us virgin islands trip planner

U.S. Virgin Islands Visitors Guide

How to get there, things to do & more.

Last Updated on September 9, 2024 ⋅ Written by Laura Schulthies ⋅ Edited by Daniel Mode

Welcome to US Virgin Islands

Looking for a Caribbean destination that offers the perfect blend of natural beauty, adventure, and relaxation? Look no further than the U.S. Virgin Islands! Comprised of three unique islands – St. Thomas, St. Croix, and St. John – each offers its own charm and attractions. St. Thomas boasts world-class dining and shopping, while St. Croix is known for its rich cultural history and stunning beaches . St. John is perfect for outdoor adventurers, with two-thirds of the island preserved as a national park. Our guide will take you through some of the top things to do in USVI. We will also give you tips on when to visit the U.S. Virgin Islands, the weather to expect, and how to stay safe during your travels. So pack your bags and get ready to immerse yourself in the local culture of this breathtaking island nation!

Looking for a Caribbean destination that offers the perfect blend of natural beauty, adventure, and relaxation? Look no further than the U.S. Virgin Islands!

Comprised of three unique islands – St. Thomas, St. Croix, and St. John – each offers its own charm and attractions. St. Thomas boasts world-class dining and shopping, while St. Croix is known for its rich cultural history and stunning beaches . St. John is perfect for outdoor adventurers, with two-thirds of the island preserved as a national park.

Our guide will take you through some of the top things to do in USVI. We will also give you tips on when to visit the U.S. Virgin Islands, the weather to expect, and how to stay safe during your travels. So pack your bags and get ready to immerse yourself in the local culture of this breathtaking island nation!

US Virgin Islands Map

A Bit Of History

For 3,000 years, the U.S. Virgin Islands were inhabited by the Ciboney people who first arrived from South America, followed by the Arawak, and then the Caribe tribes. Europeans arrived around 1625, when the English and Dutch began a 20-year-long struggle for power over the island of St. Croix.

The English ultimately surrendered but managed to establish rule in 1672. The islands continued to be traded off for a few hundred years until they were eventually settled by Denmark. Around 1685, the Danish approved St. Thomas as a safe haven for pirates, which they thought would benefit local business.

In 1916, the United States purchased the islands from Denmark for strategic military positioning during World War I.

U.S. Virgin Islands Today

The United States granted citizenship to all inhabitants of the islands in 1927, but voting rights were not secured until 1936. Revisions were made to these acts in 1954 to give more power to the local government, although the islands are still ruled by U.S. law. Today, the U.S. Virgin Islands are some of the most prosperous islands in the Caribbean.

Are The US Virgin Islands Safe?

The US Virgin Islands is overall a very safe place for travel, just be cautious as the crime rate has risen slightly on St. Johns island over the past few years. While theft and violent crime are not common, petty crimes and occasional assault against tourists do happen on rare occasions.

Visitors should be more concerned about accidental injuries rather than violent crimes, however. The islands have all sorts of high-risk level excursions and activities aimed at tourists, and it isn’t uncommon for injuries to happen.

Where are the US Virgin Islands?

click map to enlarge

The U.S. Virgin Islands are in the northeastern Caribbean Sea about 40 miles east of Puerto Rico and west of St. Barts , St. Kitts and Antigua .

The islands are comprised of three large landmasses: St. John, St. Thomas, and St. Croix. There are also numerous smaller islands and cays.

The Best Time to Visit the US Virgin Islands

Looking for the best time to go to the US Virgin Islands? Temperatures range from mid 80s to low 90s year-round in the U.S. Virgin Islands. However, there are dry and wet seasons as well as the Atlantic hurricane season, which travelers should be aware of.

December – March

December to March brings the largest crowd as the island’s breeze begets the most hospitable weather. The temperature ranges from the mid-70’s to high-80’s, and the rain is minimal.

April to June

April to June is the best time to travel to the U.S. Virgin Islands as it is less crowded and the weather is nice. The temperature is relatively consistent around this time, ranging from the mid to high 80s, and the chance of rain is unlikely.

July to November

While you may be able to find a great deal from July to November, you do risk having your trip canceled or cut short due to peak hurricane season. The rainfall is also the highest during these months, which makes most outdoor activities difficult.

  When Is U.S. Virgin Islands Hurricane Season?

U.S. Virgin Islands hurricane season begins June 1 and goes through the end of November, with peak months being September and October. During this time, tourism slows because travelers can expect tropical storms and heavy rains. In the Virgin Islands, the average rainfall is five to six inches a month from September through November. The U.S. Virgin Islands are affected by a hurricane every four to six years, while a hurricane directly hits land around every eight years. Be sure to check weather reports before your trip, and we always recommend getting travel insurance during these months just in case of inclement weather.

How to Get to the US Virgin Islands & Around

There are a few ways to get to and around the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Arrival by Air

There are two international airports in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Cyril E. King Airport (STT) is located in St. Thomas and Henry E. Rohlsen Airport (STX) is in St. Croix.

Both nonstop and connecting flights are offered by many U.S. airlines and interconnecting flights between islands are also available. Most flights make connections in San Juan, Puerto Rico . That connection takes around 30 minutes to St. Thomas and 20 minutes to St. Croix.

  Search for great deals on flights here .

Arrival by Cruise

The major cruise port in the US Virgin Islands is in St. Thomas, specifically the Havensight Pier outside of Charlotte Amalie on St. Thomas. Both St. Croix and St. John also accommodate cruise ships.

A cruise visit to the Virgin Islands is an excellent way to get a taste of what these beautiful islands offer. There are many different cruise lines that offer stops in the U.S. Virgin Islands, such as Celebrity Cruises, Disney Cruises and Royal Caribbean.

  Search for great deals on cruises here .

Shuttles in US Virgin Islands

Shuttles or private transport can be pre-arranged to pick you up and take you from the airport to your accommodations .

St Thomas and St Croix airport transfers are ideal for solo travelers, couples, families, or large groups. The number and type of vehicles are assigned based on the size of your party, and all of the drivers and vehicles are fully licensed and insured.

One way shuttles can be as cheap as $60 for 1 passenger, $125 for 2 passengers, $138 for 4 passengers, and $188 for 6 passengers. Keep in mind that late or early arrivals as well as longer trips will cost extra.

  You can easily book ground transportation from the airport to your hotel here .

Getting Around by Car

It is easy to get around any of the large islands by rental car. You can rent cars at either of the two international airports. Renting a car while visiting the islands is hands down the best way to explore.

Rentals typically cost around $62 per day for an economy car and $147 per day for a standard SUV. While luxury SUVs cost around $470 per day.

You’ll need to drive on the left side of the road. Speed limits do vary on the islands, so make sure to take your time and enjoy the views. All U.S. drivers can drive for up to 90 days as long as they have a current driver’s license.

  Search for great deals on rental cars here .

US Virgin Islands by Taxi

Taxis are available by both land and water to transport you around the islands. Taxis are available at the airports, as well as cruise docks and on popular streets.

They are a popular option in St. Thomas, but are not metered. Instead taxi rates are per person and by destination. There can be additional fees based on factors such as luggage and waiting.  Keep in mind that the majority of taxis in St Thomas are cash only.

Ferries in US Virgin Islands

If you are interested in island hopping in the U.S. Virgin Islands, ferries are a great way to do that. Ferries from St. Croix or St. Thomas can easily take you to the island of St. John and back.

Ferries typically cost around $75 per person one way, and about $120 for a round trip ride.

Things to Do in St. Thomas

St. thomas top highlights.

St. Thomas island has something for everyone!  Here are just a few of the activities to enjoy in St. Thomas!

Take the Skyride to Paradise Point

This short gondola ride will take you up to the highest peak in the islands’ capital city, Charlotte Amalie. From this vantage point, you will experience panoramic views that overlook Water Island and Puerto Rico in the distance. There is also a restaurant , bar, and gift shop at the top! This ride is around $25 for adults and $17 for children 12 and under.

Go Diving or Snorkeling

It is no secret that the U.S. Virgin Islands has some of the best diving and snorkeling in the Caribbean. You can observe various coral types, sea turtles, an array of colorful fish, and so much more! Not surprisingly, there are an abundance of beaches with great DIY snorkeling opportunities. However, boat snorkeling and diving tours tend to explore much more of the beautiful reefs.

  Check out a number of excellent snorkeling day tours in St. Thomas here .

  Scuba diving options abound. Here is a great beginners Discover Scuba Dive while this top rated two tank dive is for certified divers only.

  ISLAND LIFE TRAVEL TIP : GET TRAVEL INSURANCE

Travel Insurance is a must in our opinion. Standard health insurance likely doesn’t cover you while outside of the country so travel insurance will cover any emergency medical needs as well as trip cancellation, lost or stolen luggage (it happens), flight delays, missed connections and more. You can easily compare the top-rated travel insurance plans here .

Visit the Phantasea Tropical Botanical Garden

For the nature and flower-loving tourist, the Phantasea Tropical Botanical Garden offers beautiful blooming orchids, lilies, palms, and so much more! A stroll through the gardens can be relaxing for the whole family.

With lizards scurrying about and butterflies floating gracefully by, this experience is sure to leave you feeling enchanted and mesmerized. There are also several animal attractions, such as parrots, peacocks, tortoises, and chickens.

  For those without transportation, this inexpensive 2 hour tour to the gardens includes hotel pick up and drop off.

Spend the Day as a Pirate

The Virgin Islands are famously known to have been a safe harbor for pirates back in the day. Today, you can spend the day as a pirate and visit many historical pirate sites, such as Blackbeard’s Castle. This tower was originally created in 1679 as a watchtower for the Danes but was taken over in the 18 th century by pirate Blackbeard.

Near Blackbeard’s Castle, you will find the famous 99 steps. These were originally built by the Danes to make it easier to climb the steep hillsides and is a popular location for a photo-op today. End your day in a natural pirate fashion by sipping one of the plentiful rum drinks at any of the local restaurants.

  Visit Blackbeard and Bluebeard’s castles as part of this half day group tour .

  Want to try something really different? Check out this popular night time pirate treasure hunt !

Relax on the Beach

One of the best activities on any island is relaxing on its beaches, and St. Thomas has one of the best! On the northern coast of the island is Magens Bay (pictured above), known to be one of the most photogenic and swimmable locations in the Caribbean.

Visitors love the snow white sand and crystal clear water. You can check this beach out on your own, or you can join one of a variety of tours that visit Magens Bay by land or boat!

  Check out a number of great Magens Bay tour options here .

  For more great beach ideas, check out our Best Beaches In U.S. Virgin Islands Guide!

Things to Do in St. John

St. john top highlights.

Here are just a few of the activities to enjoy in St. John!

Explore Virgin Islands National Park

The Virgin Islands National Park comprises two-thirds of the island of St. John. Nature-lovers will enjoy exploring more than 20 trails, relaxing on the various beaches, or adventuring into the waters for boating and snorkeling excursions.

While some believe the island is best explored by boat tour , there are land based tours available as well that visit many of the lovely parts of the island.

  Hit the water in this popular small group boat tour to see many parts of the island or hire a private boat to take your group exploring on your own!

  Check out this top rated 2.5 hour tour and this 4 hour tour in an open air tour taxi. The 4 hour tour visits 7 different beaches!

Discover the Bays

St. John is home to several bays with gorgeous panoramic views that shouldn’t be missed. Trunk Bay (pictured above), nearby the Virgin Islands National Park, has fluffy white sand beaches and mesmerizing turquoise water. There is also a 225-yard snorkeling path that is abundant with coral and fish.

On the East End of St. John lies Hansen Bay, which offers serene waters and great snorkeling with glimpses of turtles and stingrays.

In the north is Maho Bay , which is a favorite among locals and tourists alike. It offers glittering white sands shaded by towering coconut trees. Cruz Bay, on the west coast, is one of St. John’s most lively ports with 28 miles of restaurants, stores, and bars.

Lastly, Salt Pond Bay in the South, is a moderate hike from the road, which brings you out to a protected cove that offers a more private beach experience and pristine snorkeling.

  This top rated  4 hour private tour in an open air tour taxi visits Trunk Bay, Maho Bay and Cinnamon Bay as well as 4 other beaches.

  This popular small group boat tour visits Cinnamon Bay, Hansens Bay and Salt Pond Bay.

    Hire a private boat to see all the bays you want in a customizable tour!

Go Hiking or Kayaking

With two-thirds of the island being a national park, there are numerous kayaking locations and jungle hikes in St. John. Easy hiking trails include Drunk Bay and Lind Point, while slightly more advanced trails are Cinnamon Bay (pictured above), Reef Bay, Johnny Horn, and Bordeaux Mountain Trail.

No matter which bay or trail you choose, you are sure to see beautiful greenery, breathtaking views, and maybe even some wildlife.

  Get active with this Honeymoon Beach eco hiking and snorkeling tour .

  Night kayaking is also very popular.

Take a Sunset Sail

Sunsets are the perfect time to set sail off the coast of St. John. Numerous sunset sails offer food, champagne and an experience not to be missed. While some sunset tours set out for an hour and a half and include champagne and hors d’oeuvres, other lengthier experiences include a stop on Lovango Cay where guests can have dinner at the private resort before sailing back to the mainland under the moonlight.

  This 1.5 hour sunset tour includes champagne, hors d’oeuvres and an open bar.

  This 4.5 hour experience includes champagne, hors d’oeuvres and an open bar on the sailboat and several hours on the beautiful Lovango Cay for dinner. Note that dinner is not included.

