St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands: All There is to Know
Honeymoon Beach
Add St. Thomas to your bucket list
Take me BACK!!! I just got home from St Thomas last week and to be honest, I was really excited to come back. I missed my pup (Penelope) and I felt like I was dropping the ball with work. (I’m sure some of you business owners can relate).
But guess what, when I got back Penelope was barely excited to see me and nothing went wrong with work. Isn’t it amazing how sometimes we can only mentally relax for a few days before we want to be in the grind again?
Well, I’m no longer feeling that way and am instead kicking myself for not having stayed longer. The weather was gorgeous, the scenery was to die for, and shutting out the real world for a bit was much needed.
So with all of that said, I’m going to give you a run down of everything you need to know about St. Thomas, traveling to the island during COVID, and plenty of tips.
Best Time to Travel to the US Virgin Islands
Before arriving in St. Thomas and chatting with the locals, I had absolutely no idea that St. Thomas pretty much stays the same temperature year round. My mind was blown! Apparently, no matter what time of year you go experience the tropics in the US Virgin Islands, it is expected to be between 80-95 degrees Fahrenheit.
The weather was PERFECT! When we arrived the first week of August, temperatures were in the high 80s, low 90s, and there was a beautiful breeze that helped cut the heat a bit. It did not feel overly hot, but I also wasn’t out trekking up a mountain or going for a run. Laying on the beach doesn’t necessarily burn up a sweat if you know what I mean.
A couple of things you will want to keep in mind if you plan to travel to the US Virgin Islands are:
Hurricane season: Tropical storms take place in the summer and fall months, and should be on your radar if you plan to travel to the Caribbean. Most locals said to watch out for them between mid/late August through late November, but technically, hurricane season starts as early as June.
Off season: December to April are very busy months for travel to the US Virgin Islands. If you are on a budget, it is best to visit during off season, which is May to November.
Highly recommend doing a charter! Loved our tour on Calypso Charter.
the Best Way to Get Around the Virgin Islands
Taxis
Trust me when I say you most likely are not going to want to rent a car. Not only is it expensive, but the roads are also narrow, steep, and have lots of twists and turns. Instead, I highly recommend taking taxis. It was $16 from the airport to my VRBO (about a 30 minute drive), and cost $4-$5 per person for any short rides. They are always open to negotiations as well, so if for some reason one person wants $5, you can always tell them you’ll do it for $4 ;)
Ferry
If you are traveling in a group and plan to use the ferry a minimum of 10 times across the total group, be sure to by a booklet of 10 passes. The price is quite a bit less than buying them individually at $8.15 per ticket.
Only taking between 20-30 minutes, the ferry from St. Thomas to St. John was a fantastic option to change up the scenery. It left from both islands, every hour on the hour, and would generally fill up fast. Don’t sweat it if you’re a few minutes late though. They typically did not leave right on time.
Gorgeous Sapphire beach in St. Thomas.
Which Virgin Island is Better?
This all depends on who you’re asking! I have a family friend who owns a home on St. Thomas and absolutely loves it. Me on the other hand, if I had to pick, I think I would pick St. John. Keep in mind that I was only there for five and a half days and only saw a small portion of each island.
What I feel is more important than my perspective though is the locals’ perspective. Many locals that we met all lived on St. John and preferred the lifestyle and beaches there better. The commute between islands was easy, so many locals worked on St. Thomas, but lived on St. John. I think the overall amount of tourism is a bit less on St. John because the airport flies into St. Thomas. St. Thomas has a bit more partying while St. John has a few more beaches and hikes.
Whichever way you slice and dice it, both islands are incredible! The sad part about the trip is that we were not able to visit the British Virgin Islands (BVI) due to COVID. They are not currently allowing any travelers into the country at this time, so although the proximity of the islands were close, we weren’t even able to go into “their water”.
When COVID is all said and done, you’ll have to go and report back to me. Just be sure to take your passport! You don’t need one for St. Thomas or St. John, but you will need one if you head over to the BVI.
