[aageneral] Caribbean Stopover at St. Thomas of the U.S. Virgin Islands

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Caribbean Stopover at St. Thomas of the U.S. Virgin Islands
By Clint Leung

One of the most popular ports of call for Caribbean cruise ships
is St. Thomas, one of the U.S. Virgin Islands. On the three
Caribbean cruises that I took so far, two of them included a
stopover in St. Thomas. On both occasions, there was a consensus
among other passengers we met that St. Thomas was one of the
nicer islands visited. Although the driving in St. Thomas is on
the left hand side, it is still U.S. territory so this Caribbean
island features many other conveniences of being American soil.
These included easy telephone connections for calls back to the
mainland, the use of U.S. currency and English as the main
language. St. Thomas is also one of the cleanest of Caribbean
islands and the locals do not aggressively hustle the tourists
like they do on other islands. Many passengers stated that St.
Thomas is a place they would like to come back to in the future.

During my first visit to St. Thomas, I took the Atlantis
submarine excursion which took tourists down to see an actual
ocean reef. It was a bit pricey but that was expected. Seeing an
ocean reef with the marine life up close for the first time
during this submarine ride actually influenced me to take up
scuba diving. During my second trip to the island, we decided
that we would spend some time snorkeling in the local waters
since at that time, my partner wasn't a certified scuba diver
yet. My advance research suggested that Coki Bay on the northeast
side of St. Thomas was a nice place to snorkel. When our cruise
ship docked at Charlotte Amalie, the capital city of the U.S.
Virgin Islands, we hailed one of the many taxi cabs at the port.
It was a $15 US fare to Coki Beach where Coki Bay is located. It
took only about 15 minutes to get there. The scenery along the
way was magnificent as we went up a hill and saw our cruise ship
in the distant harbor below. The island itself is very lush with
greenery everywhere.

At Coki Beach, my partner rented her snorkeling gear for $20 US
(I brought my own). To my surprise, the rental attendant gave us
each a hard biscuit to feed the fish while we were in the water.
Once we got into the water, dozens of tropical fish immediately
crowded around us. I guess they knew the drill quite well. We
ripped off small pieces of the biscuits and the fish went for it,
even if the food was just inches away from our face masks. The
yellowtail snappers, sergeant majors and occasional parrotfish
displayed no fear of us at all. At one point, my partner held out
a larger piece of her biscuit and some of the fish darted in to
nibble at it. After about an hour in the warm water, it was time
to say goodbye to our new aquatic friends. This experience at
Coki Bay with the fish was one of the factors which eventually
influenced my partner to become a certified scuba diver herself.

Another $15 US cab ride took us back to the cruise ship port
where we spend the rest of the day browsing the many duty free
shops located there. A similar snorkeling trip arranged through
the cruiseship would have cost us double the amount we paid. St.
Thomas is definitely not an inexpensive island for either cruise
ship passengers or resort tourists staying there but extra
comfort and quality of the island are quite noticeable compared
to many other Caribbean destinations. From my readings, the other
main islands of the U.S. Virgin Islands which are St. John and
St. Croix, are more laid back and less commercialized than St.
Thomas. I would like to visit them in addition to another return
trip to St. Thomas in the future for a multi day scuba diving
trip. For those thinking of going on a Caribbean cruise, I would
definitely recommend one that has St. Thomas as one of its ports
of call. It is one of the better islands on any Caribbean cruise
itinerary.

About the Author:

Clint Leung is owner of Free Spirit Gallery
http://www.FreeSpiritGallery.ca , an online gallery specializing
in Inuit Eskimo and Northwest Native American art including
carvings, sculpture and prints. Free Spirit Gallery has numerous
information resource articles with photos of authentic Inuit and
Native Indian art as well as free eCards.

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