Re: St Croix Redux
Hey IV......my husband and I had our honeymoon on St Croix 28 yrs ago in May....we stayed in a condo. But now, we have owned into the Divi resorts for almost 20 yrs(Aruba)....did you go to the Divi at all?? I know they re-did all of it, and am courious about it. We would like to switch our timeshare to there sometime, i f worth it. I'm sure a LOT has changed, between time and hurricnes!!!!! Thanks, LindaP
First of all, congratulations! Anyone who has been married longer than I have deserves major props. Then again, your marriage is not only your honor but your reward as well.
Yes, we did make our first trip to Divi on Grapetree Bay and I must admit something: Grapetree Bay blew me away. It is a very long strip of sand, slightly crescent shape and probably a mile or so long. There are small headlands on both ends and the road runs up onto the headlands giving you a great view. Behind the bay, there is a flat area and then then rolling hills of St Croix. It is a very, very pretty place and when we approached it from the east, I immediately thought of Las Hornos bay (present day Acapulco) back in the day before development. I actually stopped the car and got out, the vista was so remarkable.
Divi sits in the middle, a prime piece of real estate, and is all but alone on that strip of land. The beach is quite nice, wide and sandy, the water is clear and has a reef probably a couple hundred yards offshore. They have a snorkel trail but you only go over one or two blips of coral apparently (per our discussion with a guy in the snorkel shop). Otherwise it is mostly sand (the reef is a barrier reef and partly out of the water - cant really snorkel).
The public spaces are all attractive, very open and breezy much like St Barth. The pool is large and has a large deck which opens up to the beach. There is a bar there as well as a snorkel shop, gift shop and cafeteria.
I did not tour a room although they look attractive on the internet. The rooms are in motel-style buildings which are about four or five floors as I recall. They have outside walkways on the back (non beach side) reached by stairs or elevators and then the units run the entire width of the building with all having an oceanview balcony. From the front, they look like condos which they essentially are. The buildings are all parallel to the beach and appear pretty wide. That is, the rooms are probably pretty large.
The casino is across the road and backs up to the hills. Did not go in.
The clientele looked like Budgeteering Americans On Vacation. I did not see a lot of bling, nor did I see Perfectly Coiffed Foo Foo Ladies. I saw Aunt Marge and Uncle Marvin as well as families, youngsters, divefolks and some Vegas Runaways. I also saw a LOT of smiles. From what I could tell, the folks staying there looked plenty happy to me.
I would rate the place, based on my QUICK walk through as a solid three star place with some four star tendancies (size of room and apparent niceness according to pix as well as attractive pool deck). I think someone wanting The Four Seasons might be disappointed. But someone wanting an attractive place on a pretty beach with lots of outdoor space and a pretty relaxed american vibe might be quite pleased. I would not be opposed to staying there.
Divi is pretty much "out there". That is, there is not much nearby. You could reach Christiansted in about 18 - 20 minutes and some of the restaurants near Csted in less.
You obviously know The Divi Product and I doubt that this place strays much from The Model that is available on several caribbean islands. I do believe that Grapetree Bay is quite, quite lovely and this is a pretty place for sun and sand.
Bonne chance.
PS: Ask some of the Divi People how this compares to their other resorts. From what I could see, it seems appealing.
