We are planning a trip of about one month from Bonaire to the Leeward Islands / Virgin Islands (St. Maarten, Saba, St. Eustatius, St. Barth(elemy), Anguilla, St Thomas, St. John, St. Croix, St. Kitts, Nevis, Tortola, Antigua, a.s.o.)
Are there any BT'ers with experience on these islands, things to do or things NOT to do? Transportation in between the islands, That special Golden TIP, that makes this trip to the unforgettable ones, Islands we could better skip from the list, or islands we MUST have seen?
We like nature, culture, special food, I would say, we like everything special.....
Please make free some time to write down that special tip. I will make a trip report on BT about the trip.

Harrie Cox

FOXY"Scan't remember which island it is on....

Foxy's is on Jost Van Dyke. Boat trips to there are available from another of other places. No, I haven't actually been there.

Faith and I spent a week on St. John a little over a year ago. We enjoyed the time there. On St. John, go to Mongoose Junction, a nice little village of shops down near the waterfront. Also take a ranger-led hike somewhere in the park if you have time. The rangers invariably have interesting stories and insights.

Driving on these islands can be kind of, ummm, exciting. The hills on St. John go well over 1000 feet, but do so very close to shore. The roads go straight up the hills. Steering wheels are on the left, but you drive on the left too.

St. John is accessible only by boat (ok, maybe helicopter). Lots of ferries run between St. Thomas and St. John.

I have heard the crime level on St. Thomas is a problem, but have not spent any time there (other than going to and from the airport).

Do you plan to go diving on this trip?

I don't dive, but my partner does. She will not bring her own dive-gear, but try to hire it there, Does someone know if it is afforable?

We drove in many countries, including Malta, where approximately 150% of the drivers are drunk, (or something like that)

About the crime level, what do you think of Bonaire nowadays? See the different threads on BT. Much depends on your own behaviour and attendence.

Thanx for the tips

Harrie

Harrie, I've vacationed on Nevis x1 and St. Croix x2. A couple of things to consider:

Nevis: if you spend time there, look for accomodations low in elevation. The house we rented was quite high up on the mountain, and for much of the time we were bathed in a very wet fog, which we had not understood when reserving the house. Nevis is a peaked, tropical jungle type island, and the cloud that hangs around at the top of the peak seeps into everything up high on the mountain. Stay lower, it's a fabulous island but only so-so diving and snorkeling. If you go there, be sure to go to Sunshine's beach bar/restaurant, a few years ago it was close to the 4 Seasons property, on the beach. We did a day trip over to St Kitts: the old British fort there is a site to see, well worth the time. And the Carabelle batik production facilty was fascinating and beautiful grounds.

St. Croix - diving and snorkeling moderate to good. Terrific restaurants and shopping in Christiansted. 2 very nice golf courses, one at the Buccaneer and the other at Carambola Resort. Many nice sandy beaches; the best snorkeling I think was at Turner Hole on the southeast side of the island, I think the Divi St Croix is on that beach now. There is a true rain forest on the northwest end of the island, and be sure to stop at the Mt. Pelier Domino Club in the rain forest, a tavern/restuarant/club with the famous "beer drinking pigs."

Feel free to write with specific questions if you decide on either of these islands.

Harrie,

The US and British VI are spectacular places to visit!

I personally enjoy bareboat cruising in the Islands. It's a perfect way to see many of the different islands including St. Thomas, St. John, Tortola, Jost Van Dyke, etc. without leaving the comforts of "home". You can wake up in the morning, grab the bathing suit (or not) and just jump in! I've not spent a lot of time diving there (most outfitters offer rendevouz) because the snorkeling is so awesome.

If you would like some additional information about bareboating let me know. Don't worry if you don't have sailing experience, you can hire a captain and cook to do the work for you.

