Flying into St.Thomas.

A New Island...
The time had come for us to leave St. Croix and take the short hop via airplane from St. Croix to St. Thomas. As soon as we made our way through airport security and arrived at our gate, we knew we were in for a new experience… a ride in a very small plane, a six seater to be exact. Before we knew it, we were placing our carry-on bags into the compartment on the wing by the engine and climbing into our seats. As we took off and encountered our first few air turbulence bumps (Yes sir, this is real flying!), we quickly learned to stop worrying about the ride and to enjoy the fabulous scenery as we climbed away from St. Croix. In a matter of minutes, we could see St. Thomas coming into view. Ahead of us was one of the jewels of the Caribbean. The mountains of St. Thomas rise more dramatically from the sea and are more densely vegetated than those we had encountered on St. Croix. The view from the air is simply breathtaking.

The Marriott Frenchmen’s Reef & Morning Star - front of hotel.

Accommodations...
The Cyril E. King Airport is just west of Charlotte Amalie, the main port and city on St. Thomas. The cab ride to The Marriott Frenchmen’s Reef & Morning Star Resort is brief and the route takes you around the harbor. The Marriott is a full service resort with beautiful views of the harbor on one side and the sea on the other. At night, the lights of Charlotte Amalie sparkle like jewels. Our room was well appointed, spacious and had a balcony overlooking the harbor. Two cruise ships were in the harbor and we were amazed at how large they were in proportion to the docks and port authority buildings.

In short order, we put on our swimsuits and were at Morning Star Beach to enjoy the water and white sand beach. The hotel has two spacious pools and two tennis courts overlooking the sea. We availed ourselves of the opportunity to play tennis every morning before we were off for the day’s activities. The path to the courts and beach was frequently occupied by the resident iguana family who came out to see what food might be readily available.

The Marriott Frenchmen’s Reef & Morning Star Resort - view of the beach.

The hotel staff can schedule and book any number of outdoor adventures for their guests with a large activities desk as part of the concierge services. Your desire to hike, jet-ski, kayak, snorkel, scuba or sail can be quickly fulfilled with a visit to the Adventure Desk in the main lobby.

Before beginning your daily exploration of St. Thomas, you can visit the Windows on the Harbour restaurant for a full breakfast buffet or order selections of your choice. After a full day of fun in the sun (be sure to lather on the sun block), you have your choice of several dining options. On site are Havana Blue for fine dining; Captains Café, an old style pub; and Coco Joe’s. We spent most of our time at Coco Joe’s because it is right on the beach and is a fun, laid back dining option. For an after dinner aperitif, we strolled to the lobby bar terrace and enjoyed the view of Charlotte Amalie’s lights and the fresh ocean breeze.

Mr. Iguana (or it could be a Ms!)

It’s Playtime...

Our first priority was to find the best place to snorkel. Both the Adventure Desk and various cab drivers advised us to make the trip to Coki Bay on the other side of the island. We took their advice and are thankful we did. The ride in the van with our driver Louise was enjoyable with the side benefit of gleaning all the info from her we needed about the Bay – where to store our things and how often would we be able to catch a cab back to the hotel. Coki Bay is a relatively small half bay with the island jutting out into the sea on both ends… the best snorkeling (and snuba/scuba) diving was located near these two ends of the Bay. The coral seemed healthy and the sea life abundant. This is also the location of Coral World Underwater Observatory. You can take their tour if you do not wish to snorkel but still want the reef experience.

Other attractions are Magen’s Bay Beach, Paradise Point Aerial Tram, Great House Mountain Top, the Botanical Gardens at St. Peter Estate, Bluebeard’s Castle and Fort Christian Museum. Our time on St. Thomas was limited so we were not able to take the ferry trip to the island of St. John. St. John and surrounding waters are part of the Virgin Island’s National Park and Coral Reef. Everyone we met said a visit to this island is a must. There are ferries that leave from Red Hook and Charlotte Amalie. St. John is the spot to view the botanical, coral, sea life and avian wonders of the Caribbean. We recommend you to buy the National Park Service book A Guide to National Parklands in the United States Virgin Islands. It is an excellent guide to the history, geography, maps and wildlife of all the Virgin Islands. In short, a one-stop educational and guidebook that we always took with us on our daily excursions.

A cruise ship maneuvers out of the bay at Charlotte Amalie.

And, Let’s Not Forget Shopping...
No trip to St. Thomas is complete without one or more trips to Charlotte Amalie to scour the streets for shopping bargains. St. Thomas has been a duty-free port since the Dutch first designated it as such in 1764. The harbor was also one of Blackbeard’s resting places between his forays, so it seems appropriate that it is a prominent jewelry and gem center. I think we saw more jewelry and fine watches here than in the Diamond District in New York City. International dealers and gemologists have a presence here. Since you can buy duty-free, many people combine their vacation with some serious shopping. In addition to jewelry, designer clothing stores are in abundance. We also saw many people buying cases of liquor, but it seemed like a packing nightmare, so we opted for a couple of bottles of rum that we could cushion in our bags.

Whatever your favorite activity – sunning on the beach, shopping, or vigorous hiking – there is something for everyone in the Virgin Islands. We were sad to leave St. Thomas and St. Croix behind but promised ourselves we would return. There are so many activities and rich cultural experiences to enjoy that multiple trips to these beautiful U.S. islands are required.