We are early 60's grandparents with only one granddaughter who turns 13 in March, and for her birthday we want to take her on a trip for her spring break from school in early April. By way of background, she lives in Ohio and we live in Massachusetts. She is an only child and our only grandchild. My husband has chronic pain, due to a back problem and a knee replacement that he has had numerous complications from, so he is slightly limited in mobility in terms of walking for long distances and sitting for long periods of time which makes a "go-go" vacation a challenge. Given these constraints, we would appreciate your recommendations for where to go for spring break with our granddaughter that would be fun and manageable for all of us. We want her to be entertained and yet not exhaust ourselves. We also want to spend some quality time with her and not compete with the typical spring break venues where she might be so into wanting to spend time with kids her age that there might be conflict of interest with spending time with us. Since she doesn't have a passport we were thinking of the US Virgin Islands. My husband and I love to snorkel and would like to introduce our granddaughter to it as well. Would appreciate recommendations of which island, where to stay (hotel, all-inclusive, condo, or ??), what to see and do. Thanks in advance for any help you can give us.
US Virgin Islands for Spring Break with 13-year old granddaughter?
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Ritz Carlton in St Thomas or one of the other marriott.com hotels like Frenchman's Reef based on budget for me best with teens more action shopping etc. St John will have familes nice more remote smaller Westin spg.com is nice if you elect to go there. virtualtourist.com good tips. aa.com or spirit.com cheapest flights down for me.
Have fun!
Ritz in St Thomas. Was just there in November.
It is fabulous. You can snorkle right off the hotel beach.
You can go pretty far out and it is not too deep. We saw a stingray and tons of fish.
The hotel can also arrange great snorkle trips to St. John.
Request a first floor as there are no elevators in the buildings and one close to pool/beach. They have a great spa too (for the back).
stay in a rental place with few or no steps (for husband) on St John.Less crowded that St T (which may be a good or bad thing for your granddaughter)
What is your budget /night for accommodation. The Ritz is EXPENSIVE (for me , anyway)
Your gd is lucky!!!
I agree with the other posts. If you can afford the ritz in st Thomas it should make you all happy. A friend of mine brought his dad who has limited mobility, despite the hilly & tropical appearance he moved around easily and loved the resort. I think your granddaughter will enjoy having other teens around even of she is spending every dinner with you. 13 year olds like to have other kids to watch even if they are strangers.
The ride from the airport to the hotel is long if there is traffic but you can stay on that end of the island for the whole trip and just visit charlotte Amalie on yourway to or from the airport. Take a boat from the resort to some beautiful snorkeling.
We have stayed on both St Thomas (Marriott) and St Johns (rentals) with our teen girls. They vastly preferred St Johns, but then they LOVE to snorkel and actually preferred the relative solitude, with the excepton of Trunk Bay, on St Johns. If I remember correctly, Maho Bay would be a great beach for your husband as you can step from your car right on to the beach...very little walking required.
St. Thomas and St. John are both beautiful and have wonderful beaches and great snorkeling. St. Thomas is bigger and more developed than St. John and is where the cruise ships dock.
On St. Thomas, your granddaughter might enjoy an outing to Coral World Ocean Park for a close up view of sea turtles, sharks, iguanas and other wildlife,although there are multiple levels and stairs that might be a challenge for your husband. Magen's Bay beach is what you picture when you think of a beautiful Caribbean beach. You might check with your hotel for directed kids activities that your granddaughter could enjoy with some of the other guests her age.
The last time I was in the U.S. Virgin islands I stayed in St. Croix. Four of us rented a condo at Sugar Beach Condominiums which were fully furnished, had a big balcony and beautiful ocean view. Our condo was right on the beach which also happens to be a great snorkeling spot with plenty of aquatic life.
We spent our day relaxing on the beach, kayaking and snorkeling. There are also great spots which are close to the condos for snorkeling as well; Cane Bay being our favorite!
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I'd go with St John. It's a beautiful island.
St Thomas didn't really do it for me (although I'm sure there are nice resorts there too).
Oops, sorry, I see this is an old post, topped by an advertiser.
People recommend St. John because they love it - and so do I - but it's about the last place I'd suggest for anyone with limited mobility.
For one thing, you have to drive to the beaches as there are very few waterfront places to stay. (Even the Westin - which is technically waterfront - has a rather poor beach.) Once at the beaches the parking is rough - especially during spring break (unless you get there at like 7:00 a.m.).
Both towns - but especially Cruz Bay - are a landmine for people with mobility issues - uneven roads and sidewalks, very limited places to walk without getting hit by a car, lots of stairs even in town. And don't even get me started about parking in town!
Also, there are very few rentals without stairs or hills, and God forbid anything happen to your rental car on one of the roads...
Oh yeah, the topping here is lame.