Places you must see, while you're there:
Road Town, Tortola: Pussers Rum
Sandy Cay, JVD: Cool snorkeling
The Baths, Virgin Gorda: Truly unique
Cane Garden Bay, Tortola: Jimmy sings about it...
Norman Island: Ledgendary "Treasure Island"...
St. John: Great national park

I think I could go on and on about the places to go. If you want more, I'll post them...

Also, say "howdy" to your neighbor for me.

-Stephen

Hi Harrie, Lucky you!
We've spent a good deal of time on Anguilla, the BEST beaches IMHO,( you can walk on white powder for miles and not see a soul) fabulous food, great people. Very quiet, just how we like it. Good snorkelling off Shoal Bay East, Haven't dived there but hear it's only so-so. A wonderful place to kick back and relax. We have often stayed in the villas at La Sirena, which were great and reasonably priced compared to some of the luxury resorts...though if you are splashing out, I hear very good things about several of the resorts!

Made a couple of day trips to St Maarten\St Martin. We prefer the French side to the Dutch side, cute little town Marigot to stroll around, had a great lunch at Grand Case (all the restaurants smelled fabulous!). It was fun driving to the "top" of the island, great views. Old fort to visit in Marigot, good views. Much busier than Anguilla.

St Barts, visited on another day trip, enjoyed the visit and the landing at the airport is worth going for in itself! Hairy roads, lovely villas perched on the hilltops, pretty views, good food!

Tortola, another couple of day trips when we were staying on Virgin Gorda...all the Virgins are so close, if you can get your hands on a boat you can see them all. Again worth the drive to the top of the island for the view. Can share plenty of info on Virgin Gorda, and a tip, if you plan to go to "The Baths" go as early as you can. At 8am we had the place to ourselves, walked through the rocks to the next beach, snorkelled back as the crowds arrived at 9:30!

Antigua...spent 3 days there and enjoyed Nelson's Dockyard and English Bay, it's a great island to visit if you like sailing, especially in Race Week. There were some truly impressive private yachts (the size of a city block) for us to ogle at when we were there. Other than that we didn't care for Antigua as much as some of the others, though any island is better than no island of course!

If you head up the Grenadines, we've visited a few of those too, just ask.

For getting from island to island you might check out LIAT; if they still do their "special" island hopping ticket, you might find it's worth looking at; it used to be quite reasonable if I recall. You could go to any island as long as you didn't backtrack.

Hope this helps; what a wonderful adventure you will have!
Jill

Hey Stephen, thanks for the "must do" list for the VI. We have a group of 4 couples with reservations for a bare boat charter in the BVI this August...

As I mentioned, I've been to St Croix, and also to Vieques (Spanish VI) but not to the BVI or other USVI. I think we are going to have quite an adventure!

Harrie.... if you are on Tortola, DEFINITELY go to Bomba's Surfside Shack.... it's on the west side. If you go during the full moom, they have all night "full moon" parties, they have a BBQ pit, lots of yummy drinks, and the bar itself is a marvel, it's made up of just junk. Old car hoods, that kind of thing. Fun fun fun. Yes I have been there.

Hey, Jill, did you by any chance stay at Cap Juluca on Anguilla? I've been seriously considering that as a trip and the brochures are just incredible.

I'm still wondering what a great medium this is, within 24 hours you have a lot of answers on your question.
We will evaluate the results, and will come back with more detailed questions.

What is Foxy's? (JVD) As far as we know now, there is one big party (extravaganza) a year, someone knows when?
On Anguila there must be some special Reggae-things, someone knows what and when?
What is a "bare boat"?
Stephen, please tell more,
The Grenadines will be a goal for the future.
Saba, the one-way-Island, can we be there +/-5 days? Without getting bored? How do you get there? Flying is supposed to be a heavy experience (very short landingstrip)?

Golden tips are still wellcome.

Harrie

"bare boat charter" means we are the captain and crew - no hired help. Or you can charter a boat & pay to have someone sail it for you and another person to do the cooking.

