CRUISE 2014 - DAY 3 - ST. THOMAS, US VIRGIN ISLANDS

We woke up to another gorgeous, sunny morning.  Our plan for this cruise was quite different than past cruises.  We had no real schedule or excursions planned and were open to whatever tickled our fancy for each day.  We wanted to relax, recharge and enjoy the sun and sand!

The view from the ship - Charlotte Amalie is almost directly across the harbour

After some breakfast at the Windjammer, we caught a safari cab into Charlotte Amalie, the main town on St. Thomas.  We usually take the time to walk to and from town but were feeling lazy.  The walk takes around 20 minutes at a steady pace and, if you take the path through the yacht club, you pass by lots of boutiques that are nice for window shopping but whose prices are well out of our range.

One of the alleyways in the AH Riise shopping complex downtown

There is lots of shopping to be had ranging from the Vendor’s Market right up to high-end designer fare and tons of jewelry stores to choose from.  We didn’t have anything major on our shopping list so we wandered the tents at the Vendor’s Market looking for some sunglasses for Dave but the price was not right and we kept moving.  Bargaining is the norm but when they start way higher than we want, we just walk away.  There are lots of cab drivers around that area and a driver named Tim approached us offering rides to Magen’s Bay and other beaches, if we wanted.  When he found out that we had been there several times and were thinking of going to our favorite beach on Water Island (Honeymoon Beach), he turned into a real source of local information for us.  We had heard that Honeymoon Beach had been ‘discovered’ and was now often very populated and not the quiet, relaxing spot we have loved in the past and he confirmed that for us.  The Kon Tiki party boats have started making a stop there around lunch and they carry a lot of people. 

We asked him about Sapphire Beach, which was the other spot we had read some great reviews on and from his perspective, he said it was the best beach on the island.  There has been some drama going on between the owner and some others so access to the beach was restricted to pedestrians…no cabs allowed on the property and there were no facilities.  We told him that we were planning on taking the dollar taxi there and he pointed us to where the dollar taxi stand was.  He also told us that he was taking a group there and would be returning around 3:30pm if we decided we wanted to cab it back instead of the ‘bus’.  Dollar taxi’s look somewhat similar to the safari cabs…perhaps a bit more worn looking. 

travel with the locals on the dollar taxi

They are actually local bus transportation and way cheaper than cabs.  There are few tourists that use them or are even aware of them but they are the best deal going!  They only pick up at specific bus stops.  One of the stops is close to the Havensight pier where most ships dock.  There are no close stops to the Crown Bay pier on the opposite side of the island.  You walk through Havensight, turn left at the exit and walk down to where you see a gas station on the other side of the road.  The bus stop is on the road that runs beside the station (not the main road).  There is also a spot right beside the Vendors’ Market.  It cost us $2 each to get from Charlotte Amalie to the Sapphire Beach Resort & Marina.  If you ask a local, they will let you know when to ring the bell to make a stop or they may even take care of that for you.  The ride probably took around 40 minutes or so.  By cab, it would have been around $10 per person each way.

 

We had a bit of a walk (perhaps 7 or 8 minutes) down the hill to an absolutely gorgeous beach.  You have to love it when you walk around the corner and gasp because the colour of the water is just so stupendous…there are no words!  We spent several hours there, floating in the water, chatting with people that we met, laying under a tropical tree…the ultimate in relaxation!  We decided that if we paid a bit more and went back with Tim, we could spend longer on the beach… so we paid $10 per person to return to the ship via cab.

Since we had late sitting dinner, we had lots of time to shower, nap and take it easy before our 8:30pm dining time.  We had a very quiet evening and were in bed early.  All of the sun, exercise and fresh air makes us tired very early but makes for some incredible sleeps.  Our next stop would be St. Croix, USVI and we had never been to that island before and were looking forward to checking it out.