U.S. Virgin Islands Travel Guide

Welcome to the taste2travel USVI Travel Guide!

Date Visited: May 2015

Introduction

The territory of the United States Virgin Islands (USVI) consists of three large islands (St. John, St. Thomas and St. Croix) and fifty smaller islands and cays. Along with neighbouring British Virgin Islands, St. Thomas and St. John are part of the Virgin islands archipelago, with St. Croix lying 70-km to the south.

Location

The USVI is located in the Lesser Antilles of the Eastern Caribbean, a few kilometres west of the British Virgin islands and 65-km east of Puerto Rico.

A US territory, the USVI is comprised of three islands – St. Thomas and neighbouring St. John and the more distant St. Croix, which is located 72 km south of St. Thomas.

History

The original settlers on the USVI were the Arawak Indians who sailed up from present day Venezuela. The Arawak’s were a peaceful lot who developed intricate social and cultural lives. Their civilisation flourished for hundreds of years until the more aggressive Carib Indians arrived.

The Caribs were not as peace-loving as the Arawak, normally destroying everything they found. They also had a reputation for eating their victims and this is where the word ‘cannibal’ comes from.

A view across the Sir Francis Drake Channel from St. John (USVI) to Tortola (BVI).

However, not even the Caribs were a match for the Europeans. Christopher Columbus first landed on St. Croix after being blown off course during his second voyage to the Americas in 1493. He then continued his explorations, stopping at St. Thomas and St. John. He named the islands, Santa Cruz, San Juan and San Tomas. The collection of tiny islets and cays dotting the sea around them reminded Columbus of Saint Ursula and her 11,000 virgin martyrs, inspiring the name Las Once Mil Virgenes (the 11,000 Virgins). Columbus found the Caribs to be hostile so he left the islands without attempting to establish a settlement.

In the early 1600’s many countries coveted the Virgin islands. Holland, France, England, Spain, Denmark, even Malta sought colonies.

The Danish West India Company first attempted to settle St. Thomas in 1665. They successfully established a settlement on St. Thomas in 1672 and quickly set about establishing sugar and cotton plantations. Following early success, they expanded and settled on St. John in 1694. After the Danes settled St. John plantation agriculture developed rapidly.

The Danish West India Company purchased St. Croix from the French in 1733 bringing St. Thomas, St. Croix and St. John together as the Danish West Indies.

Like most other islands, large numbers of slaves were imported from Africa to work on the cotton and sugar plantations. Plantations covered all the islands. Following the abolition of slavery, the planters began to abandon their estates and the population and economy in the islands declined.

The islands remained under Danish rule until 1917, when the United States purchased them for $25 million in gold in an effort to improve military positioning during critical times of World War I.

St. Croix, St. Thomas and St. John became the US Virgin Islands.

Today the USVI is a U.S. territory, run by an elected governor. The territory is under the jurisdiction of the president of the United States of America and residents are American citizens.

Tourism is the number one revenue generator for the USVI and its islands are considered premiere destinations for tourists visiting the Caribbean.

Currency

The US Dollar.

Being a US territory, the official currency of the US Virgin Islands is the US dollar.

Flag

Flag of USVI.

The flag of the United States Virgin Islands was adopted on May 17, 1921. It consists of a simplified version of the coat of arms of the U.S. which is set between the letters ‘V’ and ‘I’ (for ‘Virgin Islands’).

The yellow-coloured eagle holds a sprig of laurel in one talon, which symbolises victory, and three blue arrows in the other (unlike the thirteen arrows in the US coat of arms), which represent the three major islands that make up the U.S. Virgin Islands: Saint Croix, Saint Thomas, and Saint John.

Sightseeing

St. Thomas

With a population of 51,634 (about 49% of the USVI total), Saint Thomas is the main island of the USVI. Here you will find the busiest airport, largest cruise ship terminal and the territorial capital and largest city – Charlotte Amalie.

Christopher Columbus was the first European to sight the island during his second voyage to the Americas in 1493. However, the Dutch were the first to settle the island in 1657 but they were expelled by the Danish following their conquest of the island 1666. The Danish West India Company divided the island into sugar plantations and imported vast numbers of African slaves as a labour pool.

In 1691, the primary settlement on the island was renamed Charlotte Amalie in honour of the wife of Denmark’s King Christian V. In 1917, St. Thomas was purchased (along with St. John and St. Croix) by the United States government for US$25 million in gold.

My 2 cents worth:

St. Thomas is much more developed and much busier than neighbouring St. John. If your time is limited I would allocate more time on St. John, a much more agreeable island with amazing beaches, nature, snorkeling and diving.