The Best USVI Activities, Beaches, and Restaurants
Beaches
I’ve been to numerous beaches across the world, and many have unique characteristics about them. However, what I loved most about the Virgin Islands is that a good majority of their beaches were white, sandy beaches with no lava rock or pebbles.
Here are some of my favorites:
Henley Beach, St John: We saw multiple sea turtles and a sting ray while snorkeling here.
Cinnamon Beach, St John: Long, beautiful beach with fantastic sand and wasn’t overly busy.
Honeymoon Beach, St John: We swam from our boat up to Honeymoon Beach to grab food and drinks. It was fairly crowded, but it offered a lot of accommodations for a day outing.
Magen’s Beach, St Thomas: My favorite beach on St. Thomas. Calm, beautiful bay waters.
Sapphire Beach, St Thomas: Close to Red Hook and the ferry, and also has a bar on the beach with food and drinks.
Boat Charters
I highly recommend renting a charter for one of your travel days to get out on the water and see different beaches, snorkel locations, and more. It was a fantastic way to explore the islands by land and water and was affordable if split amongst a group. We booked the Calypso Charter from Tropicat for a full day (7 hours), which cost $790 for the boat rental, gas, docking fee, and tip for the captain. There was another option to book a half day (3 hours), but across three people, it was only approximately $80 more expensive to do the full day and we got 4 more hours out of it!
Snorkeling
Snorkeling is a must in the VI. Because of the crystal blue waters and mass amounts of beautiful coral, the sea-life is breathtaking. Whether you are on a boat or at a beach, there is plenty of snorkeling to do and no need to scuba dive.
restaurants
My absolute favorite restaurant was The Easterly in St. Thomas, near Red Hook. The ambiance was fantastic and the food was delicious. We ordered the ceviche, mussels, grouper, and swordfish. All were delicious and I would go back in a heartbeat. One thing to note in general, is that food prices on the island were inflated. I would assume this is not only because of the cost of importing products, but also because we were in tourist areas.
Bars
My favorite bar that we visited was The Beach Bar on St John. Ron was our bartender and Jesse James was the manager. Both were super friendly and hooked us up with a good spot at the bar near the water. I highly recommend getting the Coconut Key Lime Pie drink. It seriously tasted like I was drinking a deliciously whipped beverage that should have been ice cream. On top of that, the views of Cruz Bay were GORGEOUS at sunset and they had live music!
The cutest restaurant, Eaterly.
Delicious mussels from Eaterly.
Sunset at Cruz Bay.
Beach Bar on Cruz Bay.
St. Thomas COVID RESTRICTIONS
If you are planning to travel to St. Thomas this year, there are travel restrictions to abide by for COVID-19. Overall, it was a fairly easy process to get into the country. All you need is a negative COVID test no more than 5 days in advance of your entry to the USVI. Once you have proof of your negative results, enter your information on the USVI Travel Portal, along with some personal information (i.e. date of birth, address, etc.).
A couple of tips:
With the lack of labor, many airlines are having flight delays. I experienced this and was delayed by over 24 hours. Thankfully, I had left one buffer day of my 5 day window when it came to proving a negative COVID-19 test result. I would highly suggest you leave at least one day for buffer as well just to be on the safe side.
The travel portal doesn’t provide a confirmation pass immediately after you complete the necessary information and upload your negative COVID-19 test results. Allow for at least 2 business days for processing time.
With all of that being said, I would plan to have your COVID test and submission to the travel portal completed within 2 to 4 days prior to travel. Once you arrive to the airport, you will need to provide the security team with the green QR code that has been emailed to you showing your confirmation.
Be sure to double check that it is green and you’ve been confirmed. One person from our party had to go to get a second test done before being provided a green QR code.
One last thought
What I will leave you with is this… if the USVI are not already on your travel bucket list, I would highly suggest you get them added. It was a fairly inexpensive flight to get there, and there were multiple affordable Airbnb and VRBO options to choose from. Whether you just want a quick trip to get away or want to spend a couple of weeks getting some R&R, it is a great place to visit with lots to see!
Cheers,
Jen
Investor // Landlord and DIYer // Realtor // Business Consultant // Globe Trotter // Converting Vegan.
