From: joec@fid.morgan.com (Joe Collins)
Subject: report: Caneel Bay, USVI
Organization: None
Date: Fri, 18 Dec 1992 20:04:56 GMT

Well we are back from Caneel Bay, a resort on the northwest coast
of St. John, USVI. Overall - it was wonderful.

Details:
We left from Newark Airport 12/9 (13degrees F when we left) on a
9am flight and flew directly to St. Thomas airport. We walked over
to Caneel Bays reception area at the airport and they took it from there.
They took our luggage from us and placed it on a taxi. We then hopped
on that taxi and it took us to the harbor at Charlotte Amalie. There
we boarded their boat for the 30minute ride to their Caneel Bay dock 
at St John. They offered us complimentary drinks on the boat (Fruit drinks 
and a tasty rum-based concoction).

We were in the water at 3:30pm Atlantic Standard Time.
We left Caneel Bay on 12/15 at 10:30pm (AST) and flew home later
that day.

AST is one hour later than EST.

OUR ROOM:
We asked for room 111 but it was occupied so they gave us 113, a better
room, somewhat more private. These two rooms are ground floor at Hawksnest
Bay, a secluded beach that faces north east. 

The room is a large studio. The front wall is all screens (with shades
for privacy). The back wall is mostly glass (with some screens), again
with shades. About 20 steps out the back door through the sea grape trees 
puts you in the water. The view is great- St Mary's point and Tortola are
in plain view. Its been said this location (HawksNest) is the prettiest
of their 7 beaches.

The room has a refrigerator, some lights, chairs, a small table. 
The bathroom area is of 3 parts; Shower/Toilet, double sink area and
a large closet (where the room safe is located).

The room does NOT have a TV, radio or phone - thus very peaceful and
quiet. It is NOT air-conditioned but just has a fan but this was
not a problem since we had the trade winds to give us a nice steady
breeze.

GROUNDS:
Simply beautiful, manicured. Many exotic plants and trees. They have
lighted walkways and also a shuttle bus (small and simple) that can
be used to travel around the property (to restaurants, beaches, etc).
It is about 170 acres in size and just 170 rooms so there is plenty
of trees and open space.
We didn't see very many mongooses - these are large rodents that are
friendly and look for handouts of food. There were many small lizards
around. We also saw a huge beehive in one tree and termite nests 
in some other trees.

BEACHES:
Beaches are the main attraction of the this resort. We stayed and swam 
at Hawksnest - just too easy to get to. This is shallow for 10 ft or 
so (1-2ft) and then drops to 4 feet and gradually deepens to 50' and more.
The waves were minimal, if at all the first few days but picked up to 1' high 
as a storm passed through the area. Snorkeling was quite good - I observed 
many sea turtles (2-3' across), some rays, 3-4 good size Great Barracudas 
(some 4' and more) and innumerable smaller fish, by the millions, of all 
shapes, sizes and colors. I also spotted a 6' nurse shark.
[We were there 5 years ago and snorkeling was somewhat better, octopus,
lobster, moray eels back then.]

Caneel bay also offers rafts so you can lazily float away on the water.
We did some of this - very relaxing...

The snorkeling, rafts are all complimentary, as are sailboards,
kayaks and sunfish sailboats.

FOOD:
The resort offers a variety of meal plans. The FULL plan costs $80 per
person per day. The day starts with Dinner and ends at lunch the next
day. Ala Carte is what we chose and this saved us $200-$300 over the
whole week.
Food was very good and with a good selection all around.
TIP: From 7am to 8am, they have a complimentary breakfast, with coffee,
      juice, coffee and danish.
     From 4pm-5pm, they offer an afternoon tea, with iced tea, hot
      tea and biscuits, again complimentary
     On Monday from 6pm-7pm, they have the Managers reception where they
      have free drinks and various munchies, all complimentary.
     Sunday brunch is a good deal with wide variety of food. Cost was
      $27 per person.
     Monday night grand buffet is also very good with a tremendous variety
      of food of all types. Cost $50 per person.
The Turtle bay restaurant is somewhat more expensive than the others if
you are paying ala carte - be forewarned. Other choices are the SugarMill
and the Caneel Bay Restaurant. All three resaurants have nice views.
I think they cost out the Food at $47 for dinner, 18 for breakfast and
25 for lunch (but mostly for bookkeeping purposes). If paying ala carte,
you simple pay for what you order. Tips are extra and we tended to tip
15-17% for full service food and 10-15% for buffets. Alcoholic
drinks are extra but soft drinks are free, by and large. All breakfasts
include a complimentary summary of the NY Times with your breakfast (an 8 
page fax from the NY Times).

