WSJ Trip Report 1/28-2/4/12

Westin St. John (WSJ) trip report – 1/28-2/4/12

Saturday, 1/28/12 - Travel day

My husband and I, both in our mid-40’s, traveled with another couple to St. John for a week at the Westin St. John resort. It was our second trip to St. John and the Westin villas. My husband and friends are avid snorkelers; me, not so much. We’re all tennis aficionados – we both play and spectate.
After a 3:00am wake-up to make our 6am flight out of Dayton, we ultimately arrived on St. Thomas 12 hours later. I’d worn layers in anticipation of the temperature change, so I just had to take off my jacket and I was good to go. Otherwise, I advise packing a change of clothes within easy reach if you’re traveling in the winter, so that you can change once you arrive. (Hint: the restroom in the baggage retrieve area is very small and crowded. Just around the corner in the arrivals is a second set of bathrooms, which are much larger, nicer, and less crowded.)

My friend, Don, and I made a quick trip to the on-site duty free store to stock up on liquor for our week. Prices for liquor are very cheap compared to the States, and the staff are pros at boxing everything up for transportation – either to the islands or back home.

Luggage was retrieved and dragged over to the Westin counter without spilling our banana daiquiris. Check-in was seamless. We weren’t allowed to check in our heavy box of liquor, so we had to haul that around ourselves.
Since we’d made arrangements to take the Westin ferry ($120pp), we were ushered outside to a Westin taxi for the short ride to Crown Bay Marina. This is the serviceable end of St. Thomas, so don’t let this first impression of the Virgin Islands negatively color your opinion. It gets better!

We missed the 3:30pm ferry, but it was great timing for a bite to eat at Tickles, right there at the marina. Tickles is a moderately priced bar/restaurant (~$10 for a soup/sandwich and fries) with decent food. The island pale ales went down smoothly, and we clinked our glasses for the first of many times.

After lunch, we stocked up on some things we’d need before morning at the market next to the restaurant, such as eggs, bagels and cream cheese, orange juice, bread, 6-packs of beer and soda, and a few bags of chips. Total: $80. If you’ve never been to St. John before, get used to sticker shock. They don’t price anything under $4 at the tourist-frequented grocery stores. Examples: 8 oz of cream cheese: $4.20; 6-pack of bagels: $4.80. Salad dressing: $7.20. This is one of the many reasons why I haul a lot of food with me. More on that later.

At 5:10, it was time to board. We were one of the first few people to board, so we were lucky enough to grab a spot on top, which is open air. Everyone else had to sit below, in a cheerless, dirty, paint-chipped cabin which affords very little breeze or view. The staff was attentive and helpful, and the captain fun and engaging, but the boat itself was embarrassing and Westin should be ashamed to be associated with it. If you’re going to charge 1000% (yes, I’m serious; the public ferry is $6 each way) more than a public ferry, you should offer something nicer….than a public ferry!

However, being up top, we were treated to a spectacular view and really enjoyed the ferry ride. The Caribbean Sea was beautiful, and we saw the first of a dozen or so rainbows. Good omen! Upon arrival at the Westin Dock, which is located on the hotel grounds, we queued up for Rum punches and to get our room key. They’ve got this process down! After that, an “iguana shuttle” (a golf cart with extended seating) driver drove us up to our room in the Bay Vista section, which is up a very steep hill from the resort. He escorted us to our room and showed us around.

A valet met us in our room with our luggage within an hour. We were assigned room 2634, and I was pleasantly surprised that we’d been given a loft 2-bedroom instead of the regular 2-bedroom, which is what I was expecting. Lofts are very spacious – almost too much room for 2 couples! The first floor has a full bathroom and shower, the washer/dryers, a full kitchen (except no stove), a living room, and a lanai. Upstairs there is a common area with a work desk, and low table and chairs, which would be great for games with the family. On either side is a bedroom. The master bedroom has a huge living area with fold-out couch, mini-fridge, tv, and enough room for several cots, should you need them. Beyond that is the bedroom with its Heavenly King bed, a tv, and plenty of storage for clothes. (Note: The safe in the closet is wide enough to accommodate a 17” laptop.) Beyond the bedroom is a huge bathroom with his/her vanity, Heavenly tub, a glass-enclosed shower, and toilet.