Things to Do in St. Croix

St. croix top highlights.

Here are just a few of the activities to enjoy in St. Croix!

Salt River Bay National Park and Ecological Preserve

This national park preserves watersheds, forests, and marine environments that are home to many endangered species. There are also many prehistoric and colonial-era archeological sites, such as the Columbus landing site.

Visit Buck Island

This island is about one and half miles off the coast of St. Croix. It is about nearly 200 acres of land surrounded by over 700 acres of a coral reef system. This island is a heaven for snorkelers, divers, and jungle adventurers!

Caribbean Museum Center for the Arts

For art-lovers or those wanting to escape the sun for a bit, the Caribbean Museum Center for the Arts is a great place to visit. There is an ongoing home exhibit, as well as visiting exhibits that rotate throughout the year. Check out their website for the newest exhibitions.

Where to Stay in US Virgin Islands

There are all types of accommodations in the US Virgin Islands. From all inclusive resorts to boutique hotels and more. Location and amenities are the two top things to look for. For great hotel info and recommendations, check out our US Virgin Islands Hotel Guide or our US Virgin Islands All Inclusive Resort Guide.

For hotel recommendations for every budget, check out our US Virgin Islands Hotel Guide

What to Eat in the US Virgin Islands

You can find a wide range of wonderful bites to eat in the US Virgin Islands. If you’re looking for a culinary adventure, check out our US Virgin Islands Restaurant Guide .

For great restaurant recommendations, check out our US Virgin Islands Restaurant Guide

What To Pack For Your Trip!

The Caribbean is an enchanting wonderland of relaxation and adventure, one can easily have the trip of a lifetime here. Packing for such a vacation shouldn’t be hard, so we’ve put together a checklist to help you pack and included some of our favorites as well. Check out our What To Pack For Your Trip Guide .

Check out our guide for what to bring on your Caribbean vacation!

Islands, Beaches, Cuisine and More

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This post has 10 comments.

Trunk Bay is AMAZING. Go early in the morning if possible, especially to snorkel. The beach and the snorkel trail can get crowded later when the cruise ship people arrive.

I look forward to experiencing the Virgin Islands National Park during my next visit! Thanks for the tip!

This is the best guide for the US Virgin Islands I have yet to come across, great job!

My kids really enjoyed Blackbeards’ Castle! Thank you for the great advice and tips!

Glad you enjoyed it!

I will definitely be taking all the sailing tips into consideration when planning my trip this summer, thanks for the advice!

We also love the botanical gardens in St. Thomas. Good recommendation.

This guide is such a lifesaver, thanks for posting it. I especially like the night kayaking and sailing tips! So so great 😀

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7 Day Itinerary for the US Virgin Islands of St. Thomas & St. John

Itinerary Highlights

• Location: United States Virgin Islands (STT and STJ)
• Length: 1 Week (8 Days, 7 Nights)
• Good For:  Single Travelers, Couples, Familes
• Main Locations Visited:  St. Thomas & St. John
• Additional Locations Visited: (USVI) Water Island, Cas Cay; (BVI) Virgin Gorda, Norman Island, Cooper Island, Jost Van Dyke
• Coral World Ocean Park
• VI Eco Tours’ Mangrove Lagoon / Cas Cay Kayak, Hike, and Snorkel Tour
• Bad Kitty British Virgin Islands All-Day Catamaran Tour
• VI Eco Tours Honeymoon Beach Kayak, Paddle Board, and Snorkel Day Pass
• Virgin Island National Park Reef Bay Hike
• Water Island Golf Cart Self-guided Tour
• St. Thomas: Magens Bay, Coki Beach, Cowpet Bay Beach
• St. John:  Honeymoon Beach & Caneel Bay, Trunk Bay, Maho Beach;
• Water Island:  Honeymoon Beach
• Jost Van Dyke: White Bay
• Mafolie’s (Charlotte Amalie)
• Sangria’s Beachside Bistro (East End)
• Sunset Grille (East End)
• Sugar Bay Resort (near Coki Beach)
• St. Thomas Yacht Club (East End)
• Total Cost Per Person:  For everything in this itinerary, plan on $1,200 – $1,500 per person.

After four months of research and planning, our family just took the most amazing trip to the US Virgin Islands (USVI)  of St. Thomas (STT) and St. John (STJ) . We packed eight spectacular days with swimming, snorkeling, kayaking, hiking, boating, beaching, eating, and sight seeing. We even managed to take a whole day trip to the nearby British Virgin Islands (BVI) including stops at Jost Van Dyke, Virgin Gorda, Norman Island, and Cooper Island!

We’ve documented this itinerary exactly the way we took the trip, including select pictures from the more than 1,000 we took over our eight days in the USVI. (Our Virgin Islands photo journal  has hundreds of pictures if you’d like to see more of anything talked about below). If you’d just like to find a few things to do on your own trip, rather than a full itinerary, check out our things to do in the US Virgin Islands article.

We also completed two separate reviews of some VI Eco Tours excursions we did. They’re here:

• St. Thomas Mangrove Lagoon Kayak, Hike, and Snorkel Tour (VI Eco Tours) .
• Honeymoon Beach Day Bass (VI Eco Tours) .

We’ve received no compensation in any form for any tour or restaurant we mention here. We paid full retail prices for everything, so you can trust that our opinions are only our own.

We hope you find this itinerary helpful and will consider pinning it or it sharing it on Facebook  or other social media with your friends. We thrive on social sharing; it’s what helps us produce guides like this one!

Understanding USVI Geography & Where to Stay

Map Courtesy of the National Park Service

Take a look at this NPS-provided map to get familiar with the layout of the Virgin Islands (both US and British are pictured). The USVI comprises the three major islands of St. Thomas, St. John, and St. Croix.

St. Croix has its own international airport and is far enough south (~50 miles) that we think it makes sense to do that island on a separate trip, so we don’t discuss it in this guide. The BVI are very close to St. Thomas and St. John, and it’s easy to do a day trip to the BVI from either island. (This plan includes a visit to the BVI on Day 4.)

There are also a number of outlying islands in the USVI. Most aren’t populated, with the exception of Water Island in the harbor of Charlotte Amalie on St. Thomas. This Itinerary includes a visit to Water Island on Day 6. We enjoyed our day there.

Where to Stay: We chose to stay in East End on St. Thomas (marked in red on the map) because it’s just a few minutes from the Red Hook port, which is where the ferry to St. John arrives and departs. On days we spent in St. John (Days 5 and 7 in this itinerary), we could get to the ferry quickly. For this itinerary you could stay anywhere on St. Thomas or St. John and make it work. The islands aren’t that big and just about everything is within a one hour drive (plus ferry time). Depending on where you are you may need to plan more or less travel time for certain activities.  We also found it useful to check the port cruise ship schedules; heavy cruise days mean much more traffic and double or triple travel time.

We looked up available places on VRBO and Airbnb and compared prices. Since we’re a big family, we needed to find something that can accommodate all seven of us, and hotels just don’t work at a budget-friendly price. The specific unit we stayed in is in the Anchorage Condos and faces Cowpet Bay. The owners use this unit as their personal residence during some of the year, but if it’s available when you’re traveling, we highly recommend it. Here’s the view of Cowpet Bay from the balcony of the unit we rented.

View of Cowpet Bay from the Anchorage Condos in St. Thomas

Getting Around – Cars, Taxis, & Ferries

The Avis Minivan We Rented to Travel Around the Island

Rental Cars/Vans: We rented a minivan and never regretted that decision. You can pick up and drop off rental cars at the airport on St. Thomas. Major brands including Budget and Avis do business on the island. So do a few local brands. Our host recommended that we rent from a big brand and call a few days in advance of travel to ensure that the specific type of car we reserved (in our case, a minivan) would be available. We followed her advice and it worked out well.

Taxis: You can also easily get around via taxis; they are everywhere. This itinerary is travel heavy, so taxis will add up if you’ve got a lot of travelers. Many taxis on the islands charge per person, as opposed to per mile. If you have a big family, you’ll probably save money renting a vehicle. Also, any time you’re switching islands you’re going to have to pay for two taxis–one on each island–so keep that in mind when budgeting. The taxis on St. John seemed to charge $5 per person to take you most places on the island. Again, at 7 of us, that’s $35 even if we only traveled two miles.  Uber has also started operating on the islands, but we didn’t try hailing an Uber. Our family is typically too big to fit in one Uber car, anyway.

Driving on the Left: The USVI is the only US territory that drives on the left. It was our first time driving on the left and it does take a bit of getting used to. Our advice: If you’re a reasonably confident driver, rent a car. You’ll be able to quickly adapt to left-side driving and you’ll have more freedom and flexibility moving around the islands. Most roads on the islands are two-lane anyway, so you just have to remember to hug the left side of the road.

Ferries : Passenger ferries run hourly between St. Thomas and St. John all day long. Car barges also run, and if you’re family is big enough, it can actually be cheaper to take the car barge than the people mover. The car barges run about every hour and a half, but their departure and arrival times are not as consistent as the people ferries – that’s something you should keep in mind if you have a deadline to meet up with a group on the other island. Leave plenty of time to get the car across. There are also ferries to the British Virgin Islands, nearby Virgin Islands, and other places.

Left: People Ferry; Right: Car Barge (Both Go Between St. Thomas and St. John)

Parking: We were worried about parking but actually never ended up having trouble finding a spot anywhere we went. The most popular beaches (Magens Bay on St. Thomas; Trunk Bay on St. John) have parking available. Magens has more than Trunk, but since we visited Trunk late we never had a problem. Usually you can find some solution for parking, even if it means walking a short distance.

Mountainous Terrain:  Be warned: the islands have A LOT of hills. The USVI Government has no problem building roads with 30 degree angles up the sides of hills. We found the roads to be in moderate shape on St. Thomas and pretty good on St. John. As long as you’re a reasonably confident and careful driver, you should be fine!

Before You Travel

If you follow this itinerary, here’s everything you’ll need to do before you travel.

• VRBO , Airbnb , FlipKey  all work for larger families. (Make sure you negotiate!)
• We stayed at this unit on St. Thomas.
• Book Flights (we flew Spirit Airlines for $325 round trip per person from Baltimore, MD).
• Coral World Ocean Park (for the Sea Turtle Encounter)
• Virgin Island Eco Tours (for the 3 hour Mangrove Lagoon Tour and Honeymoon Beach Day Passes)
• Bad Kitty / Calypso Charters (for the British Virgin Islands Boat Tour on Day 4)
• Friends of the Virgin Islands National Park (for the Reef Bay Hike)
• Blackbeard’s Castle
• Reserve a rental car at the airport ( Avis and Budget are options)
• Reserve golf cart(s) on Water Island if you plan to visit. (They run out, so make sure to reserve.)
• Ferry Schedules for St. Thomas, St. John, and Water Island
• Steps to Get a Passport (US Citizens)

Day 1: Travel, Check-in, and Dinner

(From Top Left to Bottom Right) Waiting to Depart, Arriving in St. Thomas, Driving to the Rental, A Quick Dip in the Caribbean

Day 1 is all about flying into St. Thomas, getting setup with a rental car, buying groceries for the week (unless you plan to do all restaurants or bring food from home), and checking into your rental house/hotel. You’ll probably be tired after traveling at the end of Day 1, so we recommend just hanging out around the rental property for the evening. We stayed at the Anchorage Condos  which had private access to the beach on Cowpet Bay. The beach itself wasn’t great, but the kids enjoyed being able to put their feet in the Caribbean on the first night and having a pool right on the property.

Details for Day 1:

• Arrive in St. Thomas’s Cyril E. King International Airport (located on the west side of St. Thomas).
• (Note: From the airport on the West side of St. Thomas to Red Hook / East End is about a 45 minute drive).
• We got lucky and our host bought groceries for us ahead of our arrival and we reimbursed her for the cost.
• Be aware that groceries are more expensive in the USVI because everything is imported.
• The night we arrived we ate dinner at the St. Thomas Yacht Club . (We stayed at the Anchorage Condos and our host had made reservations for us at the Yacht club which is nearby.) The restaurant was certainly OK – but we picked it only because we didn’t want to travel any further on our first day.

Day 2: Sugar Bay Resort, Coki Beach (or alternatively Magens Bay), Coral World, and Sangria’s Beachside Bistro

(From Top Left to Bottom Right) Sugar Bay Resort Breakfast Bar, Magens Bay (from Drakes Seat), Magens Bay (up close), and Coral World Sea Turtle Encounter

On our trips we like to jump right in after a good night sleep, so Day 2 is about starting the adventure in northeast St. Thomas! Get up early and drive to the  Sugar Bay Resort  for a fantastic breakfast buffet including omelette bar, fruit bar, breakfast meats, and everything else you’d expect from an all-inclusive resort. Our host originally suggested that we get breakfast at the resort and then stay and use their pools, but the pools are technically for resort guests and we wanted to get to the beach anyway. When you get to the gate at Sugar Bay, just tell them you’re going to the restaurant and they’ll let you in to the lot. A golf cart takes you from the parking lot up to the restaurant. The views from the restaurant are stunning, overlooking  Water Bay  with vistas of Thatch Cay in the distance.

