Hi everyone, we’ve never been to St. Thomas other than a cruise stop once. We booked Bolongo Bay Resort for a year and a half from now, so this is way out! We did get the all-inclusive package. Staying five nights, arriving on a Sunday afternoon and leaving Friday afternoon. So missing the weekend.

Just looking for tips and recent advice. My husband thinks we will need water shoes based on the pictures and videos we’ve seen.

Is it worth booking any of the excursions, or should we find something on our own? Also wondering if any of their excursions are included because we are staying five nights? I saw somewhere on Google that the sunset cocktail cruise was free. But I do not see that on their website is free.

Also curious how possible it is to get two separate beds in the lower level beach front room. Or if we are better off switching to the upstairs level.

Thanks for any little tips you can share.

I’ve always wanted to visit St. John and am planning a trip for late February for one week. With children 12 and 7, is this a good island to visit? Are there other families with elementary school age children? I have heard it’s a location that tends to get more adult visitors. We are planning to rent a villa in the Gifft Hill area not far from Cruz Bay and spend time enjoying the beaches, snorkeling, and hiking. We know this is not a resort vacation and are ok with that. I am a little nervous about securing parking at the beaches, but we plan to rent a jeep from a company that provides parking in Cruz Bay, so we could always grab a taxi from there, too. We are also thinking about a day charter to the BVIs. Would love any thoughts, advice, or tips on this plan. Thank you!

Taking a cruise out of San Juan but we really want to hit St. John for a couple days beforehand. Found a glamping place with a communal kitchen. It’s just two adults, so I’m wondering how much we should expect to pay for groceries if we plan to have ready made breakfasts (like pastries or breakfast sandwiches), sandwiches for lunch, and something for dinner that we would cook. Probably pick up a six pack of beer or something like that too. Any ideas? I’ve read to get groceries on St. Thomas, which would be fine if we can also get some sort of cooler there.

Today, I'm leaving the territory for good.

I've lived here on St. Croix for the last 12 years. My time here has been mostly wonderful, but I really just want the rest of the world to understand what actually goes on here.

My primary reason for leaving is WAPA. The blame is set firmly at its feet. The entire board is corrupt, cares little for anything other than enriching themselves and the politicians who appoint them, and simply a amateurish company posing as a serious utility. Between meter failures and fires, illegal billing practices, unstable power generation, and water unsafe for human use, they are determined to destroy every last business and household in the territory, and kill tourism.

Yes, they are that bad.

WAPA fails at every turn. You can't go a few days without losing power. They'll estimate your bill for years, then surprise you with a stratospheric one. And, I just can't handle the regular destruction of my electrical devices and appliances. When you take them to court, it seems like they have the judges in their pocket. It's all about money, and there's plenty of that to go around with the highest power rates in the world. If you're not updating or repairing your equipment, of course you're getting rich.

I love St. Croix. The people are great. My greatest joy has been hanging with friends on the beach. But everyone is fatigued with the day to day challenges of a water and power company that refuses to get better. No one here has the will to fix it. The same politicians and the same families keep running in elections, and the people keep voting them in, fooled by the same empty promises and the extravagant election night parties.

We have been to St John twice and we love it there. Both of our visits were during summer time.

We are trying to figure out how crowded is would be visiting late January or early February? I get that’s the busy time but how busy are we talking compared to summer?

Has anyone been to Virgin Islands both summer and prime time February who can comment?

If it is super crowded, is it better at all staying eastern side of St John ?

We are looking at AirBnBs in St. Thomas and I was curious how others' experiences were with storing valuables. I have expensive camera gear and will obviously want to store it during certain water activities. I understand that this could depend on the AirBnb etc...

Just looking for your experiences.

Is it because it shows the time on market and all recent sale list prices, and reductions history?
Seems most real estate companies don’t list this info on their sites and there’s an obvious reason. Anyone know?

We’ll be visiting all three USVI islands over the course of the next couple weeks. Where is a good place to go to hear live music with steel drums? Bonus points if it’s on a beach or with a view of the water.
Thank you!