Which USVI is Proper for You?

No passport? No drawback with our household’s critiques of the U.S. Virgin Islands that will help you resolve which of America’s Caribbean isles is correct for your loved ones seaside trip.

American household seeking a hassle-free Caribbean trip? It’s a no brainer: the U.S. Virgin Islands. No want for passports or overseas foreign money, everyone speaks English, and your hair dryer works with out voltage attachments. Jumbo jets fly to the principle airport and puddle jumpers make it simple to get from island to island. Simply get used to driving on the incorrect aspect of the street.

Island Paradise Showdown: St. John, St. Thomas, or St. Croix?

The actual query is: St. John, St. Thomas, or St. Croix? Though every is crammed with beautiful seashores, superior snorkeling, terrific mountain climbing trails, and resorts starting from luxurious to eco-camping, every Saint has a definite character. My 10-year-old son Jamie and I lately found the variations.

St. John: Leisure and Pure Magnificence

The smallest and least populated, St. John primarily is a protected nationwide parkland donated by Laurence Rockefeller 51 years in the past. The rest of the island is fortunately not closely developed. That is seaside lover nirvana — attractive white sand seashores separating clear turquoise waters from lush mountains crammed with tropical flora. Its unspoiled magnificence and laidback vibe, even in quaint Cruz Bay, stuffed with artwork galleries, outlets, and eating places, made it our hands-down favourite Virgin and one in all our all-time Caribbean favorites.

St. John Underwater Household Adventures

Like many others, we performed on St. John’s Trunk Bay seaside (well-known for its 225-yard underwater path marked by descriptor plaques) whereas mustering up the braveness to fulfill our SNUBA teacher. Thank goodness we didn’t rooster out. The shallow-water dive system requires no certification, prolonged coaching, or heavy gear, making it good for adventuresome children (ages 8 and up) and their skittish mothers.

Household-Pleasant Resorts of St. John

VI Snuba proprietor Tammi Cummings patiently oriented us to the right underwater etiquette. We discovered about diving indicators, respiratory equipment, and buoyancy belts earlier than main just a few shallow-water drills. Then, she dove in with us for forty-five minutes. Jamie beloved his first SNUBA expertise. He noticed a small octopus, numerous faculties of colourful fish, and a great deal of coral, all of the whereas giving his nervous-nelly mother the thumbs-up signal.

The 2 full-service resorts on St. John are great: the Tony Caneel Bay and the Westin St. John. Each are kid-friendly, however I give the Westin St. John a slight edge for households from a worth standpoint. Jamie actually loved the night children program the place he gained the hermit crab races, watched the resort’s iguanas get their nightly feeding, and caught a dive-in film on a raft on the lodge pool.

Eating in Cruz Bay

Within the meantime, I had a memorable dinner in downtown Cruz Bay at La Tapa. The hip little open-air restaurant had a decidedly city really feel. We beloved the lovable little beatnik guitar participant who sang like Jewel as we dined on top-notch Mediterranean meals.

Replace: The Caneel Bay resort was severely broken by hurricanes in 2017 and has not but reopened.

Native Data: St. John Fashion

For basic details about the USVI, head to USVI Tourism, St. John.

St. Thomas: Buying and Nightlife

St. Thomas lies three miles and a twenty-minute water taxi trip from St. John, but it surely feels worlds away. The island is dwelling to the U.S. VI’s capital Charlotte Amalie, the busiest cruise ship harbor and one of many busiest purchasing hubs within the Caribbean.

Charlotte Amalie: Buying Hub and Cruise Ship Harbor

Charlotte Amalie’s streets and alleys are lined with retailer after retailer. Store right here for electronics, jewellery, cameras, fragrance, and liquor at duty-free costs. (U.S. residents can carry again $1,600 value of products, duty-free — 3 times the norm — a bonus for the die-hard shopper within the household, however not my major cause for touring.) The city will get crowded when the cruise ships are in port. Some say that Fridays are much less crowded however we discovered rush hour a bear on daily basis.

