I'm in charge of our first trip beginning 6/14!

[beebs]

I'm so excited! I will be traveling to St. John on Saturday with my mother and 14 year old son. My sister and her 13 year old daughter will be joining us later that day.

We are staying in a villa in Coral Bay and will have a jeep for the week. The only plans I've made so far are movie night at Skinny Legs on Monday and maybe Ponzu Tuna at Aqua Bistro on Friday.

Snorkeling will be our focus, so, with two kids that age in tow, and my 72 year old (active and adventurous) mother, is there anything you would recommend? I'm thinking Maho might be our first beach, and I'm not so sure about hanging out in Cruz Bay a lot due to the parking and my love for avoiding crowds when on vacation. I'm going to be footing the bill for everyone, so I'd like to keep the eating out to reasonably (I know that is a joke in St. John, buy by St. John standards) priced venues.

Suggestions please!!!!

[star2515]

I'll send a vote out for Pickles in Paradise for a quick/cheaper dinner option, or even picking up lunch on the way to the beach. Its in Coral Bay. We stopped by there after a long beach day on a trip earlier this year for the first time and will most certainly be back. We took the sandwiches back to the villa for a nice relaxing evening. They were very tasty and plenty big enough for a dinner meal. There were 6 of us so I can't remember what everyone had but my DH and I shared sandwiches.....his Sidewinder and my Belly Buster were both very good, the Lemon Basil Hummus lasted us a few days and was a good snack by the pool. In Cruz Bay, if you are early enough for Happy Hour, or even if you aren't my group always enjoys Spyglass, or with lesser views Banana Deck. Hope you have a great time!! Enjoy.

[Capn Dan and Ruby]

We love Candies BBQ! One meal feeds 2 for us. Pick it up and take it back. We are staying in Coral Bay as well during that time. Also love Jakes and Baked in the Sun for breakfast and pick up sandwiches. They are super reasonable! Hope to see you around. We will be in Cruz bay for a few days then transfer to Adeste on Sea Grape Hill on Monday. You will love St. John, we are crowd phobic too and love it.

[cocosmom]

Lots of good reviews for Caribbean Oasis (http://www.oasisstjohn.com). Pick up food and eat at the villa. Very reasonable and good portions. That and take back BBQ mentioned above are delicious options.

[AquaGirl]

Here are a few things we did for our trip (4 of us in a villa).

- We bought 2 rotisserie chickens at Starfish ($10.99, I think) and I deboned them the first night. I packed the meat into portions that could make 2 sandwiches, wrapped them up, put them in a freezer ziploc bag (brought with us) and froze them. The chickens were quite large and had a lot of meat. We bought bread, lettuce, pickles, etc at the store and made sandwiches most days to take to the beach for a picnic. It was a bit of work that first night, but having the meat ready to go made it easy to make sandwiches each morning.

- We brought a few snacks with us - granola bars, nuts, etc. If you can fit a few items in your suitcase, it saves a little.

- Ettas in the Marketplace (where Starfish is located) has great West Indian food and you get plenty of food with the sides. Most entrees are $10-12 ( a lot less than many restaurants). If you are in Cruz Bay in the afternoon, you could stop by and get carry out to take back with you. (We like to take West Indian carry out to the villa and enjoy the nice deck and views.)

- Starfish has a hot food bar and you get a ton of food for a reasonable price. (See Coconuts previous post about this.) We never hit it at a good time to get something on this trip, but have done so in past years.

- The only place we ate on the Coral Bay side was Shipwreck. Food was good, but pricey (for fish entrees).

- Some restaurants serve lunch until late in the day, or have a "pre-dinner" menu before 6pm. (Shipwreck had this.) There were some reasonably priced items on the menu - less than dinner prices, if you want to eat an early dinner and don't mind a more limited menu.

Have a great trip!

[nikkiki]

You're going to have such a great trip! Aqua Bistro was one of the best meals of my life - we made a reservation for ponzu tuna night (Friday) because I didn't want to miss it. I'll second the kudos to Pickles in Paradise too - great snacks to bring back to the villa and our sandwiches were fantastic. Maho is always my first beach, you'll absolutely love it. Jumbie is a favorite of mine as well. If you're feeling adventurous, take the dirt road to Little Lameshur, or adventure over on the east end of the island. Enjoy, and tell us about your trip when you get back!

[Myheart'sinSTJ]

I agree with cocosmom in regard to Oasisin Coral Bay, the food is great, inexpensive for STJ standards and large portions, have a wonderful trip and I'm envious that you can get your mom to go with you, wish mine would, I know she would love it once we got there, enjoy!

[jimg20]

You've got all the food suggestions you probably need.

I would start with Maho. Francis and Hawksnest would be great second and third choices. Try to get to Trunk Bay early in the morning to avoid the crowd. After that, there are lots of other choices.

Have a great trip.

JIM

[lazylane]

In Coral Bay.....definitely Coral Bay Caribbean Oasis....$9 plates and $3 sides and yummy real food!! They post menu daily on Facebook.