I am late on this review, but am finally getting it done. Let me forewarn... it is LONG....

DESTINATION: Concordia EcoTents, St John, USVI www.maho.org
DATES: 11/23/2002 - 11/28/2002 (Thanksgiving week)
PURPOSE of trip:
- vacation
- find the best wedding beach for March
- meet wedding coordinator
- take care of legalities at St Thomas courthouse for wedding (so we don't have to do it the day OF the wedding)

TRANSPORTATION:
- American Airlines DFW-MIA-STT (thanks to AAdvantage miles!)
- taxi STT to Charlotte Amalie (came to $24 for two persons, four bags total - higher than posted price - didn't argue because we were in a timecrunch to catch last ferry)
- Ferry Charlotte Amalie to Cruz Bay $7 each (45 minutes)
- St John Car Rental for rental of Sidekick ($55/day); remember: 20 mph on St John on freeways, 10 mph in town

BACKGROUND:
My fiance and I are ages 28/30, and I had seen something on the Travel Channel several years ago about Maho Bay ecotents. After researching St John and the Maho group, we decided to stay at Concordia. This was our first trip ever to St John, with only one cruise port in the past to St Thomas. None of our friends have been here, so we pretty much researched on our own to determine this location. (Thank you message boards!)

ACCOMODATIONS:
- Concordia EcoTents are located south of Coral Bay overlooking Salt Pond Bay and Drunk Bay
- Sister property of the Maho Bay ecotents
- Concordia Rate: $85 per night plus refundable $30 deposit
- Paved road towards Salt Pond Bay until turnoff; dirt road for quarter mile
- About 75 steps to get down to registration at Concordia (and 75 steps back up!). Pool, ice, linens, 'help yourself shelf', and basic essentials located here as well as check-in and check-out. Activities of Maho Bay are posted in registration area, so you also know what is going on there.
- No restaurant like Maho has. (We did drive up to Maho, and the road is much harder to drive on at Maho)
- Massage: someone from Coral Bay will come to your tent on certain days of the week. Could also refer to the Maho activities to find out their masseuse schedule.
- The Concordia host/hostess were new, and very friendly. (They were living our dream... left the ratrace and headed straight for St John!)
- We stayed in EcoTent #3 (there are eleven total). View was spectacular (understatement)
- About 30 stairs to get down to our 'walkway'
- Ecotent is elevated so that you never walk on the ground. We enjoyed watching the hermit crabs under the walkway just outside our front door!
- And yes, the tents were secluded. I could walk to the bathroom and not worry about what I was (or was not) wearing in the middle of the night.
- We could have easily slept five people in this tent.
- Mattresses were comfortable (and name brand), and the queen futon was also comfy. You put your linens on the mattresses (receive linens at check-in), and retun them to the registration desk at the end of the week. You also do basic cleaning, such as wash dishes, sweep floors, close all screens upon checkout.
- We closed all screens upon leaving each day, as you never knew when liquid sunshine would visit unexpectedly!

LAYOUT: This was a split-level eco-tent with toilet/shower located just a few steps from door.

Main level: Kitchen with sink (runing/filtered water), plates, bowls, utensils, handtowels, small stove (like used when camping), ice chest and mirror. Screens opening to look north and west. Room separated by curtain/shelves that contained more shelves, two twin beds, screen to look out over balcony (balcony is sunken lower, so people can stand on balcony and you can look out screen and still see over their head.) Ventilation on east side.

Upper level: small loft with one twin mattress. Ladder with about five steps to climb. Don't think you could stand up there, but not sure. Kept our luggage up there though.
Lower level: Futon that made into queen bed, screens looking south, east, and west. We slept here. Screen door leading to balcony on east side of room. Private balcony with spectacular views.

Restroom: Maho has 'group restrooms' as does Cinnamon Bay campground, so a private restroom appealed to us greatly. Compost toilet with foot-push to flush (don't push longer than one second). Did not smell like normal porta-potties - in fact, no smell at all. (Books there can explain the compost process and why it is so good). Shower: small, but can accomodate two persons. You must pump the water to build the water pressure. We would normally pump about thirty times, and have one person hole the nozzle for the other. Hint: take showers in late afternoon after the sun has warmed the cisterns. Cisterns of rain water are located above the 'outhouse', and are heated by the sun. We learned early the first morning that morning showers are NOT warm.

