Telegaster
Registered
This trip report is based on my experience from 2021, which I took meticulous notes of but failed to post (essentially, I thought I had but hadn't) while the COVID situation has changed some of the logistics of getting there I have confirmed that my account of the trip still has information which is up to date as of this posting.
Background
In 2020 a group of my friends and colleagues put forth plans to travel to the USVI the next year, at the time we were all healthcare workers struggling through the peak of the pandemic and developing a distant goal gave us something to look forward to. Ultimately this led to four of us becoming scuba certified with the intent to dive during the vacation. By the time of the trip we had 4 certified (albeit novice) OW divers, three non divers one of whom ultimately did a 'discover scuba' experience and the other two simply snorkeled, two full days of diving were scheduled with Red hook dive center. The reason for choosing St Thomas was twofold: First, it was relatively easy to travel to during the pandemic versus many other locations, with no requirement for covid 19 testing prior to flying back to the US nor passport requirements. Second, my parents loved st Thomas and had traveled there several times with me when I was a child, I was eager to revisit the island as an adult.
Accommodations
Our group found housing on the east end of the island at sapphire beach. When I previously stayed there as a child this was a mixed resort/timeshare which, upon closing due to mismanagement has been rebranded as exclusively condos. Rental of these condos is done predominantly through Airbnb and what was once the hotel lobby/check-in has been turned into an independent coffee shop and bar that serves the beach. The Condos are heterogeneous, with some being updated and refinished and others essentially unchanged from when I visited them in the late 90's, ours was updated and very nice. Overall pricing was fairly reasonable vs a resort with our full stay at a condo costing ~1000 USD, when checking the prices in 2024 it appears ~$200 more expensive. I would make a point of only staying at 'superhost' locations as a detailed review of many other Airbnb condos did reveal several scams where people arrived to find a notification that their host had died and their reservation was cancelled, on of these individuals at the margaritaville condo appeared to have died no less than 5 times in the last year, god rest her soul x5.
Dining
Food was the responsibility of the renter and our regular areas to eat were the Beach buzz cafe (breakfast sandwiches, coffee, good but expensive) Sudis restaurant (great atmosphere and service, average food, average price) and the sapphire beach bar, which served typical faux-tiki carribean cocktails, these could all be comfortably walked to.
There are groceries at red hook, the closest town and while expensive (all food is, relatively speaking, expensive on ST Thomas) they are much cheaper than eating out for every meal. As far as restaurants worth visiting we found Duffy's loveshack to be the best balance of atmosphere, food price/quality, they had excellent cocktails as well. We also went to an italian place in redhook (pesce I think) and it was ok, there are several bars there that serve food as well, the quality of it varied from dive bar food to pretty good- the prices were higher than domestic US equivalents but not egregious. The most expensive meal we had was at Mirador at point pleasant, which was very expensive and had excellent food, if you aren't on a budget or want to do an anniversary dinner this would be a reasonable place to consider. Overall I would consider dining in st thomas to be expensive but not dismal in quality- comparing it to domestic US options I would be disappointed, for comparison i would say cozumel had substantially better and more well priced options. Credit cards were widely accepted.
Transportation
Intra-island Transport options in St Thomas break down to either using private taxis (usually vans) or renting a vehicle. We opted to use the taxis and some of the people on our trip ended up so bothered by the taxi experience that they really can't get past it when we reflect upon it. Notably, the taxis charge per person, not per trip, the charge is essentially an active negotiation every time (is this a $10 hill today or a $4 hill) and just overall felt unsavory to US citizens not used to haggling. I did feel like I was consistently being ripped off but the amount of money was not enough to bother me, I justified not getting hung up on it because I figured this money was likely going towards the local economy or feeding/educating the drives children so I didn't sweat it- but some of our group still gets riled up thinking about it. Be aware that neighboring St John has fixed prices for taxi-vans and there is no room/tolerance for negotiation.
Renting a vehicle is probably what I would do next time, although the roads are challenging and the situation is worsened by left hand driving combined with american exported vehicles, but the ability to explore the island yourself/the reassurance of transportation independence would be worth it to me.
Walking is not considered a reasonable option on any of the roads between towns. We frequently walked the mile from our condo to redhook and were considered having a deathwish for doing it by expats and locals- mainly due to a lack of infrastructure for pedestrians combined with the driving habits of the islanders. , I personally did not consider it to be any more pedestrian unfriendly than many situations I've encountered in the US.