Charlotte Amalie

A laneway in Charlotte Amalie.

The capital and largest city (population: 18,481) of the USVI, Charlotte Amalie is located on the southern shore of St. Thomas at the head of Saint Thomas Harbour.

The deep-water harbour was once a haven for pirates but is today the busiest port of call for cruise ships in the Caribbean, receiving more than 1.5 million passengers per year.

Not surprisingly most of the city is a large shopping mall catering to the needs of visiting day-trippers, who come to shop in the city dubbed “the duty-free capital of the world“.

Apart from it’s shops, the city is known for its Danish colonial architecture and Danish influence. The downtown area is compact and most sites can be visited on foot in less than a day. The following sites are located in Charlotte Amalie:

Fort Christian

Fort Christian, Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas.

Located on the harbour-front, this is the oldest standing structure in the Virgin Islands archipelago. Built between 1672-1680, early in the first successful colonial establishment on the island, the fort served as a critical point of defence and government during the entire period of Dano-Norwegian, and later Danish, administration, which ended in 1917 with the sale of the islands to the United States.

The fort currently holds the St. Thomas Museum, which houses artefacts and art of the Dano-Norwegian period.

St. Thomas Synagogue

St. Thomas Synagogue in Charlotte Amalie is famous for it’s sand floor.

Located at Crystalgade #16AB, Saint Thomas Synagogue was built in 1833, and is the second-oldest synagogue on United States soil (after the 1763 Touro Synagogue in Newport, Rhode Island).

It also has the longest history of continuous use by a Jewish congregation in the United States. It was built for a congregation founded in 1796 by Sephardic Jews who had come to the Caribbean Basin to finance trade between Europe and the New World.

A beautiful, serene place of worship which is definitely worth a visit. One of the most unusual features of the synagogue is the sand floor. There are two theories behind this unusual occurrence. One is to represent the Israelite journey through the desert. Another theory is that it represents the Conversos who were forced to convert to Catholicism. Many continued to observe Judaism, so they usually met in their cellars and would use sand to muffle their prayers.

Government House

The historic Government house, Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas.

Constructed in 1867 as the meeting place for the Danish Colonial Council, Government House is used today as the office for the governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Several works by Impressionist master Camille Pissarro, a native of St. Thomas, is one highlight of a visit. The building, open to the public on weekdays, is a five-minute walk from the centre of historic Charlotte Amalie at Kongensgade 21-22.

Frederick Lutheran Church

Established in 1666, this is the oldest Lutheran Church in the Western Hemisphere.

Blackbeard’s Castle

Built by the Danes during the 17th century as a military watch-tower. The tower was later renamed Blackbeard’s Castle possibly because Edward Teach (Blackbeard) used it as a lookout during his days of piracy.

Bluebeard’s Castle

Not to be confused with Blackbeard’s Castle, this watchtower was built by the Danes in 1689 and was apparently used by the pirate Bluebeard.

Camille Pissarro Gallery

Entrance to the Camille Pissarro Gallery in Charlotte Amalie.

Located on Main street, this small gallery is housed in the birth home of the famous impressionist painter.

Market Square
Once the venue for the biggest slave market auctions in the Caribbean, today the square serves as a local farmers market.

French Heritage Museum

Located in Frenchtown, the French Heritage Museum tells the story of French settlers who migrated to St. Thomas from St. Barthelemy. The museum is run by a group of enthusiastic volunteers who will happily guide you around the single room of displays.

Frenchtown

This small fishing community was established in the late 1800’s by French settlers from St. Barthelemy. Today the French community has preserved a high degree of cultural identity. You can visit French bakeries and you’ll hear French Creole being spoken on the streets. There is a good selection of bars, cafes and restaurants here – an ideal place for lunch.

Around St. Thomas

Like all other islands in the Virgin Islands archipelago, St. Thomas is volcanic in origin. As such it is largely mountainous, with many roads around the island offering terrific panoramic views in every direction. There are more than 40 beaches on the island, many of them with white powdery sand.

Red Hook

Red Hook is a town located on the east side of Saint Thomas, overlooking neighbouring St. John. The main reason to come here is to take one of the frequent ferries, which make the crossing to St. John or to the British Virgin Islands (see the ‘Getting Around‘ and the ‘Getting There‘ sections below for more details).

Apart from the ferry terminal, there is a marina, a dive shop, supermarket and a few restaurants and bars.

Coki Beach

Coki is a small, pretty beach located on Coki Point on the north coast of St. Thomas. The crystal clear water is usually very calm with a near shore reef offering great snorkeling. There is a dive shop here offering one-tank shore dives.