After the restaurant, head over to Coki Beach for the morning. Coki Beach is located close to Water Bay and right next to Coral World Ocean Park . It’s one of St. Thomas’ most popular beaches. If the cruise ships are in dock Day 2, you might consider going to Magens Bay as an alternate just because it’s a much larger beach. (We ended up at Magens, but would have probably enjoyed Coki and regretted not hitting it since we hit Magens again on Day 3.) The advantage of going to Coki on Day 2 is that it’s right next to Coral World, so you can park once and hit both for the day. Both Coki Beach and Magens Bay have a bar and food on property so you can eat lunch if you don’t end up packing. (We ended up packing a light lunch for the kids on Day 2. Kim and I skipped because of the huge breakfast at Sugar Bay!).

After you hit the beach, head over to Coral World for the afternoon. Coral World is open until 4:00pm and they run “encounters” several times in the morning and afternoon (you’ll need to make reservations before you travel for the encounters). You can see the bulk of the park in less than 2 hours and then hit whichever encounter you’ve chosen. We did the sea turtle encounter and really loved the opportunity to actually pet sea turtles. (In the wild, you aren’t allowed to touch them!) They also have a Lorikeet Cage, but since we had just fed the Lorikeets at Bird Kingdom on our Niagara Falls trip , we didn’t feel the need to do it for this one.

For dinner, we hit Sangria’s Beachside Bistro  on East End. The kids loved Sangria’s because they run outdoor movies after dark so the parents can drink Sangria while the kids watch a movie on the beach!

Details for Day 2:

• Tell the gatehouse attendant you are there for the restaurant.
• Ask for a table outside overlooking the water!
• Take a mini-tour of the resort if you’re interested. It’s beautiful!
• Coki has bathrooms, food, and drink sales. But you’ll probably be full from breakfast.
• Our family hit Magens Bay instead of Coki. It’s a little further away and not right next to Coral World. We wish we had hit Coki on our trip, but we ended up hitting Magens twice.
• You must book excursions in advance – we recommend at least 1 month in advance.
• We really enjoyed the sea turtle encounter. Others have said the sea lion encounters are also very good.
• After Coral World you’ll probably want to return to your rental, hit the showers, and then either eat dinner in or head out to a restaurant. We ate at Sangria’s Beachside Bistro and the kids loved it.

Day 3: Magens Bay, VI Eco Tours’ Mangrove Lagoon Kayak, Hike, and Snorkel Tour, and Sunset Grille

(From Top Left to Bottom Right) Magens Bay, Kayaking the Mangrove Lagoon, Rocks on Cas Cay, Snorkeling in the Lagoon

On Day 3 we’ll see more of St. Thomas! Head out to Magens Bay to spend the morning relaxing, swimming, and snorkeling. Magens is one of St. Thomas’ most beautiful beaches. It’s located inside a protected territory park that has plenty of parking available. The left side of the beach is much less populated than the right side, where taxis drop off cruise ship tourists. (The right side is shown in the first picture above.)

In the afternoon, head to  Virgin Island Eco Tours ‘ Mangrove Lagoon Kayak, Hike, and Snorkel Tour . VI Eco Tours offers a 2.5, 3, and 5 hour version of the tour. We found the 3 hour tour to be more than sufficient for our kids. Our guide was fantastic! This was the kids’ first time snorkeling and kayaking and they loved every bit of it. The Mangrove Lagoon is one of the most beautiful and peaceful places on St. Thomas. We highly recommend this tour. Upon returning home, our kids still report it as one of the favorite things they did on the trip.

In the evening on Day 3 we take a quick stop back at the rental for showers and then head out to the Sunset Grill in East End for a delicious dinner. The kids really enjoyed Sunset and so did Kim and I. We highly recommend this place!

Detailed Plan for Day 3:

• Eat breakfast in the rental and pack light lunches for the road.
• Tip: You’ll enter the park on the right side of the beach. Drive as far left as you can if you want a quieter beach. Magens is a very long beach.
• Eat the packed lunch at Magens or in the car.
• Remember to tip your guide! (A good tip is $10 / person).
• Head Back to the rental to take showers before the evening.
• Eat at  Sunset Grille in East End for Dinner!

Day 4: British Virgin Islands Boat Tour: The Baths at Virgin Gorda, Snorkeling at Normal Island, Lunch on Cooper Island, and the Beach on Jost Van Dyke

(From Top Left to Bottom Right) Bad Kitty 2 Boat, The Baths at Virgin Gorda, White Bay Beach on Jost Van Dyke, The Union Jack on Cooper Island

On Day 4, we recommend touring the British Virgin Islands (“The BVI”). There are a number of tour operators that leave from both St. Thomas and St. John early in the morning (7:15 am) and return late afternoon (4:30). We booked about a month in advance with Bad Kitty / Calypso Charters  and our tour was on the Bad Kitty 2 Catamaran (pictured in the upper left above). The best part of the tour is that you get to hit a lot of cool sites all in one day. Bad Kitty took us to Virgin Gorda to hike The Baths , to Norman Island for snorkeling, to Cooper Island for lunch , and to White Bay on Jost Van Dyke to shop and swim. Our kids loved that we were able to “go to a different country” and see so much in just one day on this already-amazing trip!

Interesting fact: The USVI and BVI are the place on earth where the United States and the United Kingdom are geographically closest. There are two minor outlying islands that are less than 1/2 mile apart! Even the big islands of St. John (USVI) and Tortola (BVI) are very close. (See the map at the top of this post for just how close.)

Bad Kitty includes breakfast (fruit & coffee cake), water, sodas and juice on the ship and open bar for adults after the snorkel stop on Norman island. You need to bring cash or credit for lunch on Cooper Island, and plan for a 15-20% tip for the crew at the end of the day.

We decided to eat dinner at the rental on Day 4. For one, the tour is expensive and we wanted to save some money by not hitting a restaurant. For two, you’ll likely be tired. All of us were!

(Thanks to Cate @ Hulaland Blog for the suggestion to include the BVI trip!)

Detailed Plan for Day 4:

• Make sure you have passports (required to board the boats!)
• If you’re a coffee drinker, grab some on the way to the boat.  They do not provide that!
• Eat a light breakfast on the ship (provided for free by Bad Kitty ).
• Hike “The Baths” at Virgin Gorda
• Snorkel next to Normal Island
• Eat Lunch on Copper Island
• Swim, shop, and hit the Soggy Dollar Bar on Jost Van Dyke.
• Drink a Painkiller or two and a Rum Punch while on board!
• Head back to the rental and eat dinner in. (You’ll be tired, so we recommend eating in!)

Day 5: St. John – Lind Point Trail Hike, Honeymoon Beach Day Pass, and Caneel Bay Resort Lunch

(From Top Left to Bottom Right) Lind Point Trail in VI National Park, Honeymoon Beach, Kayaking off of Honeymoon Beach, Lunch at Caneel Bay

Day 5 is the first day on St. John! You can either take the car barge or the people ferry over from St. Thomas. If you take the people ferry, you can park in the lot at the Red Hook port on St. Thomas all day for relatively cheap. The people mover ferry docks in Cruz Bay on St. John close to the National Park Service’s Visitor Center. (Two-thirds of St. John is Virgin Islands National Park – and the visitor center is a very short walk from where the ferry drops off). Right behind the Park’s visitor center is trail called the Lind Point Trail that takes you through the forest to Honeymoon Beach, a less-populated beach on St. John.

Honeymoon Beach has a little shop operated by VI Eco Tours that sells day passes that include unlimited access to kayaks, paddle boards, snorkel gear, floats, and chairs for the day . Our kids loved having free rein to take out the kayaks and paddle boards into the bay and paddle around. Honeymoon beach also has two coral reefs (one on the left and one on the right side of the otherwise perfect sand beach). The left reef especially is a wonderful spot to snorkel.

Around lunch time, head up the trail from Honeymoon Beach to Caneel Bay to the Caneel Bay Beach Resort for Lunch. Caneel Bay is beautiful and the restaurant there serves great food. After lunch, head back down to Honeymoon, or if you prefer, head on over to Trunk Bay and spend the afternoon. Trunk Bay is St. John’s most beautiful bay. We hit Maho Beach and Trunk Bay on Day 7 of our adventure, but many people love Trunk and would say it’s the nicest beach in all of the VI. Our kids really enjoyed the “toys” at Honeymoon beach, and so we  have no regrets about staying there the whole day!

Detailed Plan for Day 5:

• Head out early to St. John (either via car barge or people ferry from St. Thomas).
• The NPS Visitor Center is located close to where the ferries drop off.
• Hike the Lind Point Trail to Honeymoon Beach (about 20-25 minutes / 1.5 miles).
• Paddle Boards
• Snorkel Gear
• Beach Chairs
• Head up to Caneel Bay Beach Resort for Lunch (10 minute walk along the trail)
• Head back to Honeymoon Beach for the rest of the day, or head back to your car and go to Trunk Bay for the afternoon.
• We ate dinner in the rental, but you could also have gotten dinner at Fish Tails (in Redhook on St. Thomas) or High Tide (in Cruz Bay on St. John).

Day 6 – Charlotte Amalia Historic Tour, Fort Christian, Water Island, and (the other) Honeymoon Beach

(From Top Left to Bottom Right) Fort Christian, Honeymoon Beach on Water Island, Golf Carts on Water Island, Fort Segarra Gun Turret

On Day 6 we crafted a small self-guided walking tour through Charlotte Amalie to see the famous 99 Steps , The Governor’s and Lieutenant Governor’s offices, Fort Christian , Emancipation Park , and the Veteran’s Memorial Park . If we’re honest, this was probably our least favorite part of this trip and we might have skipped it, largely because Fort Christian is currently closed to the public for renovations and it was really hot the day we went.  Also the roads in Charlotte Amalie were not designed for cars, and some of them incredibly steep and narrow, with substantial ditches along the sides. So we’ll leave it up to you to decide whether visiting these sites in the morning makes sense, or you jump straight to the afternoon plan. (It’s worth noting that on Day 8 we propose going to Blackbeard’s Castle for the end of your trip, which gives you access to some of the elevated sites we saw on this day, including the top of the 99 steps.)

For those of you who love souvenir shopping – we don’t – here’s where to fit that in.  Especially on days when there are large cruise ships in port, Charlotte Amalie’s downtown is hopping with open air markets and various shops!

In the afternoon (or morning, if you skip the self-guided Charlotte Amalie tour), take the ferry from St. Thomas over to Water Island , a small island in the harbor of Charlotte Amalie. Water Island has a beach (coincidentally  also named Honeymoon Beach) and an old partially-completed underground Fort named Fort Segarra . There’s a small rental shop on the island called Rachel’s Rentals that rents golf carts to visitors. With a golf cart you can see the whole island, including the fort, many vistas, and “the other” Honeymoon Beach  which has two restaurants right on the beach. We really enjoyed our time at Water island and since most people don’t get to see this little gem, we were happy we invested the time here.

In the evening, we headed back to Sangria’s Beachside Bistro (the same place we ate on Day 2) because the kids loved it so much. Our Day 6 happened to be Super Bowl Sunday, so Sangria’s was showing the Super Bowl on the Beach! You might also consider Fish Tails in Red Hook, which gets pretty good ratings.

Detailed Plan for Day 6:

• Head into downtown Charlotte Amalie (St. Thomas’ Capital) and find public parking. (There is a fairly good sized lot near the Veterans Memorial Park). Walk around to see many of the old Danish buildings and architecture in the area.
• Hit the open-air markets and shopping district if you enjoy that.
• Travel over to the Crown Bay Marina to pick up the Water Island Ferry. ( Details are available here. )
• Pick up a Water Island golf cart rental at Rachel’s Rentals. (Right at the top of the hill as you get off the ferry.)
• Golf cart down to (the other) Honeymoon Beach, eat lunch at Heidi’s on the Beach, hang at the beach, and then explore Water Island including old Fort Segarra.
• Catch the ferry back over to St. Thomas and head back to the rental or to a restaurant for dinner.

Day 7 – St. John Reef Bay Hike, Maho Beach and/or Trunk Bay

(From Top Left to Bottom Right) Reef Bay Hike in VI National Park, Sea Turtle in Maho Bay, VI National Park & Wild Donkey, Trunk Bay from a Nearby Overlook

On Day 7, head back over to St. John for the National Park Service’s Reef Bay Hike . The NPS offers two ranger-guided tours through the National Park on St. John and folks have told us that the Reef Bay Hike is a little nicer than the other. The tours are scheduled by Friends of the Virgin Islands National Park and you must reserve your slots well in advance of travel. The Reef Bay hike starts high up on the hills in St. John and ends at Reef Bay, where a boat takes you back to the Cruz Bay port, which is right next to the NPS Visitor Center. Make sure you arrive to the visitor center at least 15 minutes early. You can park on NPS property if you’re taking one of their hikes. They’ll give you a slip for your car in the Visitor Center.

After the hike, You’ll have a few hours to hit some remaining sites on St. John in the National Park. (This is much easier if you’ve come over to St. John with a car.) Maho Beach is great if you’d like to see sea turtles. After about 30 feet of sand, grasses cover the beach and the sea turtles come right up to see you. The picture in the upper left above we took at Maho on our Day 7! (Our kids LOVED actually swimming with the sea turtles in “their habitat.”

If you love great beaches, you should also stop at Trunk Bay, which is often rated among the top 20 beaches in the world. Trunk Bay is beautiful, and on the road in you’ll have an opportunity to capture a photo of it like the one in the lower right above. We spent the evening (from about 3:30 – 5:00) at Trunk Bay and the kids loved it. There is an underwater snorkel trail at Trunk that is worth seeing, though the snorkeling at Honeymoon Beach is best.

