La Barracuda Villa, St John, Extraordinary Views and Sunsets

My wife and I stayed in the guest house at La Barracuda from March 11-18 (2011). It was our first time on St. John, and La Barracuda was a perfect base of operations for our adventures. Tucked away in the “Chocolate Hole” area just below Cruz Bay, La Barracuda’s location high on a hill overlooking Hart Bay and Chocolate Hole provides wonderful views. You can hear the lulling surf of Hart Bay below, and from the guest house deck you can watch the lights come on over on St. Thomas. In fact, one of the things the description of the property undersells significantly is the view from the guest house. The house is just five minutes from the action in Cruz Bay, but it’s far enough away to offer seclusion.

Our primary purpose for going to St. John was to spend as much time as possible in the water snorkeling. Franklin was very helpful, offering us useful guide books and insider tips and descriptions of the beaches around the island. Likewise, the beach chairs there for guests to use came in handy. Our favorite snorkeling sites now include Waterlemon Cay, the longish swim from the northern-most part of Francis Bay out to the tip of Mary Point (lots of turtles), Little Lameshur Bay, Salt Pond Bay (lots of rays), and Hansen Bay (look for the octopi that camouflage themselves in the coral and rocks). Then again, if you’re lucky you can come across a good-sized nurse shark hanging out in the shallows of Chocolate Hole. So just about any beach on the island could be great. Nothing on the island is that far away, so La Barracuda provides great access to any of your plans.

And after a long day of snorkeling, what could be better than to come back to the guest house and soak in the hot tub on the deck and listen to the waves roll in below? The grill on the deck also served us well for casual meals. The house was clean and pretty well stocked (and Franklin was great about providing any utensils that we needed that weren’t in the guest house). The kitchen worked well for our on-the-go needs.

All in all, the description and photos give you a good representation of the property (though Franklin was in the middle of repainting the exterior when we were there, so it probably looks even better now). A few more photos of the view would more adequately show perspective guests what a find they’ve come across.

I would (and have) recommend La Barracuda to family and friends who are interested in a St. John getaway—and who doesn’t need a St. John getaway?

Ive stayed here multiple times and it continues to be on of my favorite villas on the island.
It offers just the right amount of privacy with its tiered bedrooms with private decks no mater what size group you stay with. Its has plenty of amenities and is a short drive from town and beaches.
The owner was more than accommodating and available for any questions and concerns we had.
I highly recommend La Barracuda to any and all who seek out a great st. john experience!

Thanks Franklin!

My family and I traveled to the beautiful island of St.John to only be disappointed with the house we stayed in called La Barracuda. The house is not taken care of one bit. When we arrived we had no water for 48 hours. 3 of the Air conditioners didn't work properly. The stove worked half of the time and the dishwasher didn't work at all. There was mold all over the house. The guest house kitchen was awful, cabinets where falling apart. 1 out of the 2 hot tubs worked. Don't lean on any of the wood hand rails on any of the decks, they are very very dangerous and if you fell you would be seriously hurt. The owner Frank wasn't very helpful,although we did manage to get some maintenance people over to the house to give us water, and get the water pump patch up so we could take showers. We learned that this house is for sale so this is why the maintenance isn't kept up. The one positive thing about this property is the view it is breathtaking. Please don't let this post detour you from coming to Beautiful St.John because the island is a little piece of Heaven. Our first visit was awesome, we stayed at Garden by The Sea and it was beautiful. We just had too big of a party for them to accommodate us, thats why we got this house on our second visit. I will be returning to St.John in the future but I will do my homework next time. I gave this house a fair rating only because of the view of the Beautiful island.