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So Sorry to keep all those interested in my trip report waiting, but being in paradise has really left me dragging behind.
My husband and I were looking to escape a very hectic and busy summer, and thought our anniversary would give us a great way to get away without our little clan. We have 4 little ones age 7-10mo. I knew that St John would be just what we needed. Peace and quiet! We only could get away for 5 days due to our schedules. I found this board and got such great information and ideas that planning this last minute was not bad at all.
We choose to rent Villa Capiz from Carefree Getaways. The were so nice to work with. They went out of their way to accomadate our short stay, and responded immediately with any of our questions before the departure. They reserved our rental jeep for us and offered to arrange private taxi or transportation needs for us.
Worked hard to get a good price on airfare, but I don't think it is very reasonable. Cheapest price USAir from Akron/Canton Ohio with connection in NC then on the STT. No problems of any of the flights. We arrived in STT right on time 3:04 and retreived our luggage within 15 minutes. Right outside the luggage terminal awaited lots of public taxis and we told them we needed to catch the ferry to St John. Word of advice: amount 5 minutes into the ride the driver said something and all I caught was Ferry and I said yes. He stopped and let us out and the man that greeted us said "fast ferry to Tortola?" I said "no, St John", he said, "get back on the van, wrong stop". There was a couple in the van that was not very happy about this. They were disgusted that I had wasted 3minutes of their very important time. I on the other hand could not stop laughing at myself. Lesson learned, always repeat the islanders questions if you don't understand. Anyway we made it to the 4PM ferry with 5 minutes to spare. The taxi cost $20 for 2. The downtown ferry was $24 total. We each had 2 bags. $8 per person, $2 per bag. I liked taking this longer ferry. It gave us time to start to unwind and enjoy the scenery on the way.
When we arrived at the St John dock we got our bags and walked to the end of the pier. Within a minute Pacho from Carefree was there to greet us. He had the keys to our rental jeep because the office had just closed. He drove us to the jeep and asked if we wanted to stop at the grocery store before we went to the villa. We said great, he said follow me. Driving on the left was not a problem, although it took several days before I could open my eyes going up and down some of those steep turns. We went to Starfish market and got supplied for a couple days and Pacho was so nice to show us around and wait for us. This was such a nice idea because by the time we could have come back it would have been dark, and driving those roads at night for the first time would have been scary. Prices a little high, but not too bad.
When we arrived at Villa Capiz I was so impressed. The grounds are so lush with tropical landscape and plants. There is a nature path all around the grounds with benches for relaxing. The home has a very strong Asian/Polonesian feel to it. Pacho showed us all around explaining everything on the way. When he opened the unique wall of doors the view just took our breath away. The villa sits very high on Gift Hill and the view stretches over Great Cruz bay and almost to Choc. Hole. St Thomas is so pretty to see at night. The Villa is everything that the web site shows and more. It has a really welcoming feel and is so well appointed. Everything you need is right at your finger tips. pacho left his cell number and his wifes cell number in case we had any problems at all. We had none. We immediately jumped in the pool and really started to relax. we had dinner on the deck and relaxed in the hot tub under the stars. This villa is so completely private that you could be a-naturel all week and no one would every know. there are 2 villas neighboring but you can't really see them due to the vegitation. You can see the roof top of a villa in front of the house, but it does not distract from the view at all. The top floor of the house has a gourmet kitchen, great room with dinning area, bathroom and 1 queen size bedroom. this bedroom is the smallest of the three. the doors open to and expansive deck that has a large table for dinning, hottub, grill, and seating area. There are 2 sets of stairs that lead to the lower level of the house. they both are outside though. The lower level consists of two large master suites and bathrooms. One of the masters also has a couch/daybed area. They are connected with a pocket door that can be locked. Both rooms have sliding doors that open onto the pergolla covered area of the pool deck. The pool is wonderful. It is large and made with beautiful stone and tile work. this house has definately been remodelled with attention to detail. we could have stayed at the house everyday and had a wonderful time.
