7 Day Itinerary suggestions for 1st time visit

[dreamshark]

Since no one else has mentioned this, I'm just gonna say it: your villa is not the most convenient location for touring the island. Chocolate Hole is great for relaxing on your deck and enjoying the sunset, but it's surprisingly hard to get out of that section of the island. On our first trip to STJ we stayed at a villa in that area, and quickly realized that the most important factor controlling our day was the state of the traffic in Cruz Bay, which is unfortunately between you and the gorgeous North Side beaches. So planning is a good idea.

We thought driving on the twisty little roads was fun, but inching through Cruz Bay - not so much. Maybe somebody local can recommend the best time to drive through town, but if there's a low-traffic time I don't think we ever found it. So once you get through town to the north side, I'd STAY THERE until you're ready to come home. Maybe pack a lunch or pick up sandwiches in town, and then hit one or two or three of the north beaches. Maybe stop in town for dinner on the way back, or pick up groceries for dinner in the villa.

Another thing to be aware of: snorkeling is not so good at the south side beaches - water tends to be rough. Here's what "St. John Off the Beaten Track" has to say about Hart Bay: "Hart Bay is not an easy snorkeling environment and it is usually too rough for snorkeling at all. On the rare days that the bay is calm, however, intermediate and advanced snorkelers will find much of interest here." So here's what I'd do.

* Check out the surf on the south side when you get up. If the water is calm, stay on the south beaches for the day, retiring to your spectacular villa for lunch and maybe a midday siesta.

* If it's not looking so good for the south beaches, implement your plan for a full day on the north side. You can do this multiple times because there are too many beautiful beaches up there for one day.

* Take Centerline Road at least one day for a trip to Coral Bay. This avoids downtown Cruz Bay, plus you really do want to drive over Bordeaux Mountain at least once on your stay. You can stop for lunch or dinner at the nice restaurant on the top of the ridge. Once you're in Coral Bay, you should probably drive all the way down to Salt Pond Bay to check out the radically different ecology on that end of the island. Cactus! Also, decent snorkeling.

*You can also use the Centerline route to get to the beaches on the east side of the north shore, including some of the nicest ones (Maho, Francis, Leinster). Be sure to stop at the smoothie stand right before you plunge over the edge on the exciting little road down to the shore. Once you're down there, you might as well stop at the Annaberg sugar plantation ruins for a really nice self-guided walking tour, maybe between snorkels. If you time it right, you can finish up at Maho Bay camps for dinner with a sunset view.

Man, I think I just planned out my most perfect ideal day on St. John right there. Mmmmmm. I think I'll stop now and daydream about it. (I'm planning a trip right now too, and I agree with you about planning increasing the fun. You can enjoy the day 3 times - once when you plan it, once when you live it, and one more time when you sort your pictures and write up your trip report).

[Jumper]

Pack a cooler, pick a beach for the day and stay there for the day. We get to the beach around 0900am and are leaving sometime in the early afternoon. I am a planner also, but this is my favorite plan and is why I love St. John so much.

[Jeff&Cindy]

My wife and I stayed in Fish Bay during Presidents' week and I don't recall finding traffic to be an issue anywhere. We put our Jeep and driving on the left to the test during our first full day. We explored our way out to the East end. Then we soon fell into a daily pattern of exploring a new beach in the morning, hitting Deli Grotto for lunch, then returning to Honeymoon or Solomon through Caneel for the afternoon. (with a visit to Bartender Jackie as we left the beach)

Each night we found a nice place for dinner. (sometimes repeating)

We slipped in one day aboard Kekoa to Jost. (along with a bunch of the staff from High Tide who were a lot of fun)

If we had a plan... I guess we didn't really have a plan! But we'll be back next year to continue whatever it was we were doing, because it worked out great!

[mindehankins]

We are planners like Lark. Planning is 1/2 the fun for us, and we are ever so much more efficient when we FINALLY make it to the rock Our first trip we made two snorkels each day. We were out the door by 8am and took campers without jeeps along with us We packed lunches and snacks on days that we hadn't found an interesting place to eat in our reconnaisance.
I made lists of beaches that go-together, like Salt Pond and Drunk Bay or Salt Pond and Blue Cobblestone, or Salt Pond and Little Lameshur. I added lunch places that looked interesting to us in that vicinity, or we brought lunch with us if we didn't like the options, and ate dinner out that night. We planned our next day as we drank cocktails around the pool in the evening, based on weather and such, that ERL cited. Sometimes our plans were dashed. The first time we showed up at Waterlemon, the water was too rough, so we went to Francis insteak. Always have a backup plan
On our later trips, we've got it down to one beach/day and go for some of the more remote locations. We're not in such a rush anymore, but I still love the planning!
I even plan out the packing, taking more food than clothing....
Get your hands on those books and start making your "pairings". It just adds to the anticipation.

