The Big 3-0 in St. John, USVI

Hot tub views from Deja View Villa in St John US Virgin Islands — Cheers to my friends & family who traveled to St. John with me to celebrate! Hot tub views at the house!

Wow! So much has happened since my last blog post. I started a new job, went to France, continued learning to trust my gut, celebrated one of my best friends engagements where I re-connected and fell in love with a guy I met a year and a half ago in Croatia, been back and forth to Chicago, made some new connections and friends, got promoted at my company, ate at some amazing restaurants, AND the most recent highlight… I turned 30. In St. John. With my family and most of my best friends. It was all I could have asked for and an amazing way to kick off the next decade of my journey! So here are some details about our trip for anyone looking for an amazing vacation in the islands!

My 30th Birthday!

On my actual birthday, we hung out at the house all day enjoying the pool, the hot tub and the incredible views! Later we had a private chef (more details on who we used below) come in and make an amazing dinner of fish, mashed potatoes, salad and a chocolate torte. After dinner we put on some music and sang, danced and hung out on the pool deck under the stars. It was the best way to turn 30!

Cheers to the girls and this AH-MAZING view!

Shop my Tavik swimsuit here (also comes in black!)

Birthday Dinner prepared by our chef from St. John Catering!

lol – my birthday cake had my name spelled as Kortney…

My mom and my best friend, Eason! My dress is Misa from Uniquities | Prosecco Earrings are Allie Beads

Now on to the details of the trip….

Where to Stay – Deja View St John

This is my second trip to St. John, and this house was AMAZING. Honestly better than any pictures. The views, the layout of the house, the pool, the hot tub… I mean incredible! It sleeps 17 people, extremely comfortably. If you are interested, you can check out the house here. I recommend booking early for winter months because that’s their most popular season! I mostly have pictures of the views, not the actual house! 🙂

Sunset view from the deck of Deja View Villa in St. John

Beaches

As I mentioned in my first post on St. John, there are so many INCREDIBLE beaches. This year we went back to Maho Bay (my favorite), and they’ve added a cute little area where you can rent snorkel gear and paddle boards, buy drinks and hang out and listen to live music just off the beach. We also went back to Trunk Bay and Cinnamon Bay. A new beach we stopped by this year was Honeymoon bay where you have to actually take a golf cart to get to (it’s $10 round trip). Honeymoon has all the activity rentals (snorkels, paddle boards, floats, etc). This year snorkeling, we saw a couple of smaller sharks and sea turtles – my favorite!

Maho Bay

Shop: Swimsuit Top & Bottom | Similar Palm Tree Earrings | Sunglasses | Hat

Trunk Bay

Shop my swimsuit here in multiple colors! |Sunglasses are older Diff |
Eason’s green swimsuit here

Honeymoon Bay

Restaurants & Food

High Tide – Great for happy hours, lunch, and their Shrimp Cocktail is AMAZING! We went here almost every day for drinks because it’s right on the water in Cruz Bay.

The Longboard – Our group LOVED this restaurant. Everyone was requesting to go back here another night, but I wanted to try somewhere new (which we were all glad we did later). Longboard has great seafood, raw and cooked, and it’s such a cute open air atmosphere and all white and blue color scheme.

Cruz Bay Landing – I’m adding this for their fish tacos (my dad is obsessed) and their frozen drinks. I love the “Lime in da Coconut”. We ate here on the last day before our ferry went out.

La Tapa – This is underneath an Irish bar and kind of hidden in Cruz Bay. A friend of mine found it online. It was really delicious and great tapas and seafood pasta!

Private Chef Meals at our Villa – On my birthday and my friend’s birthday we had a private chef come in and cook dinner for everyone. I highly recommend this with big groups! It was so nice to not have to rush to get ready or clean up from cooking. We used St. John Catering, and I highly recommend them. We did the Homestyle Chef menu both times, and it was great! The fresh local catch and the shrimp were our entrees of choice.

Tropical outfits, coconut shrimp & cocktails at High Tide before dinner!

Catamaran Day Trip to Jost Van Dyke, BVI

We took a catamaran trip over to White Bay, Jost Van Dyke. It was a full day event with snorkeling, sailing, food and drinks! We did a group tour so there were other people on our trip because it was much more economical than a private tour. We booked our trip through the Westin there, and they have other day trip options as well like going to the Baths on Virgin Gorda, BVI.

Shop my black bikini here (really great price & lots of colors!)

White Bay Beach

White Bay on Jost Van Dyke is an amazing beach where a lot of catamarans, sailboats, and yachts sail up to to visit the bars. The most famous bar on this beach is Soggy Dollar Bar, deriving it’s name from people swimming onto shore from their boats with wet dollars. This was my second time here, and it’s always fun to stop into Soggy Dollar and grab a world famous painkiller cocktail, but my friends have grown to love their neighbors, Gertrude’s. Gertrudes is the brightly colored bar and restaurant where you can pour your own drinks for $10 each. Try at your own risk. 😉

Had to get behind the bar at Soggy Dollar!

Hiking in St. John

I love hiking in St. John. John D. Rockefeller owned most of the island and gave it the the government to preserve as a US National Park! That means there are tons of hiking trails to enjoy that lead you to beaches you cannot travel to by car! It’s one of my favorite parts about a St. John vacation. This trip, we took the Johnny Horn trail from the Emmaus Moravian Church in Coral bay to the Leinster Bay trail. This lead us to the Annaberg Sugar Mill. Find hiking trails and a map here!