ELECTRICITY:
- I believe everything runs on 12-volt. There are permanently affixed light bulbs, so light at night is possible. However, no outlets to plug in anything.
- This was fun for us - we were having engagement pictures taken at 9:00 the first morning at the Westin resort, so I ended up taking my hot rollers to the Westin, finding a hotel bathroom, and doing hair/make-up there. If it were not for engagement photos being done, the rollers would have never left Dallas. Or hairspray or makeup.

GUESTS:
- Guests were almost never seen! Everyone is there for seclusion, relaxation, peace. We would only see other guests at the pool or when parking our jeeps along the side of the hill on the dirt road.
- Met one family from Canada who was on their fifth trip to Concordia. Family of five, including three teenage daughters. There stay: two weeks. (Yes, I was jealous)
- Met one family while hiking at Drunk Bay who was staying at Concordia, but had stayed at Maho previously. They enjoyed Concordia more.
- Remember: you can only bring a walkman/radio if nobody else can hear it at any time!!
- Quiet hours were definitely observed by all. And appreciated by all.

BEACH ACCESS:
- You can hike a vigorous 30-45 minute hike to Salt Pond Bay beach, or just drive five minutes then hike five minutes. We chose the latter option. Did read to remove all valuables from vehicle at this location, which we did.
- Not a far drive to north shore beaches. (Visited Hawksnest, Trunk, Maho, Cinnamon, and Salt Pond - nothing like spending Thanksgiving Day at the beach snorkeling!)
- Brought our own snorkel equipment, which came in handy

NOSEEUMS:
- By reading these boards, we were prepared! We brought repellant with a high percentage of DEET. Also, Curt's doctor wrote a precription (that we had filled before leaving Dallas) for the 0.05% Diprolene (I think that is what it is called - found the recommendation on these boards)
- Had no intimate contact with these little creatures

MEALS:
- We brought a suitcase full of bottled water (for hiking, beach days), small boxed cereals (like in snack-sizes), spaghetti, and granola bars. We used these for breakfast/lunch so that we could use money for other fun stuff.
- Favorite eats of the week: Shipwreck Landing in Coral Bay, and enjoyed Uncle Joe's BBQ in Cruz Bay.
- Thanksgiving Dinner: the CHEAPEST we could find anywhere on St John was at Pickle's Deli for $15 per plate (not including beverage). We prepayed and ordered early, and returned at 3:00. (Serving 1:00-4:00). They had run out of a couple of items by the time we returned 🙁 . No dessert - they ran out of that too. At least we had turkey and dressing. No price break either for running out even after we prepayed. Next cheapest Thanksgiving dinner we found was $36 each, so that was out of the question (some place in Coral Bay).
- Favorite drinks of the week: Shipwreck Landing.
- Note: Shipwreck Landing is between Concordia and Coral Bay. Another restauant, Miss Lucy's, is closer to Concordia, but we never made it there.
- Grocery store available in Coral Bay, but prices were more than double what we were accustomed to in Dallas

WILDLIFE on ST JOHN:
- saw lots of donkeys, mongoose, goats, and three deer
- saw one stingray, hawksbill turtle, and think it was a shark (?) or other fish that had big fin on top (to someone in Dallas, anything that resembles a shark is just assumed to be a shark!)
- stayed clear of all!

