posted 12-08-2005 02:46 PM ET (US)            

A few trip ideas:

A day trip to The Baths on Virgin Gorda.
Lunch on the William Thorndike, which is anchored off Norman Island. Yo ho ho
A trip to Foxy's on Jost Van Dyke.
The Bomba Shack on Tortolla, preferably on a full moon.

posted 12-08-2005 03:15 PM ET (US)            

It all depends on what you want.

Virgin Gorda is home to some great resorts - the Bitter End is probably the biggest and most eastblished of any of the resorts in the BVI. Right across Gorda Sound on Mosquito Island is Drake's Anchorage. Extremely elegant, but in an understated way, and some of the best food I've ever eaten. Much more laid back, too. Where the Bitter End always feels busy, Drakes Anchorage has a very small number of people given its size.

For real solitude and quiet check out the Anegada Reefs hotel on Anegada. It is off the beaten path because in general there are pretty steep restrictions on charter boats going there becauuse of the Reefs. You can also rent jeeps from a guy on the island named Winfred - a great way to explore the North Shore. This is the place to go if you want to sit on a beautiful beach with a book and drink rum concotions.

Check out TripAdvisor.com for lots of other reccomendations.

posted 12-08-2005 03:31 PM ET (US)            

Hyatt. Beautiful modern hotel with a great pool, crappy beach.

Caneel Bay. Old 1970's hotel that hasn't been updated, but on the most beautiful part of the island.

I agonized between the two, and penultimately chose Caneel Bay. However, it ate at me that we were going to pay $10 grand for hotel only, when the hotel was crappy (not the surroundings though).

Ultimately I found this option:

http://www.gallowspoint.com/INDEX.HTM

It cost me half the price, is within walking distance of all the restaurants and supermarkets we might need, and we arranged for a jeep rental for us to use for the week. We will snorkel in all the right places, day in and out, and come back to a nice modern condo, within close proximity of evening dining, and with a great view. I have read good things about these condos, but as you are going before me, I can't give you firsthand experience. In 1990 my wife and I spent our honeymoon in St Thomas, but were only in St John for a half day.

posted 12-09-2005 05:54 AM ET (US)            

I have a family of five. They won't allow us to saty in one room or suite. Nearly all island destinations have had their local governments pass "3 to a room" rules to drive up hotel occupancy. The rates for Hyatt and Caneel are about $550/night plus taxes, and we need two rooms. That is why the condo option is working out much better. My airfare is about $450/person multiplied by 5.

In researching tourist reviews I found it interesting that while both hotes I mentioned are rated about the same, the standard deviation was much greater with the Caneel. Either people loved it ot hated it. Its location is amazing. If you are easy going, and don't care about the rooms and amenities, and know this going in, you will rate Caneel a 10. If you are from the Upper East Side in NYC, are needy, and had your last vacation in Thailand, in some sick hotel, where cabana boys followed you around and dropped flowers by your feet, you will likely rate Caneel Bay poorly.

At least this vacation for us, as currently booked, will cost no more than a week in DisneyWorld, which I can't/won't do anymore.

Spend as much time as possible on St. John, with excursions to neighboring BVI's. I can't wait to go, Nick. And I hope you will post back your experiences so I get to read them before we go! I know that 2 of our 7 days will involve boating (1 day sail. 1 day power). No fishing though.

posted 12-09-2005 01:23 PM ET (US)            

Anyway Bequia is a VERY small island that has only 1 hotel with A/C, rest have mosquito nets and no windows that close nor have screens per say. They have 1 gas station, 1 record/CD store, 1 grocery store, etc and the whole friggin island goes to a "jump up" every night so you never have to worry what bar is happening because the whole island is at a different bar each night. Awesome place and so damn friendly. I dropped my wallet and a guy came running up to me to give it back. No crime because if you get busted, you get DEPORTED(no bullshit). Can't wait to get back but it aint cheap to get there. Once you are there beer is a buck(everywhere), flying fish sandwiches are like $1.50, etc. You can't spend $ if you tried and if you do I guarantee you won't remember it($1 Beer, actually Guiness was $1.50). Diving is also fantastic.

