SittingDuck

Planning June trip and trying to decide between St Croix and St Thomas. Any advise on which is best with kids? Also trying to decide on resort on beach or renting a villa that might be off the beach (which of course would be less $$). My concern is that a villa, while more spacious, would not offer the kids as much to do. Any feedback on these from experieces and any feedback on resorts or villas on these 2 islands? Thanks!

girlonthego

No experience here, but I have also looked into these two places as a family vacation. Look up information on the Buccaneer on St. Croix. This is a very family friendly resort. On St.Thomas, I was looking into the Marriott Frenchmen's Reef/Morning Star resort.

Knowing

We were in St Thomas with friends, no kids. We stayed at Wyndham Sugar Bay. In the month of June, you would find other kids there. Huge pool area with lots of chaise lounges and some umbrellas. They have self serve ice cream and pop, which is usually a plus with kids. They had different things for the kids, but I didn't pay a lot of attention. Maybe bird stuff? Anyway, take a look at it.

girlonthego

knowing: how did you like the Wyndam? Did you go the all inclusive route there? How was food and how was location? Thanks.

cdt

Overall I prefer St. Thomas (better beaches and shore snorkeling, plus easy access to St. John and BVI).

HOWEVER - I like the Buccaneer better than any resort on STT. It's a good place for families, but pricey.

One problem with STX is that if you stay "off-beach," there aren't that many good beaches to visit for the day.
On the other hand, the beaches (and the island) are less crowded on St. Croix.

SittingDuck

CDT..... thanks for the info...are you saying that if you do not stay at a resort on the beach that it is hard to get good beach access? If so....which island are you referring to? Thanks for clarifying.....

Knowing

girlonthego,
Yes, we did like the Wyndham and we did do the AI. The Iguana grill by the pool was great for lunch. Burgers, hot dogs, chicken sandwiches and potato chips. They also have a restaurant on that same level that you can eat in, provided you have footwear on. That one is a buffet and they have Caribbean foods as well as American. The Mangrove restaurant is a white linen tablecloth type of place. You can go to the salad bar on your own, assuring you will get what you want and then you order from the menu. Good chicken as well as other types of meats. WONDERFUL desserts. They will bring you wine from the bar or whatever else you are drinking and the bar is all top shelf. The location was good. The beach was inaccesible to anyone not staying there, so that was kind of nice. It's a 5 minute drive to Red Hook.

cdt

To clarify, I was speaking of St. Croix in terms of a lack of impressive beaches to visit for the day. Access isn't that much of a problem -in fact, I think non-guests can even visit the Buccaneer beaches - but the beaches just aren't as nice as St. Thomas or St. John.

Triskele

We stayed at the Wyndham as well, last August. We did the european plan because we wanted to be able to go out and eat where ever we wanted. Rented a car of course. Staff and beaches were great, only ate at the hotel when hurricane frances came thru and everything else was closed for half a day. We'll be down again at the end of June, visiting St. Thomas and St. Croix.

Amanda
Charlotte, NC

J62

After reading just about every review on tripadvisor, I decided to take my family to STT & stay in a beach front condo at Sapphire Beach. We booked crystal cove thru bestbeach. I'll be there in 2 weeks and will post a review upon return. The thing I like about STT is non-stop flight (AA) from JFK (using AA miles!)