Catch the car barge back to St. Thomas. Since this is the last day, we recommend getting dinner at Mafolie’s in Charlotte Amalie . Mafolie’s is a Hotel and Restaurant that has a unique view of the Charlotte Amalie harbor. It’s seriously beautiful, and a great way to spend your last night in St. Thomas.

Detailed Plan for Day 7:

• Sometimes these leave as much as 30 minutes late and you’ll want to have time to get to the National Park before it opens.  (Alternatively you could park in the Red Hook terminal and catch the people ferry to St. John, which is more reliable, but you won’t have your car with you.)
• Do the Reef Bay Hike from 9:30-2:30 with the National Park Service.
• Spend the remainder of the day at one of the beaches in the National Park (Maho Beach, Trunk Bay, Cinnamon Bay)
• Take the car barge back to St. Thomas at the end of the day.
• Head back to your rental house for showers.
• Head out to Mafolie’s in Charlotte Amalie for a dinner overlooking the harbor!

Day 8: Blackbeard’s Castle, the 99 Steps, and Traveling Home!

(From Top Left to Bottom Right) Blackbeard’s Castle (aka Skytsborg Tower), The 99 Steps, Blackbeard (and Kim!), and Departing St. Thomas on Spirit Airlines

If you’re staying for a week, Day 8 will be you’re last day. Most flights from St. Thomas leave in the afternoon, so there’s no need to waste a whole day! Get packed up early and head out to Blackbeard’s Castle to take a tour of some museums and the grounds of Blackbeard’s. Since you’ll probably have to check out of your room by 11, Blackbeard’s is a nice place to chill between 10:00 and 3:00 when your flights will likely leave. They have quite a bit to see and sit right at the top of the famous 99 steps. There are three pools to occupy the kids and a decent bar with vistas of Charlotte Amalie’s beautiful harbor.

Blackbeard’s is just about 15 minutes from the airport, so when it’s time to get the car back to the rental return, you’ll be ready to jump on a plane and head back to home!

Details for Day 8:

• Check out of your rental house early.
• Head to Blackbeard’s Castle for the Day. (You’ll need to make reservations before you travel!)
• Make sure you see the 99 steps! (Bonus points if you walk and count them — there are more than 99!)
• Make sure to get the rental car back to the airport on time and check out!

Additional Tips for Your Trip:

As you’re planning your trip, keep a few things in mind:

• Check the port load for St. Thomas to see how many cruisers will be in town on the days you’re visiting. Saturday tends to be the least busy day on the island. You can use Cruise TT to look up the passenger load on any given day.
• The people ferry between St. Thomas and St. John tends to run on schedule. The car barge is often late because loading cars takes time. Plan a lot of lag time if you’re using the car barge.
• Book all your excursions and trips well in advance. Depending on how many cruise ships are in the port, stuff fills up.
• Plan to tip your guides on tours. 15-20% is the appropriate tip for a good guide.
• Consider investing in an underwater camera if you like to snorkel!
• Maho Beach (St. John) is one of the best places to see sea turtles in the wild.
• Trunk Bay (St. John) and Magens Bay (St. Thomas) are the two most beautiful beaches on the islands (in our opinion).
• Water Lemon Cay (not included in this itinerary) on St. John has the best snorkeling on the island. It’s about a mile hike down a trail to get there.

If you’ve got any questions about this itinerary, feel free to leave them in the comments and we will get back to you promptly! Thanks for reading and for sharing!

29 comments

Thanks for the great itinerary! We are heading to St. Thomas in a few weeks. All your info will help a ton in planning our trip.

So glad we could help!

Whenever you return from your trip, we’d love for you to post about anything else you did that you really enjoyed. The only few things we might have changed from this itinerary were (1) going to Coki Beach on St. Thomas, which we missed, and (2) spending a bit more time at Trunk Bay on St. John (we only got about 1.5 hours, which thankfully was enough time to do the underwater coral reef trail.)

(P.S. You are officially the first comment we’ve ever received on this blog. Well, non-spam comment that is. There should be an award or something!)

Yes, I’ll let you know what else we find fun to do there.

Your blog is very helpful. We are going in April for 10 days.

Cool! A little jealous, cause we’d love to go back! Hope you all have a blast – 10 days will give you time to see a ton!

We are headed there for spring break, what time of year did you go? We will be staying at bluebeards castle should we rent a car and a golf cart?

We went in January, but the season will be similar to when you go for Spring Break.

We didn’t get to stop at Bluebeard’s castle while we were there (though we did hang at Blackbeard’s castle one day.) Whether or not you rent a car depends on a few factors: How many people are going? We had 7. Taxis frequently charge per person, so that means we’d be paying x7 for each ride. If you are going with just you and a friend, it might be worth it just to take taxis. It also depends on how much you want to venture aware from Bluebeard’s. Our itinerary here takes you all over St. Thomas and St. John. That’s how we like to vacation. There’s pros and cons to that. When you have a car/van, you have to find a place to park, and you have to get used to driving on the left if you’ve not done that before. We never had trouble finding parking reasonably close to where we wanted to go, but we really planned out every aspect of our trip and asked a lot of questions before departing.

I hope that helps with your decision-making. We really enjoyed having our rental van and had no trouble getting used to left-hand driving. But if you are going for just a few days and plan to stay a lot of your time at Bluebeard’s, it could be overkill for you.

We rented a car also and are glad we did. This is our second day here and we are staying at Point Pleasant Resort. The resort has transportation available, but it only goes certain places. We plan to take our rental car on the car ferry to St. John also. And, we have a 5 year old in a car seat so the rental seemed like the best way to go. I’ll update on the comments once we are back too. So far it is absolutely beautiful here and we are already talking about coming back.

Sounds great counting the minutes ! Please any tips you can share with us would be greatly appreciated, we are leaving 4/17

I would say that if you like beaches, you can’t go wrong devoting time to Trunk Bay (St. John) and Magen’s Bay (St. Thomas). The only part of the trip we might have changed was trying to get a little more time on St. John. We didn’t get to snorkel Water Lemon Cay, which the locals told us was the best place on the island. (You need to hike to get there… it’s about a mile, but you also get to see old sugar plantation ruins along the way).

We enjoyed Water Island, but I’m guessing that some folks maybe wouldn’t. Fort Segara isn’t much to see without flashlights (it’s largely underground) and you have to really like forts and history for it to be worth it. We do like that stuff, so we enjoyed it, but others might think it a waste. Honeymoon beach on Water Island is nice, but it’s not anywhere near as nice as Honeymoon Beach or Trunk Bay on St. John.

I’m glad we did Water Island because it allowed us to “check it off” and we like to see as much as we can. But if you’re looking more for relaxation and straight beauty – make sure to devote time to the beaches on St. John.

It’s the three of us my husband and 10 year old – we plan on going to St. John sounds beautiful your ” packing for seven” has been great for me trying to plan our trip. I want is to see the most we can yet not be exhausted ! Any other tips would be great, thanks so much

Also can you include which restaurant is pricier then others we are very budget conscious !! Thank you

I’ll try to get back to rate the restaurants but in the meantime you can look them all up on Yelp or Google and get some pricing data. All of these restaurants ended up costing us about $130-180 for seven people.

Sugar Bay and Mafolie’s are going to be on the pricier side of things, though we did love both places. I felt that our kids probably didn’t get our money’s worth at Sugar Bay for their all-u-can-eat breakfast, but if it were just my wife and I we would have – because we skipped lunch.

Personally, we’d rent a car even if it were just 3 of us. It’s going to give you more freedom around the island. You’re going to pay for transportation either way, might as well have it be completely flexible.

Thank You!! Your help is greatly appreciated and I will be referring to this when we get there.

Did you enjoy the charter to the BVI? We are trying to decide if we want to just ferry over and enjoy more time at the Baths and VG or take a charter and see more islands.

We did enjoy the BVI trip, but if we had it to do over again we might charter a boat. Reason being, with 7 people you get pretty close to the charter price and with a charter you get more flexibility in your schedule. Here’s a few additional thoughts:

– The Baths were busy when we toured. They’ve got it designed to basically move visitors through on a trail – and more than just our tour were there. Not sure if there was a whole lot more to see than what we saw there – or if more time would have been valuable. I personally felt like it was enough. We saw it, got the pictures, and left.

– The breakfast on the ship is pretty light. Muffins and fruit and non-alcoholic drinks.

– The boat is more or less a bus on water. They try to pack it out. There is some space to get up and walk around, but mostly you’re just sitting waiting to get from one place to the next. If you’re staying on St. Thomas or St. John, Virgin Gorda is a decent distance away, so you’re going to have boat time no matter what option you choose.

– I felt that the folks on the Calypso charter got nicer as the day went on. They were never mean, but they have a system they are trying to get everyone through (including customs on Tortola) and basically you need to keep pace. Since my wife and I were handling paperwork for 5 kids in addition to ourselves, that was complicated. Example: They handed all of our kids customs paperwork to fill out. My daughter has special needs and cannot do the paperwork.

– We really enjoyed White Beach on Jost Van Dyke. Once of the most beautiful beaches we saw, definitely with the clearest water. Even clearer than Trunk Bay or Magens Bay which are both pretty darn clear. There are a lot of sailboats in the water at White Beach though, whereas Trunk and Magens are primarily just for swimming.

I hope that helps with your decision making. I think it comes down more to what you are looking for. Since we’d never been and didn’t know all of our options, Calypso was great. With 7 people, I think if we went again, we’d try to do the charter.

Thank you for all of this info! I’m here with my husband for work with our four year old and nine month old for a month. We are three weeks into our trip and I’m grasping for stuff to do! This reminded me of a few things we haven’t hit and got me excited for our weekend in St John!

Wow, a month! What a great opportunity to see stuff! We loved St. John and will definitely go back at some point! Thanks for reading!

Great info! We are planning a trip for Christmas and haven’t yet decided on a location. This may help seal the deal though! When you visited the beaches, were there beach chairs there to rent or were you just sitting on towels? Just curious as what to expect! Thanks!

There are definitely chairs that can be rented at Magen’s Bay on St. Thomas. I can’t remember whether there were chairs at Trunk Bay, but we didn’t use them in any case. To the best of my recollection there were not chairs on Honeymoon Beach on St. John. We always just sat on our towels…

The USVI is beautiful. Glad this post helped you out!

Love love all this information! We are going in February aand was really hoping that island hopping was a possibility and your blog makes me think it absolutely is!!! Also love all your comments and suggestions in the comments. Thank you for taking the time to do this.

You are welcome! We just booked our next trip there – can’t wait to go Dec. 15-20 this year! We’re staying on St. John this time so I’ll be writing more information after that trip!

Bad Kitty Best of BVI looks great, but it’s quite an invest for my family of 6 and it appears to be more affordable to charter a private speed boat. I’d love your opinion, on if this charter adventure is worth the investment. As this will be a once in lifetime trip. Please let me know your thoughts!

Hello, We are a family of 6, staying at the Westin in St John and would like to go to BVI. After doing some research, it appears to be more affordable to charter a private 26″ boat instead of the Bad Kitty Best of BVI tour. I would like your recommendation, my children are 13, 12, 10, & 8. Thank you for all the wonderful ideas for our trip!

Sorry I didn’t get back to you sooner. Sometimes chartering can be cheaper, especially with 6 people. It’s worth noting that there are a lot more charters available (and cheaper) for 6 people than 7 (as our family has). Captains have to have a higher license to take 7 people on a trip, and typically bigger boats are used.

My husband and I just came back from a 5 night trip-end of may/first of June 2019. We stayed on St Thomas at a home via VRBO. It was 5 min from red hook area. We rented a Jeep at the airport for our stay (around $800). As soon as you get to the airport, pick up a copy of the magazine they have there-will give you tons of ideas of what’s going on around the island as well as the cruise ship dates. My favorite was snorkeling-we did Coki but so wish we would’ve explored more beaches. We visited Secret Harbor beach down from Red Hook our first full day-not crowded at all-also a beach bar and grill there. We did a boat charter to VG Baths and Jost Van Dyke-which was beautiful, however we were on the boat more than off of it. For souvenirs, we drove up to the Mountain Top (known for its Banana Daiquiri). It’s very large and worth the view you will get! Restaurants we visited in Red Hook area: XO Bistro (ate there twice and is pricey but amazing), a pizza place that was across the street-soooo good, we also ate at a coffee/cafe that was downstairs from the pizza place for breakfast one morning, Tap and Still has great burger and fries. We also ate at Margaritaville a couple of times-you just get a parking pass at the gate for visiting the restaurant. Regrets: buying a lot of food at the local grocery store (if you do not have kids with you and plan to eat out, all u need are some drinks and a few snacks), not visiting Meagan’s beach or St John. We ran out of time!

That’s awesome, I admire that you went on a trip like that with 5 kids, my dream is to take my 10 children away to that place, someday and I would definitely use this itinerary, thanks for posting ❤️

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The Complete 6 Days in U.S. Virgin Islands Itinerary

In this 6 days in U.S. Virgin Islands we visit the 3 main islands, St. Thomas, St. John, and St. Croix, that make up the U.S. Virgin Islands territory.

How many days do I need in the US Virgin Islands?

If you would like to visit all three US Virgin Islands we recommend visiting for a minimum of 5 days to get a good experience of each island. In reality you could easily spend 2 to 3 days on each island to fully explore what it has to offer. For the purpose of this complete guide we recommend to spend 6 days in USVI.

