St.John Eco vs. Island Tour

[nana0605]

Which excursion? St. John Eco Tour or St. John Island Tour while we are docked in St. Thomas?

Mariner Jan 21

[JRoeT]

Hello, Nana!

 

My husband and I have done both. They are actually quite different.

 

The island tour is an open-air safari bus, and drives you around the island, stopping at a few points of interest. Cinnamon Bay camp ground was the most memorable. It was a good tour for us, as it was our first time to St. John, and we got to see some different things on the island - a more comprehensive overview of sites.

 

The Eco hike, in my opinion, was more fun and unique, though. We did this one on our second trip. It's about a 1.5 mile hike if memory serves. Very fun, interesting. The National Park guide gives you info along the way on plants and animals that you see. It was quite hot on the day we did this, and the hike brought us down onto Honeymoon Beach. The swimming was so refreshing after the sweaty hike - one of the most memorable sensations I've had on vacation! The beach itself is only accessible via hike or via the private resort of Caneel Bay, so it is very unspoiled and there were very few people around. It was heaven!

 

The Eco hike tour also gives you a peek at Caneel Bay, the exclusive priovate resort. The National Park Service has an agreement witht he resort, so you are able to tour its grounds, which I found exciting, as I had heard a lot about the resort. After teh grounds tour, we taxied back to Cruz Bay, where we had about 45 minutes of free time to browse the shops before the ferry back.

 

If you enjoy active things, I'd pick the Eco Hike.

 

Both are great, though!