US Virgin Islands w/ kids

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BSVI

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You mean the BVI.

I'd do St. John over St. Thomas 100/100 times. You can still get on the ferry or charter a boat and visit the BVI (with passports).

I stay in Cruz Bay but I want to be able to walk to most restaurants.

Went a few weeks ago- here is my post from another thread:

We had a blast in St. Thomas- we enjoyed the mix of city vibes with the beautiful nature. Bluebeards is right between Main Street Charlotte Amalie and the Havensight/Yacht Grande area, both were walkable which was nice. The shops/bars on their Main Street mostly close early evening when the cruise crowd heads back to the ship. There are a lot of jewelry stores with pushy salespeople out front, we just politely told them we weren’t interested and kept moving.

We did a lot of just walking around, bar/shop/restaurant hopping but we did get a few daily activities in.

We took the ferry at crown point Marina over to Water Island one day. Stopped first at Dinghy’s and split conch fritters and had drinks. Decent beach there and a pretty cool little area. Wasn’t too crowded. We rented a golf cart from Dinghy’s to explore the island. It was $500 refundable deposit, and $125 for an all day golf cart. From there we had free rein to explore the island, which was amazing. Very secluded island. We checked out Fort Segarra which was a WW2 bunker. You can walk all through it. Really cool and a bit eerie. There’s a spot you can park and walk through a jungle trail that leads to limestone beach, just a gorgeous, entirely secluded rocky beach. From there we went to Heidi’s hilltop restaurant and had the best fish tacos I’ve ever had overlooking the island. After that we stopped at a little shaved ice stand. I had a beer, the wife had a frozen wine. In the end, we saw a lot of the island in 3 hours, so could’ve opted for the cheaper 3 hour rental.

The following day we zip lined at tree lime. Really fun with beautiful views of magens bay. Staff there was awesome. Would recommend and it only took about 2-3 hours.

To round out our trip we did the lime out snorkel on the catamaran Lady Lynsey. This left from the Ritz Carlton. There was a complementary breakfast on board. We took the boat to our first snorkel spot in St. John. This was a coral reef snorkel, just an incredible underwater scene. We snorkeled for an hour, and at this point when you get back on the boat it’s an open bar. From there we went to the lime out taco bar. Amazing tacos. We stayed there for an hour. After that we were taken to our next snorkel spot, this was a grassy bay known to be a turtle hotspot. We did see a few but I never saw any while in the water. Did see a lot of snapper and a huge barracuda up close. From there it was back to the Ritz- its open bar the whole time after that morning stop until you get back to the ritz. 10/10 would recommend. There were people of all ages on the boat, from 6-65

Restaurant wise- Amalias Cafe in one of the passages off the Main Street was great. Amazing Paella and they had fresh grilled wahoo. Both excellent. We had smoking rooster in havensight one night, pretty good but not elite BBQ if you’re used to elite BBQ. Taphaus on main st is a great spot for drinks. All in all it was a great trip. We can’t wait to go back. I’d definitely recommend water island via golf cart though if you want to sort of explore on your own and see some cool shite in a secluded setting.


Tranportation wise- I’m glad we didn’t rent a car. Taxis everywhere were cheap, they drive on the left, and the streets are narrow and the locals all drive like it’s a go cart track. Steep hills, blind turns, big switchbacks, and everyone flying around in old shitty vehicles. The traffic rules aren’t rules there, seemingly more like suggested guidelines.

Maybe most surprising part to me, I saw like 1 homeless person the entire week. Parts of St. Thomas did look a little third world, but we never felt unsafe and everyone we met was incredibly friendly.

If you're more interested in going to the beach every day, St. John is probably more your speed than St. Thomas. Magens Bay and Coki beach on the north side of St. Thomas are nice, big beaches though. The southside of the island is more of a city vibe than a beach vibe

You mean LimeIn. LimeOut is a floating restaurant in the middle of a bay. 8-)

I’ll add that the restaurant to drive to is Skinny Legs.

Coral world
Water island
Zip line
The inflatable water park to the right as you leave the airport

That Marriott has a crappy little beach and was very heavily damaged by hurricane Irma. I know it's years later but we weren't satisfied with the room before the hurricane damage.

Just an FYI.

You’re right about the beach but we didn’t hang out in the beach at the Marriott.

We swam in the pool in the evenings but otherwise we drove to the other beaches or St. John.

I think we decided on St. Thomas. The Westin on St. John was unavailable. Planning on 6 days.

Day 1 = Arrive in St. Thomas
Day 2 = Zipline, St. Thomas
Day 3 = St. John
Day 4 = Jos Van Dyke
Day 5 = St. John
Day 6 = Depart

Do i need to book a bunch of stuff ahead, like excursions, catamaran tours, etc...? I was looking at these tours. But if you have recommendations, please let me know. Also, when we're in St. John, can you rent beach chairs and stuff like that? Also, what is the alcohol policy on the beach?

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I don't think you have given the ages of the kids

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7 and 10

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I would charter a boat 100% of the time over a crowded catamaran. You get to choose your itinerary and how long you stay at each stop.

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I'll look into it. Any recommendations?

For your first trip there I’d opt out on the BVI. As said, it’s expensive and worth chartering a boat. After doing it twice, we’re too spoiled to take the ferry to the BVI.

The USVI is a very unique destination and I believe just going to St Thomas would suffice for your first trip. I do suggest renting a jeep and taking the ferry to St John.


I have a very good friend that has a house on St John and we usually go every other year. Absolutely the most beautiful beaches I’ve ever seen. There are ones far off the beaten path that when you get there there may be one person there.


I don’t know much about St Thomas, but St John is pretty much beach all day and dinner at night.

The roads on St John are very challenging as well. If you’ve ever rented a cabin in Gatlinburg it’s worse because you’re on the opposite side of the road and there’s blind curves on very narrow roads.
The food is great there, but the grocery stores are extremely expensive. There is a brewery on the island that brews decent beer.
A lot of areas are full of junk cars and trash. There’s goats and donkeys everywhere. Roosters constantly crowing. We just call it Island Life and we love it.

Take the ferry from Red Hook to St. John. There’s a jeep rental place steps away from the Cruz Bay landing. L&L Jeep rentals.

Fortunately for us, my friend has two Jeeps at his house. We use them when we go.