OTHER:
We went to Tortola for a day - very hot which made it uncomfortable.
But if you go, be sure to go in the Sunny Caribee shop in RoadTown. A
cute shop with exotic teas, spices and so forth.

Caneel Bay provides free trips to St Thomas if you wish to shop or
simply tour. They also provide a bottle of rum and various other
items, also complimentary (pocket flashlights, an unmbrella, various
shampoos, bug repellent, etc). Caneel also has nightly movies for
those who wish to watch them. They also have nightly music that you
can simply go and watch or listen to - always easygoing music that is
regional in nature, i.e. steel drums, etc - again all complimentary.
Caneel bay pays for all transportation to and from the airport, i.e.
the boats, the taxis etc, as needed. They will take your luggage to the
airport when you go and just drop you off in town to go shopping. You
meet up with your luggage later at the airport.

They have a gift shop on premises that some guidebooks say are expensive-
we don't think so and did comparison shopping and found the gift shop
to be actually cheaper than shopping elsewhere on the island.

We went to Cruz Bay (major town on St John) to see it. Its unique
and folksy and somwhat rundown. The word third-world comes to mind.

Caneel Bay offers complimentary Tennis clinics at their tennis courts 
and also has a good size freshwater pool - we didn't use these facilities.
Use of the tennis courts is free.

The Caneel bay help is super, all friendly and very eager to be helpful.  
They employ about 200 people in various capacities...4 people met us when we 
arrived and 7 people waved good bye when we left.

The resort itself is pricey but you get a lot for your money so we feel it
nets out cheaper than staying at DisneyWorld at one of their better
hotels. We paid $385/night plus food for our room and all the complimentary
stuff. I would cost out the complimentary stuff (if you use it all everyday)
at around $100 per day (movies, teas, boat trips, snorkeling, pocket
lights, nightmusic, bugrepellent, kayaks, sailing, tennis, etc) assuming 
there are two of you at the resort. The beach itself was simply beautiful!

Since this resort is pricey but also serene and bucolic, you get an unusual
group of people there. As examples, we saw Jack Nicholson of film fame (but
didn't bother him). We heard Meryl Streep was there but didn't see her.
Alan Alda and Mel Gibson are to arrive Monday and usually stay for a few
weeks. Walter Mondale and Geraldine Ferraro have also frequented the place.

SHOPPING:
Little to none in the resort itself. The major shopping is in Charlotte
Amalie, the main city in the area. There are both good and bad values so 
shop carefully....liquor is CHEAP, jewelry is somewhat cheap while china
seemed expensive. There is no tax and limited duty taxes. READ about the
shopping before you so and know your prices before you buy.
There is PLENTY of FREE info on shopping and touring - its available
in the airport and most stores, just ask for the yellow weekly flyer
and also the island specific maps - FREE.

TAXIS:
Agree on the price before you ride - all prices are fixed and published
in the yellow flyer and posted in each cab. Tips are included in the price.

DRIVING:
We didn't rent this time. If you do, keep valuables out of view, i.e. put
them in the trunk. Drive on the LEFT.

WEATHER:
Mostly sunny but we did have a bit too much rain to suit me. Bring books
for the rainy days or go sight-see. Temperatures were between 75 and 90
every day. Breezes were from the east and they say that is usually the case.

SCENERY:
Great Views:
 St. John-
  We didn't do this but go to the top of the island and take pictures.
  Go also to Trunk bay, Cinnamon Bay and Maho bay (all on north side
   of the island and very pretty.
 St. Thomas-
  Magens Bay (north side of the island) is said to be one of the prettiest
   in the world. View it up close or go to MountainTop and look down on it.
  The harbor at Charlottle Amalie is also VERY pretty, especially with
   2-3 large cruise ships visiting.
 Tortola-
  Again, go to the top of the mountains and take pictures. Stunning!


CURRENCY:
The American dollar and travelers checks work fine. Most places honor
charge cards as well. This is also true for Tortola (a British island).

IDENTIFICATION:
Bring a current passport - you need it for Tortola and you will likely
need it coming back to the mainland - you need to clear through customs
before you board the plane. Passports can take 3 months to get so do it
now.


Hope that helps....

Joe
joec@morgan.com





-- 
+-----------------------------------------------------+
| Joe Collins;  joec@morgan.com;  Usual Disclaimers...|
+-----------------------------------------------------+
|"I believe that the law was made for man and not man |
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