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Virgin Island Vacation recommendations?

I am thinking about taking a vacation in the Virgin Islands next year. I am wondering which island would be best for hanging out at the beach, restaurants and bars. I prefer a bed and breakfast or home rental. Any recommendations? Thanks!

Public Comments

1. I don't know much about what hotels and stuff but i do know the St. Thomas is the place to go! I went on a cruise and we were only there for a day and i didn't want to leave. The have a lot of areas that are secluded and has little bars. But if your looking for more of a pubic places, there's a lot of those too. I also went snorkeling there. Its called Castaway Girl and you go to a shipwreck. It was AWSOME to see! There's also a lot of colorful fish to see there. The people running it know what their doing and they are fun! Hope this helped(:
2. St. John is beautiful and is mostly National Park, so it's not overrun with tourists. St. Thomas is a big cruise ship destination and there will likely be several ships in port on any given day [except maybe on the weekend], so there would be crowds to contend with in Charlotte Amalie. Don't know about St. Croix, but from what I've read, it's "iffy" in re safety for tourists. The British VI are also beautiful and may give you more options. The website VInow.com has lots of info on the USVI [and maybe British, too - can't remember]. The usual guidebooks would be helpful, as would their websites [Fodor's, Frommer's]. TripAdvisor.com has lists of hotels/B&B's/resorts/homes, with comments from past guests. HomeAway.com has lists of apartments and condos for rent. The National Park Service website will have info on St. John, also.
3. Why would you go to a place, where on average, two people are murdered a week, on a island 13 miles long and 5 miles wide. That place is a horrible 3rd world country. Read the local paper... a 14 year old tourist was killed this week because of gang violence at the most popular spot on the Island... Go to a state where the laws are enforced for ALL, not just some... like Hawaii ST. THOMAS — A quiet, somber midmorning burial ceremony Monday at Coki Point Cemetery turned into a scene of pandemonium and chaos when a gun battle between gang factions broke out. When the shooting stopped, an 18-year-old man was dead in the street, and a 14-year-old tourist vacationing with her family had been shot in the side while she was riding on a safari taxi. She later died from her injury
4. My family lives on Saint Croix and although all they have amusement wise is the casino. It is a nice place if you want to spend your vacation as a beach bum. The Palms Resort is right on Pelican Cove and it was my favorite beach to go to. Although they are a bit pricey you can get a little cabin type room that opens up right on the beach. Take a little snorkel gear and you can fish watch all day. The hotel has a little bar and restaurant right off the beach. They also have a pool in the event you get tired of the salt water and want to give your skin a break. There is a little boardwalk and a few bars in Christianstead but I didn't go to check it out. But if you are looking for a cheap place to stay that is close to the action you want to look there. My parents told me they don't go down there at night because of "shifty looking characters" whatever that means since I was raised in Philly I think most people are shifty looking lol. As for the other poster regarding violence... I say whatever! it is everywhere. I'm not going to let it ruin my chance to have a good time. Besides the biggest issue on St. Croix is mugging... presumably drunken tourists who stumble around. I went down for over a week and never visited the other islands since I was having so much fun relaxing I didn't feel the need to run around and make myself nuts. Although I will probably do a little island hopping on my next visit. Although my family are on the mellow side. They did say that St. Thomas is the island for the party people. So if that is what you are looking for then that may be the island for you. Oh also if the other islands are anything like St. Croix it empties out a bit in the summertime due to the heat. So you may want to go off summer season. I would also go to the islands official website and see when they are running festivals. They take their festivals VERY seriously down there so that will help to increase the party attitude.
5. We chartered a sailboat and I think that is the way to go. We sailed with a captain and a cook and got a taste of all the islands. The boat, the ports, the food, all you can drink, snorkel, dive, eat was included. We had enough privacy for it to be romantic and enough company when we wanted it for it to be fun. I think the Virgin Islands are all about the water - you have to get out on it! Check out The Baths at Virgin Gorda - awful name - really, really cool place to have an excursion and then a mostly private beach to play. I'm guessing you've never seen anything like this; these massive, massive boulders with caves to climb through in them that ends right on a private beach cove! I know I've never seen anything like it and I've traveled a good bit. I went in the month of July and hit several islands and loved it. We never got bored, or scared, and we were always on the water looking in until we wanted to go ashore. It was like being on our own little cruise ship with day excursions. The captain did warn us about pick pockets and the "safari jeep to town" went over a mountainous road with a driver who drove like a crazy person. Being on the edge like that at high rates of speed was not fun, so just be aware of how they drove us. They may not all drive like that, but ours did.
6. Jack of all, master of some is an asshole!!! Wherever u go there will be violence even in a state so i dont see his logic and St.Thomas is more than 13 miles long or whatever. A villa would be nice to rent its like a house with a jacuzzi and pool everything but u wont need those since u'll be on the beach and most of them have wonderfull views of the island. St.Thomas is definately the spot for hanging on the beach and has some of the best bars and restaurants. Some great Restaurants are Victors Hideout might be a little hard to find but the food is delicious, Shipwreck Tavern is a great place best burgers, also green house nice restaurant, fat turtle is nice. Some great beaches are Magens bay beach and lindberg bay beach. Saints, Jaguars, and club 33 degrees are great night time spots. Lindberg beach is nice if you wanna jetski