Aruba or St. Thomas?

[rr news]

We are trying to decide between Aruba and St. Thomas - for a week's vacation
in April. Any suggestions? We have two kids (14,16). We love to swim and
snorkel. Which has better value for food and shopping (lower prices?). Would
prefer it to be less commercialized but we don't want the kids to be bored.
Our hotel and air are paid for (travel points) so the hotel price is not a
factor. Thanks in advance.
Mark

[P.Conn]

Come to St. Thomas. There is a lot to do here. You can take ferries to St.
John, St. Croix (coming soon!) or the BVIs. How about the seaplane for a
quick trip to old San Juan? Many sightseeing/snorkeling/ diving
excursions, submarine tour off Buck Island, biking on Water Island... We
have beautiful beaches and sea life everywhere. The other day while going
to our office via dinghy we saw a dolphin and her baby (Splash & Squirt) in
the bay off Charlotte Amalie! Today I saw a turtle. In April there will
not be as many cruise ship passengers so downtown will be better to
negotiate. Plus you will be supporting the American travel industry.

Come on down!
Sheila
Paradise Connections Yacht Charters
St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands
www.paradiseconnections.com

"rr news" <nob...@juno.com> wrote in message
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[BCCruiser]

The kidz will be bored out of their sox in Aruba.

Bob

[rr news]

Forgot to mention that Cayman Is. is also an option. (They have a Marriott
there) but a friend said it was quite expensive...(?) Also want to be able
to walk to snorkeling and shopping from the hotel.

Mark

"BCCruiser" <cruise-h...@home.com> wrote in message
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[BCCruiser]

If you are on a bit of a budget, I think G. Cayman is extremely
expensive.

Bob

[Patrick J. Shea]

Going to St. Thomas is like getting the best of both worlds assuming you are
from the US. St. Thomas has all the flavor of a Carribean Island and all
the amenities of the U.S.
You can find places like K-Mart, Walmart, Pizza Hut, Subway, etc... on St.
Thomas. Plenty of great water sports, hotels and beaches. You can rent a
car inexpensively and tour the island. In addition, St. Thomas is more
mountainous and greener than the flat, semi-dry land of Aruba.

"rr news" <nob...@juno.com> wrote in message
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[GuyUSVI]

> St. Thomas has all the flavor of a Carribean Island and all
>the amenities of the U.S

Hi There,

Have to agree with you and vote for STT. Although Aruba is going to be the
least expensive, the USVI has a lot more (IMHO) to offer. To me, the wind on
Aruba can be too much....at times on the beach I felt like I was being
sandblasted....you don't get anything like that on STT...just nice, calm
breezes that help to cool you off.

Here are some other things that you might try as far as activities that kids
might like other than the obvious….i.e. swimming and snorkeling. My kids
enjoyed most of these.

Coral World is a bit on the pricey side, but still I think is well worth the
cost. The aquarium, underwater observatory, petting pond and paths through the
"jungle" are nice. Plus you can eat at the restaurant/snack bar there and go
use Coki beach which is right next door.

The Atlantis submarine is another rather pricey choice, but my kids absolutely
loved it…..and if anyone has never been on an actual submarine it is a pretty
unique experience.

Go to Fort Christian…..beside the views and educational exhibits…..it's a
great place to take some pictures…..go onto the roof and use the city, the
harbor or the territorial legislature building as backgrounds.

Of course, a partial day of shopping is good in either downtown or at
Havensite….I can't believe how they have expanded it. My kids wanted to go
to the Hard Rock Café and got souvenirs of course.

We also went over to Road Town on Tortola for a day and the kids really had a
good time with Pussers and the British pub in downtown as well as the Sunny
Caribe spice store.

Mountain Top was another place the kids liked with the shops and the great
views and the coin operated telescopes…..plus the road trip up there was an
experience in itself.

Drake's Seat is fun and another great photo opportunity….there is usually a
donkey nearby that you can take pictures with. There used to be a miniature
golf course near Eunice's/Sandra's/Gelnda's in Smith Bay.

Get some ice cream at Udder Delight right before you get to Magen's Bay and of
course spend a day at Magen's…..grab a pizza at the snack bar.

I hope this will give you some things to consider that the kids might enjoy.

Schultz

[CBBJ]

I would pick Aruba, by far. My aversion to St Thomas is exactly what you
consider as a plus, namely the proliferation of American institutions
like Wal-Mart, Pizza Hut and the like. Similar to a place like Cancun.
Take Miami Beach and put it in the Yucatan Peninsula and voila. If you
just can't live without Mickey D's, Burger King and the like, for a
week or two, you might as well go to Miami Beach or stay in the US.

The original poster stated that they "prefer it to be less
commercialized" and St Thomas is just that. Besides, though the Aruba
landscape may be a bit arid, the real beauty exists underwater and
the poster indicated that they love snorkeling. Aruba is one of the
top destinations in the world for scuba-diving, and so is its sister
island Bonaire. Besides, the locals in Aruba are perhaps the most
friendly of any Caribbean island I have visited. Most of them speak
4 languages, English, Dutch, Spanish and a local dialect Papamiento.
For day trips, Caracas Venezuela is just 15 miles away.

I could go on and on, but in short, I would take Aruba over St Thomas
any day.

[Go Fig]

In article <3C0289DC...@NOSPAMcup.hp.com>,
CBBJ <co...@NOSPAMcup.hp.com> wrote:

> I would pick Aruba, by far. My aversion to St Thomas is exactly what you
> consider as a plus, namely the proliferation of American institutions
> like Wal-Mart, Pizza Hut and the like. Similar to a place like Cancun.
> Take Miami Beach and put it in the Yucatan Peninsula and voila. If you
> just can't live without Mickey D's, Burger King and the like, for a
> week or two, you might as well go to Miami Beach or stay in the US.
>
> The original poster stated that they "prefer it to be less
> commercialized" and St Thomas is just that. Besides, though the Aruba
> landscape may be a bit arid, the real beauty exists underwater and
> the poster indicated that they love snorkeling. Aruba is one of the
> top destinations in the world for scuba-diving, and so is its sister
> island Bonaire.

Bonaire yes... Aruba is one of the most mediocre dive locations in the
Caribbean... its visibility is often very poor.

In SST, how hard is it to get away from Walmart anyway... in 45 minutes
you could be in St John... largely a National Park.

jay
Mon, Nov 26, 2001
mailto:go...@mac.com

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