We awoke to a beautiful day and enjoyed our breakfast on the deck. We decided to do some beach hopping and sight seeing. we went to Jumbie beach and were the only ones there, on the hiking to honeymoon beach wich we also had to ourselves, and a long hike to solomens and again not a soul around. we felt as if we were on a deserted island at times. you could not ask for a more intimate and relaxing time. we drove to Coral Bay area and stopped at Skinny's for lunch. It had started down pouring on our way there and rained really hard for several hours. Lunch was very just OK. service was good though. Stopped by Annaberg ruins and checked out the area around Leinster Bay/Waterlemon beach. We headed home and hung out at the pool until the sun went down. we went to dinner at ZoZo's that night. They were closing for 2 weeks and that was their last night open. Wonderful service and awesome food. My husband had the best steak ever. I ordered the Mahi and it was very good, but paled in comparison to his. We would have returned if they had not been closing.
There is a downside to visiting in Sept. The resturants are mostly closed. We had very few choices. We also dined at La Tapa. It was good, but a little stuffy for our tastes. We both had the filet there. we stopped at the Beach bar and the Quiet Mon for drinks.
Other highlights:
We hiked to the very end of the trail at waterlemon and snorkeled over to the cay. this was definately to best snorkeling of the trip. Lots of starfish, parrot fish baby barracuda. We had snorkeled 3/4 of the way around the cay and all of a sudden we were surrounded in a school of small jellyfish. they were everywhere and it freaked me out. We got the hell out of there and were done snorkeling for the day.
we also rented a dinghy for a day. this we really enjoyed. We cruised all around and saw all the beaches from the water. You can access almost every beach this way. We spend alot of time enjoying little cinnamon beach which is next to Peter Bay beach. This area is so beautiful. Alone again on this beach. More people seemed to be in the Maho area. We saw a few people on the beaches at Caneel and of course some at Trunk. No cruise ships in the entire time we were on St John so I am sure that had something to do with the lack of people too.
All in all, what a great vacation. We can't wait to return. We would like to take our kids next trip. I hope that this will help anyone planning their trips.
daycruise, thanks for taking the time to post your trip report. We're soooo excited for our trip to St. John and Villa Capiz. Can't wait!
Daycruise,
Thanx for your trip report. Sounded like you had an awesome time!
Could you answer a couple of questions for me? Did you happen to see Cielo Vista on Gift Hill? We, too, are renting through Carefree Getaways this coming April. We were actually interested in Villa Capiz - but, it was already taken.
I was just wondering if you happened to notice "our villa". We are very excited about the Gift Hill location - it looks perfect.
Also, who did you rent your dinghy from? We are thinking of a half or full day rental to get to Honeymoon & Soloman & some of the other beaches by water.
Again, we apreciated the good words about Carefree Getaways - they have been great to deal with so far for us.
I got a chuckle out of your taxi transportation story. I think we all have such stories to tell. They are virtually, I swear, the modern day version of Keystone Kops. They don't have the slightest clue what is going on. Tooo Funny!!
Again, thanx for the report!!
Sue
Sue,
Sorry I didn't notice that villa. It would be very difficult to tell much about them anyways. Most of the Villas are situated off the main road more into the mountain side. There are just so many beautiful villas on St John.
Also, we rented the dinghy from Noah's little Arcs. Very easy to do, but I would make sure that you reserve one in advance. You could easily visit Honeymoon and Solomon. I would definately recommend finding little cinnamon, it will be more private. There is supposed to be decent snorkeling around Solomon.
Hope this helps.
Forgot to answer someones question aobut which road to take into Cruz. We took both and they seem about the same. We didn't time it as we left our watches at home, right beside the alarm clock, cell phone x2, home phone, fax machine, laptop and the children.
Thank you for taking the time to respond.
We will check out Noah's and will definately reserve in advance.
Thanx, again!
