Customer Reviews

St. John Off The Beaten Track

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Used this book extensively during our family trip to St. John in March 2007. Best of the bunch for finding the best places to see. I was particularly pleased with the information on snorkling since the photos in this book are great and the directions on how to get to these places were flawless. I really liked Lameshur Bay and specifically Beehive Cove around the point. Highly recommended for its detail and information. St. John was awesome too! This book was worth every dollar spent.

Although I only went on one hike in St. John - the book described every possible hike in great detail. I wish I had time to do them all. Along with the hikes, Singer describes the beaches, snorkeling, and nature that you will encounter on your visit. The book also incorporated the history of St. John, which not only allowed me to impress my fellow travelers, but made me appreciate St. John's intriguing past. Very well written!

This book is packed with information. If you are going to be active - hiking, snorkling then this is the book for you. Read it before you go to plan your trip because there is too much to see in just a week.

We referenced this book throughout our trip. What a wonderful resource. We really enjoyed Dennis Beach. Lamesure was wonderful too. We got to swim with the Sea Turtles. Beautiful creatures. The island is a true gem.

This book is amazing! Packed with valuable information and incredible photos, it's the only book you'll need when visiting St. John. If you're planning a trip to St. John - BUY THIS BOOK!

I already own one St. John guide book and used it on my last visit. I thought it was good...this one is better! You will NOT regret this purchase.

You know the typical travel guide - airports, hotels and restaurants.
This one has everything else you want to know about St John - the missing guide, as it were.
I'm planning a trip and want to know what there is to do, and where.
This one gives me everything I need to know.
Which beaches are sand and which are shingle? This tells you.
Where are the hidden coves and how to you get there (trailheads, etc.)?
Which snorkeling beaches are best for beginners, and which have challenges for free-diving snorkelers?

The book is organized into sections - the national park (hikes and trails), beaches, snorkeling, places of interest. Geology and history too.
If you are looking for accommodations or dining you need one of the other books.
If you are looking for a reason to settle in a particular area (renting a villa, for instance), this is your book. It describes each bay and beach, letting you know whether an area is tropical forest or dry scrubland. It describes the severity of trails and tells you about alternatives. It explains 'guts' and other local features that are ignored by traditional guide books.

If you are going to St John you need this book. 'Nuff said.

We used this book every single day during our trip to St. John and carried it with us as we trekked around the island. Although the book goes into detail on the history of the island, we used it mostly to find beaches and hikes and to look up the different fish we saw while snorkeling. I did not find any other book or guide map that went into any comparable amount of detail.

Many of the beaches mentioned in this book are not near a road. You need to hike to them in order to get there. Don't let that discourage you! These were our favorite beaches. We did the easy 20-minute hike on the Lind Point Trail to Honeymoon Beach and were the only two people on it. Amazing.

The author also has a section on Best Snorkeling Beaches which is extremely helpful. Using his tips, we hiked to Waterlemon Cay, where we saw stingrays, giant sea turtles, too many fish to name and gorgeous sea coral.

I will say that at first I found the maps in the book very confusing. The best I can tell you is to wait until you get to St. John to try to figure out how to get anywhere. It is a small place, so getting around is easy, but it's easiest to have someone point it out to you once you're there. Google Maps just doesn't work in St. John.

This book does not really cover restaurants or bars, but St. John is so small that you are fine using Trip Advisor and asking the locals and fellow tourists.

St. John is absolutely gorgeous, so if you are planning a vacation I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

We purchased this book because we could not find any other book that was only for St. John. All the others only gave a few pages to St. John as one of the Virgin Islands. This was one of our best purchases for this trip! The directions to everywhere were perfect. The descriptions of each beach was accurate, so we knew if we needed water shoes for rocky beaches or just flip flops. There are places in here that we would never have found without it. We felt like we went to places that only locals knew about! For example, Kiddel Bay would've been impossible to find without the directions, and it was a real treasure! (But is does require 4-wheel drive!) The author also describes many snorkeling spots and indicates whether they are good for beginners or advanced snorkelers.....Really important for us since we were with our children.

This is a must-buy!

This book was an excellent guide of available trails throughout St.John. With the included history of places and people on the island it was a great read to experience St. John at its fullest!

My wife and I went to St John and used this book. It made our trip more efficient and complete. We learned about Maho in this book which is where we stayed. It has pristine landscape and has simple accommodations. Volkan Akkurt