The other bedroom has two double beds, and a smaller bathroom with a shower. There is more than adequate space to comfortably sleep 8 if you use the two pull-out couches.

It was dark by the time we unpacked, so my husband and I settled in while the other couple went for a dip in the hot tub. We all turned in early because we planned to get up before dawn to watch the Australian Open men’s finals, which was being televised live beginning at 3:00am EST.

Sunday, 1/29/12 - Australian Open finals & Maho Bay snorkeling

It was really hard, but we crawled out of bed at 3:30am and turned on the tv, only to realize that St. John is an hour ahead of EST. 3am EST=4am Caribbean time. Duh. We’d gotten up an hour too early! So we made breakfast and killed time for a half hour waiting for the match to start.
Finally, the championship match between Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nada started and we saw Rafa win the first set before stumbling back to bed, knowing from experience that it wouldn’t be over for awhile. And we were correct because when we woke up 2 hours later, it was a few games away from a 2-2 tie! The match ended up lasting nearly 6 hours long – the longest Australian Open, and Grand Slam, final in history. Bravo!

Because of tennis, we got a late start for our first snorkeling day. The men headed down around 11am to O’Connor car rental to pick up our 4 wheel drive rental, which I’d reserved for a week, to the tune of $87/day.
(Everything’s expensive on St. John. Except the liquor!) My friend, Sue, and I prepped sandwiches for a picnic lunch, which we packed into the soft-sided coolers that we brought, along with a few ice-packs. Then we headed to the pool to exchange our beach card for beach towels. We were ready to venture out!

The last time we were on St. John, the only nearby beach that we didn’t hit was Maho Bay, so this was the first beach we hit. It was beautiful -- all north end beaches are -- and offers plenty of shade. The water is an incredible turquoise and blue, and there were plenty of sailboats which helped make it picture perfect. We parked on the north end, away from the campground, and found plenty of room to sprawl.

The sea called to the snorkelers and soon they were knee deep in water, spitting into their masks. I joined them for a bit, but came in after a half hour or so. Snorkeling from the beach is very easy here when the surf is calm. St. John is an excellent place for novice snorkelers because entry and exit from the beach is so easy. You just wade in and put on your flippers and mask at your leisure. No sudden drop-offs and having to wait out big waves like Hawaii. And the water is so clear and beautiful! We saw an array of fish, coral of all sorts, and a few turtles. Tim brought up one of the biggest starfish I’ve ever seen.

We ate our lunch at our leisure. I love that the National Park is so lax by allowing visitors to bring their own food and drink, even beer. (Just no drunk driving, of course, which sounds very reasonable to me.)

After a few hours of snorkeling, we headed back into town to stock up on groceries. We usually go to the Starfish market, which is just outside the main tourist area in Cruz Bay, on the way back to the Westin. There’s a liquor store in the same complex, if you need to stock up. There’s another grocery store, just across from the Westin entrance, which reportedly has nice fresh produce. So we’ll probably try that one next time. We stocked up what food we couldn’t or didn’t bring with us , such as potatoes, beer, soda, lemonade, chips, etc. But I was really glad that we went to the trouble of packing a lot of food. It was especially discouraging to pay such high rates after seeing the cashier charge the man in front of us less than $5 for a cart full of items. Guess it pays to be a friend.

Back at the villa, we hailed an iguana to haul our groceries back to our room. For some reason, the shuttle drivers don’t routinely make their way through the parking lot, which serves as the only parking lot for Bay Vista guests. This would be a nice touch, especially since many times we come home loaded down with snorkeling equipment or groceries.
After unpacking, the men headed off to start the grills for our first home-cooked dinner – ribeyes, baked potatoes with butter and bacon bits, and a salad with ranch dressing. Mmm mmm.

After dinner, we began our first round of Euchre on the (geographically speaking) Caribbean plate. The girls CRUSHED the boys! Yippee!

Monday, January 30, 2012 - Fishing with Swashbucklin’ Tours (St. Thomas) and hot tubbing $125pp + $45 transportation + $110 tip

I booked this tour based on TripAdvisor recommendations. I’m always a bit hesitant to use TA, because many of the recommendations seem canned (e.g. obviously plants from the owner/operator). But how could I pass up an opportunity for my husband to learn to spearfish?

