St. Thomas

U. S. Virgin Islands

St. Thomas and St. John

March, 2006

There are three Virgin Islands that are U.S. territories: St. Thomas, St. John, and St. Croix. The three each have their own character. St. Thomas' main city, Charlotte Amalie, is a major cruise ship spot and feels like a big old urban place with lots of big stores and fancy shopping for the cruise ship people. St. John has one main town, Cruz Bay, on the west end of the island. Most of St. John is filled with more remote resorts, campsites, and hiking trails. Most of St. John is a forest and national park. So, the two islands, though only about 10 or 15 miles apart, are very different from each other.

We loved St. John. We spent almost a week on the northern shore snorkeling and having happy hour up in the restaurant of the Maho Bay campground, which is a series of decks built up against the hill. When you are sitting in the restaurant you feel like Robinson Crusoe, up in a treehouse looking out on the bay. We also spent some time at Cruz Bay (Jackie was working and using the internet). We took a public bus ride from one end of the island to the other and back again through the forest and mountains. it was gorgeous with unbelievable views of the Atlantic and Caribbean, and it only cost us $1.00 each!! Then we went around the south side of St. John and stayed in one of the bays there. Since the south side of the island is less visited, we ended up having the anchorage to ourselves. We hiked around to the next bay smelling the bay trees and passing tall cactuses. We did some wonderful snorkeling.

The only pictures I have to post of this segment of our trip are from St. Thomas. We stayed at Honeymoon Harbour on Water Island. This is a postcard perfect beach that boasts Heidi's hamburgers, reputed to be the best hamburgers in the Caribbean. We have not tasted all of the hamburgers in the Caribbean but we will vouch for Heidi's - and you eat them right on the most perfect beach! Cruise ships came up and down behind our little anchorage.

See the cruise ship peeking out? Here he comes...