I am assuming that St John and maybe the BVI are like that on a larger scale. Also have to try new places. Was gonna go back to Barbados/Bequia again but the airfare was so cheap, had to try it out.

Sal....will post results when I get back or maybe while I am there. Have you looked into a condo/villa for the week? You can get an awesome one for under $4k and a 2 star for about $1k.

posted 12-09-2005 11:51 PM ET (US)            

It's in the top 3 sailing destinations in the world. Stay few days in a hotel, Then charter a boat with a captain and mate for 4 days.

Cane Garden Bay where Buffet lived (Don't miss the Bomba Shack)

posted 12-13-2005 08:15 PM ET (US)            

VI's are a great place to visit and St Johns the best, but the BVI's are the best. People in the VI's and BVI's are nice if you are nice and say "Good Morning, etc." Leave the typical American rudeness at home and be prepared to slow down and be friendly, the more you are the more they are. Be careful but not paranoid about being out at night as anywhere else in the world. Again, manners are very important to VI's as well conservative dress. some (young)VI's can be extremely rude, crude, and shrewd so if approached be courteous and walk away. Rarely will they physically confront anyone. Many VI's are upset with "selling" there property to "non-VI's" so some resentment building up as they become displaced.

posted 03-23-2006 05:51 PM ET (US)            

Booze is cheap, and the drinking age is 18, which was a major bonus for me, being 19 at the time. The entire family brought home their maximum of liquor, though I dropped my case in the airport, much to my father's dismay. I was amazed at the excellent in-network cell phone reception I got with what was then AT&T Wireless (now Cingular), despite being in a rather remote area. In the one night we spent in Charlotte Amelie (sp?) I did observe some prostitution, but that was about it. Most time was spent on St. John, snorkeling, swimming, or just relaxing on the beach. The best way to see the island is definitely to rent a Wrangler. Take the panels off and the top down and enjoy the breeze. Driving on the left takes some getting use to, but if you've ever driven in England, this is much easier than that. Other than occasionaly turning into the wrong lane (which is not a major concern due to low levels of traffic and slow speeds), the primary problem is seeing around left-hand curves. There are plenty of little bars and restaurants around the island, which mostly seem to serve the usual tourist fare. Most are nautical themed in some regard.

posted 03-23-2006 07:17 PM ET (US)            

We have changed our reservation from the condo, to a last minute opening at the Westin. We figure that the younger kids would really like a nice pool to come back to and lounge in after a busy 3/4 day going on adventures. We are chartering a nice diesel-powered chesapeake-style boat to take us to the Baths and Jost Van Dyke in the BVI on one of our days there. I know my wife and oldest son are going to jump on a party snorkel boat on second day, while I hang with the younger kids. All the other feedback I have gotten is that St John has no parallel in the Carribean, and I hope that is the case. I don't mind quiet and boring, and actually look forward to that.

As an aside I wanted to bare-boat rent one of the Fountains, or one of the Mako center consoles, from the local outfits, as I have heard the waters are easy to navigate and calm. My family voted "no", as they wanted someone experienced with the waters to power us in case something should go wrong; I think the engines on those boats are made by Mercury (that is a joke).

posted 03-28-2006 09:56 AM ET (US)            

Most of my experience has been by sailboat.

Best mellow party atmosphere is Foxy's on Jost van Dyke.

Best place to spend a day on a remote island is Green Cay (btw, Cay is pronounced just like Key) between JvD and Tortola. It is a small island owned by the Rocefeller Family and prserved as an undeveloped oasis. The Baths is also way cool, but can be crowded.

Best Snorkeling in the main BVI is Pelican Rock and the Indians south of Tortola, or perhaps George Dog. Absolute best is north side of Anegada in Loblolly Bay, but that is more work to get to.

