Traveling the world one color at a time.
Need to escape? Looking to be whisked away? Itching for travel inspiration?
Look no further than the colorful coast of St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands. After enjoying a day on St. John, I was treated to this colorful view of St. Thomas as we pulled back into port.
Whether you’re planning on sampling the culinary delights of Puerto Rico, hitting up the beaches in Jamaica, hiking in the U.S. Virgin Islands or exploring any other of the many Caribbean islands, there are a few things you should always take with you. Whether you’ll be within a short flight of South America (such is the case in Curaçao) or are as close as the Bahamas, don’t leave home without these items:
Sunscreen
The sun in the Caribbean is brutal, so apply sunscreen frequently and in copious quantities. Chances are you’ll spend a fair amount of time waterside, so make sure you choose a brand that is waterproof and sweatproof. If you dip into the water, reapply when you get out, and if you’ve been outside for any length of time, don’t hesitate to slather on a little more sunscreen. Even with the heavy applications, chances are you’ll still go home with some sort of sun.
A sarong
Whether you’re a guy or a girl, packing a sarong can serve so many different purposes. Wrap it around as a beach cover-up, use it to dry off when you don’t have a towel handy or throw it over your shoulders if you need to protect your skin after a swim. Sarongs are small and easy to stuff into a day bag, so take one with you whenever you leave for the day.
I checked into the Frenchman’s Reef and Morning Star Marriott Beach Resort on St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands just after noon on a Friday, and the hotel was bustling with people heading out for afternoon excursions or just coming back from a morning on the beach.
Skin was pink and glowing. Women carried oversized beach bags and their husbands dressed in Hawaiian-inspired garb. (What is it about the Caribbean and button-up shirts with big floral prints?)
It made me happy to see everyone else so happy — exactly what I needed after 14 long and exhausting hours of flying. As a guest of the Marriott during this year’s Blog Paradise, my job was simply to relax and enjoy the few days I had on St. Thomas.
When it comes to the U.S. Virgin Islands, one thing is pretty much a given: You’ll stay on St. Thomas, where lodging is abundant and therefore a bit cheaper than St. John or St. Croix. But if you want to escape the crowds, hopping a ferry to St. John is both affordable and easy.
There are many tour companies that offer day trips from St. Thomas to its nearby neighbor, St. John. (St. Croix, located 40 miles away, is a bit more difficult to reach.) If you’re a more independent traveler, it’s easy to catch a ferry on your own, and then catch public transportation once you reach St. John.
A typical day might go something like this:
Catch the ferry early in the morning. Many tour companies leave between 8:00 a.m. and 9:00 a.m. Ferries leave from Red Hook, located on the eastern side of St. Thomas, on the hour. The sun will be bright and hot. Wear sunscreen and pack plenty of water for the day.
Before our cruise ship docked at St. Thomas, we knew we wanted to escape the island. Of the U.S. Virgin Islands, St. Thomas is known as the touristy one, cluttered with duty-free jewelry shops, kitschy markets selling t-shirts and lots of traffic.
No thank you.
So we hopped the first ferry over to St. John, where most of the land is protected as Virgin Islands National Park and a lot of the surrounding water is considered Virgin Islands Coral Reef National Monument. The difference between St. Thomas and St. John was immediately obvious.
St. John is green and covered with trees, and the visitor’s center is just a couple minutes walk from the ferry station. There is a great round-trip, approximately 4-mile trail that leaves from the ranger station. We opted to go counter clockwise up the Caneel Hill Trail then down the Water Catchment Trail, along Honeymoon Beach and back to the ranger station via Lind Point Trail.