Magens Bay

Located on the north coast, this sweeping bay is St. Thomas’ most popular beach. It is the only beach on St. Thomas that has an entry fee; with the funds being used to maintain the facilities and the beach. The bay is very protected so the water is usually very calm with no waves or current.

Hull Bay

Just along from Magens Bay, Hull Bay is a tranquil little beach and, due to it’s more difficult access road, much quieter than neighbouring Magens Bay.

St. John

Located just 4-miles east of St. Thomas, the history of St John is very similar to the history of St. Thomas.

The British originally claimed St. John, especially in 1684 when Denmark tried to take possession of the island. Although they never settled the island, the British authorities on neighbouring Tortola considered St. John to be their possession.

On March 25th, 1718 a group of twenty Danish planters from St. Thomas raised their flag at the first permanent settlement in Coral Bay. The first settlers had already established sugar plantations on neighbouring St. Thomas and wanted to do the same on St. John. Within the first fifteen years of settlement, 109 cotton and sugar cane plantations were created and covered almost all of St. John.

View over Coral Bay, St. John

African slaves were introduced to the island to work on the plantations. By 1733, the number of the slaves on the island hugely outnumbered free-men. This led to a revolt against plantation owners, which lasted seven months and left a quarter of the island’s population dead.

Slavery was abolished in 1848 at which point the plantations went into decline and the island’s population decreased by 50%. At around 1913, there were fewer than 1000 people living on the island.

In 1917 the United States purchased St. John from Denmark. Years later, news of this beautiful American island spread to the United States mainland, setting the seeds of what would become a tourism boom.

In 1956, Laurence Rockefeller donated 5000 acres of island real-estate to the Federal Government, allowing the government to establish the Virgin Islands National Park. Today the park covers 60% of the area of the island.

Today St. John is a thriving tourist destination, with pristine beaches, untouched reefs and forests. If you enjoy nature and the outdoors this is a little slice of heaven.

Cruz Bay

With a population of 2,743, Cruz Bay is the main town on St. John. It is also where ferries arrive from St. Thomas and the British Virgin Islands and is the main tourist centre with most of the island’s restaurants, hotels etc.

There are no tourist sites to see in town but it is a pleasant place to spend time strolling. The National Park Service has its headquarters near the waterfront, which includes an informative visitors centre with information on the Virgin Islands National Park.

Honeymoon Beach

Just around from Cruz Bay, Honeymoon Beach is another perfect white-sand beach and a great introduction to the beaches on the island.

Hawksnest Beach

Next beach along the coast from Honeymoon beach, the water here is normally calm and crystal-clear. There is good snorkeling just offshore.

Trunk Bay

Trunk Bay is a beautiful, long, white-sand beach and is one of the most popular beaches on the island. At one end of the beach is an island, which you can snorkel around. There’s also an underwater snorkeling trail with signs providing information on local marine biology.

Cinnamon Bay

Next-door to Trunk Bay, Cinnamon Bay offers excellent snorkeling with the chance to see sea turtles feeding on the grassy seafloor and sting rays cruising the sandy bottoms.

Maho Bay

This is a good beach for swimming and snorkeling. Like neighbouring Cinnamon Bay, the seafloor is full of sea grass so there’s a good chance to see sea turtles while snorkeling.

Annaberg Sugar Plantation

A ruined windmill at the Annaberg Sugar Plantation on St. John.

The Annaberg Sugar Plantation Ruins are the most intact plantation ruins in the Virgin Islands and keep the memory of the days of slavery alive. The U.S. National Parks service maintains the site and has prepared a self-guided tour of the ruins using signboards, which leads you through the slave quarters, village, windmill, rum still and dungeon.

Waterlemon Cay

Located a 30-minute along the bay from the Annaberg sugar plantation ruins, this beautiful little cay is a short swim offshore and offers good snorkeling with a tiny strip of sand that is just big enough to allow tired snorkelers to rest. The currents around the cay can be strong so caution is needed.

Hanson Bay Beach

Fantastic snorkeling in crystal-clear waters in this protected bay.

The elusive White-tailed deer on St. John.

Accommodation

There are many accommodation options available on both St. John and St. Thomas. Best to book in advance using booking.com

Eating Out

This is an American territory so there is no shortage of places offering generous portions of North American dishes with tropical twists as well as local cuisine.

St. John

On St. John there is a good selection of restaurants in Cruz Bay. This is my favourite place in the USVI for wining and dining.

I especially recommend The Longboard. Located on Prince street, the cocktails here are legendary – a frozen ‘Painkiller‘ is a great way to start your evening. The food is the main event and could be described as inventive, fresh and tasty. One of the culinary highlights of the USVI.