[mindehankins]

I meant to add that I printed lists of eating establishments, menu items that interested us and their location and telephone number. And I made a rough map of where the places we'd frequent were (Starfish, Sam and Jacks, the hardware store, the dive shop, and the restaurants we were interested in eating at. This was we could hit up each place we needed to go to in some orderly expeditious fashion.
So mid morning I could pull out the list and say well right now were "here". THESE are our lunch options....
Still kinda planning as we go

[Xislandgirl]

I am a planner for a living. I plan everything and anything including trips to almost anywhere.
I never plan STJ.
We have a list of places; beaches, restaurants, shopping, etc. that we want to visit and decide over coffee in the morning. The weather can be funny, the surf can be up, the rum may have had more of an affect from the night before, or I just might be tired.

Yes, it is important to plan your trip but do not overplan and do not be disappointed if you do not get to everything.

There was a newbie that came here and planned every moment of every day. By day 3, his family was exhausted, had too much sun, achy from hiking, and cranky in general. They ended up cancelling a booked trip and just hung out at the villa.
My advice: Don't set yourself up for a stateside plan when you will be on island time.

[EagleRayLover]

I just went back and read my hubby's first trip report! What fun! I enjoyed giggling about our "virgin" experiences. We stayed on Giift Hill which sounds like it might me close to where you are and travelled all over the island without any problems with traffic. It was great going back and reading it- we did try to plan a little- I think we hit a ton of places for our first trip , but we also had some silly mishaps like wrong turns ( thinking vertical driveways were roads, and having to back down them in reverse- that one almost caused a visit to the the health clinic due to a nervous breakdown by me since hubby could see more out his window than I could!) no matter what you plan or what you don't plan, you are going to have a blast! No matter if it rains or doesn't , you will find something wonderful about this lush island either below, above- the sunsets, sunrises, the donkeys, the bananaquits and hummingbirds to name a few!!

[Myheart'sinSTJ]

If it is in your budget, try to plan a day out on the water visiting the BVI's, snorkeling the Caves, photo-ops at beautiful Sandy Spit and a must for us is ending up at the Soggy Dollar. John Brandi who owns Palm Trees Charters will take you wherever you choose to go or Capt. Wilson, who is back on STT with "Deja Blue" will come pick you up on STJ. We have gone out with both and they do an excellent job. The day out on the water is the "highlight" of our trip.

[MN_Bhoy]

Great responses from others so far - I just hope I'm not repeating too much.

The one piece of advice I've read that worked well for us on our first trip to St John (last month) was to READ!! We booked our trip 6 months in advance and by the time we arrived, I knew (or at least I thought I did!) a lot about the island. Doing this was very helpful as we were aware of what locals were talking about when asking for recommendations. That said, we didn't plan out our days and kind of went with the flow and that seemed to work really well. It was just nice to be aware of the options.

I would also suggest that you resist the temptation to return to a beach multiple times during your trip and try the others. Our first beach was Salomon and upon reaching it we thought nothing could beat it and spent our first three days there. It wasn't until we decided to try something different that we realized what a mistake we had made. Each new beach we saw (Cinnamon, Hawksnest, Trunk) was just beautiful. I wish we had to time to visit others (especially Maho), but that's for next summer!

As far as dining goes, we really enjoyed The Fatty Crab. It doesn't seem to get many mentions on the forum, but we thought it was great if you're looking for something a bit out of the ordinary. The Beach Bar is fun for relatively cheap eats and drinks, and lunches at The Deli Grotto in Mongoose Junction are delicious and a great value! I was pleasantly surprised at the Cruz Bay dining scene and don't think we had a bad meal during our trip. I wouldn't think twice about trying most places in town if you see something on the menu you like.

ENJOY!!

[hoosierdaddy]

We like to plan days and then be flexable on when we implement each day. Also leave a couple of days open because you may find something new. These are a few of our favorite days.

* Park near the National Park service. Walk to the Deli Groto for a sack lunch and "Crack Bars". We then hike to Solomaon Bay via the Lind Point trail and set up camp with our chairs. Relax with the 10-12 other people that happen to be on the beach. Snorkel over to Honeymoon. Have lunch at some point. If you stay into the afternoon you may have the beach to yourself. Hike back in time to see the sunset from Lind point.