Sue
daycruise: I am interested in your school of small jellyfish... Were they about the size and shape of a large walnut? Or were they larger with a purple four-leaf clover on the bell? Or something else?
Thanks Daycruise,
Sounds like you had a wonderful time. Nice trip report....now I'm really excited about Villa Capiz. We'll be there Oct 15-25.
Glad to hear that Carefree was so accommadating....they have been very helpful with us so far. Now if I can just make it through the next 10 days.....!!!!!!!
The jellyfish were definately larger than a walnut maybe baseball size. They were almost transparent. I really didn't know for sure what they were, but a local told me that is what they sounded like. He also said that is common, but not until Nov. Any ideas on what they were?
Hmm, usually the moon jellies (the most frequent true jelly from the phylum Cnideria) are a summer phenomenon- they are the ones with the purple clover on the bell. They sting, but it isn't too bad. The last couple of times I was at Leinster and Waterlemon, I saw huge conglomerations of sea walnuts, but they are not true jelly fish. They are clear, but look like an interstellar transport from Star Wars. They are in the phylum Ctenophora and don't sting. I have never heard of true jellies in November.
hi all, i was just reading the posts on jelly fish. i also seen a t.v. show on them not to long ago. this was in austrailia, i think it was on box jelly fish. but not sure. anyway its all making me alittle nervous about them. i was wondering if there is alot of jelly fish in late february? and should a person be aware of anything if you see them? how about these shark sightings? no big deal? the 5 foot tarpons? no big deal either? lol any info would help ease my mind, thanks all, scooby. guess i'll also be getting a book!
hi all, was also wondering what to do if you get a sting from a jelly fish. thanks again.
Scooby: First of all, the stuff that lives in the Pacific Ocean has very little to do with the stuff in the Atlantic. Because it is such a huge ecosystem, there are many creatures that dwell in Australia and other Pacific areas that we don't have here. The worst true jellyfish that one might see (and probably only in July/August) is a box jelly. But it has nothing to do with the box jellies of the Pacific (and probably the subject of the show you were watching.) The most frequent true jellies have a mild sting- 20 minutes and you are fine. Again, chances are you will see these (Moon jellies) in the summer only. And, you can easily avoid them, they are very visable and not very quick.
As to sharks...raised on "Jaws", were we?? 😉 The last fatal unprovoked shark attack in the Virgin Islands was in 1963.
Tarpon are not interested in people. Baracuda aren't either for the most part.
You want dangers in the ocean? Stepping on sea urchins and touching fire coral are probably the biggest dangers. Now the land sharks, that is another story!! 😀
Although we do infrequently get Portugese Man O'War jellies that can be VERY nasty.
Max
Max: I suspect there are occasions for everything, but whether it is something that one should expect is something else. 🙂
hi east ender, what do the sea urchins look like? i do wear water shoes, so that should help right? thanks, and please look for my other reply under sharks. scooby
hey east ender, we left out octopus! hope they don't like people either. did anyone read about the 26 foot squid south of japan a couple weeks ago. they've been trying to film one in the wild for a long time and finally got it i guess. like 2000 feet down on camara. sccoby
scooby,
If you do happen to get a jellyfish sting, pour vinegar on it. If that is not available then you can try salt water or saline solution. I am a diver and an organization called divers alert network has a handy water proof book on first aid for hazardous marine life injuries. It is a little pricey but if you are truly worried it brings some comfort. Since I dive all the time it comes in handy while out on the boat. If you are interested, try this site. http://www.diversalertnetwork.org/Members/ScriptContent/Index.cfm
It covers just about everything mentioned above.
If you don't have any vinegar handy the best thing to do is to pee on it....yes, that's right. Pee on it. It will take the sting away.....no kidding.
I've heard of that too (but maybe it was just that "Friends" episode!?). I think it has something to do with it's ammonia content.
I think the vinegar just stops any remaining "stinging cells" in the tentacles from firing, but it doesn't really stop the stinging once you've been stung.
WW