We took the 7am ferry over to St. Thomas. We were the only guests on the boat at this hour, and they had to radio over to someone to come and check us in. They kept asking if we were headed over for shopping. At 7am. Seriously? Eventually, I learned that the correct answer was, “Yes.” It was a slightly overcast day and we were treated to rainbows on the ride over. Luckily, we packed rain jackets.

Arrived at Red Hook within 15 minutes, which was a surprise because the trip to Crown Bay takes nearly 45 minutes. We called Captain Rick, who came and fetched us right away, ½ hour earlier than expected. Excellent customer service.

I’d arranged to have Captain Rick picked us up with his Jeep for an extra $45 (round-trip). Well worth the price because we didn’t know the island. First we stopped at the “Food Center” (seriously, this is what it was called), which was, at last!, a reasonably priced food market. We picked up lunch items -- chips, beer, Italian sausages, buns, cole slaw and pasta salad. The sausages were our “Plan B” because we fully planned on catching our lunch.  Captain Rick provided a cooler and ice (along with ice and soda) so that you can bring food, if you want.

After the market, we stopped at two scenic overlooks, one that overlooked the touristy part of the island (not familiar enough with St. Thomas to know what it’s called), and one that overlooked Megan’s Bay, which is a beautiful bay and popular cruise ship destination.

Next we headed to the fishing community where Captain Rick docks his boat, the Sea Weasel. Such an appropriate name! It was literally a boat with wooden planks for seats. Not exactly a luxury vessel, but it served its purpose.

Here’s the review I submitted to TripAdvisor:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUser...cklin_Tours-St_Thomas_U_S_Virgin_Islands.html

Rick dropped us off at a local watering hole, across from the Red Hook Ferry, where we enjoyed some libations. Then back to Red Hook to await our 7:30pm ferry back to the Westin. (If you sit in the waiting area, they’ll come in and call out for Westin guests. You just have to show them your ferry pass. I tell you this because no one gives instructions on what to do.) Or, just take the public ferry for $6pp.

After returning from our fishing trip, we stopped at the hot tub for a nice soak, then back to the villa for Round 2 of Girls v. Boys Euchre. Girls win again!

Tuesday, January 31, 2012 – Pool day, tennis, and euchre

We’d had enough time on the water the day before, so on Tuesday we opted to just lounge around the pool. Well, some of us lounged. The other one of us, who will remain nameless, swam, played tennis, lifted weights in the workout room (sans shoes before he was kicked out), then sat for exactly 12 minutes.

The main pool is beautiful, and we never had difficulty finding four chairs together. The water was pretty nippy at first, but fine once you got over the shock. There were lots of East Coasters who were there for a business. By the time we arrived, the kids were ready for their naps! We had a late lunch round the pool , which was pricey ( $17 cheeseburger, anyone?) – but you couldn’t beat the location. And the sweet potato fries were awesome.

After lunch, we changed into our tennis clothes and hit the courts for tennis, round 1. I’m sorry to report that the lighting on the courts was pretty dismal. There were 7 courts, IIRC, and not one of them had all 6 lights functioning. We picked the one that was the least dark. We played couples and it was a close two sets. To be honest, I’m not even sure who won. But it was fun.

We returned to the villa for a late dinner of cheeseburgers and Boys v. Girls in Euchre, round 3. Girls win again! That’s 3 in a row!

Wednesday, February 1, 2012 – Trunk Bay and tennis in the rain

The snorkelers were getting itchy to stare at fish, but we got a late start and arrived at Trunk Bay at 11am. We snared the last parking spot in the limited lot (yippee!) and plunked down the $4pp entry fee. Tim rented a chair for me (a mere $7 + $25 deposit), so I sat and read my book/did puzzles while they snorkeled. It was the prettiest day yet on St. John, with blue skies, sun and a high around 80. Perfect!

Around 3ish, we stopped by the snack bar for some Painkillers and a round of wings (recon mission to check out the competition) and fries. Dee-lish. Tim bought Trunk Bay t-shirts for the girls.

Afterward, we stopped at StarFish for a few items (e.g. mangoes to make salsa for our fish) and another round of liquor.

When we got home, we hit the courts, this time mixing up the couples. Don’s tennis game wasn’t on, to put it kindly, because his liver was working overtime. It rained on and off but the surface (turf and sand) wasn’t slippery, so we played on, stopping only when the rain came down hard. After losing two sets to Sue and Tim, we switched to boys vs girls. Don conveniently sobered up long enough to beat us in a close set.