Best lobster dinner: Wilfred's on the West End of Anegada. Also very good at the Anegada Reefs Hotel.

Best Hole in the wall Restaurant: Neptune's Treasure on Anegada.

Best Deserted beaches: Anegada north shore. Begining to see a trend here?

Best Food overall, and best get away from it all resort: Drake's Anchorage. You can run across the sound to do stuff at the Bitter End, or stay here and relax on the Beach.

posted 04-08-2006 04:55 PM ET (US)            

The Virgin Islands National Park Service has a number of Brunswick CGP boats. The dock at the Cruz Bay Visitor Center usually held a bunch of their Whalers. I saw a 22' Guardian with twin 90 E-TECs, a 25' Challenger, a 27' Challenger, a 27' Justice, a 26' Justice, and a Sentry.

Around the corner from the Visitor Center dock is a fuel dock that had three smaller Whalers including a 17 Guardian owned by Caneel Bay.

I also saw a Park Service Baja 28' Intruder at the dock in Red Hook on St. Thomas.

There was an older Whaler hull for sale on the beach on Jost Van Dyke in the British Virgin Islands.

posted 04-30-2006 06:33 AM ET (US)            

Accomodations: The Westin was great for our family (3 kids; 12,10,6) The first half of our vacation was non-stop adventure, and it was nice for the kids to have a lazy pool the last few days to cool off in. We were upgraded to a Villa, which is a small apartment in the back of the property. They will try to sell you a timeshare. They clean your room later in the day rather than earlier, which is the only negative of the resort. The service is not what you would expect stateside, but if you go in there knowing that, laid back and relaxed, you won't care.

We did visit Caneel Bay for a day. It was so beautiful, and if I were going with just my wife, Caneel would have been the place. We had a great lunch there after a morning of snorkling, and the service seemed noticeably superior to the service in the Westin.

Restaurants: Lime Inn, ZoZo's, Stone Terrace, Morgan's Mango all are great choices and better than on property restuarants at the resorts. Brunch/lunch at Caneel Bay is a must.

We ate at the Willy T. I wanted to buy a few women t-shirts, so that they wouldnt feel compelled to strip. Actually, I think normally reserved men and women feel young on this boat, and do things they normally wouldn't, and I have no problem with that; thats what vacations are for sometimes. The Willy T has a nice history to it, and my boys were all giggles hoping to catch a glimpse of boobies. They were bummed out that the women stripped and jumped at the precise times I sent them to the bar to get me Tabasco sauce, etc. They are not bright boys.

PS Foxy's at Jost is a hole; not worth it. Better watering holes where your scenery is not 3 burned out cars, six broken Evinrudes, three goats, and 32 eyes that burn your skin saying, " my uncle is chief of police... I could make you disappear and no-one would ever know mon."

Suggestions:

Hire a boat one day. We chartered Born To Rhumb. Captain Kevin took us to The Baths, the Willy T for lunch, Snorkling at the Indians, Jost..... This is the way to snorkle. My family couldn't believe the sights they saw. Captain Kevin's first mate Andie was beautiful, and awesome to my family.

Rent a dingy. My boys and I took a dingy for a 10 mile jaunt that took us to some neat snorkling that we could have only reached by water. Just watch the ferry wakes out of Cruz Bay....

Rent a jeep and visit the Sugar Mills. Cool history, and incredible roadside view getting there.

Here are some pictures:

http://homepage.mac.com/salarnuk/PhotoAlbum9.html

And here is a link to Captain Kevin's Born To Rhumb:

http://stjohnlinks.com/Charters/BornRhumb/index.htm

He is a New Englander (Boston and Maine) who does half his year chartering in St John. Nice Life.

All in all this was an incredible vacation, and highly worth the 20 or 25% premium in cost over other Carribean Islands. It is a lot cheaper if you are not tied to children's spring break schedules also, and can plan ahead.