bags, in order to facilitate airport security inspections and repacking. The Zip Lock bags have many other uses once you get to St. John.
SUN - The first thing to pack is sun tan lotion and lots of it. (Nothing will ruin a vacation faster than a "Don't Touch Me!" burn.) We pack several pints of Wal-Mart NoAd #30 SPF #8 SPF. The sun in St. John is a lot more powerful than at home, and its really easy to overdo it, so use lots of lotion whenever you go out. Also, because it is easy to get dehydrated, buy a 6 pack of bottled water on St. John and take a bottle of water with you everywhere.
The next thing to pack is a hat - a wide-brimmed hat, preferably one that roles up and that won't get harmed if you wear it in the water. Sandy also wore a cap when we went snorkeling. You can't really protect your scalp with suntan lotion, so always wear your hat outdoors.
BUGS - The first time we sent to St. John, Sandy looked like she had the chicken pox after a week. Bugs are a fact of life on St. John - mosquitoes, sand fleas, and no-see-ums. We brought pump bottles of Deet 100, from the sporting goods section of Walmart. Sandy has found that taking Allegra will reduce the itching from the bites. The best way to protect yourself at the beach is to stay in the water. This time the stiff breeze kept the no-see-ums blown away, and we needed very little bug spray.
PHOTOGRAPHY - We brought two disposable underwater cameras at Wal-Mart about $8 each (Dave thinks the Fuji is easier to use than the Kodak.), as well as a digital camera for all other photos. We took a lot fewer photos this year, primarily because we did not want to duplicate photos we took on our previous eight visits, so this year’s photos are primarily of us in and around the renovated Cottage.
Whenever we took our digital camera to the beach we kept it in a small baggy to protect it from sand and water. Always, always, double bag the camera when taking it to the beach!
FOOD - Most of our luggage was food, because we ate most of our meals at The Cottage, and because the price of food on St. John can be double what we pay at home. We took a collapsible soft-sided cooler, which we filled with frozen food, and another roll-around suitcase for dry food. (See Packing List at end of report)
SNORKEL AND BEACH GEAR – Our third item of luggage is our snorkel bag, containing masks, snorkels, fins, weight belt, as well as fold-up floats for floating in the water when not snorkeling..
CLOTHES – Our fourth item of luggage was a suitcase with clothes, CDs, DVDs, and books. One year American Airlines was 4 days late delivering our luggage, so we found out how few clothes we actually needed to get by on.
To stay at The Cottage , you'll need a wide brim hat and suntan lotion.
To walk to the beach, you'll need a swimsuit, sandals, a colorful coverup, a hat, suntan lotion, bug repellant, and snorkel gear. (The reason for the colorful coverup is to hang on a tree where you set up on the beach, so that when you have snorkeled a far way off, you have a target to return to. You also definitely want to wear it snorkeling the first few days for addition sun protection for your back - when you are snorkeling you don't realize how much sun you are absorbing.)
To go to town (or anywhere else on St. John) you'll also need shorts and a tee-shirt, and tennis shoes if you're going hiking. And of course carry your water bottles, suntan lotion, and bug repellent. Don't leave the villa without them! We've phased out our cotton warm weather clothes in favor of Coolmax shirts, shorts, socks, underwear. Coolmax fabric wicks away sweat, and does not get all heavy and soggy like cotton does, nor does it wrinkle, so one Coolmax garment can replace several cotton ones. If you pack any more clothes than these, you'll probably bring them home unworn. All the clothes I wore while on St. John fit into a one-gallon zip lock bag!
WHAT TO DO
BEACHES - Our favorite beach on St. John is Francis Bay. (In fact, the reason we chose to stay at The Cottage is its proximity to Francis Bay – a mere 8 minute walk.) Francis Bay is long - about ½ mi crescent, beautiful, and (used-to-be) sparsely populated. It is the last beach at the end of the road for the North Shore Road, and most taxis don't go that far. We also went to Salt Pond one day and to Caneel Bay another.
While we were on St. John, the prevailing winds were from the east, and most of the other North Shore Beaches (including Jumbie and Gibney) were a bit choppy.
Whichever beach you go to, take along a gallon jug that you can fill with sea water, and rinse the sand off your feet and sandals before walking home or entering your car.