Read More: The best things to do in Miami during a layover

The majority of tourists stay on the islands anywhere from three days to a week, not including their travel days. Depending on how many days you have available it might be best to take day-trips to one of the other islands, which is doable between St Thomas and St John.

Is the Virgin Islands dangerous?

The USVI are relatively a safe destination, like any other touristic destination you must be aware of your surroundings and be careful. It is common for purse snatching and pickpocketing as well as people stealing items on the beach or breaking into rental cars.

Is it expensive to visit the US Virgin Islands?

Yes! In my experience it is one of the most expensive islands I have visited in the Caribbean. Hotel rooms depending on the island can vary from $150-$1,000 per night, while taxis are charged per person and the prices range between $10 and $20. In out trip, we spent $2,000 per person including airfare for our 5 day trip to the USVI. We could have done it for less but it is not a cheap destination. Also, be aware that in St John they only accept cash, so please bring your ATM card and plenty of cash.

Here is our expenses breakdown:

• Airfare: $638.44 per person round trip (1 carry on each way) RDU- STX
• Hotel: $340 (2 nights St. Croix) and $1,362.42* (St. Thomas)
• Transportation: $50 per person per day**
• Food: $40 per person a day
• Attractions: Beaches are free.
• Ferry or Plane ride: $120 round trip ferry ride from St. Croix to St. Thomas or $200 round trip plane ride.
• Ferry St. Thomas to St. John: $16 round trip.

** We could have found a cheaper hotel. It is not worth paying that much for a resort as all the beaches on the islands are public and the resort experience offered little more than a regular hotel.

** Depends on how many attractions you want to visit around the islands.

What is the best time to visit US Virgin Islands?

The islands have an average temperatures of 70s and 80s degrees Fahrenheit year round. That being said, it is best to avoid the hurricane season between September to November. The best time to visit the U.S. Virgin Islands is December through March, as the weather is drier and you can enjoy blue skies most of the time.

Which U.S. Virgin Island is the best for you?

If you do not have enough time to complete this itinerary and are wondering which island you should visit on your next trip to the US Virgin Island then it is important for you to know what each island has to offer.

Each island has its own attractions and personality. The best island for you depends on your interests and what you would like to get from your visit. For Instance, St. Thomas is known for being the most popular destination, as it has the main cruise ship port within the US Virgin Island. It is known for its shopping options, upscale dining, beautiful landscapes and fun nightlife.

The best things to do in St. Thomas are riding the  St. Thomas Skyride , walking around Charlotte Amalie, visiting the Coral World Ocean Park, taking a tour of the Bluebeard’s Castle or the Haagensen House and swimming at any of their famous beaches such as Magens Bay or Coki Beach.

St John is my favorite of the three islands by far, as it is more of a secluded destination where you can immerse yourself in nature and enjoy beautiful landscapes and go for hikes at the  national park .

To get to St John you must take a ferry from St. Thomas, which takes about 20 minutes each way. You could definitely do a day trip or stay for the length of your trip.

Some of the best things to do on St. John are hiking the trails from beach to mountain top, snorkeling at Trunk Bay, visiting the remains of sugar plantations, going diving, spending time at the beaches or even just taking a two hour tour to the best viewpoints in the island.

The best things to do in St Croix , on the other hand are cultural and historical based. It is the largest island within the US Virgin Island territory but the least visited one as it is about 2 hours away by Ferry from St Thomas and about 30 minutes flight. When visiting St Croix, the best thing to do is start your adventure in the city of Christiansted. From there you can visit the historic fort or visit the  Buck Island . Buck Island is one of the only three underwater national monuments in the United States. While in St Croix make sure to visit Captain Morgan Rum distillery, and Rainbow beach. If you are in luck you could take a Bioluminescent Bay kayak tour.

What hotel to stay at in the US Virgin Islands?

• Saint Croix Hotels: We stayed at King Christian Hotel in Christiansted. It was one of the cheapest options we found in the island. We paid $170 a night and to be honest it was NOT worth it. It is a really old hotel and if you have the extra cash we recommend staying at the Sand Castle on the Beach . It is more pricey ($230 a night), but it is more up to date in its amenities. The only thing to have in consideration is that one is located in Christiansted while the other hotel is located in Frederiksted. Depending on what you are planning on doing, choose the right hotel for you. If you want to visit Buck Island and the fortress then Christiansted is a better option, but if you want to spend time at the beach then Frederiksted is the way to go. The distance between the main cities is less than 20 minutes and the taxi ride is about $30 each way.
• Saint Thomas Hotels: We stayed at the Secret Harbour Beach Resort . It was super pricey ($600 per night) for no reason. Yes, it was a nice hotel but no added value. The beaches in USVI are public, meaning you can go to any resort and use the beaches. I would recommend staying at a different hotel near a beach or in the heart of Charlotte Amalie and take a taxi to the beach.
• Saint John Hotels: We did not spend the night so we could not give you a valid recommendation. Yet, here is a list of hotels you could look at.

The Complete 6 Day Itinerary To Visit The US Virgin Islands

We have created this 6 day itinerary to the US Virgin Islands based on our trip. We built this vacation around the fact that the best flight deal we found was flying into St. Croix and leaving from St. Thomas. If you only have 5 days to explore USVI, I recommend 2 days in St. Croix, 2 days in St. Thomas and 1 day in St Johns. If you have less than 5 days then focus on going to St. Thomas and St John, keeping in mind that the most beautiful beaches are in St. John. We hope this Itinerary for US Virgin Islands helps you plan your dream vacation to USVI.

Day 1: Flying to St. Croix

The first day out of your 6 days in U.S. Virgin Islands, depending on what time you arrive to St. Croix, I recommend exploring Christiansted. Take a stroll around the downtown area and visit the historic fort. If you have a full day consider taking a snorkeling tour or visiting one of the rum distilleries such as Capitan Morgan .

If you are adventurous take a Bioluminescent Bay kayak tour at night.

Sleep: Frederiksted or Christiansted .

Day 2: Exploring St. Croix

On your second day in the island you can visit  Buck Island , which is one of the only three underwater national monuments in the United States. Another great thing to do is to spend the day at the beach. We recommend visiting Frederiksted and going to Rainbow Beach, Dorsch and Sandy Point Beach.

Taxi in St. Croix:

Alex’s Taxi Service: (340) 778- 3420, (340) 514- 8811 or [email protected]

Day 3: Exploring St. Thomas

You can either fly or take the ferry to St. Thomas from St. Croix, depending on your budget and your preference. The Ferry takes about 2 hours and can be very wavy, while the airplane ride is about 30 minutes. The difference in price is $60 for the Ferry compared to $100 for a flight.

Once in St. Thomas I recommend to take a viewpoint tour from the airport that easily takes you to the top things to do in St. Thomas. We visited the Mountain Top Bar where you must try the signature banana daiquiri, about 5 viewpoints, Magens Bay Beach, Coki Beach, and Sapphire beach. The tour does not include time at the beaches, you only stop to take a photo. We paid $30 per person and it took about 2.5 hours. We requested to add some of the beaches, so make sure to let your driver know you would like to stop there for photos.

After your tour, check in at your hotel and then head towards Charlotte Amalie. Here make sure to visit the Oldest Synagogue in the US, visit the Government House, and to climb the 99 steps landmark. These unique stairs were built out of ship-ballast brick during Danish colonial times and from above your will get fantastic view of St. Thomas.

For the afternoon you can head back to one of the beaches or get some rest back to your hotel.

Sleep: Secret Harbor or anywhere St. Thomas

Taxi in St. Thomas:

Thomas Aubrey: (340) 998 2661 or [email protected]

Day 4: Spending the time on the beach or going scuba diving

Our favorite beaches are Magens Bay Beach, Coki Beach, and Secret Harbor. We recommend to just spend the day at either of these beaches and relax. You must include one of these beaches on your 6 days in U.S. Virgin Islands.

Day 5: Exploring St. John

Take an early Ferry to St John and take a tour of the best things to do in St John including the main viewpoints on the island. The tour takes about 2.5 hours and it takes you to the most beautiful viewpoints in the national park and beyond, as well to the Annaberg Sugar Plantation. The tour cost $25 per person. The tour took us to Maho Bay, Cinnabon Bay, Trunk Bay, Hawks Nest Bay, and Honeymoon Beach.

After that you can go back to Hawks Nest beach, Maho Bay Beach, or Trunk Beach. If you want to fly your drone then I recommend going to the Westin Beach, as drones are not allowed within the national park. You can go hiking or relax at the beach. The most popular beach in St. John is Trunk beach but if you want the chance to swim around turtles we recommend going to Maho Bay.

Once you are done exploring the area, hiking, snorkeling, diving or relaxing at the beach you can take the ferry back to St Thomas.

Day 6: Flying out of St. Thomas

Depending on your flight you can spend some time at the beach before heading home. If you have an extra day, we recommend to stay 2 full days in St. John.

Let us know if this Itinerary for US Virgin Islands was helpful or if you have any other suggestion we can add to this guide below in the comments.

We hope this guide helps you build your own itinerary and have a blast on 6 days in U.S. Virgin Islands vacation!

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The best things to do in the US Virgin Islands: secret beaches, spiced rum and Caribbean cuisine

May 19, 2022 • 8 min read

Leave the crowds behind and find your own paradise in the US Virgin Islands © John P Kelly / Getty Images

The US Virgin Islands (USVI) may be an American territory, but it feels a world away when you find yourself splayed across a pristine beach, bobbing your head to reggae rhythms and tossing back yet another painkiller (the rum-heavy cocktail, not the pills!).

Composed of about 50 islands, you’ll invariably end up on one of the main three: St Thomas, St John and St Croix. St Thomas is the beating heart of the USVI with all the shopping, dining and flashy attractions you’d expect from one of the most popular ports of call in the Caribbean. Nearly two-thirds of neighboring St John, meanwhile, is protected from development by the Virgin Islands National Park , making it a far quieter haven enticing hikers, snorkelers and sun-worshippers in equal measure.

St Croix, marooned 44 miles (70km) to the south, feels less made-for-tourists than the other Virgins with a strong local identity and a thriving culinary scene. Below, we look at some of the best reasons to visit all three.

Find your own secluded slice of paradise

Nearly every vacationer to the USVI thinks they need to visit the marquee beaches featured prominently on all the tourist maps – namely Trunk Bay on St John and Magens Bay on St Thomas. Sure, they’re beautiful, but they’re typically heaving with cruise ship crowds. They also cost money to visit when almost every other beach around is free. Skip the crowds and visit nearby spots favored by locals that are equally alluring, including the palm-lined Maho Bay on St John or the surfer hangout Hull Bay on St Thomas.

Plan your trip around Carnival

The shimmering sounds of steel pans, the competing clatter of food trucks and the technicolor feathers of masquerade outfits are all telltale signs that the month-long Carnival season has arrived in the USVI. Each island celebrates at a different time of year, with St Thomas kicking things off in April with the territory’s biggest fete, followed by St John in June and St Croix in December. Timing your trip around one of these festivals will give you the best appreciation of the local West Indian culture as the streets burst to life with calypso music, jumbie dancing (skilled stilt dancers said to ward off evil spirits), and extravagant parades.

Explore historic forts in Christiansted and Charlotte Amalie

The Virgin Islands traded hands so often during the colonial era that the Spanish, French, English, Dutch and Danish all planted flags before the US purchased them from the latter in 1917 for $25 million in gold. The legacy of this colonization is today most prevalent in the Danish fortifications that remain, including the red-brick Fort Christian in the harbor of Charlotte Amalie, which dates to 1672, and the dandelion-yellow Fort Christiansværn in the harbor of Christiansted, which dates to 1738. Both now hold museums that tell the history of the enslaved Africans who built them and the European armies they housed.

Explore the ruins at Leinster Bay

The Annaberg Plantation in St John’s Leinster Bay holds the most intact sugar plantation ruins in the Virgin Islands, which once held over 600 enslaved people captive. Now part of the national park, it includes information panels that describe the complex history of the island, from the violent displacement of Indigenous people to European settlement and the trafficking of enslaved African people during the sugar boom of the 18 th and 19 th centuries. After exploring the ruins, hike the Leinster Bay Trail over to Waterlemon Cay and cool off in the crystal-clear waters.

Dive the world-famous Cane Bay Wall

The Cane Bay Wall plunges off the north shore of St Croix from 12m to over 4023m (40ft to over 13,200ft), with both sheer vertical drops and slow sloping areas that make for some of the most fantastic scuba diving in the Caribbean. As you descend, expect to find a rainbow of corals and sponges, as well as eels, nurse sharks, spotted eagle rays, seahorses and schools of tropical fish. Best of all, there are no boats required – you can start your dive from the shore.

Gallery-hop in Cruz Bay

St John has always had an artier appeal than its neighboring islands, which is best experienced on a gallery hop through Cruz Bay. Start at Bajo el Sol in Mongoose Junction, which is a hybrid bookstore, rum bar and art gallery featuring local painters and potters. Check the website for frequent events, such as book signings or documentary screenings, focused on Caribbean themes. Other galleries worth a stop include Coconut Coast Studios and St John VI Pottery (in Coral Bay) and  Mango Tango across the bay on St Thomas.

