Saint Thomas

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Charlotte Amalie harbor

St. Thomas is in the Virgin Islands.

[edit] Regions

Magen's Bay

The most famous feature, besides the shopping, on the island. Directly across on the northern side from Charlotte Amalie, a crescent shaped bay with a mile of white sand and several bars and small stores. Taxis from downtown cost about 15 dollars, and if there are any cruise ships on the day you go, you can bet it will have at least a few beached white tourist fish. The trip to Magen's Bay (and back) passes Mountain Top a small conglomeration of shops with a great view of Magen's Bay and beyond; beware of the potent Rum Punch at the bar - don't let it ruin your day! Excellent views of Charolotte Amalie's harbor when descending on the return.

Hull Bay

The next bay to the west of Magen's, on the Atlantic ocean, and in the winter there is the island's only surfing. There is a shop where you can rent boards, but in typical island style, you would be lucky to catch the owner there to rent you one. Better to call ahead a few days and leave a message.

Brewer's Bay

Beautiful small beach near the University, especially nice at sunset. The landing strip for the airport is right on the other side, and the sun sets somewhere out in the middle.

Sapphire Beach

Beach resort, open to the public but you can stay there too if that is where you want to be. Nice beach, rent a snorkel and check out the nice clear water and coral. There are a couple of bars and a swimming pool, sometimes a live band at night, if you haven't had a BBC (Bailey's, banana, coconut) they are pretty tasty.

Coki Beach

The best snorkeling beach on St. Thomas. Normal underwater visibility of 100+ feet! Great beach for kids to learn to snorkel. It's very calm and you can feed the fish in about 3-4 feet of water if you want to. They sell dog treats to feed to the fish and it's really cool to see them swarm you for one. Beware of the locals though, you will be asked if you want to buy something 20 times before you make it to the beach, once there you are pretty much left alone though.

[edit] Cities

Downtown - Charlotte Amalie

This is where all the tourists come from the cruise ships. Every day they disembark to shop at some of the 300 or so jewelry stores in the city. Most of the ships park in HarborSide, a mile east of downtown, and there are endless taxis (trucks that have been converted to have covering and benches where the beds were) going back and forth from downtown. If you are white or look like a tourist, you will be asked if you need a ride or if you want to buy something every 15 steps or so. Everyone in the city uses their horns liberally, they drive on the left side of the street and don't really follow the rules. They don't follow the rules about a lot of things, in fact they are very disorganized but it can be charming.

If you happen to be downtown at night, Frenchtown is where the classier places are, for food and drinks, there is an excellent but expensive seafood restaurant called Oceana at the edge of the water, particularly nice at sunset. Downtown there are a couple of bars that sport they younger crowd and have loud music etc. Don't go farther inland more than 2 streets at night, there is nothing back there but locals who need drugs.

East End - Red Hook and Coral Bay

There is a little more nightlife and activities, restaurants in Red Hook, you can catch the dollar taxi (2$ to Red Hook from downtown), it takes about 45 minutes to get there. Don't get stuck there though, unless you have a lot of people in your group, a taxi will not likely take you downtown after about 9PM. Red Hook has ferry service to the island of Saint John.

Coral Bay is a beautiful small beach with a marine museum attached to it. Turtles, sharks, underwater observatory, you name it. It's $15 or so to get into the museum. You can rent snorkel gear at the beach, but it's not recommended to swim over the island a quarter mile away due to sharks and currents.

[edit] Other destinations

• Water Island Across the bay from Charlotte Amalie, this small island has trails and an old sugar mill back from the slave days. Once a week (Mondays?) they put up a big sheet and show a movie on the beach at 9PM. The island has some cottages, but no real commercial establishments.

[edit] Understand

This is the islands, so naturally the natives are very laid back. You can count on speedy service especially in the areas where they are used to dealing with a lot of tourists.

Say "good morning" "good afternoon" or "good night" when you enter a room, get on a taxi or before you start talking to someone and they will be more friendly, this is the polite thing to do and shows that you aren't a total tourist.

There are a lot of job opportunities here. You can make a lot of money fast, and under the table, if you know where to look. Drugs are rampant on the island, especially crack.

[edit] Talk

[edit] Get in

[edit] By air

• Cyril E. King Airport (IATA: STT) (ICAO: TIST), 340-774-5100, [1]. This international airport is on Red Point on the island's southwest coast. Local carriers like Cape Air and Seaborne Airlines also offer frequent flights linking the St. Thomas Airport with St. Croix's Henry Rohlsen Airport.

[edit] By boat

• Saint Thomas is a very popular stop for cruise ships on both Eastern Caribbean and Southern Caribbean itineraries.
• Ferries run regularly between St. Thomas and the other major US Virgin Islands and British Virgin Islands.

