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St. Croix vs St. Thomas

Denver, Colorado
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8 posts
3 reviews
4 helpful votes
St. Croix vs St. Thomas
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I am looking to relocate to the US Virgin Islands for 4-6months. I am interested in which island people prefer. My boyfriend and myself are into surfing and love every kind of water sport. We are looking to just relax and enjoy the outdoors and are not really interested in the nightlife. Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Also if you know of any rentals please let me know!!

Thank You.

Michelle

Frederiksted, St...
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694 posts
1. Re: St. Croix vs St. Thomas
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Michelle, where would you rather spend your time? Downtown Houston or the hill country? That simple. St. Thomas is crowded, covered with tourists, terrible traffic, busy. St. Croix is much more relaxed, much bigger, open spaces, much less traffic congestion and in my opinion, much nicer people. I am sure you will get many opinions, but my analogy of Houston and the hill country sums it all up.

Denver, Colorado
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8 posts
3 reviews
4 helpful votes
2. Re: St. Croix vs St. Thomas
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Thank you for the analogy, that is perfect! Hill country all the way, thats why I live in Austin over Houston. One other question if you don't mind. What do you know about St. John? I know it is very small but do you think it would be a nice place to live if we are really just wanting a laid back place where we can jump to pretty much any island, especially the BVIs. Thanks again for the advice!

Frederiksted, St...
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694 posts
3. Re: St. Croix vs St. Thomas
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Each year I believe it's Money magazine or someone publishes a list of the most expensive place in the World to live or visit. Expect to see St. John on that list soon, close to the top.

South Hadley...
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9,108 posts
38 reviews
28 helpful votes
4. Re: St. Croix vs St. Thomas
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This is a never ending discussion, St. Thomas or St. Croix, hmmm............it just depends on what you prefer. Myself, I do not like St. Thomas, but some people love it. I love St. Croix.

St John is gorgeous, but extremely expensive. You can get good deals there though if you look around. There are also two places that are campgrounds. The Cinnamon Bay campgrounds that are right on the beach and the Maho Bay Eco Camps. Cinnamon Bay has a variety of accomodation from bare tent sites to cabins. Maho has tent/cabins and also more upscale studios. The area that Maho is in is really nice with two gorgeous beaches. I went there once for a week and never left even to go to town. There is a shuttle into town for $5. It stops at all the north shore beaches including cinnamon bay.

But, the thing about Maho is that they have a program where you can stay for free and do a bit of work, plus you get 40% off your food. The wesite is maho.org. It is not for everyone since the bathrooms are centrally located, but many people love it there.

St. John is a great location since it is close to St. Thomas if you want to go shopping and you can go to the BVI really easilly.

St Croix is more isolated than the other virgins, but a better choice, in my opinion than St. Thomas.

Lumberton, Texas
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951 posts
3 reviews
1 helpful vote
5. Re: St. Croix vs St. Thomas
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I'm from Texas,too, and Pilotboy's description is right on the mark.

Denver, Colorado
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8 posts
3 reviews
4 helpful votes
6. Re: St. Croix vs St. Thomas
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Thanks everyone! One other thing....Can you tell me how you would go about getting to somewhere like Tortola from St. Croix. St Croix definitely seems like more our style, but we are very interested in being able to travel to Tortola and Vista Gorda too. To get to those would we have to take a ferry back to St. Thomas and then on to the BVI? or is there are direct way from St. Croix?

Having trouble finding this info on the net, thanks!

Any suggestions on temporary housing on St Croix so we can look for a apt once we are there, since that seems to be the best way.

Washington DC...
Destination Expert
for St. Thomas
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3,361 posts
234 reviews
267 helpful votes
7. Re: St. Croix vs St. Thomas
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Sorry to disagree folks, but St. Thomas is NOTHING like Houston. I can't believe that analogy. I live in the "big city," too, so I know pretty much what a big city is and is not. And I LOVE St. Thomas. I've been going to the Virgins for more than 25 years and have always enjoyed trips to both St. Thomas and St. John. St. John, in my opinion, is one of the prettiest (if not the prettiest) island in the whole of the Caribbean. The people are friendly, too, and there is very little crime. Yes, it can be expensive. But it also has some of the cheapest places to stay in the Caribbean (Cinnamon Bay and Maho Bay campgrounds are gorgeous spots that some families come back to year after year).

And the added bonus of either St. Thomas or St. John is their very close proximity to the British Virgins -- Tortola, Virgin Gorda, etc. -- where you can easily take a day trip to any number of other islands and cays by ferry. In fact, on a clear day, you can head for Mountaintop on St. Thomas and see more than 20 islands and cays...beautiful spot. St. Thomas does have some traffic in Charlotte Amalie, especially on days when cruise ships arrive, but I've never had a problem with the traffic and, in fact, find that on cruise ship days you can get some really good deals in the downtown shops.

St. Croix is a lovely island, too. There are several excellent restaurants in Christiansted -- expensive, but worth it. And there are some pretty stretches of beach, but, after hopping around all over the Caribbean, I just wasn't impressed -- either with the best resort on the island (the Buccaneer) or the best snorkeling spot (Buck Island); we found both disappointing. Just my opinion.

If you're interested in moving, however, you might go to www.vimovingcenter.com. This site has excellent information for all three of the US Virgins, as well as individual stories told by people who have made the move. Be sure to read these stories -- some are humorous, some offer great tips, and others will motivate you one way or the other -- to move or stay put. Good luck!

Denver, Colorado
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8 posts
3 reviews
4 helpful votes
8. Re: St. Croix vs St. Thomas
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Hello Pilotboy, I was wondering if you could tell me since you live in St. Croix how easily it is to get to St. Thomas and the BVI from there. What is the means of transportation from St. Croix to St. Thomas?

South Hadley...
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9,108 posts
38 reviews
28 helpful votes
9. Re: St. Croix vs St. Thomas
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Hi Michelle,

You can take the seaplane http://www.seaborneairlines.com/ or the ferry. Sorry I do not have the link for the ferry. I think the seaplane is more reliable, but more expensive. Once in St. Thomas you have lots of ferry options to the BVI and St John or you can take the seaplane to Roadtown, Tortola.

Saffie

Midland, GA
Level Contributor
31 posts
19 reviews
180 helpful votes
10. Re: St. Croix vs St. Thomas
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Hubby and I have stayed on all three USVI's and our favorite is St Croix! It is a mix of the faster paced St Thomas as well as the slower paced St John.

We return to St Croix year after year and have only stayed a week on STJ due to it being a bit too slow and one year on STT due to it feeling too much like we were in Florida.

You could always ask at the yacht club if someone has a boat to take you to the BVI's - I am not sure if Captain Llewellyn still sails, but he did a few years back and told us of many trips he'd make to the BVI's.

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