Tuesday, November 12, 2013

2013 Oct. St. Thomas 9 day vacation to the island!

We had arrived in southern Florida on the 24th and spent the first few nights at Angie and Josh's.  They also went to St. Thomas.  


Oct. 29, 2013:  travel day

Oct. 30, 2013:  Elysian Resort and snorkeling Cowpet Bay 

Oct. 31, Halloween:  Charlotte Amalie; Bluebeard Beach Resort; Bolongo Bay; snorkeling

Nov. 1, 2013:  Sapphire and Cowpet Bay snorkeling

Nov. 2, 2013   Secret Harbor and Bluebeard's Beach snorkeling

Nov. 3, 2013--Sunday:  St. John's snorkel Trunk Bay and Hawksnest Bay

Nov. 4, Monday:  Megan's Bay; Mountain Top; Smith's Bay snorkeling

Nov. 5, 2013--Tuesday: Kids fly home; Cowpet Bay; Bluebeard's Resort; snorkel

Nov. 6, 2013--Wed.: Bluebeard's,  Sapphire snorkel

Nov. 7, 2013--Thursday: snorkel Cowpet; fly home


We certainly had some frustrating moments during this vacation.  But all in all, I still had a great time.  Loved the beaches and the snorkeling.   Loved our Wyndham accommodations.  Loved sharing it with family.  Hopefully we'll get to do it again someday and it'll be sunny and calm everyday!

22 comments:

  1. Wow! We have been going to the USVI for 13 years! We have timeshare at Bluebeards Castle and Maegans Point.I love to snorkel and have been to many of the places you went! Looking forward to checking out Cowpet and Smiths Bay. Your pictures are wonderful and love you trip blog. My cannon died last year and picked up the Olympus too. What settings did you use? Your pictures are amazing and make me long to be there again!

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    1. Thanks! We go to Kauai like you go to USVI. It was nice to have a land based vacation in the Caribbean for a change---although I didn't give up Kauai, going there in Jan. For the underwater pictures, I just set the Olympus to the underwater setting. Many of the above water photos were taken with my Canon 60D dslr. Don't forget to check out Bluebeard's Beach for snorkeling, too!

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  2. Thank you so much for your comments and photos! They are so very helpful. I just booked our 15th wedding anniversary trip for Elysian in Sept. 2014! I'm sure a week won't be long enough! -Cathi

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    1. Congratulations! I'm sure you're going to love it. I just booked a trip there for my son and daughter in law for Aug. 2014.

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  3. Just inherited an RCI prime Membership from my father passing, Going to The USVI for our 30th wedding anniversary, or would like to anyway, we've been to Hawaii for our honeymoon and we live in Florida now. We'd really like to get away as the last 9 years have been kind of rough with my dad's failing health and my back issues.
    I was told by an online friend that the Elysian was the place to go if your going to the USVI for the first time? does that sound about right? I don't know how this condo vacation club thing works either, but I heard RCI is quite helpful to new even existing customers? Any pointers would be greatly appreciated, we're thinking on going either Feb or March of 2014, even though our anniversary isn't until Oct. Thanks so much.

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    1. I'm not sure how the RCI prime membership works, we just have RCI for exchanges. Feb. and March are pretty busy times for the Caribbean, so you may have to see what you can get and go from there. If the Elysian is available to you, I'd highly recommend it. If you can get a parlor studio, I'd highly recommend that, too. If they list them by studio but not double, king, or parlor---look for capacity 2 with a full kitchen, that would be the parlor. Good luck!

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  4. Really enjoyed your blog. I'm from Iowa and we are heading there for 12 days in Feb/March. We usually do all inclusive so this will be a change. Thinking of doing a day charter to the BVI. have you tried that?

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  5. REally wanted to go to Virgin Gorda, but we just didn't find the time. Amazing how quickly 9 days can go!

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  6. I very enjoyed your blog. The pictures and details of your trip are wonderful; I feel as if I was there vacationing with you. Thanks for sharing!

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    1. Excellent blog, I agree it felt like we were there. Great Job!!

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  7. I am a worldmark member and I believe I read your vacation blog from Hawaii also. I have to tell you,I soooo enjoy reading them!!!! I wish I could go on vacation with you! Thank you for posting such great photos and comments. It brightens my day. When I can't go on vacation, I live vicariously through others!

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    1. Maybe you caught my live blog on Kauai in Jan. 2014?

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  8. We thoroughly enjoyed your great journal! All the photos were amazing! We have been snorkeling for years and don't have an underwater camera…what is wrong with us!! LOL We're getting one before our trip to St. Thomas! Thanks for convincing us we're making the right decision!! We were originally thinking Puerto Rico…..but so many more snorkel options in the Virgin Islands!

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    1. I don't think you'll be disappointed with St. Thomas. Loved the snorkeling there---and the warm water!

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  9. What would you say the average depth your pictures were taken was?

    I'm currently planning a vacation to St. Thomas + St. John that will involve a lot of snorkeling but I'm going with someone who's not experienced at all.

    Thanks for the amazing blog post. This has tons of specific information I was looking for!

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    1. We normally snorkel along the coast line, so we're usually in pretty shallow water. Sometimes around the points it'll get deeper, but snorkel pictures turn out better in shallow water, so we usually don't venture too far from shallower water.

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  10. Loved your post!! I am going to the Elysian resort in September for my honeymoon & will definitely be checking out some of the spots you talked about!

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    1. Congratulations! I'm sure you 2 will have a wonderful time there.

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  11. Thanks for a great blog with ~really~ good info. Lots of helpful things to know!! My husband and I were given a week at The Elysian from my parents for our 10 year anniversary. We're headed there in October 2015 and were planning on ~not~ renting a car. We're great walkers and runners and don't mind taking the time to do that to get around...but would you recommend getting a car? If we chose not to, we've heard there are a number of taxis around...is this the case? Any suggestions?

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    1. That's a tough question to answer. You would definitely need to take a taxi to the resort which would probably be as much as a few days car rental fare, but if you get nervous driving on the other side of the road, it might be worth it. On the other hand, there aren't many sidewalks either, so it could be dangerous walking or running on the road. If you just plan to go between the Elysian and Red Hook (with the Ritz and Secret Beach also being on the road to the Elysian, which wasn't too crowded), then you would probably be ok without a car. You may even get as far as Sapphire, but I wouldn't try walking or running farther than that.

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  12. Thanks so much for your fantastic information! I just reserved 9 days in January 2017 at the Elysian, we do have to switch rooms but after reading your blog I think it will be worth it. We have a studio parlor for 1 week and then switch to a Studio King. My husband wanted to know is the currency the same and he is not an avid snorkeler so is there much else that you would recommend doing. I love to snorkel and wish we shared that interest, but he does not swim! How do I find out schedule and fees for the ferry to St. John?

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    1. yes, they use the US dollar. There are lots of water "toys" for rent there----kayaks, boards, etc. but if he doesn't swim, those might not be a good idea. Does he like photography or reading---the many beaches are great for that. Red Hook is close for bar hopping. He can even catch a game on tv in the restaurant on property. Hike over to the Ritz down the street from the Elysian and check out their bar. Check out Margeritaville. I imagine the resort would have the schedule and fees for the ferry. It's close to the Elysian.

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