My wife and I are planning a trip to the US Virgin Islands. We have three teenagers who will be with us. We want to find out what the best overall place to go is, place to stay, activities (kayaking, snorkeling, parasailing), location, view, beaches, etc.....We are currently looking at St. Thomas, but are not sure. Can anyone provide some overall guidance on where to go, where to stay, what to do, etc? Thanks.

With kids (teenagers), St. Thomas has a lot more to offer. It *Is* the hotspot....as hot as it gets though is fairly mild to the states. St. Thomas is pretty much like going to the states, with mcdonalds, kmarts, etc but it has a lot of island to offer also.

My husband and I are heading back down in May for our 2nd trip in 5 months, we simply fell in love. Snorkeling and scuba are aswesome down there. Food is expensive! If you get a place with a kitchen, hit the local fish market (if you like fish).

Our last trip was non-inclusive and for what we ended up spending on food and alcohol, really didn't make up for the $200 additional a day we would have paid for all inclusive.

you are more than welcome to email me with questions, I would be glad to help as I can

Trayc

trayc.foutz at g mail dot com

I found some great information @ www.triptravelguide.com Day Sails, Fishing Charters, and restaurants

We just returned from St. Thomas and stayed at the Marriot which we enjoyed very much it’s one of the best resorts on the island. I also had a very enjoyable island tour with www.viscenictours.com the tour was very informative and the tour operator was very friendly and also told us a lot of cool things and places to go also. We visited the most exciting sites on the island and the beaches there are the most beautiful in the world we went snorkeling at Coki Beach which is one of the most popular beaches on St. Thomas, with crystal clear water, white sand and beautiful reef where the fishes were eating from our hands.

I just joined up or I would have loved to help you with your plans to visit my "backyard". I have lived here ten years now, mostly on board my charter boat. If you want to have a fabulous vacation, all inclusive with personal guided tours and your own itinerary, consider a charteryacht. It's a whole lot more affordable than you think, when you consider the cost of hotels and food here. Try for early Summer to reduce the prices--the weather is still gorgeous here. You can snorkel a different reef every day, walk a different beach every day. It's just the most fabulous way to visit the whole island chain, US and BVI. Let me know if I can help down the road! Visit www.yachtchartersusvi.com for alot more information. Good luck!

[color=#] [/color] We are headed to St. John the first weekend in May to celebrate our son's 16th birthday. We have rented a villa and are planning to take almost all of our own food along for the week. Has anyone else done this? Any suggestions?

Hello, when you say you are bring almost all of your food along, does this mean cooking in the villa? How long are you planning to be in this area? As you might see, I do specialize in yachts in charter and could recommend a yachting portion of your visit here. And anything like that would include your food/beverages. So, give me some more details, and I might be able to help.

We have rented a villa and will be bringing our food with us, to cook meals at the villa. I understand groceries bought on the island are very expensive. Where do the locals buy their food for cooking? Do they ever go to St. Thomas to shop? Might it be any cheaper there?

Hello, we also rented a villa from vrbo.com (scroll down and click on US Virgin Islands to the left of the page.) We had a full kichen, spacious deck with view, a grill, 2 beach chairs and cooler all at the same cost per night as a small hotel room.
One thing I do want to warn all those thinking of bringing your own food, we also tried this last year but the airlines have strict rules on how many pounds your luggage can weigh, so we had to leave a lot of it there at the airport!
On St Thomas there's a K-Mart, and on St John there's the Starfish Market. Yes it's a bit pricey there, a 12-pack of soda will run you $4.99 and other food items are usually $2 more than in the states. But I highly recommend to just pack light boxed foods, and not go through the headache of having to unpack and leave behind your food at the airport!

There will be four of us going. We plan on taking two carry ons of frozen food, such as chicken breasts, a couple steaks, brauts, shredded cheese, butter, rolls, pork chops, hot dogs and fish, frozen vegtables, etc....of which I think we should be fine on weight. Since we are each allowed two pieces of checked luggage, I thought of filling two large suitcases with all other food, like snacks, cereal, bagels, instant oatmeal, rice, noodles, coffee, tea bags, etc. Since one packs rather light and casual to go to the Virgin Islands, we won't have to deal with dressier clothes and too many shoes, which can be weighty. If it were just the two of us going, my plan may be a bit more of a challenge, but between four carry ons and eight pieces of checked luggage, I should be able to pull this off.

The choice depends on what you want to do most. For beaches, snorkeling and hiking, I would suggest St. John. The beaches and snorkeling there are among the best in the world. There are plenty of restaurants and some shopping, but if you need more you could always take a day trip to St. Thomas.

...ron