I try to get to warm, crystal clear, tropical waters at least once a year.  This year my picture perfect destination was St. Thomas.  I’ve been to plenty of wonderful islands, but St. Thomas is definitely in my Top 3.  My coworker and I stayed on the island for 5 days, 4 nights at the end of July.  Our place of residence for our mini vacation was Crystal Cove Villas just outside of Red Hook on the eastern side of the island.  Crystal Cove Villas is a condominium complex with direct beach access.  I didn’t do much research on the accommodation because I purchased the stay through Groupon and I’ve never had any issues/disappointment with Groupon Getaways.  I didn’t know what to expect when we got there, but was pleasantly surprised by both the reception desk service and our condo.

Day 1:

After a quick shuttle from the airport, through Charlotte Amalie, were arrived at the reception office and were greeted by a lovely woman named Bernie who was able to answer all of our questions.  We got the lowdown on things to do, places to visit and restaurants to try.  We were also able to get into our room well before check-in time for free (such a convenience!!).

The condo was nice and roomy: one bedroom (king sized bed), two full baths, full kitchen and living room (with two queen-sized pull out cots).  Our condo was 30 seconds from the beach and the complex had a salt water pool!! We spent our first day on the beach relaxing and mingling with the locals before conquering the safari taxis and exploring Red Hook.

 

Day 2:

I was really interested in seeing as much of the island as possible and learning about the history and culture so we booked an island tour.  Bernie suggested David’s island tour and we were able to book a tour with less than 24 hours notice which was great!  The brochure said an all day tour was $69, but David told us multiple times it was $60.  We started by picking up 3 others travelers from various locations which was okay because we got to see more of the island.  Starting at a lookout above Charlotte Amalie, we visited Havensight (it was a ghost town as there were no cruise ships in port), Drake’s Seat, The Mountain Top, a farm to sample soursop and rum, Magen’s Bay Beach, shopping and sightseeing in Charlotte Amalie and a driving tour of the East Side of the island.  David was very knowleadgable and accommodating and offered to take pictures of all of us at each stop.  The views of Charlotte Amalie and Magen’s Bay were amazing!!  I wish we could have stayed longer in Charlotte Amalie as our condo was so far away but we were able to enjoy some delicious jerk chicken at Trenchtown Rock and pick up a couple souvenirs.  I didn’t enjoy the shopping experience much because every five feet people accosted us and begged us to come into their shops.  Our swim at Magen’s Bay Beach was perfection.  No cruise ships meant it wasn’t too crowded and I got to snorkel for about an hour.  When we were dropped off at Crystal Cove, David told us the tour was $69 and we reminded him that he told us multiple times the day before it was only $60, but he insisted on the $69 so we paid him and agreed that perhaps we heard him wrong.  We popped into the reception area the next day where Bernie asked how our tour went.  We told her it was absolutely amazing.  She then asked what we paid and we said $69 and she paused for a minute before telling us she had spoken with David beforehand and asked him to give us a discount.  We told her when we called he had said $60 multiple times so she called him but he didn’t answer (which is funny because throughout the whole tour he was answering and returning phone calls).  Oh well, we didn’t let that put a damper on our trip!

Day 3:

The great thing about the U.S. Virgin Islands is that it is super easy to visit other islands.  We decided to be adventurous and take the ferry to St. John.  It was a quick 20 minute ferry for $14 roundtrip (non-resident) with breathtaking views.  While in St. John we explored Cruz Bay and stopped for some frozen yogurt.  Taxis in St. John are more expensive that in St. Thomas: it was $6 from Cruz Bay to Trunk Bay and another $6 on the way back.  Trunk Bay was definitely worth the taxi fare!! You have to pay to get in, but on the way out (around 2:30pm) we noticed the pay booth was closed so you can just walk in for free.  There were plenty of changing rooms and showers and a place to rent chairs.  We arrived around 10am and the place was packed even though no cruise ships were around.  I would hate to see it when the cruise ships are in port.  The beach is so beautiful and peaceful you can easily forget about all the people around you and just admire the landscape.  I spent about an hour and a half snorkeling around the 675-foot-long self-guided underwater trail.  The reef was large with a wide variety of sea life: tons of fish both big and small, sea urchins, anemones, corals, etc.  I was a little disappointed I didn’t see any sea turtles or sting rays but it was still a memorable experience.

Day 4:

We spent the day relaxing on our own beach and exploring the surrounding beaches.  Sapphire Bay Beach is so cozy!  There are, of course, plenty of tourists and vacationers but there are tons of locals who live in the area or stay in the condos all summer.  They know each other’s names and were genuinely interested in each other’s lives.  They were also excited to interact with us and find out where we were from and how we were enjoying St. Thomas.  Each morning the regulars band together to clean up the beach by raking up all the seaweed that washes ashore at night and carting it off to a truck!  Such sweet people!!

Day 5:

On our last morning in St. Thomas we decided to live on the wild side and sneak into the neighboring complex’s pool.  It looked so amazing on our beach walks that we couldn’t help ourselves!  We got caught but the nice security guard said we could stay since no one else was in the pool at 8am.  After that we packed up and said goodbye to paradise… for now.

Some things to consider when traveling to St. Thomas:

-St. Thomas is an island so everything is more expensive because it needs to be imported: Doritos: $7, Box of General Mills cereal: $7, Bugspray: $12, Jerk Chicken Sandwich: $13, etc.  I’m sure there were cheaper prices on the island but we had limited options where we were.

-Transportation costs are fixed per person.  For example, both my friend and I had to pay $15 each way between the airport and our condo even though we were in the same taxi going to the same place.  Safari taxis (converted pickups) are available all over the island and are quite frequent and will cost you between $1 and $1.50 each way.

-A meal on average will cost you $20-$30 and that is not including alcohol.  We brought snacks and bought some groceries and stretched the meals we did buy by bringing leftovers back to the condo (so convenient to have a fridge and microwave!!).  Taco Hell was a pleasant surprise!! $2 tacos and they were delicious!!