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.
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.
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.
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.
CRUISE-INFORMATION.COM
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |