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I greatly appreciate your thoughts. First time to USVI, should I stay at St. Croix or Thomas? I want a place to relax, enjoy beaches, experience local culture and people, with nice restaurants and some nightlife, but also don't want to feel like I am in metropolitan city.
I am also thinking of staying few days on 1 island, then few days hop onto another island. Is this feasible??
Any other suggestions for a 1st timer?? Any must see or do?? Thinking of going in mid/late May. Thanks in advance.
Yes, you could spend 3-4 days on one and then take the seaplane or the fast ferry to the other for the rest of your stay. Me, I like my vacations relaxing and the idea of packing up and moving in the middle is not my idea of fun.
I live on St. Croix and love it, but for a first time visitor I'd probably say go to STT, stay there the whole time and visit St. John and the BVI. STT is close to STJ and the BVI, making island hopping easier. STT is busier than STX, but it's a smaller island and exploring will be easier.
On your next trip (i'm betting there will be a next trip) spend all your time on the Big Virgin (St. Croix). My 2 cents.
I agree with Linda on all of the above post. My first island of the three was St.John and I would live there in a heartbeat, and will hopefully one day.
Have lived on St.Thomas for almost 6 months now and love it.
I tried St.Croix, and didn't care for it as much. Nothing against St.Croix per se, just that each of us finds our own special island that we fall in love with for our own very special and personal reasons.
Visit St.Thomas as your main stop - with trips via ferry as Linda suggested to St.John (for sure) and the BVI's. And if you're still in a mood to "island shop", take the sea plane over to St.Croix for a day.
I did a cruise stop in STX and STT back in 99 and left without getting a great feel for either island due to the short stops. Last fall I spent 4 days on STT so I could experience more without worrying about catching the ship after a few hours or fighting the ship crowds everywhere I went. My time on STT was great and I spent a day on STJ which was heaven. I agree with the previous posters about going to STT for your first time.
Of course, my next trip coming up is going to be STX so I can get a feel for all of the islands. Plus I need to visit the Cruzan Rum factory since it's my favorite drink. 🙂
Good luck and have fun!
BB: When I first started traveling to the Caribbean I wanted to see as much as possible in one trip. If I had to fly for hours to get there, I wanted to see as many islands as possible.The Virgins are particularly appropriate for island hopping. If I were to do your trip, I would definitely see if I could fly into maybe St Croix, stay 3 nights, take the seaplane or fast ferry to St Thomas, stay another 3-4 nights and do day trips to the BVI and St John.You could then fly out of St Thomas. You will see a big chunk of real estate and can decide what you want to see next! (Again, it all depends if packing up and moving is a pain or part of the fun!)
Got back just over a month ago from 'island hopping'. Definately agree that it is easier to get ferries from St Thomas. Also there are flights to STT and STX from Tortola and Virgin Gorda with Air Sunshine for around $100 one way. The sea plane between STT and STX is pretty fun as well.
