So, in a somewhat ridiculous turn of events, I am going on vacation on St. John. I'll be leaving Thursday morning, and staying with some friends who have been down there all month. Anyway, I was wondering if anyone has any suggestions for things to do while there.

Basically, I just want to go snorkeling, maybe take a day-excursion or something, and eat some local fare. People have mentioned Virgin Gordo (sp?) as a nice day trip. Anything else I should know before going down? Any romantic restaurants or other spots that would be make for a nice dinner?

 

wow, nobody?

 

Here's a link to tripadvisor, where you'll find plenty of info.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Tourism-g147409...-Vacations.html

Also, as far as snorkeling goes, our favorite trip was the all-day trip that left from the Westin dock. You can book quite a few trips at the Westin, and we liked all of them. Virgin Gorda is a nice trip, but we like the catamaran trips better - a much quieter ride!

The Jost Van Dyke trip was also nice.

Treasure Island was our favorite snorkeling spot, with Lime Cay a close second.

I must say that any of the trips you can book at the Westin are guaranteed to be good. We had to book one trip outside the hotel, because they were already booked up (another hint, book early!!). These people used to be on the Westin list, but not anymore. We figured they should still be good, but although the trip worked out ok, the boat broke down three times, and a teenage girl with a hammer and a wrench had to get it going again. Luckily, she knew what she was doing

If you want to snorkel by yourself, you can rent a rubber dinghy and travel around to all the different beaches by yourself.

There are tons of restaurants in Cruz Bay, ranging from cheap to upscale. Morgan's Mango was nice, The Fish Trap was good, and there were plenty of others to choose from. Just talk to a few people and find out what's good or bad, depending on your tastes - anyone who's been there a few days generally knows what's good.

 

Bring back booze. You can bring back 5 bottles of premium liqour for hella cheap tax free and a 6th local bottle. It's a good way to stock your liqour cabinet!

 

DiamondDave - thanks for the link and the info. I'll be staying in a condo not too far from the Westin, so I can easily look into booking everything through them. I think we're going to do either the Virgin Gorda trip, or go to Tortolla. The girl I'm visiting spent a summer on Tortolla and really wants to go back (now she's spending a month on St. John - tough life, huh?) Anyway, we'll have to check out some of the restaurants you'd mentioned. Thanks!

raj - I'm already pretty well stocked after working in Puerto Rico for a few months. At one point I found myself with more liquor than I had room in my apartment. I ended up giving away a few hundred dollars worth of rum and vodka, just because it had become borderline ridiculous. Needless to say, I'm still going to board that plane from St. Thomas with 5 bottles, plus a few more stashed in my suitcase.

 

I could see spending every winter on St. John, we liked it so much. We were there last December, and bought a timeshare Someday I'd like to buy a house there.

Anyway, now that I'm home, here's a few more links, although it may be too late, if you're leaving tomorrow. Enjoy the trip!

http://webpages.charter.net/grinder2/stjohnbeach.gif

http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/sho...5&o=186&fpart=1

http://www.info-res.com/ehill/reviews/stjohn.html

http://stjohnbeachguide.com/Trails.htm

http://stjohnbeachguide.com/Beaches.htm

http://www.azurehaven.com/TripReports/2003...orts/StJohn.htm

http://angelinacat.com/Preparingtogo.htm

http://www.virginisles.com/shop.html

http://www.epinions.com/trvl-Dest-Caribbea...a_~1?0=sec#list

 

^^Awesome, thanks for the links! I'll be up late packing tonight, so I'll probably navigate through all of them.