SUNNING - As beautiful as the beaches are, I'd recommend that you go to them primarily for swimming or snorkeling. If you want to soak up some sun, I suggest that you will be more comfortable doing that on the deck of your villa. For one thing you will be able to get an all-over (no-tan-lines) tan, and for another you will not be harassed by the sand fleas, and for a third thing you will be able to enjoy a blender (or two) of rum punches. The Cottage now has a great deck facing eastward toward Tortola. However at this time of year, the sun is directly on the deck only from about 9:00 am till about 1:00 pm, so we did most of our sunning in the morning, and went snorkeling in the afternoon.
SNORKELING – We did most of our snorkeling at Francis Bay.. The best snorkeling - most coral and fish - are out towards Whistling Cay past the end of the sand beach and past the big dead trees. Once again we think snorkeling around Caneel Beach Point is probably the prettiest snorkeling.
SAILING - For the most enjoyable boating experience, we recommend going on a small (6 passenger) sailboat, rather than a larger power or sailboat. (The reason is that you get to go snorkeling where there are no crowds.) This costs about $200 per couple (including tip) for a full day (10 am - 4 pm) sail. We went with Capt. Phil Chalker on Wayward Sailor out of Cruz Bay, and with Robin and Rick Gallup on Long Distance out of Coral Bay. We couldn’t go to our favorite snorkeling sites either day cause the water was too choppy – winds were gusting up to 40 mph.
GROCERIES – In addition to what we packed in, we bought groceries at the Starfish Market on St. John. See our Packing List at the end of the Trip Report.
GETTING AROUND - Generally to get around St. John you'll need a rental jeep, which will run about $330/week plus gas. This time we got a small Suzuki from St. John Car Rental
WHERE TO STAY
THE HONEYMOON COTTAGE – On our 2004 visit to St. John, we had stayed at The Cottage at Francis Bay, which was a rustic little place in a great location. We were the last to stay in it before it was completely rebuilt and is now known as The Honeymoon Cottage and is now a luxurious little place.
The first advantage of The Cottage is its proximity to the Francis Beach. It is which is located at Mary Point, at the end of the North Shore Road, and is about a 5 minute/ ¼ mile walk to the beach at Francis Bay. (It is also about a 1 mile walk to the Annaberg Ruins and about a 1 1/2 mi walk to Waterlemon Cay, another great snorkeling spot.). The Cottage is at the end of a 1/8 mi driveway up the hill from where the road to Francis Bay and the road to Maho Bay diverge.
The second advantage of The Cottage is its seclusion. It is located in a cluster of three houses on a little driveway above the road to Francis Bay. However, because of the vegetation, you can not see either the road nor the other houses from The Cottage. The nearest houses you can see are eastward are on Tortola, BVI. Since no one can see you, the only things you need wear on the deck at The Cottage are a smile, suntan lotion, and a hat (unless you're bald its really tough to rub suntan lotion onto your scalp!)
The third advantage of The Cottage are its outdoor features - deck, gazebo and hot tub. The deck faces eastward toward Tortola and is a great place for getting an all over tan in the morning. When we stayed in May 2004, we could watch the sun rise over Tortola; however in December the sun rises well to the south over St. John and is not visible until about 9 am, and the deck is a great place from about 9 am till noon to get an all over tan. We’d still get up at dawn and eat breakfast in the little screened porch, and then head up to the hot tub. The hot tub and gazebo are up a twenty-foot path, and are snuggled into the hillside overlooking Mary Creek. The hot tub has different jets in each corner, and the jets can be adjusted to massage whatever part of the body you want. The gazebo is in the woods adjacent to the hot tub and has its own queen size bed. Between the seclusion, the sun, the deck, the hot tub and the gazebo, it’s a very very romantic atmosphere, as in “Who needs Viagra when we’ve got all this!”
The Cottage itself is about 20 ft by 20 ft, and of exposed beam wood frame construction. With the exception of the bathroom, it is one big room. The kitchen area is completely equipped – full size refrigerator, stove/oven a microwave, blender, coffeepot, and a full set of utensils. There is a queen size four-poster bed, a sofa, TV/DVD (but no broadcast TV), and a CD/stereo, and an outside shower. All of the appliances and décor appear to be top-of-the-line. Its got everything the two of us need to stay there, and no more. Previously we had stayed in bigger and more expensive villas, and compared to them The Cottage is really a good value for two people.
