[Joekerr]

If so, I was reading some mixed reviews on safety there...some just say use common sense, others seem to suggest they hate white people.

I'm leaning more towards its "use common sense", but as I'd be taking my wife here (vacation - 10 days), I'd like to get some feedback if anyone's been - especially if they took their wife or g/f (or was a woman for those limited members on this board of that gender )

But then I hear things like don't go walking late at night (particularly the back streets - ok, that's a given, but what about walking back from a restaurant or something)?

Dunno - and the British Virgin Islands are extremely pricey!!!

[infinitekidM2C]

I've been there with the wife...everyone seemed very nice...but i was on a cruise ship and didn't stick around after dark..but even if i did, they are small islands, seemed like more family atmosphere, like everyone knew each other..to some extent

[JayKay335i]

Depends on the island IMHO.

[Tondtar]

I would ask Chuck Norris.

[gun6slinger9]

I also went as a cruise, they seemed pretty safe. I think as long as you dont do anything stupid you should be fine.

[infinitekidM2C]

Don't touch another's rum punch..that's vital

[TiAg335i]

^^

I've been there longer than one night. Stayed a week in St. John's US VI....it seemed very safe in the hotel area...the central areas with the restaurants and shopping are the only places you might encounter danger. For example, one homeless guy was talking shit to us about how he was gonna kick my ass but we just ignored him. We also got stopped by the USVI police for some sort of weird checkpoint where they check rented scooters for proper documentation. To me, it seemed more like they just wanted to harass innocent tourists.

The point is though you can easily avoid most of these areas. St John has some of the most unspoiled, naturally beautiful beaches in the world where no one will bother you.

I would never walk alone anywhere in urban areas on any USVI - you are asking for trouble. Get a scooter or jeep instead. They have pretty nice jeep rentals there. I would recommend staying at the BVI if possible.

[Joekerr]

Hmm....avoid restaurant/mall area, it doesn't sound very great.

I was thinking St. Croix, not St. Thomas. I heard St. Thomas has deteriorated with respect to the crime rate.

[TiAg335i]

Originally Posted by Joekerr

Hmm....avoid restaurant/mall area, it doesn't sound very great.

I was thinking St. Croix, not St. Thomas. I heard St. Thomas has deteriorated with respect to the crime rate.

The only time I felt endangered was at night...during the day there are more than enough tourists around you to buffer you from any hooligans.

Stay away from St. Thomas...it's the industrial part of the USVI and quite frankly it looked beat up from when I was there.

I don't think I've ever been to St. Croix but it should be the same as St. John. If you do anything in the USVI, GO SCUBA DIVING. One of the best times I've had in my life.

[Negotiator]

I've been. Since then, they have officially changed their name to Just Islands.

[lib]

I was there in August and as long as you don't do anything incredibly stupid you'll be fine. The only dangerous things I ran into were while snorkeling.

If you go to the US islands, I would definitely vote for St John. Less people. Less tourists. No cruise ships.

The British islands all seem like great places to escape but I only visited them briefly and didn't spend any significant time there.

The first 2 pictures are from St John. The 3rd is from Tortola, BVI. The last is from Sandy Spit, BVI.

Edit:
TiAg335i nails the safety issue. You'll see a lot of poverty on the islands if you're near civilization. As long as you use the same common sense you would in any other place that places poverty and wealth in close proximity you will be fine.

Thankfully the great thing about these islands is how easy it is to escape civilization.

[Schm]

Use common sense. . . I have been to Aruba and the US VI. . both were great, I highly recommend Aruba, although it is much more developed than I thought. Both were great, and like said above, use common sense, don't walk into dark alleyways at night, and always have a phone or someway to contact emergency services.

[KingOfJericho]

Take a look at Turks & Caicos as well. I have been to Antigua twice, Dominica, St.Thomas, St. John, and the nicest island(s) by a long shot was Turks & Caicos. I went the week of Thanksgiving (flew back on turkey day) and it was almost empty. Not sure about Canada but they have a daily direct flight from NYC and they use the dollar and speak English. I felt EXTREMELY safe there.

Cabo San Lucas was the most uncomfortable vacation I've been on. I felt unsafe almost every time I stepped foot off the resort and I've traveled pretty extensively. I struggle to find a single redeeming quality about CSL as a vacation destination.

[Feyd]

Originally Posted by KingOfJericho

Cabo San Lucas was the most uncomfortable vacation I've been on. I felt unsafe almost every time I stepped foot off the resort and I've traveled pretty extensively. I struggle to find a single redeeming quality about CSL as a vacation destination.

Truth.


We went because it was only a 2hr flight from LA... but in hindsight, we should have just stayed on the plane a couple extra hours and gone somewhere else.

[TiAg335i]

St. John is absolutely stunning...though some of the beaches are not swimmer friendly, as there are TONS of sea urchins, jagged rocks in the shallower waters...but Trunk Bay was amazing.



What could be more pristine than this? There is also great snorkeling by that little island in the left-middle of the pic. Water is about 5-10ft deep I'd say.

[TwinTurboXI]

Very nice place and relatively safe... Nobody's out to get you but if they see easy prey they will.

[CIGARGUY]

Just left St Croix on Saturday. Honestly, it's mostly made up of people from the states who got sick of the rate race and moved there. Very friendly, very outgoing. We interacted with many of the "born and raised" locals too. Very polite people. Very gracious and welcoming. I did notice that they don't go out of their way to speak to you, but are happy to talk if spoken to. It's a beautiful place with lots of hidden places that many of the locals don't even experience and some don't even know about. I wouldn't hesitate to go there and felt completely safe even for my wife to go out alone. Puerto Rico is also nice, but doesn't have that "away from it all" feel that St Croix does. Most of St Croix is still mostly undeveloped. St Thomas does nothing for me. It's just like being in a city in the states but with pudgier people asking you to buy their junk. We got none of that in St Croix.

I guess our 3 favorite islands, in no certain order, would be St Maarten, St Lucia, and St Croix.

[Joekerr]

We've been to St. Lucia for our honeymoon, absolutely loved it! We looked into St. Maarten, but couldn't find reasonable accomodations - another time I suppose.

So in a completely different turn of events, we ditched the idea of St. Croix and just booked last night to go to Curacao for 11 days at the end of December. Curacao looks amazing, seems quite safe, and seems to have an interesting culture. We're looking forward to it!

On a side note, I'm surprised at how much the travel sites (expedia, hotels.ca, etc) make off of you when you book. We were able to save about $900 over the 11 days on our flights and hotel by booking direct with the related airline instead of going through Expedia or other sites. Fair warning for everyone else - make sure you check the direct booking route too!

Thanks for the responses everyone!

[MTV]

Been to the virgin islands, had an amazing time.

Was on a cruise ship the whole time with the fam