Now that our spring break trip is in the rear-view mirror, it’s time for a little post-mortem analysis! I mean, I think I made it pretty clear from the recaps that we had an amazing time. There’s no question there.
But there are always pros and cons to everything. And, since we’ve done several other big “warm weather” trips, but in decidedly different places, I know a few people were interested to hear how this compared for us (to say, Costa Rica, or Hawaii).
Very quick summary: This trip included the U.S. Virgin Islands (not to be confused with the nearby British Virgin Islands). We ended up spending 3 nights on St. John, 5 nights on St. Thomas, and 3 nights on Water Island (technically part of St. Thomas). We flew from Madison -> Chicago, then Chicago direct to Charlotte Amalie (St. Thomas).
Let’s start with the good! I’m going to split this into 2 different posts.
THE PROS
1. It is BEAUTIFUL there. Gorgeous. Just gorgeous!
The beaches are absolutely stunning. And there are so many!! Definitely I’d say St. John takes the cake as being superior in beauty, though every beach we were at was amazing.
St. John is extra special because most of it is National Park, so it’s very “protected”. It has a more remote/ natural feel as a result, and as there’s not much infrastructure, there are just fewer people in general.
2. The blue water
I know the Virgin Islands are not the only place that has the Caribbean Sea, lol. But still, I have to mention this. The water is so clear and so blue. There’s really no comparison to the water anywhere in the Atlantic or Pacific. We of course saw beautiful beaches in Costa Rica and Hawaii, but the water in those places vs the Caribbean is like apples to oranges!
3. It’s English speaking. Also, as a U.S. territory, the currency is U.S. dollars, of course.
This is not something that is particularly important to us, but listing because there’s no denying that it makes things “easier” (for Americans, anyway). No language barrier would likely be considered a big perk for some people.
Oh, along the same lines, your regular car insurance is valid for rentals, and our cell phones worked- no need for e-sims or foreign plans. (Though service was admittedly pretty spotty sometimes!) And, no passport is needed for U.S. citizens.
4. Not hard to get to.
Compared to some smaller, more obscure Caribbean islands that don’t have many flights in, or very far away places (like Hawaii, for us!), St. Thomas is very accessible. A direct flight from Chicago in about ~5 hours. (Note: the only way to get to St. John is by ferry. There are no airports there.) That said, the driving/ transport situation on the island could feel a little challenging for some people. More on this in the cons post. 😉
5. It is safe.
We never once felt even remotely unsafe in any way. Unfortunately, this is not the case on many other Caribbean islands. There’s no need to “stick to your resort”, violent crime/ robbery seems to be a non-issue, there’s no worrying about driving into the wrong area… This is a very big perk!!
6. The hills
The islands are very hilly, which for me, creates a lot of the visual allure. Seeing the lights twinkling from homes up in the hills is so, so beautiful.
You get that additional layer of green, overlapping trees, often encircling the many bays. I LOVE THIS. Many places with beaches (like think Aruba) are just… long, flat beach, water + sand as far as your eye can see. Beautiful in its own way, of course, but also, kind of….”boring”? I much prefer the contrast in the Virgin Islands.
The hills also = many high up look out points!
7. The snorkeling!!
The snorkeling was so awesome! Tons of fish and other marine life, crystal clear water, turtles, reefs….Highlight spots for me were Maho Bay (specifically Maho Point), Hawksnest Beach and Trunk Bay on St. John; Cowpet Bay and Secret Harbour on St. Thomas, and Water Island for sea turtles!
8. Clean, sandy beaches + calm water
This kind of goes along with #2, but listing separate because it’s not just that beautiful blue water color that makes the beaches so good. Most of the beaches are just nice, clean sand. This is not the case in Costa Rica or Hawaii, where many (not all) of the beaches are rockier, have rough surf, or just darker water.
The water in the Virgin Islands is crystal clear with soft sand- barely even any shells! No seaweed floating around, no debris, etc. (at least not for us in March- I do think more seaweed may move in later in the season). It feels more like swimming in a giant pool!
It is generally very calm too (this may fall on the boys’ “con” list, actually- they like playing in waves). But for swimming and floating and snorkeling, this water is PERFECT.
9. There are nice options for other nearby adventures.
I liked the fact that we were able to split our time between St. John, St. Thomas and Water Island. Also, if we’d had had more time, we could have added on the British Virgin Islands too- Virgin Gorda + the Baths and Tortola are popular.
There are tons of boat trip options in the VI too- I REALLY enjoyed our beautiful sunset cruise. I would have liked to do a full or partial day snorkeling boat trip, too, but honestly there’s great snorkeling from the shore.
There aren’t generally as many excursions, activities or “must see tourist spots” on the islands as some other trips we’ve done (besides of course, BEACHES!). More on this in next post.
10. There are plenty of great restaurants!!
These are obviously touristy places, so not surprising, I guess. But I enjoyed the fact that we had a plethora of “our vibe” of restaurants to choose from. Eating out is, as you’ve noticed, a pretty big part of our travels. We really enjoy it!!
In Cruz Bay on St. John there are so many great places, many within walking distance of each other. (We liked the walkable little town of Cruz Bay, St. John a lot more than the town of Red Hook on St. Thomas.) We ate at Tap and Still, Lovango Rum Bar, the Windmill (go for the amazing views!!!), and some beachy places for lunch.