We rented The Cottage from Terry Witham. We found renting from Terry (who lives on St. John) to be a big advantage over renting from a realty company. Furthermore, Terry must know every resident of St. John, so if you have any questions about snorkeling, or beaches, or what boats to rent, Terry either knows or can find out.
CRUZ VIEWS – After we had made reservations at The Cottage, American Airlines had a fare sale for flights on Monday through Thursday. Since The Cottage was already booked by then for the week before and after our stay, we decided to stay at Cruz Views, which had been recommended to us by Nancy and Tom Huffman, who had stayed there before. Cruz Views are 10 condos on the hill overlooking Cruz Bay, and are rented out by Caribbean Villas. We stayed in Cruz Views #9 for three nights. It has a living/cooking area, a separate bedroom, and a balcony, and there is a small pool shared by all units. It was very nice and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys visiting the restaurants, shops, and nightlife of downtown Cruz Bay.
BEST WESTERN CARIB BEACH – We had to be out of The Cottage Sunday morning, and our flight out of St. Thomas was not until Monday afternoon, so we spent Sunday night at the Best Western Carib Beach, which is located on St. Thomas, a 10 minute walk from the airport terminal. On a previous trip we had been able to check out of our villas, load our luggage onto the Stormy Petrel, take a day cruise to The Baths in the BVI, and then go to a motel on St. Thomas. However on this trip we could find no one could find no one offering day cruises on Sunday, so we went directly to directly to the motel, had breakfast, checked in, and spent the day by the pool. We did take a quick shopping trip into Charlotte Amalie, but found that all the touristy shops close at 2 pm on Sunday. While the Carib Beach was adequate, I think if we were to do it again we would stay at the Best Western Emerald Beach, which is about a ½ mi away – we had stayed there previously and it was much nicer.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
A vacation on St. John is not for everyone. It’s a bit of a hassle to get to, but if you enjoy sun, snorkeling, and uncrowded beaches, then it’s for you.
Similarly, staying in a villa is not for everyone. If you like being waited on, and being entertained then you're probably better off on a cruise ship or staying at Caneel Bay. However if you enjoy proximity to the beach and seclusion and a romantic atmosphere, then we’d highly recommend The Cottage.
I'd recommend going either in November or early December (just before The Season), or in early May (just after The Season).
I'd go with Captain Phil on the Wayward Sailor for the snorkeling experience, and with Rick and Robin Gallup on the Long Distance for the sailing experience. I'd choose a sailboat over a power boat, and I'd choose cruising the USVI over visiting the BVI..
I'd recommend the ferry from Charlotte Amalie over the ferry from Red Hook.
I don’t think that extending our vacation to get lower airline fares was worth the effort, cause both before and after our stay at The Cottage we were in a transitional state and not really where we wanted to be. For our next visit I will ins
tead look into
renting a jeep on St. Thomas and taking the car ferry over to St. John as a way of saving money.
On other trips to St. John, we’ve been to other beaches, gone on other boat trips, eaten at other restaurants, and stayed at different villas than are discussed her. If you want additional information concerning St. John, please read our Trip Reports at
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sananddavestravels/files/Trip%20Reports/ ,
or you may e-mail us at [email]david11697@yahoo.com.[/email]
If you'd like to see pictures of our trips to St. John, they may be found at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sananddavestravels and at
http://public.fotki.com/david11697/st_john_2005/ USEFUL REFERENCES:
Trails Illustrated Map "Virgin Islands National Park St John USVI"
"St John Off the Beaten Track" Gerald Singer
"The St. John Beach Guide" Gerald Singer
"St. John Feet, Fins & Four Wheel Drive" Pam Gaffin
www.traveltalkonline.com www.usvi-on-line.com/usviforum.html CONTACTS:
Sandy & Dave Dudich - email –
david11697@yahoo.com The Cottage - Terry Witham - 340-777-6867
terryr@attglobal.nethttp://www.stjohnusvi.org/new_page_2.htmCaribbean Villas (Cruz Views) 340-776-6152
Wayward Sailor - Captain Phil 340-473-9705
www.waywardsailor.netLong Distance - Robin & Rick Gallup 340-513-1386
sailboatlongdistance@hotmail.com