After tennis, the boys went off to grill a portion of our fish catch. Dinner: Fresh fish, mango salso, salad, and the last of our baked taters. Mmm mmm.
Gosh, we ate a lot.

I’m sorry to report that the girls luck in Euchre finally ran out.

Thursday, February 2, 2012 – Salt Pond Bay and Skinny Legs

On Thursday, we packed a cooler and headed off to the Coral Bay side of the island. When we visited Salt Pond Bay on our prior trip, it was practically deserted. Well, I’m sad to report that it’s been discovered and plenty crowded. We found a spot to park along the street and headed down to the bay.

The water was really calm here, and I snorkeled an hour or so without getting seasick. Yippee. Tim & I swam over to the far end first, then swam across the bay to the other end. Saw lots of turtles, angelfish, yellow-finned snapper, and a barracuda.

Out in the distance is a small island, Booby Island (I kid you not) that called to Tim. He swam out to it, which he reported was way farther than he should have gone, but after seeing a shark, he finned his way back to sanity. Sigh. Our friends spent most of the day out in the water, returning only to take Tim out to a rocky area they’d discovered. It’s pretty hot on this side of the island, and shade is hard to come by, so if you have an umbrella, bring it. I finally camped our stuff to the shade patch made by the park sign. Warning: lots of thorns here,which will go right through your shoe.

We’d all worked up a good appetite by now, back up the hill we went to find the famous “Skinny Legs” bar/restaurant. Suzi made a memorable change to her dry clothes in the back of the car. Skinny Legs is famous for their cheeseburgers, but I ended up getting a chili dog and a mango libation. After dinner, I browsed through the little on-site shops, where I bought Tim a “Caribbean Slacker” t-shirt. A singer/guitarist had just started when we were ready to leave, and I regretted that we couldn’t stay and listen to her. But it was getting dark and we didn’t want to be driving on those mountainous roads in the dark.

Once home, we played Euchre while listening to Don whine that he didn’t get any dinner (We ate at Skinny Legs at 5pm, but had not eaten lunch yet, so he was convinced that he was deprived of food. Where does he put it all?) After some scavenging, he downed the last of the tuna fish. Shwew!

Boys win again in Euchre. Girls 3, Boys 2

Friday, February 3, 2012 – Bad Kitty ($125pp + $30 customs + $60 tip + cost of food)

Our last day on St. John. Boo! Today, I scheduled the 2nd of our planned excursions, a trip to the British Virgin Islands on the “Bad Kitty.” This was one activity highly recommended by TUG2 members. It was an early day -- we had to be at Margarita Phils at 8:30am so that they could do their paperwork. At 9am, we finally boarded the boat, along with 23 of our closest friends. They offered an okay breakfast, juice and fruit, I think. Don got a little green around the gills on the boat ride over, but I insisted he take a Dramamine and he perked up as the day went on.

The Bad Kitty was a catamaran, but it was mainly enclosed, with very limited outdoor seating. That was a major bummer because one group monopolized the upper deck most of the trip. Our group was stuck inside with no view at all of the gorgeous scenery.

Our first stop after a long boat ride was to the island of Virgin Gorda, which is part of the British Virgin Islands. (We’d filled out the paperwork ahead of time, so entry was seamless.) A taxi took all 27 passengers to the top of The Baths, which is one of the coolest place I’ve ever been to.

On the taxi ride over, the staff informed everyone that we’d be hiking down “a mile or so” to the bottom, and that this would involve climbing up rope ladders, crawling on our hands and knees and getting wet. And if that didn’t sound like fun, we could stay up top and enjoy the “resort,” which I believe was a restaurant with a pool. Huh? You tell us that NOW? Luckily, the four of us were in decent shape (ha!), but I felt bad for the guests who stayed behind, because, hands down, The Baths was the highlight of the trip.

The hike down was no problem, even with bare feet. Before too long, we had reached the bottom. I don’t know what cataclysmic activity happened on Earth to create it, but The Baths is incredible -- massive boulders strewn all over the beach, including some that are in knee-deep water. We made our way through the trail, and stopped a few times to take pictures. Sadly, we were hurried along the entire time to keep up with their hectic itinerary.
We ended up at Devil’s Bay, which is a very beautiful beach. This would be a great place to stop and swim and have lunch, if you had the time. We stopped just long enough to take a dip and to jump off one of the huge boulders, with assistance from the staff. Then we were herded back to make the trek back up to the taxi.