St. Thomas has restaurants all over, but as we were closest to Red Hook, we mostly ate around there. (Some places we ate: Duffy’s Love Shack! (fun), Island Time Pub (GREAT pizza), Iggie’s, Mafolie (-> INSANE views, make reservation for just before sunset), Agave (Mexican place), the Taphus in Charlotte Amalie, Sangria’s, among others).
On Water Island, you have exactly 2 choices: Dinghy’s Beach Bar and Grill, and Heidi’s Honeymoon Grill. 🙂 Fortunately, we had great food at both.
We found both big islands have a nice variety of more casual, tropical island-vibe or waterfront places + more upscale places available, so there’s really something for any style.
11. I LOVED LOVED LOVED everywhere we stayed.
I was so thrilled with how our lodging choices worked out. THE VIEWS were just amazing from all of them.
*Note: I usually feel a little funny getting too into prices/ costs, as I know what’s “normal” or “ a lot” or “a little” varies so much person to person. So much of this is also destination dependent as to what’s the average or available. BUT, I had some specific questions about this, so, what the heck, I will share.
On St. John, we stayed at this 3 bedroom/ 2 bath villa. The location was perfect (just a few minutes from the ferry dock and Cruz Bay), the villa was perfect, the views were perfect… Loved everything about it! 10/10 recommend.
Cost: $2566.25 for 4 nights ($641/night).
On St. Thomas, we stayed at this 2 bedroom/3 bath condo. The prime reason we picked this was for the awesome pool area (and hot tub- always a must for us!)! Plus, the convenient location near Red Hook, the fact that it’s beach front (many in St. Thomas are not), the multiple balconies, the 3 bathroom situation, and dozens of outstanding reviews.
Our local little beach at the resort:
The Virgin Islands are not really “big sprawling resort” places as much; all-inclusives aren’t really their thing here. More lodging tends to be boutique hotels or villas, though there are definitely some larger resorts, too. But overall, many rentals I looked at only had small plunge pools; since our other places didn’t have pools, I really wanted the boys to have a nice pool for part of the trip! Hence part of why I chose this place.
I actually love that many places are more private villas- to me it matches the vibe of the islands. Laid back, low key.
Our place was also not exactly a “luxury” resort, either- the complex is maybe a little bit dated- but we talked about this, and I honestly cannot think of any way in which a “fancier” place would have enhanced our trip experience in any way here. We truly had everything we needed, and then some. 🙂
This condo felt like the perfect happy medium- it had some amenities of a resort (tennis courts, 2 on-site restaurants, a pool bar), but the conveniences of a residence (3 bathrooms! Fully stocked kitchen, washer/dryer, etc.). Because many of the condos are privately owned, it was NOT VERY BUSY, even in the peak of spring break! This was amaaaaaazing. And the pool area is perfection. And the snorkeling was amazing from the beach!! (out to the left along the rocks)
The host of this condo, Genevieve, was also TOP NOTCH. As I mentioned before, she bailed us out and extended our stay when we got in a bind, and she was just so incredibly helpful and responsive. Seriously, the best.host.ever. (To be expected- she’s from Wisconsin!! 😜)
Cost: $4683 for 7 nights ($669/night)
And finally, our “bonus stay” (haha) on Water Island….3 bedrooms/ 2 baths, INSANE views, extremely private, huge outdoor spaces, fully stocked. This place was the best last-minute find ever. (I was laughing to myself- here I am, typically booking our lodging for trips like a year in advance… go figure that I ended up booking an incredible place just 1 week before our stay…..maybe that’s the secret, lol! Just book the night before you leave!! 😉 Just don’t double book. 😩).
The views are the best I’ve ever had. I’ve already talked about Water Island a lot, but in summary- it was such a fun, unique stay!! I wouldn’t say it’s a place most people would go stay for a super long time (it’s just really small!), but as an add-on like this, it was totally worth it. Would be the PERFECT place to just go get away from it all, too. I absolutely loved the vibe of this villa, in addition to the views.
Cost: $2077.50 for 3 nights ($692.50/ night)
11. The islands aren’t that big.
St. Thomas is definitely the biggest, but you can still drive pretty much anywhere on the island in under an hour. Traffic can be weird (more on that later), and the roads are not great, and there are some steep, almost scary hills, but I consider it a perk that the island’s not SO spread out that you have to be in the car constantly.
12. The weather (and water) are consistently great!
In some tropical places we’ve been, where it’s less humid, the water and evening air can actually feel a bit chilly sometimes. (I found this to be the case in Hawaii! NOT in Costa Rica. lol.) The ocean water was pretty brisk in Hawaii, too- and we went in June! I mean it wasn’t terrible, but it was not my definition of “super warm”. Therefore, I really didn’t swim much in Hawaii, whereas in the Virgin Islands, I was in the water constantly.
Even in the VI, the water was still refreshing at first, but it was very pleasant once in. Also, the air temperature range is very narrow- think, high of 80, low of 77.
Okay, well, that is a LONG LIST of pros. And this post is getting ridiculous, so I will stop here. Sorry…….
I am probably missing some things, too! If you’ve been to the Virgin Islands, fill in anything you loved that I’ve missed. 🙂
Stay tuned for a future post on the NEGATIVES!! 😉
Daily Gratitude:
I am grateful for digital photos. Gosh, do you remember the days of our film cameras with 24 pics/roll?! Whatever would I do now?! 😅😅
GRATEFUL KAE 