It is worth noting that we did have the opportunity to visit a local place in a strip mall near the main city, Charlotte Amallie which was by far the best food we had on the trip, and amongst the cheapest. This is something I definitely would explore further if I returned to st Thomas.
Background
In 2020 a group of my friends and colleagues put forth plans to travel to the USVI the next year, at the time we were all healthcare workers struggling through the peak of the pandemic and developing a distant goal gave us something to look forward to. Ultimately this led to four of us becoming scuba certified with the intent to dive during the vacation. By the time of the trip we had 4 certified (albeit novice) OW divers, three non divers one of whom ultimately did a 'discover scuba' experience and the other two simply snorkeled, two full days of diving were scheduled with Red hook dive center. The reason for choosing St Thomas was twofold: First, it was relatively easy to travel to during the pandemic versus many other locations, with no requirement for covid 19 testing prior to flying back to the US nor passport requirements. Second, my parents loved st Thomas and had traveled there several times with me when I was a child, I was eager to revisit the island as an adult.
Accommodations
Our group found housing on the east end of the island at sapphire beach. When I previously stayed there as a child this was a mixed resort/timeshare which, upon closing due to mismanagement has been rebranded as exclusively condos. Rental of these condos is done predominantly through Airbnb and what was once the hotel lobby/check-in has been turned into an independent coffee shop and bar that serves the beach. The Condos are heterogeneous, with some being updated and refinished and others essentially unchanged from when I visited them in the late 90's, ours was updated and very nice. Overall pricing was fairly reasonable vs a resort with our full stay at a condo costing ~1000 USD, when checking the prices in 2024 it appears ~$200 more expensive. I would make a point of only staying at 'superhost' locations as a detailed review of many other Airbnb condos did reveal several scams where people arrived to find a notification that their host had died and their reservation was cancelled, on of these individuals at the margaritaville condo appeared to have died no less than 5 times in the last year, god rest her soul x5.
Dining
Food was the responsibility of the renter and our regular areas to eat were the Beach buzz cafe (breakfast sandwiches, coffee, good but expensive) Sudis restaurant (great atmosphere and service, average food, average price) and the sapphire beach bar, which served typical faux-tiki carribean cocktails, these could all be comfortably walked to.
There are groceries at red hook, the closest town and while expensive (all food is, relatively speaking, expensive on ST Thomas) they are much cheaper than eating out for every meal. As far as restaurants worth visiting we found Duffy's loveshack to be the best balance of atmosphere, food price/quality, they had excellent cocktails as well. We also went to an italian place in redhook (pesce I think) and it was ok, there are several bars there that serve food as well, the quality of it varied from dive bar food to pretty good- the prices were higher than domestic US equivalents but not egregious. The most expensive meal we had was at Mirador at point pleasant, which was very expensive and had excellent food, if you aren't on a budget or want to do an anniversary dinner this would be a reasonable place to consider. Overall I would consider dining in st thomas to be expensive but not dismal in quality- comparing it to domestic US options I would be disappointed, for comparison i would say cozumel had substantially better and more well priced options. Credit cards were widely accepted.
Transportation
Intra-island Transport options in St Thomas break down to either using private taxis (usually vans) or renting a vehicle. We opted to use the taxis and some of the people on our trip ended up so bothered by the taxi experience that they really can't get past it when we reflect upon it. Notably, the taxis charge per person, not per trip, the charge is essentially an active negotiation every time (is this a $10 hill today or a $4 hill) and just overall felt unsavory to US citizens not used to haggling. I did feel like I was consistently being ripped off but the amount of money was not enough to bother me, I justified not getting hung up on it because I figured this money was likely going towards the local economy or feeding/educating the drives children so I didn't sweat it- but some of our group still gets riled up thinking about it. Be aware that neighboring St John has fixed prices for taxi-vans and there is no room/tolerance for negotiation.
Renting a vehicle is probably what I would do next time, although the roads are challenging and the situation is worsened by left hand driving combined with american exported vehicles, but the ability to explore the island yourself/the reassurance of transportation independence would be worth it to me.
Walking is not considered a reasonable option on any of the roads between towns. We frequently walked the mile from our condo to redhook and were considered having a deathwish for doing it by expats and locals- mainly due to a lack of infrastructure for pedestrians combined with the driving habits of the islanders. , I personally did not consider it to be any more pedestrian unfriendly than many situations I've encountered in the US.
It is worth noting that we did have the opportunity to visit a local place in a strip mall near the main city, Charlotte Amallie which was by far the best food we had on the trip, and amongst the cheapest. This is something I definitely would explore further if I returned to st Thomas.
