Hotel Recs // Questions
Wife and I are excited to spend our 20th Anniversary in Saint John. Before we book a villa, what’s the vibe of different parts of the island? I’ve heard the eastern part of the island is more chill than the western side (Cruz bay), but how much commotion is there around Cruz Bay? Maybe it’s worth it for the convenience of walking? I think we’d rather not do a ton of driving and taxing, some js okay, but we don’t want to feel like we need to every day.
We live in a larger American city so we don’t need to be absolutely secluded, but obviously we chose Saint John as we’re not looking to party at clubs and stay out super late. Also, any specific villa recommendations are very welcome!
Thank you for your time!
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What time of year are you planning on going? I ask because most places shut down end of August- October so being in coral bay would be very quiet and secluded.
I highly recommend a jeep rental as very little of the island is walkable. It would be possible to stay in downtown Cruz bay without driving but you would be missing all of the other amazing parts of the island.
If you want to be near restaurants and bars then you could stay in a villa near Cruz bay and you would still feel very secluded.
Cruz bay is the “busy” area of the island but it still doesn’t have a ton of commotion. The east side of the island is more laid back and very spread out. Honestly you can’t go wrong with anything. PM me if you want a few villas I’ve stayed at and loved.
This is very helpful, especially your last paragraph. We would be visiting in October, and I was wondering if Coral Bay would feel a little too secluded, though we would DEFINITELY get over there to explore. Renting a jeep is no problem.
Will definitely take you up on PM’ing for specific villa recommendations, thanks!
We got married and honeymooned down there years ago - at John is our fave place in the world and we go regularly.
If you’re coming from a big city - St. John is going to feel like you plunked down into a tiny rural town … which is why we love it. Remember the island is 7 miles long, and has a population of 3000-5000 people, and is 80% national park. the “action” is mostly cruz Bay Area - but you’ll be shocked how much there “is not” to do …..
Relax. Snorkel. Try a new beach each day. Google the cruise ship schedules and avoid trunk bay the days cruise ships are at st thomas.
Even if you stay in Cruz bay “walkable areas” You’ll want to rent a jeep so you can explore things at your own very relaxed pace. Hike the old cane mill, just go for a drive (in under an hour you can definitely do the whole perimeter). Many beaches - trunk bay usually doesn’t have parking after 0900 (all full). Southern beaches are rocky - so snorkeling will see octopi, sea urchin, etc - but the water and rocks sounds are beautiful to fall asleep to. Norther beaches are Sandy - and many to choose from.
Be respectful of coral - don’t touch wildlife (sea turtles aren’t afraid, don’t see well, move slowly). Use reef safe sunscreen - sun is dang hot down there. We use sun bum and coola brands - Maria and Irma did some aquatic life “rearranging” and killing - the island made me sad when we were there a couple years after Maria / Irma hit - but hopefully coming back more.
Zozo’s was great for nice sunset dinners —- but note that where it’s located was where the hurricanes literally sat and spun …. So no idea what shape it’s in today. (We had to cancel our trip last year)
Starfish grocer is great - also if you rent a home - you’ll need to buy water. There are refill stations in a few area so can get bottles or gallons at the grocery store and refill them.
Stop in at the longboard and have a painkiller for us.
Who the f*#k downvoted you?! Awesome post, your description of the rural vibe is an absolute bullseye for us.
Thanks. I tried. It sounded like this is your first trip - just trying to help
The villas by chocolate hole overlooking the Weston look dope.
If you’re a couple who doesn’t want to drive each day, I recommend a condo at Grande Bay. It’s convenient to walk to restaurants, shops, and bars. Also not a bad hike to Salomon Bay for beach and snorkeling.
It’s also easy to get in a safari taxi for the north shore beaches.
I do recommend finding a way to explore the Coral Bay side at some point. You can rent a car or ride the VI Trans. Snorkeling at Salt Pond Bay and eating at some of the spots over shouldn’t be missed, IMO.
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Very helpful, thank you!I really appreciate the advice. :)
All above is good advice. We’ve stayed at grande bay many times when we want to be in walking distance to shops and restaurants. We stay at Bogie’s Villa about 10 min out of town for a little more seclusion. We prefer the Cruz Bay side of town to stay, but do jeep to the sleepier Coral Bay side for some beaches.
I like day-tripping to the Coral Bay side but I will always stay on the Cruz Bay side. There are more options for food and entertainment and a better selection of goods and services.
We stayed in Cruz Bay at Wharfside Village, in the heart of everything. And despite having 3 bars below us, it was very laid back, generally quiet. It's a tiny town and only has ferry's, no cruise ships. And when the ferries do come in with folks from the St. Thomas cruise ships. They are generally getting right on transports to take them to a couple of the more popular beaches. It's not really a "descend on the town" invasion. Certainly no sign of them by night time. Even when we were at Maho or Trunk beaches and the cruisers came, there might be 50 at a time they basically put on snorkel gear and snorkeled and were gone in 2 hours.
Everyday we grabbed a cab and went to a different beach. But when I say "cab" think open air shuttle with maybe 10-15 people hopping on. They run all the time and super convenient. I remember it being maybe $15-20 per person each way.
However, I might rent a jeep for a few of your days because those cabs won't take you to the other side of the island and you can't explore on your own.
And book your Jeep very early. There are limited rentals on the island, and many people have to rent in St. Thomas and car ferry over. That's why I decided not too, but I was only going for 6 nights.
Again, we loved being in the town by night time. The little bars, happy hours, great live music and walking to restaurants. But if you want a place to stay with a pool and more secluded, then head outside of the town center, but if you could still walk to town, that would be great.
The only thing I'd do differently next time is for for 10 nights instead of 6 and rent a Jeep for 2-3 days to check out the east end, Coral Bay and hike Rams Head etc. but for 1 week, we never ran out of new beaches to go to with the shuttles.
You can’t go wrong on that rock. Stay closer to Cruz Bay if you want to be closer to more restaurants. Otherwise stay anywhere that fits your needs. Can’t go wrong
What a beautiful island. You can’t go wrong anywhere on the island. Rent a jeep, stock up at starfish market and enjoy the peace and quiet.
I stayed at the Villa called Cinnamon Tarn once and it was amazing. It was top of a mountain and looking out the bedroom balconies looked so amazing that it was hard to comprehend it was real.
Rent a jeep, stay on the Coral Bay side. Drive 20 min max to whatever beach you want to go to or restaurant you wanna eat at. Thank me later.
Why “thank you later”? Care to elaborate?
Because I’m right.
In all seriousness, it depends on how “fancy” you are. From the center of the island east, places to eat like Shambles, Windmill, Skinny Legs are quintessential beach bars, especially Shambles and S.L. - either you love them or you don’t. Look them up on yelp, Trip Advisor or Google reviews to see. Places in Cruz Bay like Morgan’s Mango etc. are more “fine dining” and if that’s your thing and want to be close to that then maybe Cruz is better for you. Mind you that parking in Cruz is notoriously difficult. If you rent from Pipers you can park there and walk to just about anywhere. We stayed about 10 minutes outside of Coral Bay (west off Centerline) and it was really a good location. We liked not being around all the other primarily American tourists, acting like, well, Americans. And yes, I’m an American.
Cool man, appreciate you stopping by and dropping some hot narcissism on my post real quick, happy Mother’s Day
🔥’ing hot.