Skip the tourist restaurants and try traditional West Indian cuisine

Forgo the ever-present pizza and burger spots and sample Caribbean staples such as conch fritters, jerk chicken or callaloo soup at low-key West Indian restaurants like Gladys’ Café in Charlotte Amalie, where chef Gladys is as famous for her cooking as her singing. Over on St John, Uncle Joe’s is a legendary spot in Cruz Bay for its Caribbean barbecue, with fall-off-the-bone ribs or juicy chicken served alongside generous scoops of coleslaw or macaroni salad. Vegans rave about Ital in Paradise , a tiny eatery in Christiansted serving two daily plates in tune with the plant-based Rastafarian diet. Also in Christiansted, Singh’s Fast Food offers stewed goat or curried conch – all wrapped up in Trinidadian-style roti rolls (kind of like a Caribbean burrito!).

Look for petroglyphs on the Reef Bay Trail

Little evidence remains of the Indigenous Taíno, who occupied these islands before the arrival of Europeans in the 1500s. However, on a 5-km (3-mi) hike down the Reef Bay Trail on St John, you’ll get the chance to spot a series of ancient petroglyphs they carved over a thousand years ago. Shaped like human faces with swirling eyes, they rise along a rock wall above a reflection pond deep in the old-growth forest. This backcountry trail also passes the ruins of a Danish sugar plantation and a waterfall that rages in the rainy season (May to November).

Kayak into a bioluminescent bay

St Croix is home to not one but two of the Caribbean’s rare bioluminescent bays – the most famous of which lies in the Salt River Bay National Historical Park (which is also the only documented place where Christopher Columbus landed on US soil). By day, the mangrove forests here are a fantastic place to explore by kayak or paddleboard. But the best time to book a tour is after dark when the water lights up like a Christmas tree when disturbed thanks to high concentrations of bioluminescent micro-organisms called dinoflagellates.

Tour the Cruzan Rum Distillery

If your idea of a tropical vacation involves piña coladas, daiquiris and mojitos, then a visit to the Cruzan Rum Distillery  on St Croix is a must. Not only can you sample rum and stock up on supplies, but you can also learn about the history of rum-making in the Virgin Islands (it dates to 1760), the process of turning molasses into a golden spirit, and some recipe ideas for making local cocktails back at the hotel, including the bushwacker or the painkiller . Not a rum fan? Look for bottles of Arc Vodka , which is handcrafted in Charlotte Amalie by a pair of St Thomians who were fed up with all the rum-guzzling pirate stereotypes perpetuated across the Caribbean.

Volunteer on an organic farm

At Ridge to Reef , you can sleep in a solar-powered cabin on an organic-certified farm in the rainforest of St Croix and learn about its goal of feeding 1% of the Virgin Islands population healthy, local food (mostly through school lunches). Day visitors can grab a self-guided interpretive map and tour the lush grounds, replete with Community Supported Agriculture fields, a tilapia pond and more. Overnighters can get their hands dirty by volunteering in the field and cooking up their yield in the off-grid community kitchen.

Sail to a floating restaurant

Sure, floating restaurants may be a gimmick, but who doesn’t want to chow down on pizza or tacos while their feet dangle in the Caribbean at a swim-up bar? On St Thomas, Pizza Pi serves some of the territory’s best New York-style pies as you snorkel with fish and turtles in the protected waters of Christmas Cove. Over in Coral Harbor, on St John, Lime Out  whips up tacos and craft cocktails from a Caribbean-style cottage on pontoons. Both are accessible only by boat, though several charter companies include them on itineraries.

Enjoy the welcoming vibe of Frederiksted

The Caribbean isn’t known for being a particularly welcoming place for the LGBTIQ+ community, but St Croix likes to think of itself as an exception. Its second city of Frederiksted has become an LGBTIQ+ haven with gay-friendly adults-only hotels like Sand Castle on the Beach and The Fred luring both singles and couples with their inclusive environment. The string of sandy coves north of Frederiksted, including the aptly named Rainbow Beach, are among the prettiest on the island, while the bars downtown are famous for their welcoming atmosphere.

Take a day trip to the British Virgin Islands

Visitors to St Thomas and especially St John often charter boats for trips to the nearby British Virgin Islands , which require a passport for American travelers unlike the USVI. The beach bars of White Bay (including Soggy Dollar and Foxy’s) are the most popular stop, often after a day spent snorkeling at Sandy Cay or suntanning on the uninhabited Sandy Spit. The Baths , a collection of sky-high beachfront boulders on Virgin Gorda, is another highlight that’s typically combined with a stop to snorkel the caves on nearby Norman Island.

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The Virgin Islands

The us virgin islands.

The US Virgin Islands, popularly referred to as USVI, is home to three major islands: St. John, St. Croix and St. Thomas. So close to the states, the US Virgin Islands is a convenient and accessible Caribbean destination, being only a quick flight from the mainland.

St. John is the smallest of three islands with lush forest and serene waters. Actually, the island is 75% Virgin Islands National Park. But that's not all! St. John USVI is also home to Caneel Bay, Cruz Bay and Trunk Bay — some of the most renowned beaches in the world. If you are looking for the best place to stay in the US Virgin Islands, rent private villas in St. John or kick back at one of the all-inclusive resorts in St. John. Book your stay at one of St. John's hotels and resorts today.

St. Thomas USVI is the most populated of the three islands. Being one of the larger islands, St. Thomas is also home to Charlotte Amalie, the capital of the US Virgin Islands. Formerly a trade port, downtown St. Thomas is a bustling city with restaurants, nightlife, duty-free shops, rich history and more. Large cruise ships dock in the harbor daily, so the energy on the island is contagious and perfect for every type of tourist. Book your stay at one of St. Thomas's hotels and resorts today.

St. Croix Virgin Islands is a popular destination for all things water and nature. St. Croix has among the best and most private scuba diving, snorkeling and fishing spots on the islands. Be sure to also check out other attractions and things to do in St. Croix USVI such as local restaurants, fine dining, casinos, golfing courses and other island adventures. Whether you are looking for a romantic, secluded beach or educational family excursion, St. Croix has it all. Book your stay at one of St. Croix's hotels and resorts today.

The US Virgin Islands beaches, coral reefs, historic ruins and hiking trails provide hours of exploration. Visitors can enjoy a variety of activities on the land such as hiking and camping in Virgin Islands National Park or exploring the clear waters on scuba diving, snorkeling, sailing and fishing excursions. Whichever kind of US Virgin Islands vacation you are looking for, we can help. Explore our site to see what adventure, relaxation, romance, family bonding and memories you can experience in St. John, St. Thomas and St. Croix USVI.

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Planning a kid-friendly vacation? Looking for a destination wedding or honeymoon? Traveling with a friend? Once here, we guarantee you will fall in love with the island life. Between hiking through national parks in St. John, snorkeling in the clear waters of St. Croix or learning about island culture in St. Thomas, there are things to do in the US Virgin Islands for the whole family.

Plan your trip to St. Thomas, St. John and St. Croix and book your stay in one of the US Virgin Islands' many resorts, hotels or condos. he options are as limitless as the memories you will make on vacation in the US Virgin Islands.

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How to Spend 4 Days in USVI (Itinerary)

Want a taste of the Caribbean without leaving the US? Head on over to the US Virgin Islands, no passports are required for US Citizens, and they also accept US visitor visas! St Croix is the biggest of the Virgin Islands, but for this article, we are going to concentrate on St Thomas, St John, and Water Island. Here’s how to spend 4 days in USVI, especially if you’re strapped for time.

Note – we did travel to St Thomas and the other US Virgin Islands during the coronavirus pandemic. For up to date information, please visit the official USVI health portal .

4 Days in USVI (an itinerary) 

Here’s more posts about our usvi trip:, day one: st thomas usvi , day two: a day trip to water island usvi.

• Day Three: Day Trip to St John USVI

Day Four: Charlotte Amalie, St Thomas:

More 3 or 4 day trip ideas:.

• Getting to the Virgin Islands 

Are 4 Days in USVI Enough?

How do you get around st thomas us vi , where to stay in charlotte amalie, a 4 day trip to st thomas usvi, share this:.

• 4 Days in USVI (Itinerary)
• Water Island USVI (Day Trip from St Thomas)
• How To Explore USVI on a Budget
• Arrive at STT Airport (St Thomas) at 2:40 PM, and catch a shared taxi to the hotel.
• Check in to the hotel: Bunker Hill Hotel (in our case)
• Have dinner at Green House 
• Go back to hotel/unpack/chill, decompress, catch up on some TV shows

• Take the ferry from St Thomas Crown Bay to Water Island
• Rent a golf cart to drive around the island 
• Hit the following tourist sites: Fort Segarra, Limestone Beach, Honeymoon Beach, Dinghy’s, Virgin Islands Campground & see the tower house 
• Dinner at Sugarcane Grille, St Thomas 

Day Three : Day Trip to St John USVI

• Ride a surfari to Red Hook from Charlotte Amalie 
• Take the ferry from Red Hook to Cruz Bay in St John 
• Take a shared taxi to Maho Beach. Snorkel and look for sea turtles 
• Take taxi back to Cruz Bay, have a shake or a quick lunch 
• Go to the US Virgin Islands Visitor Center and hike to Honeymoon Beach and Salomon Beach 
• Souvenir shop
• Take the ferry back from Cruz Bay to Red Hook
• Take surfari back to Bunker Hill Hotel (see a review about our stay at the Bunker Hill Hotel) 
• Hike up 99 Steps to get to Blackbeard’s Castle to enjoy the scenery 
• Visit Fort Christian in Charlotte Amalie
• Walk around the shops in Charlotte Amalie 
• Lunch at Sammiches 
• Take a taxi back to the airport to go home 
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Getting to the Virgin Islands  

St John and Water Island do not have airports, so your best bet will be flying from the US Mainland or Puerto Rico to STT (Cyril E. King Airport), otherwise known as the St Thomas Airport. Alternatively, you can take a ferry from the British Virgin Islands to St Thomas, with daily trips available. Don’t forget to bring your passport if you do go from BVI to USVI and vice versa. 

Water Island is covered in a different post, but the only way to get there is by ferry from St Thomas, leaving from Crown Bay Marina. St John is also only accessible by ferry from St Thomas, leaving from Red Hook. You’ll find more details on getting to these separate islands on their own posts- Day Trip to Water Island and Day Trip to St John USVI. 

In all honesty, 4 days in the Virgin Islands is not enough. Given that my husband arrived late and there’s really not much to do on our first day but to grab dinner and to stock up on supplies, we technically only had 2 ½ days in total to spend between 3 US Virgin Islands. 

If you could spend a week in St Thomas or the area, then go for it. There’s plenty to do if you love beaches, hiking, and nature across St Thomas, Water Island, and St John. However, if you have a job and are only traveling every weekend, then 4 days may be enough. 

Remember that St Thomas hosts a big cruise port, and chances are, if you are taking a cruise in the Caribbean, one of our ports of call will be to Charlotte Amalie. One of the reasons why we designed our itinerary this way is for this exact reason – that we will probably go back to St Thomas by cruise ship one way or another.

So Coki Point, Magens Bay, and a lot of other beaches in St Thomas will probably have to wait until our next visit to the island. Water Island and St John are doable on day trips if on a cruise as well, so these are also options to consider if you’ve been to the US Virgin Islands before. 

Shared taxis are affordable, but the surfaris are amazing value for money. At $2 per person, they pretty much take you to a few of the popular spots in St Thomas a quick walk from the cruise ship terminal. 

These surfaris go to Red Hook, Sapphire Beach, Lindqvuist Beach, and Coki Beach, with Red Hook being the final stop before the surfari turns around to go back to Charlotte Amalie. There are quirks to where the surfaris stop, as there are not a lot of signs that tell you the bus stops there. If you see a waiting shed, that’s most probably a surfari stop, or if you see a small divet by the side of the road, then that’s also a stop. 

If unsure of surfari routes, or if it does pass by, ask some of the locals. They are more than friendly and accommodating to us and showed us how to get a surfari from the Cruz Bay marina back to Bunker Hill Hotel. 

There were two hotels that we were considering in Charlotte Amalie. On our first planned trip to St Thomas, we were supposed to stay at the Galleon House, but Hurricane Irma came over and rained on our parade. We were supposed to fly a week after Irma landed over the US Virgin Islands as a Category 5 hurricane, and we found out there was not a lot of water nor electricity available on the islands, and there was debris left from the hurricane. So we hastily canceled that trip and booked Grand Cayman instead.

Fast forward to May 2021, and we were looking for another place to stay on another planned trip to St Thomas. Through the Citi Thank You travel portal, we saw that the cheapest rooms for Bunker Hill hotel were around $85 (without tax), and we can redeem our Thank You points at a valuation of 1.25 cents per point. 

After comparing Bunker Hill and Galleon House, the views from the restaurant in Bunker Hill won us over, so we booked Bunker Hill hotel. There’s less of a hilly walk in Bunker Hill compared to Galleon House as well, so that’s a plus if bringing luggage. 

We talk more about our stay at the Bunker Hill Hotel on another post, linked here as well. 

So that was our four-day trip to USVI, hitting three islands: St Thomas, St John, and Water Island. It is very doable, and you don’t need to pack a lot of places to visit at once. American tourists tend to favor vacationing in St Thomas since it’s easily accessible by plane or by boat (cruise ship, or a sailboat), and many go multiple times in their lifetime. 

There is no need to try and see everything and cram it all in one trip. After all, one goes to the Caribbean and hits the beaches to relax and to explore a new place. For us, our definition of exploring a new place means embracing ourselves in the location, and not jetting from one place to another to take a picture for the sake of saying “we’ve been there”. 

