The U.S. Virgin Islands are the perfect tropical getaway with lots to do and perfect beach vistas! The ferry system between the islands is very handy and easy to navigate. The U.S. Virgin islands boast both beautiful beaches as well as luxurious resorts that make this the perfect place to retreat. My husband and I just returned from our honeymoon on St. Thomas and spent a couple days making day trips to St. John via ferry.
While on St. Thomas, we explored many beaches near our resort at Secret Harbor and strolled through the town of Charlotte Amalie, ensuring to avoid the weekend crowds and Wednesday, the most popular cruise port day. Downtown Charlotte Amalie has a 1700s fort museum you can tour and many European-inspired restaurants such as Amalia Cafe, where we had a romantic lunch one afternoon. We split crab cakes and paella in the picturesque, plant-adorned patio. I highly recommend this spot for couples looking for a more quiet cuisine experience.
The beaches in St. Thomas are spectacular white-sand beaches with bright blue horizons and some of the best snorkeling I have ever done. Other than snorkeling outside our condo at Secret Harbor Beach, our favorite beach ended up being Lindquist Beach. While there was a $20 park fee, it was so worth it for the best nicest bathrooms we’ve ever seen at a beach, with access to showers. We also saw three sea turtles and a sting ray while snorkeling at Lindquist- so lots of underwater activity which makes this beach a must if you like to snorkel.
We drove up to Mountain Top on St. Thomas one afternoon to try a famous Banana daquiri. Mountain top had an excellent lookout point as well as a souvenir shop so you can shop while you sip. The banana daquiri was so delicious, but you definitely need to plan to take a taxi up there if you’re going to order the big one as they do heavy pours on the rum.
Another one of St. Thomas’ signature drinks is the Bushwhacker, which is like a milkshake married with a piña colada. A Bushwhacker consists of Baileys Irish cream, rum, creme de cacao, and coconut milk sprinkled with nutmeg. It is rich with a creamy texture like eggnog. If rum is not your thing, you can order it with vodka instead, but I definitely recommend trying it with rum as rum is part of the Caribbean experience. The bar at the airport even greets tourists with a complimentary shot of rum upon your arrival to St. Thomas.
Magen’s Bay was a beautiful beach where we could have spent the entire day. While we could not see clearly enough to snorkel here, we still ended up seeing seven sea turtles swimming out in the water and poking there heads up. There were also many pelicans fishing and so it was a 10/10 experience for watching the wildlife and for the wrap-around bar. This was the largest beach bar we’ve ever seen which allowed the perfect shady spot to get out of the sun for a little while. It’s the perfect spot for a rum punch, which most U.S. Virgin island bars and restaurants will have on the menu. They also had beach chair and umbrella rental services.
One night, we went to the Easterly; an open-air restaurant in downtown Red Hook, close to Secret Harbor where we stayed. It had incredible sea food and other local fare, with a sensual, safari-like atmosphere. I ordered the Bay Breeze off the cocktail menu which included Cruzan aged light rum paired with pineapple juice and cranberry juice. If you love a cranberry cocktail, I highly recommend a Bay Breeze, it was so refreshing and went so great with the octopus appetizer we splurged on.
The ferry system in the U.S. Virgin Islands allows you to explore some of the islands interchangeably and maximize budget as it’s often more affordable to stay in St. Thomas than St. John or St. Croix. We took the pedestrian ferry to St. John to embrace and explore the U.S.V.I. National Park that covers 70 percent of the island. It was about $17 each for a roundtrip ticket. From the ferry port in Cruz Bay, St. John, you can walk to the welcome center of the national park where you’ll find various trail heads. Within the national park, we took off on the Lind Point trail and hiked to two different beaches from the park headquarters.
Because it was our honeymoon, we had to check out Honeymoon Beach which was about a 1.5 mile hike with some incline. I highly recommend wearing closed-toed shoes rather than sandals if you plan to hike to the different beaches to avoid taxi fees or if you just want to adventure. Honeymoon beach was so lovely and somewhat secluded. Yet, it had a bar shack selling cocktails and hotdogs, much to our surprise for how remote it felt. We were quite thankful for the sustenance and had to try a Painkiller, the signature drink on St. John.
The most famous place to indulge in this delicious pineapple and rum-based drink, is at a place called the Windmill on St. John. While we did not make it over to the Windmill, it came highly recommended to us by many locals, as having the perfect views to catch a sunset. We will certainly put it on our list for our next trip. While hiking from Honeymoon beach back towards Cruz Bay, we stopped along Salomon Bay (also off the Lind Point trail). The views were breathtaking and we noticed this beach was more crowded than Honeymoon Beach, which we presumed was because it was closer to town.
Once we got back to town, we caught a taxi by the ferry port where there are many open-air taxis waiting for tourists. From Cruz Bay we went to Trunk Bay, one of the most famous beaches in St. John, for about $20. One important tip about catching a taxi in St. John is to check the price schedule for various destinations posted inside the taxi cab. They list the going rates so make sure to verify the price for your requested destination so that you’re not overcharged.
Trunk Bay was one of our favorite beaches as it had magnificent views and was incredibly long so even though it was popular we were able to find our own space. It also had a beach bar and a restaurant hut cooking up local foods and fast food, which is very convenient if you plan to spend the whole day there. They also had restrooms and showers which really helped so we could shower and get clean before the ferry ride back to St. Thomas.
One huge tip for the ferry system is to plan to take the pedestrian ferry during peak season, as the lines for the car barge were backed up into town. The Red Hook Ferry port had plenty of parking when we went in January but you could also pay to park in the town or taxi to the port as the ferry lot gets full in busy season. You can also catch a ferry to St. John from Charlotte Amalie, the capital of St. Thomas, where the airport is located.
The second day trip we took to St. John, we took a taxi to Maho Bay and ended the day at Cinnamon Bay, where wild donkeys roam and you can tour the ruins of an old Danish settlement, just off the main road. Maho Bay was delightful and had several bar and restaurant shacks, including one serving up ice-cream and coffee- and coffee with ice-cream in it. They also offered many rental services at Maho Bay such as giant floats and paddle boards. Both the donkeys–and the gorgeous trails by the settlement at Cinnamon Bay–make for a good Instagram moment. We were sad when we had to go leave to catch the ferry back to St. Thomas.
If you venture to St. Croix in U.S. Virgin Islands, you’ll have to try a Cruzan Confusion, made with the signature Cruzan Rum from the St. Croix distillery. The Cruzan mango rum blended with pineapple juice is said to be the perfect concoction.
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