*Park in the morning at Annaberg. Since this is your first time tour the ruins before walking along Listner Trail to Waterlemon. This beach is not much on sand but the snorkel out to the Cay is great. After the snorkel it is time to eat so a drive to Coral Bay for lunch is in order. We usualy do Shipwreck Landings. After lunch head back to Francis Bay for the rest of the afternoon.

*Start the morning at Maho. Beautiful beach with great snorkeling. Have picnic lunch or drive back to Cruz Bay for lunch and then end the afternoon at Trunk Bay. In the late afternoon most of the people are gone. We only go there on days with 1 or no cruse ships.

*Charter a boat for the day and visit the BVI

* Take the ferry to Jost Van Dyke for the day and spend the entire day in White Bay.

Just a few sugestions.

[michigan girls]

As far as dining goes, we really enjoyed The Fatty Crab. It doesn't seem to get many mentions on the forum, but we thought it was great if you're looking for something a bit out of the ordinary.

I'll second that one - The Fatty Crab and Aqua Bistro were the stand outs for me

[TrvlJohn]

Get yourself Feet, Fins and Four Wheel Drive - a great book for planning your outings!

this is the absolute best advice...Best book by far...I am also a planner, but on STJ I just wake up, make lunch and say to my better half "What beach are we going to today?"...It truly is that kind of place.

[toes in the sand]

I can understand your need to plan but St John best lends itself to a relaxed speed. I know that for a planner you need to keep occupied prior to the trip. This should take care of that for you. Here is my suggestion for those who have to plan;

-Get the book Off the Beaten Path by Gerald Singer (on sale through VIOL) or another guidebook of the island.
- Make a list of the beaches he lists along with location / directions / suggested snorkels / trails / facilities etc.
- Do a little research on the beaches to see which ones might suit your style. This forum is a great resource for that.
- Visit http://stjohnspice.com/stjohnrestaurants.htm and use the list of resturants that St John Spice supplies to start a list of resturants.
- Do a little research on the resturants for such things as location, cuisine, hours and phone numbers. This forum is a great resource for that also.
- Make a list of the beaches, resturants and other places or activities that interest you. Plan to keep this list and the guidebook with you in the Jeep and at the villa. Maybe make two copies.
- Plan for the first morning beach, lunch and maybe dinner and expect that it will change. Leave the afternoon beach to choice.
- For the second morning, get up and have a cup of coffee on the deck and get a feel for the weather, especially the wind. Over breakfast decide where you want to be that morning. If the wind is negligible or from the South then pick a North shore beach from your list. The North Shore beaches are your best bet as a first time visitor. If the wind is from the North then choose a southside beach.
- Pack a cooler with water, drinks, snacks and lunch or on your way to the beach pick up some sandwiches at the Deli Grotto in Mongoose Junction.
- Rinse and repeat.

[toes in the sand]

After posting my reply I read the other suggestions. I see that I am not the only list person here.
I wanted to add that we have stayed in Fish Bay, Reef Bay and Chocolate Hole multiple times and (almost) never had a problem with traffic through Cruz Bay. The only time I hit "rush hour" was a little after 3pm on a school day. It seems the Westin must change it's staff shift about then as well. It really wasn't a jam to compare with traffic at home but remember you are on island time when driving. Don't get upset with the car in front of you who has stopped to talk to the driver headed the other direction. We usually visit in the off season though although our one trip in January never left us in traffic.
You should become aquainted with Gifft Hill Rd. as an alternate route from your villa to the North Shore via right @ Centerline and left at the Smoothie Shack and to the South shore, Coral Bay and East end beaches.

[lsbredmond]

WOW! You are all amazing. Thank you so much for the suggestions. It hadn't occurred to me to match up beach options with restaurants in the area. And I love the idea of keeping notes in the car for quick reference (we'll have to get put the laminator). We have both Fins Feet & Off the Beaten Track. But you all have such great advice & tips.

Couple of quick questions: someone mentioned lobster night at Morgan Mango - when is that? Any other regular specials you enjoy?

Where do you get your weather info while on island? Who has the most accurate forecasts?

We typically eat lunch out (including pick up sandwiches - I hear Jack's is great) & cook dinner in except for 1 or 2 night where we'll have dinner out. If you only had 1 or 2 dinners out, whe would ou go?

Thank you again for your advice. And keep them coming!