Coral World: A Marine Park with a View

Past chaotic Charlotte Amalie lie the island’s family-oriented diversions. Like most guests to St. Thomas, we checked out Coral World, a five-acre marine park with a three-story underwater statement tower positioned 100 ft offshore. We ogled the sponges, the huge number of fish, deep-sea flowers, and coral of their pure state. Jamie was fascinated with the shark and stingray swimming pools and the ocean turtles (recollections of his current journey to the Galapagos?) Coral World’s admission price consists of limitless entry to the small, adjoining Coki Seashore, a stunning and common (reportedly typically crowded) spot for snorkeling with one other VI Snuba outpost.

Virgin Island Eco Excursions: Exploring Cas Cay

The guides at Virgin Island Eco Excursions escorted us on an inflatable dinghy to the pristine, offshore island of Cas Cay, the place we hiked by means of a mangrove forest to a hermit crab village for crab races (shaded, fortunately). We continued mountain climbing previous a geological blowhole, tidal pool, coral and shell seaside, and cave with “pirates’ treasure” (gold cash and eye patches planted by our guides) for the youngsters to find earlier than our group snorkeled within the protected mangrove lagoon.

Sugar Bay Resort: Our All-Inclusive House on St. Thomas

Our short-term dwelling on St. Thomas was the 300-room, sprawling Sugar Bay Membership Suites & Lodge. It was a Wyndham Resort at our go to and is now one in all many independently run lodges. Not an enormous fan of huge, all-inclusives, we however loved our transient keep and spent most of our restricted on-property time within the three massive interconnecting swimming pools, enjoying water basketball with different company as a substitute of enjoying on the small seaside.

St. Thomas: Native Data

For basic details about the USVI, head to USVI Tourism, St. Thomas, or name 800/372-USVI.

The usV.I’s Quiet, Dignified St. Croix

Although ferries are available, we traveled from St. Thomas to St. Croix by seaplane, a scenic, easy however noisy mode of transportation. In 20 minutes, we have been in beautiful, historic Christiansted, able to discover our third island.

The Great thing about St. Croix

The biggest of the sister islands, St. Croix has two distinct landscapes — tall, inexperienced forest on one finish and dry, windswept scrub and grasslands on the opposite. As soon as dwelling to multiple hundred sugar mills, decaying plantation homes and windmills dot the panorama. Whereas St. Croix affords loads of duty-free purchasing, golf, historic landmarks, lovely seashores, and eco-opportunities, the island will get far much less consideration than glitzy St. Thomas and laid-back St. John. It feels virtually like a secret.

A Memorable Hike

Mountaineering is massive on all three islands, however we are going to always remember Ras Lumumba. He was the spry, ageing Rastafarian proprietor of Ay-Ay Ecotours on St. Croix. He led an extended, scorching hike by means of attractive forests, steep hillsides, open fields, thick brush (taller than Jamie at occasions), and colonial ruins. Ras Lumumba saved each the adults and children in our group spellbound. His information of native wildlife, the colonial historical past of St. Croix and Caribbean bush drugs was fascinating.

At occasions Ras would cease dramatically to whack away at some plant in our path. He made us style its scrumptious innards, even when it smelled god-awful. He created a sturdy rope from one other plant in a matter of minutes and reported that others have been as efficient as modern-day Cialis. At one level we ran headlong into the trail of a bull that was seeking to rumble. We have been, nonetheless, in good fingers. Ras merely brandished his machete and stared down the bull. Phew!

Underwater Adventures Off St. Croix

Mark Mile Watersports took us on a stunning half-day sail to Buck Island, America’s first underwater Nationwide Monument and St. Croix’s hottest attraction, famend for snorkeling. After recognizing an eagle ray, sea turtles, and dolphins en route, we anchored offshore to snorkel within the crystal clear water above lovely coral reefs, typically in fairly deep water. The Mark Mile crew labored intently with the snorkel-shy children onboard, together with Jamie. Very quickly, Jamie was snorkeling comfortably twenty ft above sea urchins and fireplace coral. We then performed on the island’s lovely white sand seaside amid scads of gorgeous fish (and quite a few different boats) whereas on the unsuccessful lookout for Sammy, the affable stingray who typically joins the swimmers.

Kayaking Below the Moonlight

One night we ventured off on a moonlit kayaking tour of Salt River Nationwide Historic Park & Ecological Protect. Do you know it’s the one place Christopher Columbus landed on (now) U.S. soil? Our information and fellow kayakers fortunately have been affected person as Jamie and I struggled to propel our two-person kayak. We floundered underneath star-lit skies by means of the calm, bioluminescent bays amid protected mangrove forests. In the meantime, our information regaled us with St. Croix people tales, pirate legends, and some native ghost tales. We stopped splashing our paddles typically to brush our fingers by means of the waters. This motion magically reveals the blue and white glow from the phosphorous within the water. Jamie and I completely loved ourselves however have been fairly weary (and moist) after two hours of paddling.