Our next stop was at a snorkeling spot. It wasn’t the Indians or the Caves, as advertised, because Captain John deemed that the weather in those places was too rough. Said that the week prior, his staff had to literally go into lifesaving mode to pull people out of the water, so he chose a spot that wasn’t as rough. Unfortunately, while it may have been calmer, it wasn’t a great snorkeling spot. We were in the water less than an hour before we were called back in.

Next up was lunch at Cooper Island, which is a private island that has an open-air restaurant right off their beach. We’d pre-ordered lunch on the Bad Kitty, so it wasn’t too long before our lunches arrived. We chatted with a nice couple, whose names I’ve forgotten. Sue and I got the Mahi wrap. Don got curry soup and some chicken wrap that also contained tons of curry. Forget was Tim got. All was reasonably priced. The island looks like a great place to stay with friends. It’s very secluded, and a great spot for island hopping because there are islands every direction you look.

Our final stop was at White Bay, home of the Soggy Dollar. The bar itself was extremely busy after our onslaught, but the bartender worked his butt off to get our Painkillers delivered as quickly as possible. After we sat on the beach chairs and people watched. It was our last full day, and we were intent on enjoying the last bit of sunshine. Once again, we weren’t settled in long before we were shepherded back onto the boat. The captain said that if we didn’t make it back to dock by 3:30, we’d be delayed another hour due to a public ferry, so he made a beeline back to St. John.

Luckily, Don and Sue got a spot up top on the way back, and took some pictures. After a brief trip through Customs House, we hailed a taxi back to Westin St. John.

Sue and I stopped at the front desk on the way back and inquired about our return ferry. They’d had us slated to return on the 1:45pm shuttle for our 3:50pm flight. The lady frowned and reported that this would not work. Unfortunately, our only other option was the 11am shuttle. Not very convenient, but at least we’d make our plane!

At dinner, we tried to polish off the rest of the food, then Sue and I packed while the boys sat on the couch and heckled us. Exhausted, we all hit the sheets early.

Here's my TA review of the Bad Kitty:
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUser...itty-Cruz_Bay_St_John_U_S_Virgin_Islands.html

Saturday, February 4, 2012 – Check-out day

We all got up early and had breakfast before finishing up the packing. We cleaned out the fridge, etc. while the returned the rental car, which was a minor debacle. Even though they hadn’t picked up the car until 11am the week prior, O’Connor still expected the car back at 8am. The lady was reportedly very surly, but said that she’d waive the extra fee since she was in such a good mood. Ooookay. Then they had Tim sign a form saying he’d filled up the gas tank. Trouble is, they’d forgotten to do this. Oops. Surprisingly, to date we haven’t seen a charge for filling up the tank, which was ½ full.

We set our luggage out by 9:30am, as per instructions, and were out of our villa by 10am. Then we made our way down to the pool to sit around until the ferry departed at 11am. Unfortunately, we realized too late that the line was queuing up, so we missed our chance to sit up top. To the dungeon we went!

Made it to Crown Bay, and looked longingly at Tickles, where we would have loved to have lunch. But the rules require you to get your luggage at the airport, so we were kind of stuck. We checked our luggage at Delta, then headed to the VERY LONG TSA/Customs line. It took us over an hour to get through, so plan accordingly. We had a mediocre lunch in the airport restaurant, which was extremely busy, and played a quick game of Euchre to kill time. The boys won, the beasts.

Our flight left on time, and we arrived back in Dayton after a two hour layover in Atlanta, at around 11pm.

Once again, we thoroughly enjoyed St. John. If you have a chance to visit, I'd recommend it.

Wonderful trip report Lisa! Makes me long for the island ...

PS. I love Euchre too .... Must be an Ohio thing 'cuz I can rarely find others who know how to play!

Thanks for the great review! I hope the courts have lights before we (hopefully) go next year. We played in the wind and sprinkles at WKORV this week. More on that later, if I get around to writing about it.

Thanks

I love to read trip reports...always learn something new!

Thanks for being so detailed.