[edit] Get around

[edit] Ferries

Ferries leave from Charlotte Amalie and Red Hook to other islands pretty much all day every couple of hours. There are information booths along the waterfront where you can get a schedule for the local ferries and a ferry terminal near French Town for the longer distances (BVI etc). If you are going to St. John it is much cheaper and faster to go from Red Hook.

[edit] Taxis

There are two kinds. Tourist taxis, and dollar taxis. Tourist taxis will take you anywhere at a premium, from one end of the island to the other. Airport to Red Hook is probably $30, from Charlotte Amalie to the Airport is about $15, and from Charlotte Amalie to Red Hook about $20. Agree to a price before you get in the car. Taxi prices are PER PERSON so a trip for 4 to Meagans bay for your group could easily run you $50.00 each way! The big truck taxis will charge by the person, the legitimate taxis will have a meter, and the gypsy taxis will bid for your service and all of them will be waiting in crowds outside restaurants and bars after dark. There are approximately 3,000 taxis on the island, half gypsy (unlicensed).

Dollar taxis run from sunrise to sunset, whenever they feel like it. They have one route with set stops. If you want to ride one, ask someone where to wait for one. They look just like the tourist taxis, but they will be filled with locals instead of tourists (Locals are mostly West Indian and black, tourists are mostly white). They go from the end of airport road to Sapphire Bay and back, one way. Yes, one way, it goes in a figure 8 from the Airport, through Charlotte Amalie to the mall in the middle, out to the east end, back to the mall and downtown again. If you go farther than the mall then it will cost you $2, for shorter trips only $1. The taxis run at random but frequently enough. The dollar taxis do not run all the way to the airport, so don't try it. Their last stop is near Brewers Bay, a good mile from the terminal.

[edit] See

• Coral World, Coki Point northeast shore, Phone: (340) 775-1555, Toll Free: (888) 695-2073, [2]. Oct-May 9AM-5PM, summer hours vary. World's largest natural reef aquarium. Underwater observatory, deep reef tank, reef encounter, shark pool, turtle pool. Watersports and parasailing on nearby Coki Beach.

• Fort Christian A bright red Dutch-build fort from the mid 1600s. Its museum has exhibits of historical photos and artifacts, furniture, a cane press, local flora and fauna and more. The fort's roof affords nice panoramic views of the harbor. Adults: $3, under 16 free.

• 99 steps Built by the Danes in the mid 18th century, to climb up and down the steep hills of Charlotte Amalie. The bricks used to build the steps were brought from Denmark as ballast in the hulls of sailing ships.

[edit] Itineraries

[edit] Do

• St. Thomas Skyride to Paradise Point, 9617 Estate Thomas HarborSide, tel: 340-774-9809,[3]. Open 9AM-5PM when cruise ships are in port. A short walk from the cruise ship dock to the tram which takes you up to the top for fabulous views, a drink and maybe lunch. Skyride day pass: Adults $18, ages 6-12 $9, under 6 free.

• Coral World (see Do above) for watersports or parasailing.

• Mahogany Run Golf Course, Mahogany Run Road, tel: 340-777-6250, [4]. Beautiful 18 hole, 6,022-yard, par-70 course. Home of the "Devil's Triangle".

[edit] Eat

Eat a fresh coconut, there is an old man who comes to the tent market in Charlotte Amalie every day with a pickup truck full of coconuts and a machete and sells them for 2 or 3 dollars, you drink the milk and give it back and he gives it another crack so you can eat the jelly. Go to Herve resurante. It is a little expensive, but they have great French and American food. Also, Room With A View, just outside of town has great steaks and seafood.

[edit] Drink

There's lots of blended tropical alcoholic drinks here.

[edit] Sleep

[edit] Budget

• The Crystal Palace Bed and Breakfast, Downtown, tel: (340) 777-2277, Toll Free 866-502-2277, [5]. $90-$140.

[edit] Moderate

[edit] Splurge

• Frenchman's Reef & Morning Star Marriott Beach Resort, 5 Estate Bakkeroe, Phone: 1-340-776-8500, (Fax: 1-340-715-6193 ), [6]. Largest resort in the U.S. Virgin Islands with 11 restaurants and bars and three pools. AAA 3 diamond. $350 and up.

• Sapphire Beach Resort & Marina, 6720 Estate Smith Bay, toll free: (800) 524-2090, tel: (340)775-6100, (Fax (340)775-2403), [7]. Nice self-contained beach resort away from downtown. $225-$700.

[edit] Stay safe

Make no mistake, there are those who arn't the nicest crowd, but if you don't go wandering around in Charlotte Amalie at night, or stay to the ritzier areas, you should be just fine.

Remember marijuana is illegal. Be wary of shifty locals downtown, especially at the "african" pipe store. you might just find yourself buying the worse bag of pot and maybe get arrested.

[edit] Get out