Late Summer ?

[philbetm]

Hi All
Since our first trip back in 2001... Hubby and I have always scheduled our visits in May, June or July. This past year we went in mid-Oct. and loved it !! We were in the planning stage for next trip to also be mid-Oct. for our 29th. anniversary.
Now we are looking at mid-August to late Sept. instead . Got a good price offer from someone during that time. I know that is probably the "Prime Time" for hurricanes or Tropical Storms . But ....for those of you that go then how has it been for you ? Would we be better off to pay the extra money and stick to October ? I also know that a good many of our favorite restaurants are closed in Sept. , but think we can deal with that .

All advise / opinions are most welcome. :

Sherry in SC ( philbetm )

[Pulley]

Sherry, as a fellow South Carolinian you know that hurricane season runs until November 1. We have only been effected once by a storm, in Sept., out of 22 trips to STJ. If you are worried about storms stick to May early June otherwise go with the budget friendly villa.

[burgec]

Agree, we have been several times in August and only hit one minor tropical storm which forced one day of "villa gravity", not the worst thing. Some restaurants are closed but we have never had a real issue. I hope to be there this August!

[equineannie]

October is historically the worse month for bad storms. Mother Nature has her own plans but even when I lived there, Aug-Sept was a wonderful time...less people and less airport hassle. Enjoy!

[liamsaunt]

I've been twice in August and really enjoyed both times. For the most part, we had great weather. One day a tropical storm (or maybe it was a cat one hurricane, I can't remember) blew by, but like another poster said, we just had a a villa gravity day. Our villa had a generator so we did not lose power. Overall there was very little rain, no problems with bugs, and the crowds seemed lighter than our June and July trips. It is true that many restaurants are closed, but there are many others that are open.

[RickG]

We love August/September. August is busier. It can be steamy, but we did a week on our boat in September 2014 with no a/c and it was great, hot, but great. The BVIs were basically closed. We were the only boat at Jost Van Dyke overnight. St. John was hopping and we saw more people in Cruz Bay than we did in all the BVIs. St. John is really the nicest island in the Virgins.

Another bonus is that the water is usually very clear and warm. We've had better than 100ft visibility.

Yes, higher risk of hurricanes. But the weather in August/September is better organized than October/November. That means that you generally have 1-5 days notice on storms. In October/November, you can have popup storms pretty much any day. We did a month sailing October/November 2015 and we had rain at least three times a day, sometimes many more times. We pretty much watched weather radar continuously.

Cheers, RickG

[kklay]

Friends of ours took a quick trip in early September last year and really enjoyed their time on island. Yes, many places are closed during that time but the beaches were almost empty and the water warm and calm. They always go in the March timeframe for two weeks and then again in late November/early December for another two weeks. They were able to fit In a third visit and just loved it. I'm hoping to try it either this year or next.

[philbetm]

Thank You....Thank You....Thank You !!!!

Was hoping that would be all the good things I would hear .... Late Summer it is !

Sherry in SC

[awardb]

We're heading back for our 8th trip to STJ in August. We always go in August/September. We had a bad experience ONCE with Hurricane Earl, but, still, we prefer the warm water, the lack of crowds and general even-more-laid-back feeling that occurs in August and September. As other posters have noted, even though some restaurants are closed, others are not. You won't go hungry. Recommended.