The Buccaneer: Our House Away from House

There are just a few full-service resorts and a number of other small, quaint motels on St. Croix. Our dwelling was The Buccaneer, a 132-room family-owned property that has warmly welcomed its company for greater than 50 years. Age and sweetness are properly maintained, incomes the lodge 4th place among the many USAToday 10 Finest “Prime 10 Caribbean Resorts” in 2024.

Probably the most upscale property on the island, The Buccaneer is arguably the only option for households. It will also be worth (the year-round children camp is included). Select your room perched up excessive in the principle constructing with its beautiful, panoramic open-air foyer, terrace, and restaurant. Alternatively, some households want the extraordinarily roomy household cottages or doubloons that overlook the ocean. In addition to the 2 swimming pools and three seashores, there’s a well-regarded tennis program (eight lighted courts) and 18 holes of golf on-site.

A Historic Stroll By Christiansted

We took a historic strolling tour of downtown Christiansted, which as soon as served because the capital of the complete Danish colony. Fort Christiansvaern is an imposing, yellow-brick construction constructed to keep off pirates. Make certain the youngsters know that it additionally imprisoned those that have been caught plundering the island’s ports. Go to the stately Authorities Home constructed when ‘sugar was king’ within the West Indies. We ambled previous colourful outlets and eating places housed in outdated Danish colonial constructions.

Regardless of the fascinating tales and structure, the stroll was a bit too scorching and informative for Jamie, who wound up taking photos of stray chickens (digital digicam courtesy of duty-free St. Thomas) to move the time.

Native Data: St. Croix Smarts

For basic details about the USVI, head to USVI Tourism, St. Croix.

Three Occasions Extra Enjoyable on 3 Virgin Islands

The U.S. Virgin Islands are like three good pals. All of them share one thing in widespread with you. But, their variations make you need to spend time alone with one another.

So in case you like pals who’re into mountain climbing, swimming, snorkeling, diving, seashores, eating, and luxurious, you will have come to the best place. And you may select to hang around with the one who likes to buy and celebration, St. Thomas… or the one with the Bohemian streak, St. John… or the quieter one with the mysterious previous, St. Croix. All of them are right here.

Selecting the Good US Virgin Island: Elements to Contemplate

When dreaming of a US Virgin Islands getaway, the largest query turns into: St. John, St. Thomas, or St. Croix? To make the only option, let’s break down some important elements that set every island aside:

Climate and Seasonality

The US Virgin Islands get pleasure from a tropical local weather with constantly heat temperatures. Nonetheless, there are delicate variations:

1. Temperature: Count on averages within the 80s (Fahrenheit) year-round, with slight dips in winter.
2. Wet Season: The rainiest months are September by means of November, however showers are usually transient.
3. Finest Occasions: The best climate and decrease crowds are discovered within the shoulder seasons (spring and fall).
4. Peak season (December-April) means greater costs.

Virgin Islands’ Price range Concerns

The price of your journey will range relying in your decisions:

1. Flights and Lodging: St. Thomas tends to have probably the most reasonably priced choices, whereas St. John is taken into account extra upscale.
2. Actions and Eating: Costs are comparable throughout the islands however with a greater variety on St. Thomas.
3. Offers and Reductions: Search for package deal offers or journey through the low season for one of the best worth.
   Journey Fashion

Contemplate what sort of USVI expertise you’re on the lookout for:

1. Leisure vs. Journey: St. John is the haven of rest, whereas St. Thomas affords extra actions and nightlife. St. Croix blends each worlds.
2. Household-Pleasant vs. {Couples} Retreat: All islands are family-friendly, although St. John’s give attention to nature might attraction extra to adults.
3. Pursuits: If watersports are key, St. John and St. Croix excel. Historical past buffs will adore St. Croix, whereas shopaholics ought to head to St. Thomas.

By contemplating these elements, alongside your private preferences, you’ll have the ability to select the US Virgin Islands that finest aligns along with your preferrred trip.

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