Hopefully, this post about a 4 day trip to the Virgin Islands helped you in your travel planning. If we missed on any other cool locations or you would like to suggest more places for us to visit the next time we go, then feel free to leave them in the comments below.

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The clear blue Caribbean, beaches, coral reefs, marine life, and tropical scenery attract visitors to the main islands of St. Thomas, St. John, and St. Croix. In St. John, Virgin Islands National Park covers two-thirds of the island with tropical forests and hiking trails to explore its natural beauty. Resorts, nightlife, history, duty-free shopping, and passport-free arrivals (for U.S. travelers) make the U.S. Virgin Islands a popular vacation destination.

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Travel Itineraries | Luxury Travel | Travel Tips

St. Croix | US Virgin Islands – 7 Day Travel Itinerary and Guide

Complete St. Croix Travel Itinerary : 7 Days Exploring the Island

Planning a trip to St. Croix? Lucky you! This island has so much to offer, from incredible beaches and hiking trails to delicious food and a rich history. To help you make the most of your time on the island, here’s a 7-day St. Croix itinerary packed with the best things to do in and around the island. When you’re done, you’ll have everything you need for a perfect Caribbean vacation.

If you’re looking for an unforgettable Caribbean vacation, look no further than St. Croix. With its stunning beaches, lush rainforests, and vibrant culture, there’s something for everyone on this island paradise. This 7 day itinerary will help you make the most of your time on the island. Let’s get to planning!

PS – Before you head to St. Croix and discover the beauty of the Top St Croix Attractions , during your 7 Day St Croix.  Travel Itinerary , as  listed below, check out these 20+ Travel Hacks and Resources , that will elevate your Travel experience to a different level all together.

Your 7 Day St. Croix Travel Itinerary

Day 1 : Frederiksted and Rainbow Beach

Day 2 : Explore Frederiksted

Day 3 : Hike to the Annaly Tide Pools at Carambola

Day 4 : Head to Christiansted!

Day 5 : Buck Island Reef National Monument

Day 6 : Wake up with Point Udall and Isaacs Bay Beach

Day 7 : Last day of your St Croix Itinerary! Depart After a Trip to Protestant Cay

St. Croix Itinerary Day 1: Frederiksted and Rainbow Beach

St. croix itinerary day 2: explore frederiksted, st. croix itinerary day 3: hike to the annaly tide pools at carambola, st. croix itinerary day 4: head to christiansted, st. croix itinerary day 5: buck island reef national monument, st. croix itinerary day 6: point udall and isaacs bay beach, st. croix itinerary day 7: depart after a trip to protestant cay, what is st. croix known for, st. croix 3 day itinerary, what is the best time of year to go to st. croix, share this:.

Welcome to St Croix! You’ll land at the STX airport, which is equidistant from St. Croix’s two cities – Frederiksted and Christiansted.

You’ll want to pick up a rental car at the airport before heading to Frederiksted. Frederiksted is the smaller and quieter town of the two, making it a perfect way to ease into your vacation. Arrive in St. Croix and check into your hotel or rental property. Take some time to relax and explore your surroundings, then head to the beach for a swim and some stunning sunset views.

Rainbow Beach is located in Frederiksted and is one of the most popular and beautiful beaches on St. Croix. It’s the perfect spot to get some sunshine on your first day. You can bring your own or rent snorkel gear on the beach. There are also plenty of watersport options to choose from if you want a more exciting day on the beach.

At the end of the day, enjoy live music, sunset views, and a classic USVI rum runner at Rhythms at Rainbow Beach .

The US Virgin Islands are full of history to explore! After a day in the sun, it’s time to check out what Frederiksted has to offer!

Head to Fort Frederik, an 18th-century Danish fort located in Frederiksted Historic District. You can take a self-guided tour of Fort Frederik and see one of the many protected landmarks in St. Croix. The Fort Frederik Museum is also a great spot to visit while you learn about the history of St. Croix.

Just a short walk down the road, you’ll see Frederiksted Market Square . Wander around Frederiksted and enjoy the city area. This is where the action is! Market Square is home to restaurants, duty-free shopping, and sightseeing.

Before sunset, you can hit the Frederiksted Pier . This is a hidden gem for snorkeling and diving. You can fish off the pier, or just jump in the water to cool off! Most importantly, it faces the west, so you can watch the unobstructed view of the sunset over the horizon.

For the adventurous souls, this 5 miles hike can be a bit challenging, but one of the most popular things to do in St. Croix.

Annaly Bay Tide Pools are naturally formed pools found on St. Croix’s North Shore. You’ll want to head out early to avoid hiking home during peak sun times. Hike through the rain forest of St. Croix to the breathtaking views of the tide pools. It’ll be more than worth it!

Depending on the weather, the water can be rough and the terrain difficult to maneuver around, so be cautious during this trek. On a calm day, enjoy splashing around, swimming, or even do some snorkeling around the natural pools. Be sure to keep an eye out for turtles, stingrays, and other marine life!

You’ll begin and end this hike at the Carambola Beach Resort. This is a great spot to spend a night or two if you want to explore the North Shore a bit.

For day 4 of your St. Croix Itinerary, head to the East side of the island to Christiansted for downtown exploration. Christiansted is the busier and more lively town in St. Croix. You’ve enjoyed a few relaxing days exploring nature on the west side of the island. Now is the perfect time for some excitement!

Check into one of the many places to stay in Christiansted and hit the Christiansted Boardwalk and enjoy some waterfront restaurants and bars. In the morning, you can have coffee and brunch at Caroline’s Breakfast and enjoy lunch and dinner at 40 Eats and Drinks or Too Chez.

Don’t forget to do some shopping in downtown Christiansted and take advantage of the duty-free benefit in US Virgin Islands. US Citizens can take home $1600 worth of duty-free shopping every 30 days!

If you’re looking for more of the rich history of St. Croix, visit the oldest site in Christiansted and head to Fort Christiansvaern Historic Site , one of the best-preserved and largest colonial forts in the Caribbean.

Day 5 of your St. Croix Itinerary is sure to be a favorite! Buck Island National Reef Monuments is one of the most beautiful, lively, and colorful coral reefs in the Caribbean. Buck Island is a can’t-miss activity in anyone’s St. Croix itinerary, so be sure to plan your trip ahead of time.

The Buck Island National Reef is a protected monument located off the coast of St. Croix in the US Virgin Islands. The reef is home to a wide variety of marine life, including sea turtles, coral, and tropical fish. You can even spot a few sharks circling around this reef!

You can only get to this island by boat, and there are many tours operating full and half-day excursions to this breathtaking piece of paradise. Visitors can snorkel or scuba dive to explore this famous reef. Buck Island National Reef is an extraordinary place to see the wonders of nature and experience the beauty of the underwater world.

When you get back from your excursion, stop by one of St. Croix’s many rum shacks for a refreshing drink before finding some classic Caribbean dining.

Make your way to the easternmost point of St. Croix…and the easternmost point of the US, Point Udall! Being the easternmost point, it’s also the first place in the US that sees the sunrise in the morning! Talk about a perfect way to start your day.

Point Udall serves as a monument that was built to celebrate the new millennia and marks the first spot of daylight in the US. As you can guess, not only are the views from the lookout point breathtaking, but you can also enjoy a scenic ride down when the sun is up.

From there, make your way to Isaacs Bay Beach for snorkeling and watersports. The trailhead to Isaac’s Beach begins near Point Udall and is only a short 20ish minute walk to get there. This beach will likely be quiet and calm and is the perfect place for snorkeling and swimming. It’s also great to cool off in the water after your short hike!

Although it’s always sad to end your vacation, especially a Caribbean one. For the last day of your St. Croix Itinerary, make the most of it by booking a later flight and spending one last day enjoying the Caribbean sands and waters in St. Croix.

A unique spot to hit in Christiansted is Protestant Cay (pronounced “key”). It’s a short ferry ride from the Christiansted Boardwalk and will take you to a private cay where you’ll find “Hotel on the Cay”.

Hotel on the Cay is one-of-a-kind, as it’s the only structure that lives on the cay. You can rent a room from Hotel on the Cay, or buy a day pass to enjoy the secluded, private-like island feel. There are watersports and rentals on the cay to enjoy a full day before your flight on this incredible beach.

Though I would suggest making the trip, if you want to stay on St. Croix for your last day, you can also try out Tamarind Reef Beach or Buccaneer Beach.

When you’re drained from your last day in the sun, depart to the St. Croix Airport afterward, feeling relaxed, refreshed, and sun-kissed! We hope you had an amazing trip and that you’ll come back to visit us soon!

St. Croix is known for having open space, beautiful beaches, and unlike some Caribbean islands, two downtown areas with lively restaurants, entertainment, and excitement. USVI is well known for its duty-free shopping for US citizens. It’s also the largest of the three US Virgin Island territories.

Most notably, Buck Island Reef National Monument is just a boat ride away from the Christiansted Pier. It’s one of the most popular spots in the Caribbean for snorkeling and home to Turtle Beach, one of the most beautiful white sand, clear water beaches in the world.

If you’re looking for an island that has it all, St. Croix is worth visiting .

How Many Days Do You Need in St. Croix?

While no vacation to St. Croix will ever be long enough, 7 days is actually the perfect amount of time to spend in St. Croix! If you want busier days and are able to pack everything in to one trip, you could see everything on the island in 4-5 days, but it definitely won’t be as relaxing!

If you need to prioritize, the most important things to do in St. Croix are Buck Island Reef National Monument, Annaly Tide Pools, and exploring Christiansted and Frederiksted.

Really in a rush and need to squeeze everything in a long weekend? Or, maybe you want to spend more time exploring the other US Virgin Islands, St. Thomas and St. John. Either way, here’s a quick St. Croix 3 Day Itinerary

Day 1: Arrive early and hike to Annaly Tide Pools. Drive over to Frederiksted to explore downtown, visit the National Park, spend the afternoon at Rainbow Beach, or visit the historic sites.

Day 2: Make your way to Christiansted and hop on a tour to Buck Island Reef National Monument. Spend the afternoon at Hotel on the Cay and grab dinner and drinks in downtown Christiansted.

Day 3: Wake up with the sunrise at Point Udall, go to Issacs’s Bay Beach for snorkeling and swimming, then hop around some of the beaches around Christiansted before heading to the airport!

December to April is the best and most popular time to go to St. Croix. This is also the heaviest tourist season. If you want to avoid hurricane season and crowds, try heading to St. Croix in November or April/May.

Hurricane season officially goes from June 1 to November 30 in US Virgin Islands. You can find great deals during this time, and still enjoy the island, but you might run into some afternoon showers.

As long as there’s not a hurricane, and don’t worry – the Caribbean always has their eye on hurricane watch – the weather in St. Croix is always warm and enjoyable.

Hopefully, this St. Croix Itinerary is everything you need and more to start planning your next Caribbean adventure. St. Croix is a beautiful island with so much to offer. Whether you’re planning a family trip, romantic getaway, or solo vacation, you can take advantage of this 7 day itinerary.

  Also, check these articles if you want to have a look at some of the other Travel Itineraries published here:  

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Tips to Know Before Traveling to the US Virgin Islands

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The U.S. Virgin Islands are a territory of the United States of America located in the Caribbean . Due to the island’s location in the Caribbean, the U.S. Virgin Islands is considered America’s Caribbean paradise. The U.S. Virgin Islands, more commonly abbreviated as the USVI, is an amazing place to travel to. The islands truly are a Caribbean paradise with turquoise blue waters, beautiful beaches, and wonderful weather. We enjoy traveling to the US Virgin Islands and have visited all three islands that make up the USVI: St. Thomas, St. John, and St. Croix. The USVI is a popular destination for Americans because flying to the USVI is considered a domestic flight for U.S. citizens. 

Even with US citizenship, there are a few things you will want to keep in mind when traveling to this amazing US territory. The following are our tips for making your visit to the USVI easier. Travel requirements can change. You should verify all travel requirements before your planned trip, as changes can occur. And, as with other countries, travel requirements to U.S. territories may differ depending on your country of citizenship or citizenship status. Keep reading for tips on traveling to the US Virgin Islands so you can plan your visit to America’s beautiful Caribbean paradise!

Table of Contents

• 1 About the U.S. Virgin Islands
• 2 Where Are the U.S. Virgin Islands Located?
• 3 How Do You Get to the U.S. Virgin Islands?
• 4 Traveling to the US Virgin Islands by Airplane
• 5 Traveling to the US Virgin Islands by Cruise Ship
• 6 Traveling to the US Virgin Islands by Ferry Boat
• 7 Passenger Ferry Service Between St. Thomas and St. Croix
• 8 Do You Need a Passport to Travel to the U.S. Virgin Islands?
• 9 Traveling to the US Virgin Islands by Citizens of the United States
• 10 Taking Layover to a Foreign Country
• 11 Traveling to the USVI by Permanent Legal Residents of the United States
• 12 Traveling to the USVI by Non-Citizens of the United States
• 13 What Currency is Used in the USVI?
• 14 How Do You Get Around the Islands?
• 15 Is There Public Transportation in the U.S. Virgin Islands?
• 16 Are Rideshare programs such as Uber and Lyft Available in the USVI?
• 17 What Side of the Road Do People in the U.S. Virgin Islands Drive On?
• 18 Are the Beaches in the USVI Public or Private?
• 19 What Kind of Sunblock Should You Bring to the U.S. Virgin Islands?
• 20 What Time Zone Does the US Virgin Islands Use?
• 21 When is the Best Time to Visit the US Virgin Islands?
• 22 What Language Do They Speak in the US Virgin Islands?
• 23 Which U.S. Virgin Island Should You Visit?
• 24 Is Traveling to the US Virgin Islands Worth It?
• 25 Popular & Related Posts

About the U.S. Virgin Islands

The U.S. Virgin Islands are three large islands and about 50 cays and islets in the Caribbean. The islands were purchased by the United States from the Danish in 1917. The three main islands that make up the USVI are St. Thomas, St. Croix, and St. John. Of the three islands, St. Croix is the largest island size-wise. St. Thomas has the largest population, and its largest city, Charlotte Amalie, is the capital of the USVI. There is also a small island off the coast of St. Thomas, Water Island, that tourists can visit. St. John is the smallest island of the three and is unique in that two-thirds of the island is designated as a United States National Park.