OUR SCHEDULE THAT WEEK:
SUNDAY:
- arrived at DFW 5:00AM for 6:00 AM flight, changed planes in MIA (had to go through security again due to terminal change), arrived in STT on time (3:11 PM) on Boeing 757 (surprised such a short runway!!)
- cab to Charlotte Amalie ferry
- 4:00 ferry to Cruz Bay (glad we made it!)
- Made it to car rental by 5:00 closing (called ahead just in case)
- Checked in at Concordia by 6:30 (yes, we stopped along the way to take pics)
MONDAY:
- learned real quick that early morning showers at ecotents are COLD
- 8:45AM pics at Westin Resort (one hour, professional photographer, received photos and negatives the next day)
- 11:00ish ferry to Charlotte Amalie to take care of courthouse stuff
- did some shopping, bought nothing
- did the BlueBeard's timeshare tour (worth the 90-minutes for the 4 bottles of Cruzan Rum, $25 gift certificate for restaurant, and 2-nt stay at one of their other properties); no we did not buy - and let them know up front we were poor and getting married!
- BlueBeard's paid for cab anywhere on island, so we went back to Red Hook
- 4:00 ferry to Cruz Bay ($3 each)
- drove back to ecotents and enjoyed the pool area
- dinner at Shipwreck Landing (loved the blackened shrimp!)
TUESDAY:
- Drove along north shore road, stopping at Maho to take pics
- Arrived Trunk Bay by 8:30, so escaped the $4 pp entrance fee. Took great pics, used the remove on the camera to get pics of us, and strapped on our new snorkeling gear. Snorkeled the trail (saw a stingray) and walked the beach. By 11:00 it was getting busy, so left.
- Stopped by Hawksnest (figured this might be where we get married).
- Noon: met wedding coordinator at Westin Resort lobby.
- Lunch: BBQ from Uncle Joe's in Cruz Bay (yummy) and shopping (bought nothing)
- Drove back along north shore road, stopping again at Hawksnest, hiking up Peace Hill, and overlook of Trunk Bay. Also drove to Maho and by Annaberg Ruins.
- Back to ecotent for shower (much better than early morning shower - the sun had warmed the cisterns of water today!)
- Ate dinner at Shipwreck Landing again
WEDNESDAY:
- arrived Westin Resort 7:30 for day sail to Jost Van Dyke ($100 plus $20 customs... each)
- Adventurer sail (53' catamaran) with three stops: snorkeling at a cay, Foxy's for lunch (additional $$), and Soggy Dollar Beach. Cleared customs in St John on way back. Arrived Westin 4:00. Definitely a worthwhile trip. Enjoyed Foxy singing at lunch.
- drove back to ecotent and ate at a different restaurant in Coral Bay this time (don't remember name)
THURSDAY (Thanksgiving):
- On beach by 8:30 again - Cinnamon Bay this time
- our intent at Cinnamon was to find plane crash (successfully found it)
- left by 11:30
- made phone calls to family from Coral Bay pay phone (SprintPCS does not work on this side of St John)
- ordered Thanksgiving dinner from Pickle's Deli and paid $15 per plate - was to be ready 1:00-4:00
- went to Salt Pond Bay to snorkel (saw our first Hawksbill Turtle!!)
- back for turkey at Pickle's (ate under a tamarind tree)
- back to Salt Pond Bay to hike over to Drunk Bay - enjoyed the coral figurines there!
- back to ecotent to start packing and check out early (since leaving early Friday) 🙁
FRIDAY (departure day):
- awoke early and watched two cruise ships coming around the point towards St Thomas (I knew another teacher who I knew was going to be in St Thomas that day on Princess, so it was neat knowing that one of those two was her's); after sun came up a little, we could see better with the binoculars
- packed up and cleaned tent
- quick drive to Cruz Bay - dropped Curt and luggage off at ferry dock and I returned jeep
- RETURN TRANSPORTATION:
- Our return flight STT-MIA-DFW was not until 3:30, but we took the 9:00ish ferry from Cruz Bay back to Charlotte Amalie ($7 each). We found a cab driver at the dock in Charlotte Amalie (Terence Taxi) who held our luggage and met us at 2:00 for ride to airport. $24 total. Not bad at all for holding luggage those hours. (We ended up buying our wedding rings during that time!). Terence supplied us with his business card, and wrote his departure time and license plate on the card.
- STT airport: cleared customs quickly. However, flight was overbooked and we had immediately listed to be volunteers. We were called, but someone stormed the counter and cut in line, so we lost out on $500 vouchers (each). So much for waiting in line. We weren't ready to leave and were MORE than willing to take the flight out the following day.
NOTE: even with the two-hour timechange, I still work up by 5:30 each morning! That's like 3:30 back home!!! Maybe I was just so excited! Curt would always wake up to find me missing... out sitting on the balcony.

OVERALL:
We absolutely loved our trip to St John and would definitely return to Concordia. The sound of the waves crashing at Drunk Bay below rocked us to sleep each night, and welcomed us each morning. Enjoying sunrise on the balcony was spectacular. We also enjoyed counting the zillions of stars each night, looking for the dim lights of St Croix in the distance, and watching cruise ships go by. The breeze of the tradewinds cooled us at night, as we always slept with most of the screens rolled up (still had the mesh screen).

The saying of "pack your suitcases, then put half of it back" is absolutely correct. We brought way to much! However, we were definitely glad we brought the little food we did - saving every penny we can helps! (Got that wedding in March to pay for!)

That's about all I can think of right now, but if you have any questions, please feel free to ask.

🙂

-Mandy in Dallas