Planning your adventure will be so much fun!

We've stayed at the Ferryboat Inn in Anguilla the last couple of years in November and love it. FBI is near the Blowing Point harbor where you catch the ferry to St. Martin, St. Barts, etc. They have 6 self-catering apartments and a beach-house.

The beaches on Anguilla are wonderful. But, the diving isn't as good as Bonaire (we are free divers). The water is nowhere near as clear. But, we have found a couple of good sites. The people on Anguilla are very friendly. A good web site is Bob Green's Anguilla News.

It is a neat island that many people return to many times over the years. It is a relaxing island, not much in the way of night life, not much shopping. We started going to it when 'my toes' wanted some sand to walk in and Bonaire really doesn't do that well.

There are some very expensive restaurants, but there are local BBQs and other spots. It is considered an expensive island, but it hasn't been for us. The airfare is more (for us), but our trips are usually about the same ($ wise) as our trips to Bonaire. If you live on the east coast, flying to St. Martin can be fairly cheap from what I've read.

I think we enjoy Anguilla more than Bonaire, but the clear water on Bonaire keeps calling us back.

HTH - Bea

Kelly, we haven't stayed at the Cap, we like it even quieter than that, can you believe, but from everything I've ever heard from people, it's divine! We did visit the beach there, and it was calm and turquoise.
People have favourite rooms, locations etc. which they used to share on Auguilla talk before it was invaded by cyberthugs, I wonder if it ever restarted?
We love Anguilla, but as someone mentioned earlier, it's not a place to go specifically for the diving, more for being a beach bum! And that, you can do, and be, magnificently on Anguilla!
Jill

Harrie...we had a great time on Saba...We got there in one day...shuttled from St.Martin in small plane and landing strip is evem smaller...but even a "screamer like me" did it without a hitch....Not much to do on the island except dive and drink...(is there anything else?)Good leg workout because everything seems to be up or down hill....Nice rainforest, very quaint people....I'd go back.....

Harrie:

We did a stint on a sail baot up and down Sir Frances Drake channel. Stopped almost all the BVIs. Here is what we know:

Lots of beach bars. Buy the book "Bars of the BVIs" by Kevin Thrasher. It was my goal to get every page signed. Any way, dive the Rhone, it is the ship in the movie "The Deep". Dive Carvel Rock, which is off of St Johns. Very exciting dive. "The baths" are cool, but get there early in the day, otherwise they get crowded. Many, many places to go see. Sailing was very cool.

St. John is nice and quiet. We stayed in the camp ground. If you do the same, watchout for
donkeys at night. They will raid your camp and eat your food. Kinda like black bears in the north.

We also spent some time on Saba. Here is what we know:

Very short runway. I think it is 300m. You can hang your toes off either end of the runway looking down about 30m to the ocean. Flights do not always take off or land due to short runway and cross winds, so beware of connections. Sometimes days went by with no flights.

Very pretty island. All up and downa and around corners. Very narrow streets. Keep your hands and arms insdie the auto all times. And don't even think about renting a car and driving your self.

Hike the trail around the volcano peak. Stop by the swinging doors (saloon) in the bottom (A town).

The "Gate House" is a bed and breakfast type place, as are many other places. Very quite and nice.

Have fun

Dave

We also are fans of Anguilla and have stayed at Ferryboat Inn in the beach house our first trip and rented a private villa (www.18degreesnorth.com) our second trip. For more information on this island or many others try www.caribbean-on-line.com.

Steeeeeeve,

due to a mistake we didn't get your e-mail to me with us, please send it again, but then on BT, so we can pick it up on our trip.We are on Anguilla, at the moment...
PS.: The next isle will be St.Barth

Thanks for your help

Harrie & Monique

For the people who gave us advice for this trip: look at my trip-report in this subtopic, called: ""Visiting some Leeuward Islands".

Other people may also take a look of course.

Thanks for all the advises and tips...


Harrie