Where Are the U.S. Virgin Islands Located?

The USVI is located in the Caribbean Sea in the region known as the Greater Antilles. They are approximately 40 miles east of Puerto Rico, another beautiful territory of the U.S. The island of St. Thomas is about 1,103 miles from Miami, Florida. 

How Do You Get to the U.S. Virgin Islands?

There are a few ways to get to and travel between the islands of the USVI. The primary mode of transportation to the USVI is by airplane. Many people also travel to the USVI by cruise ship . If you plan to travel between the islands, you can do so by plane or ferry, depending on the islands you plan to visit. Here is more information on traveling to the US Virgin Islands by the three modes of transportation.

Traveling to the US Virgin Islands by Airplane

The main way to get to the USVI is to fly into St. Thomas or St. Croix. The island of St. John does not have an airport. Nonstop flights from various Southern and East Coast airports on the US mainland are available. You can also fly from San Juan, Puerto Rico to St. Thomas or St. Croix, which are both short flights. If you are flying from the West Coast or Midwest, you will likely have a layover at an airport like Miami, Dulles, Atlanta, or Dallas. This will definitely make your trip longer, as it does for us, but arriving in the USVI makes the longer trip so worth it!

Traveling to the US Virgin Islands by Cruise Ship

If you travel to the USVI by cruise ship, you will have one wonderful day visiting the USVI. Depending on your itinerary and the departure port of your cruise ship, you might be able to visit one or two Islands. It would be difficult to visit all three islands as time constraints and port schedules might not give you enough time to explore all of the USVI while in port. St. Thomas is the most popular and frequented cruise stop of the three islands. The second island that is usually on cruise itineraries is St. Croix.

If you are traveling to the US Virgin Islands by cruise ship and want to explore St. John, your best bet is to book an excursion to St. John. Cruise excursions to St. John are typically half-day excursions and are offered during your port stop in St. Thomas. The excursions can be a tour of the island or spending the day at one of the beaches snorkeling and enjoying the beautiful ocean. A half-day excursion will give you the rest of the day to explore St. Thomas until you have to return to your cruise ship. If you decide to visit St. John, make sure to keep track of the ferry schedule so you make it back to the ship by all aboard time.

Traveling to the US Virgin Islands by Ferry Boat

You can travel to St. John by passenger ferry from St. Thomas. The ferries from St. Thomas to St. John run daily, and all take less than an hour. There are three ferry routes between St. Thomas and St. John: Crown Bay, Charlotte Amalie, and Red Hook. The shortest ferry ride to Cruz Bay, St. John, is from Red Hook. The ferry ride only takes 15 minutes. When traveling from Charlotte Amalie, the ferry ride is 45 minutes. From Crown Bay, the ferry ride is only 35 minutes. The short travel times mean you can start exploring St. John fairly quickly. Of course, ocean conditions can impact the time the ferry takes to reach St. John. 

In addition to the passenger ferries, there are car ferries (or barges) that travel between St. Thomas and St. John. If you rent a car and want to take the vehicle to St. John, you can, assuming transporting the vehicle to St. John does not go against your rental agreement. The car ferries are first come, first serve, so plan on getting to the ferry landing about an hour early. There are a few companies that make this journey. The companies generally leave out of Red Hook Bay in St. Thomas. One of the barge companies that many use to get a car from St. Thomas to St. John is Big Red Barge .

Passenger Ferry Service Between St. Thomas and St. Croix

If you are in St. Thomas and would like to visit St. Croix, you can take a passenger ferry to St. Croix. St. Croix is 45 miles from St. Thomas so the ferry ride will be much longer at just under two hours long. The ocean can also be a bit rough. If you are prone to getting seasick, I recommend taking medication prior to starting your voyage to St. Croix. The ferry between St. Croix and St. Thomas does not run every day and usually only runs once per day. With this in mind, if you do plan to take the ferry to St. Croix, you will need to plan ahead and book accommodations for an overnight stay. You can book a round-trip passage on the QE IV Ferry website.

Do You Need a Passport to Travel to the U.S. Virgin Islands?

Whether or not you need a passport to travel to the USVI depends on your country of citizenship. Travelers to the USVI who are not US citizens will need a passport to travel to the USVI. If you are a citizen of the United States, you do not need a passport to travel to the USVI. It is a domestic flight. However, US Citizens need to show proof of citizenship when leaving the USVI. This is where things can go wrong if you are not prepared ahead of time.

Traveling to the US Virgin Islands by Citizens of the United States

If you are a US citizen, flying to the USVI is a domestic flight because you are traveling to a territory within the United States. A passport is not required to enter the USVI. Problems can arise when you leave the USVI to return to the US mainland. Upon leaving, you will need to confirm that you are a US citizen for your flight back to the mainland. In order to do this, you will need to have proof of your citizenship status, such as a passport, raised-seal birth certificate or naturalization documents, and a government-issued photo ID, like a driver’s license. If you do not have a passport, you will need one of the other documents in addition to a government-issued photo ID. 

The proof of citizenship requirement is similar to going on a cruise out of a US port such as the Port of Miami, Port Tampa Bay, or the Port of Los Angeles. We usually travel with our US passports and/or passport cards if we are near the US border or going on a cruise. When we were traveling to the US Virgin Islands, we had our passports on hand. It might seem odd to have a passport for a domestic flight, but we find that having our passport when visiting US territories makes the travel process much easier. You can visit the Virgin Islands Port Authority website for more information on traveling to the USVI.

Taking Layover to a Foreign Country

You can easily visit nearby islands by ferry, such as Tortola, which is part of the British Virgin Islands, or take a flight to another island. Keep in mind that if you decide to do this during your visit to the USVI, you will need your passport. You will also need a passport if you have a layover in a foreign country.

Traveling to the USVI by Permanent Legal Residents of the United States

If you are a Green Card holder, you will need to bring your foreign passport in addition to your Green Card. 

Traveling to the USVI by Non-Citizens of the United States

Passports are required for all non-citizens of the United States to travel to the USVI. Specific visa requirements may vary depending on country of origin. Citizens of other countries should follow US travel requirements and get any visas that may be required to travel to the United States.

What Currency is Used in the USVI?

The USVI is a territory of the United States , thus the U.S. dollar is the currency used on the islands. If you are visiting from the mainland, you don’t need to worry about exchanging money. Having cash on you is a good idea when visiting the islands, as some businesses, local stores, and taxis only accept cash.

Credit cards are widely accepted on the islands. However, not all credit card companies are accepted in the USVI. The most widely accepted credit cards in the USVI are Mastercard and Visa. You might find a business here and there that will accept American Express but that is more the exception than the rule. It is a good idea to have a Visa or Mastercard in your wallet since those are the two most accepted credit card brands.

How Do You Get Around the Islands?

The best way to get around each of the three islands is to rent a car. You preferably want to rent a vehicle with 4WD, especially in St. Thomas and St. John. Of the three islands, St. Thomas and St. John have more hills and mountains, and 4WD will make driving up and down the hills easier.

You can use taxi services if you do not want to rent a car. However, if you decide only to use taxis, the cost will eventually add up and could cost you more than renting a car. The taxi price can vary, and you will likely see a cost for two people with an additional fee per person. Additionally, most, if not all, taxis will only accept cash, so be prepared to have cash on hand if you plan to take a taxi. 

Is There Public Transportation in the U.S. Virgin Islands?

Yes, there is public transportation in the USVI. The VITRAN is the public bus system in the USVI. However, public transportation on the islands is less reliable than on the US mainland. If you decide to only use the VITRAN, you could end up waiting a while for the bus.

Are Rideshare programs such as Uber and Lyft Available in the USVI?

No, unfortunately Uber and Lyft are not available in the U.S. Virgin Islands. You will need to rent a car, use public transportation, or rely on taxi service.

What Side of the Road Do People in the U.S. Virgin Islands Drive On?

The U.S. Virgin Islands are the only place in the United States and its territories where people drive on the left side of the road. Luckily, many, if not all, rental car companies have a sticker on the driver’s side windshield that says “Keep Left.” The stickers are there to remind drivers to drive on the left side of the road. 

When you are used to driving on the right side of the road, being in a car and driving on the left side of the road can be jarring at first. Eventually, you get used to it, but you might need to remind yourself to keep left until you do. Interestingly, on most rentals, the car’s driver’s side is on the left, just like on the mainland. This can add to the confusion, but just remember to keep left.

Are the Beaches in the USVI Public or Private?

Similarly to the states of Hawaii and California, all of the beaches in the USVI are public. There are no private beaches, however, some may charge an entrance fee, which is used to preserve the area, such as Magens Bay, one of the most popular beaches on St. Thomas to visit.

There are areas where beaches may be next to private property. If this is the case for the beach you decide to visit, look for public access signs that lead to public beach access routes. You should not be denied access to beaches during your visit as there is a requirement for there to be public access to all beaches. 

What Kind of Sunblock Should You Bring to the U.S. Virgin Islands?

Something important to note about sunblock in the USVI is that non-nano mineral-based sunscreen is recommended and preferred when visiting. Sunblocks with oxybenzone, octinoxate, and octocrylene are prohibited in the USVI. If you bring sunscreen, read the ingredients to ensure none of these three toxic O’s are listed. Non-nano mineral-based sunscreens with zinc oxide and titanium dioxide are safe to use. 

If you are unsure about buying sunblock before your trip, you can wait until you get to the USVI and buy it on the islands. Many times, reef-safe sunblock sold on the mainland does not have two of the three toxic O’s. But it does have at least one of them. It is a good idea to read the ingredients to confirm that none of the toxic chemicals are used. This way, we can all do our part to protect the ocean reefs.

Additionally, we highly recommend using a rashguard when visiting. The sun in the Caribbean can be fierce, and you can get sunburned before you realize it. Every time we go to the Caribbean or Hawaii , we take our rash guard to help reduce the potential for sunburns.

What Time Zone Does the US Virgin Islands Use?

The U.S. Virgin Islands are in the Atlantic Standard Time zone. They do not participate in daylight savings time, so they stay in Atlantic Standard Time. When the majority of the mainland switches to Daylight Savings Time during the spring and summer months, East Coast states and the USVI will be in the same time zone. The USVI will be one hour ahead of the East Coast states during the fall and winter months. 

When is the Best Time to Visit the US Virgin Islands?

The high season for visiting the USVI is from December to March. This is the busiest time to visit the Caribbean in general, and hotel prices are higher during this time than in the low season. This also corresponds to the driest time to visit the USVI. Temperatures generally hover around the 80s.

The shoulder months are April to early June. During this time, hotel prices generally drop as the tourist season slows down. If you visit during these months, you may get some rainfall, especially as you get closer to June. We visited the USVI in early June, and the weather was great. We did get some rain, but it was not a lot. Even though it did rain a little during our trip, it was still hot and in the 80s during our visit.

The low season, the least busy time to visit, is mid-June through November. Hotel prices are also lower during this time. You should know that this part of the season is also hurricane season in the Caribbean. There is also more rain during this time of the year. If you plan to visit during this time, consider protecting your trip by purchasing travel insurance. It is always a good idea to protect yourself by purchasing travel insurance for added peace of mind.

What Language Do They Speak in the US Virgin Islands?

The official language of the USVI is English. Besides English, you will also hear Spanish spoken by locals due to the island’s proximity to Puerto Rico. You will also hear dialects of Creole spoken in the USVI.

Which U.S. Virgin Island Should You Visit?

We believe you should visit all three islands as each island has something different to offer. If you are limited on time, start with a visit to St. Thomas. There are many things to do in St. Thomas. Of the three islands, St. Thomas has more nightlife and resorts. You can also plan to take a ferry to St. John. You can spend a day or two in St. John exploring the island.

St. John is smaller but is home to the U.S. Virgin Islands National Park. If you spend some time in St. John, you can hike to beaches and explore the National Park. If you are looking for a quieter island vacation or more interested in snorkeling and scuba diving, then St. Croix should be your first choice. St. Croix has great diving and beautiful beaches. There are a couple of historical forts that you can visit, as well as the easternmost point of the United States.

Is Traveling to the US Virgin Islands Worth It?

Yes, traveling to the US Virgin Islands is worth it! There are many beautiful beaches to visit where you can swim, snorkel, or just relax and enjoy the sunshine. Each island is different in its own way, making a visit to each island a different experience. We hope these tips will help you plan a visit to the USVI so you can experience the beauty of the U.S. Virgin Islands.

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Mireya Murga

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