USVI-On-Line

It's that time of year when we start discussing next year's vacation trip. Four years in a row, after 'thinking' of going elsewhere, we've returned to St. John. (You all know why!) So, here I sit, researching St. Croix, and Tortola, thinking that maybe this year we should try something different.

I found a really nice looking villa on Tortola. But the beaches don't look as nice, and the population is much higher than St. John. So would it be more like St. Thomas?

Haven't found any 'really nice looking' villas on St. Croix. It looks like its more a 'condo island'.

Would love to hear your thoughts, if you've explored this, or even ventured to these places. How do they compare to St. John?

We used to be very St. John-centric but "discovered" St. Croix in 2007 and have been returning each year - at least 2 visits and sometimes 3 or 4. We stay in villas and I am a villa junkie. If you post a link to a villa on STJ that you like I will post some links to similar properties on STX. Have stayed In quite a few and toured a lot more.

There are a number of condo communities on STX but there are some really great villas and the nice thing is that they are not built on top of each other.

Tortola is very nice, too. We have stayed at the Toa Toa House and also a villa community. (The name escapes me right at the moment)

If you are thinking Tortola, we like Arundel Villa very much. You're correct, though, as the beaches on Tortola are not as nice as STJ.
We also enjoyed the Villa "Beach Dreams" on Maho Bay in Virgin Gorda. We loved Shoal Bay Villas on Anguilla, Gurlands House Villa in Barbados and Happy Bay Villa on St Martin.
St John is our favorite.

Last year we did 2 days on St Thomas, 1 day on St John and 5 days in Tortola. If you stay on the West end it is similar to St John and much less populated than the Road town area where the cruise ships dock which I would avoid. Smugglers Cove felt very much like St. John and we enjoyed the beaches at Cane Garden Bay (Myette's was great beach bar/restaurant.) At the West end Marina you have shops and restaurants like St John. We had a great catamaran on the Kuralu - best day ever. We felt that the locals on Tortola were friendlier than on St. John. We stayed at Villa Sirenetta which was very nice. But I'll note, this year we are headed back to St. John.

Thanks for all of the great insight!

Here's a link to the STJ villa we've been enjoying each year: http://www.vrbo.com/253498

Here's a link to one on Tortola that has caught my eye: http://www.vrbo.com/303092

That area of Tortola has exposed beaches, undertow and gets red swim flags very frequently. Its a bit of a hike to the north shore beaches. If you surf you'll love it. Josiah's Bay has a good vibe. We prefer the area between Smugglers Cove and Brewers Bay. We enjoy Tortola, but it is physically quite large.

Another option we love is being on the beach at Guavaberry Spring Bay on Virgin Gorda. Awesome beach next to The Baths, reasonable prices.

Cheers, RickG

St Croix is wonderful...rain forest hikes and horseback riding, great diving, lovely beaches. I'd take it I've St John anytime and I have lived on St John. Tortola is nice, rugged but pretty. Enjoy!

We love St John and Tortola. We historically always stayed on St John until we discovered Jost Van Dyke and Tortola. I must admit we are probably still in our "honeymoon" phase with the BVI. I do miss the hiking to the secluded beaches that we used to do on St John, but in my head, I keep thinking that is because I have not found the paths on Tortola or Jost to the really "good" spots.

As Rick G said, we prefer the area between Smuggler and Brewers also. Plenty to do, marvelous sunsets, and lots and lots of places to stop for a cocktail and a view and/or a meal. I love that from the West End or CGB I can take a short boat ride on the ferry or with a local private water taxi and be on Jost. Actually that is the beauty of the entire BVI and USVI proximity to each other........being able to visit each of the unique places via ferry or boat.

We searched the St John and parts of the BVI for a villa, finally deciding a place on the East End of Jost met our needs. So for me the fun of "selecting the perfect" villa is over. (I must admit, that was half of the fun of planning our trips) Now it is on to making it ours and working a few more years so we can then hang out there for months at a time.

We visited St Croix in 2013. We did stay in a condo, but I looked at numerous villas. We met lots of nice, friendly people on St Croix. The beaches would have more locals than on St John.

here's a link to a thread about St Croix Vs St John

http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/v ... ZRO6vlViko

We too had the bug to try other islands,but always return to our favorite St. John.
If I had to pick a second favorite it would be Virgin Gorda. We stayed in Mahoe Bay in a villa called Open Deck. We loved it. Virgin Gorda has some great beaches, the island is different from one side to the other. Lots to explore.

If you want to try a different area, the out islands of the bahamas are truly beautiful.
we stayed on Staniel Cay and took a boat to explore some islands that were really only sand bars. Truly beautiful.

Next week we are returning to St. John. I am so excited and can hardly wait. It never gets old for me.

Have fun deciding and let us know what you decide!

ski2play, ya gotta have a boat to have those lovely secluded nekkid beaches. Ja, VG is our #2. We tend to hit STJ, VG and JVD (east end and Great Harbor) in a week on de boat, with some stops on the southern Drake for Norman and Cooper. DNS, down in 17 days for two weeks.

Cheers, RickG