The selection of craft beers from St. John Brewers.

Located downtown in Mongoose Junction plaza and run by the good folks at St. John Brewers, The Tap House is a micro-brewery where you can sample the product from this favourite local institution. The Tropical Mango Pale ale is their best seller. The delicious food selection is also worth checking out – from burgers to fish tacos.

Located on the waterfront in Coral Bay, Miss Lucy’s is a great place to stop for lunch. The food is North American style with Caribbean influences. The ice-cold drinks are very refreshing after a hot morning of snorkeling at nearby Salt Pond.

St. Thomas

There are plenty of options on St. Thomas, especially in Charlotte Amalie. In the evening I recommend heading to Red Hook where you will find a good selection of restaurants and bars.

My personal favourite is Duffy’s Love Shack. Described as ‘The best parking lot bar in the world‘, this restaurant is located in a parking lot on the main road of Red Hook. The service, food and over-sized cocktails (complete with take-away ornaments) are all memorable.

Visa Requirements

Some nationalities require visas for USVI – check your visa requirements prior to arrival.

Getting There

By Air

All flights into St. Thomas arrive at Cyril E. King Airport, 3-km from downtown Charlotte Amalie. The airport also serves as the gateway to St. John and is used as an access point for the British Virgin Islands.

Airlines providing international connections include:

Air Sunshine – services to Anguilla, Dominica, Nevis, Puerto Rico, St. Maarten, Tortola, Virgin Gorda
American Airlines – services to Charlotte, Miami, New York (JFK), Philadelphia
Cape Air – services to Saint Croix, Puerto Rico, Tortola
Delta Airlines – services to Atlanta, New York (JFK)
Hummingbird Air – services to Dominica, Nevis, Saint Kitts
JetBlue Airways – services to Puerto Rico, Boston
LIAT – services to Antigua, St. Maarten
Seaborne Airlines – services to Saint Croix, Puerto Rico
Sea Flight Airlines – services to Saint Croix
Spirit Airlines – services to Fort Lauderdale
Sun Country Airlines – services to Minneapolis/Saint Paul
Tradewind Aviation – services to Saint Barthélemy
United Airlines – services to Washington-Dulles, Chicago-O’Hare, Houston-Intercontinental, Newark

By Sea

Ferries

There are regular international ferry connections between the US Virgin Islands of St. John (Cruz Bay) and St. Thomas (Red Hook Bay and Charlotte Amalie) and the British Virgin Islands of Tortola (Road Town and West End Ferry Terminal), Jost Van Dyke (Great Harbour) and Virgin Gorda (Spanish Town).

For current schedules, refer to the following website.

Cruise Ships

Cruise ship anchored at Charlotte Amalie.

Charlotte Amalie is the most popular cruise ship destination in the Caribbean. Visiting cruise ships dock at Havensight, a huge port which has the capacity to handle up to eleven cruise ships simultaneously and is a short walk from downtown.

You can access the current cruise ship schedule here.

Getting Around

The license plate of my rental car on St. John.

Public Transport

There are buses operating on both St. Thomas and St. John, however the service is limited. If you wish to fully explore these islands you will need your own wheels.

On St. John, VITRAN (Virgin Islands Transit Service) operates one bus route (hourly) from Cruz Bay to Coral Bay then onto Salt Pond Bay, which covers most of the island.

On St. Thomas, there are regular buses operating between Charlotte Amalie and Red Hook.

Car

The best option for exploring the islands is to hire a car. On St. Thomas, you can collect a car upon arrival at Cyril E. King Airport or in downtown Charlotte Amalie. On St. John, there are numerous rental agencies located in Cruz Bay.

Driver’s holding international licenses must purchase a temporary foreign driver’s permit from the rental agent, while those holding U.S. driver’s licenses can drive for up to 90 days without a permit.

An oddity in the USVI is that driving is on the left side of the road (only place in the U.S.), a legacy from the Danish colonial era. However, all vehicles are American imports with left-hand steering so all drivers are sitting on the outside of the lane rather than on the inside of the lane. This does make a difference on the narrow windy roads.

Taxi

There are taxi operators available on both St. Thomas and St. John. Fares are based on a fixed tariff:

For the current tariff schedule of St. Thomas, refer to the following website.
For the current tariff schedule of St. John, refer to the following website.

Ferries

Frequent, fast and reliable inter-island ferries connect St. Thomas, St. John and St. Croix. All schedules are available on the following website.

That’s the end of my USVI Travel Guide.

Safe Travels!

Darren

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