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Need Advice for first visit to St. John

G

ginja

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We will be going to visit the st. John resort in a couple of weeks very excited! I was reading the posts about the resort for advice on car rental, chair rentals, and other things but since alot of the posts are about maintenance fees and such I would love to ask for everyone's advice here so we can have the best St. J experience.

Any info is greatly appreciated!

Ferry advice (our flight arrives 2pm) Westin Ferry or Other?
Best place to rent a car?
we are traveling with another family should we get one big car or 2 smaller (4 adults 3 kids in party)?
Best place to rent chairs?
Best restaurants? (need reservations)
What food items should we bring from home if any (pantry items?)
Buy cooler for beach trips?
Any must do/see items?
 
There is a ton of helpful info. already posted - here are some threads to get you started.
 
Last edited:
ginja said:
Ferry advice (our flight arrives 2pm) Westin Ferry or Other?
Best place to rent a car?
we are traveling with another family should we get one big car or 2 smaller (4 adults 3 kids in party)?
Best place to rent chairs?
Best restaurants? (need reservations)
What food items should we bring from home if any (pantry items?)
Buy cooler for beach trips?
Any must do/see items?
Click to expand...

As Denise mentioned, there's already lots of good info on this site. But here are my 2¢:
* I would normally recommend that you rent a car on St. Thomas and take the car ferry over, but as it's your first time, just take a taxi from the airport to the St. John ferry in Charlotte Amalie or Red Hook. Unless you're feeling flush, the Westin ferry with four adults and three kids will set you back well over $500.
* I think you can rent chairs in town, but if you're there for the week, it's actually cheaper to buy them at St. John Hardware, in the marketplace shopping center, in Cruz Bay. We usually buy two chairs and then freecycle them to an arriving guest.
* Lots of good restaurants on the island. Best bet is to review the menus with the concierge. Our favorites are Rhumb Lines, Asolare and ZoZos.
* There are "supermarkets" on the island, but prices are high. If you plan on cooking in your villa, bring frozen steaks, etc. from home. Rum is the only thing that's remotely reasonable on St. John.
* Definitely bring a soft pack cooler, or the like. L.L.Bean sells a great one that has survived many trips/flights.
* Must see and do is tough. Our favorite beaches are Maho and Trunk (way down at the end). As a right of passage, you have to visit Skinny Legs, in Coral Bay. There are some good hikes within the USVI Nat'l Park, but with kids in tow, you might opt for sticking with the beaches. We've also charted a boat (with captain) to take you snorkeling/diving and to Jost Van Dyke, Tortola, etc. Captain Kevin's boat, Born to Rum, is a treat.

Have fun!
 
Thank you for all the info! Might be a dumb question but as we are responsible adults with kids in tow and are not looking to "party" just chill and enjoy an ice cold beer on the beach during the course of the day - is it legal to have beer at the beach? Is it reasonable to be quite about it and sneak a couple if it isn't legal?
 
Technically, you're not supposed to have alcohol on the beaches. But like (just about) everywhere else in the Caribbean, if you keep it low key, no one's going to give you a hard time. Enjoy!
 
ginja - i have written 4-5 long trip reports (June) with photos - DeniseM may be able to give you the proper search terms/links - enjoy
 
Thank you everyone I read all the trip reports - great info! I'm going to print them out so the other family we meeting up with can read them on the plane ride
 
ginja said:
Thank you for all the info! Might be a dumb question but as we are responsible adults with kids in tow and are not looking to "party" just chill and enjoy an ice cold beer on the beach during the course of the day - is it legal to have beer at the beach? Is it reasonable to be quite about it and sneak a couple if it isn't legal?
Click to expand...

Actually, I've heard AND read that you can drink anywhere in St. John except the ferries, because there are no open container laws:

"As a U.S. territory (residents are citizens, but can’t vote for president), the three U.S. Virgin Islands have all their own laws. Driving is on the left, British style. The drinking age is 18 and there are no open container laws -- you can drink a beer on the street, on the beach, on a hiking trail or anywhere you like. You can even take an open beer into and out of any of the many bars on the three islands. There are, of course, strict drinking and driving laws, but go on foot, and the laws are pretty much the same as when pirates ruled the land."

http://walkinganddrinkingbeer.blogspot.com/2009_07_01_archive.html
 
I don't know if it gets better this time of year but the mosquitoes are quite a pain. We were there in Aug and some of us got lots of bites. Most of the restaurants are open air so it's no fun being bitten while you are trying to eat. Make sure you bring bug spray.
 
Pat H said:
I don't know if it gets better this time of year but the mosquitoes are quite a pain. We were there in Aug and some of us got lots of bites. Most of the restaurants are open air so it's no fun being bitten while you are trying to eat. Make sure you bring bug spray.
Click to expand...

Rain = Mosquitoes
there has been a lot of rain this year leading to outbreaks of dengue fever - so bug spray is a must.

we prefer the non-scented powder-spray of OFF (i think it is in one of my photos)
 
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