Plaza Extra in Tutu has a wide selection of food and prices, including alcohol (beer, wine, rum, etc.), with a deli, produce, fresh meats, bakery.

It is sort of attached to the Tutu Shopping Center (Mall) with Kmart on the other end. You can find some food items there too and anything you might have forgotten to pack, like any Health & Beauty aids (toothpaste, comb, aspirin, sunscreen, etc.).

Have a great vacation!!!

My two "best buy" recommendations for quality, price and selections are Plaza Extra as SeaBreeze19 noted and CostULess which is in Market Square East off Weymouth Rhymer Highway (Rte 38). Only a 5 minute drive separates the two. Although CUL is a "warehouse" type store and some of the items are bulk, I shop there regularly as a single and between the two stores I can find pretty much everything I need. CUL has an excellent produce section, good meats and a fine and extensive wine and liquor selection. If you're a beer drinker you can only purchase by the case and they don't bag your purchases so either take your own bags (or they sell BIG re-useable bags for only $2+ which double as great beach bags!) or grab a couple of boxes from the big container inside the store to stack your purchases in. While in CUL look for the green sale stickers in the (vast) frozen food section and in produce. Close to "sell by" date you can pick up some pretty awesome bargains.

Some might suggest Food Center and Marina Market which are closer to Elysian. Both these stores are much higher-priced than PE or CUL plus Food Center gets brickbats for slapping new stickers over "use by" dates on meat and produce items. (td) Marina Market is a very small store with a limited selection and some excellent products at a very high price ...

If you're looking at some inexpensive and very good take-out food, CUL's rotisserie chicken is awesomely good and BIG (I can get at least four meals from one) and is a little over $6. PE has a hot food section in the back of the store where for $7.25 you can get a BIG order of stew chicken, stew beef, meatloaf, fish and lots of other good stuff with plentiful sides which easily feeds two. I'm a former restaurant owner here and a "foodie" and those ladies know how to tickle my palate!

Enjoy a wonderful vacation here and if you have any other questions don't hesitate to ask.

STT Resident: great post about grocery stores, which I agree with totally. The little extra about the PE hot food which is true, but you have to get there early for a good selection, because they sell out fast.

Also, the Food Court in the mall has some good Chinese and Spanish (Dominican Republic) food, which a large can serve 2 people depending on your appetites 😀

WOW! Great info..I have it all noted! The hot food option was great to know, the chicken would be a great addition to a meal since we don't have a stove and will doing more microwaving then anything. We are looking forward to visiting the great local restaurants/bars also. Thanks again!!

If you want to save money, rent a car.

The taxi to and from TUTU (cost-u-less/plaza extra) will cost $36 RT + baggage sur-charge + $1/minute wating fee for 2 passangers.So it will cast you $36 to $50 just to get to PE and back.

Your best bet is Marina Market in Red Hook, which is much closer. I's small but has an excellent selction of everything you'll need for week's vacation. Yes it's a bit more expensive (5% -10%) but the quality is MUCH MUCH better. And it's less of a hassel. 5 minutes RT v. 45 -60 minutes RT.

If you are provisioing for a large group or want to fill for freezer for several weeks then Cost-u-less of Plaza extra is good choice.

As general rule grocery items are 20% higher on STT than state side.

The Cruzan/Captian Morgan distillary is on St Croix. St Croix is kinda far and pricey for day trip. Instead, consider visiting ST John .

Not to knock the food court at the mall, but heck your on vacation and there alot nicer places to east on st thomas.

We are looking forward to visiting the local restaurants but we don't need to eat out 3 meals a day, really looking for breakfast/lunch items to stock in the room with dinner out. As with St. Croix we already have a seaplane booked for the day, little pricey yes but what the heck, it's not like we get on a seaplane every day!! We have considered the car rental, honestly we have been back and forth with it, after discussing it we keep thinking of the cons which are left side driving, it makes my hubby nervous, and we like to enjoy local drinks while out, so that would mean no drinking and driving with a car rental, we thought it would put us more at ease with a taxi. Car rental cost was $350 to $500, I would hope we wouldn't spend this in taxi fare, and if we come close at least we had a private chauffeur out of it..lol. Again, I really appreciate all the information, very helpful.

ruprt2 wrote: We have considered the car rental, honestly we have been back and forth with it, after discussing it we keep thinking of the cons which are left side driving, it makes my hubby nervous, and we like to enjoy local drinks while out, so that would mean no drinking and driving with a car rental, we thought it would put us more at ease with a taxi. Car rental cost was $350 to $500, I would hope we wouldn't spend this in taxi fare, and if we come close at least we had a private chauffeur out of it..lol. Again, I really appreciate all the information, very helpful.

Do check the taxi rates which are listed under "St Thomas/transportation" under the bar at the top of this page. Taxis charge per person/destination and, for instance, the very short drive (less than 5 minutes) from Elysian into Red Hook will be $5 per person each way; to get to any of the lovely East End beaches (Coki, Sapphire,Smith Bay Park) will cost you $5-$7 pp each way and you can see how these fares add up very quickly. Note too that taxis charge extra for bags you can't carry on your lap ...

I'd like to reassure you about driving here and that it's nowhere near as perilous as it may seem! The maximum driving speed is 35 MPH and you'll usually be cruising along at 25-30 max. Driving on the left (standard LH drive vehicles) is really simple and, every year, thousands of visitors who've never attempted it before quickly become used to it in a flash! I've read many trip reports from visitors who've opted for taxis and have reported afterwards that, "next time we'll definitely rent a car" but never read even one which says, "we rented a car but will definitely take taxis on our next visit" so that's a pretty good indication. You don't need a 4WD drive vehicle either on STT or for a day trip on the car barge to St John; a simple compact will get you around just fine. STT has been my home for almost three decades and only once have I owned a 4WD vehicle and never used the option. Having a car gives you the freedom to go where you want when you want at your leisure without having to call a taxi and wait around - priceless!

Anyway, just some food for thought so mull on it!

WOW....really need to think about it then. Now the only problem would be having drinks and getting back to the hotel...decisions...decisions, way to make me think. Thanks!

ruprt2 wrote:
WOW....really need to think about it then. Now the only problem would be having drinks and getting back to the hotel...decisions...decisions, way to make me think. Thanks!

Again I wouldn't worry too much about it unless you're planning on getting slurry. glassy-eyed falling down drunk 😀 in which case take a taxi! A cocktail and a couple of glasses of wine with dinner aren't going to render you incapable and you can have that last drink when you get back to Elysian and sit on your porch watching the night sky and listening to the sounds of the ocean before bed. Unless you're swerving all over the road the local PD will ignore you! Have faith! Sorry to make you keep thinking but that's part of the fun of learning and planning and all will fall into place once you get here and settle in!.

LOL..No don't plan on falling down drunk. Not while in a unfamiliar place, I agree back at hotel is time for that...where we are from you can barely have a drink then go home, and they wait around everywhere for you to give you a DUI, there have been court cases heard of here from the officials scouting out familiar places (carnival, homecomings, etc) waiting for the people to leave (GOTTA LOVE ILLINOIS). I have to add here so I don't sound like some kind of alcoholic..we are not big drinkers, especially while at home, we have responsibilities and children, but when we go away we like to enjoy some. We had only received a quote for a jeep, so I will try and obtain a quote for a compact car.

We recently returned from our first trip to STT, and rented a car from Budget. We had a compact car (Ford Focus) that cost us about $400 for the week (which included adding me as a driver, and pre-purchasing a 1/2 tank of gas). I would definitely recommend renting a car!! We stayed in a private condo on Sapphire Beach, which is on the east end of the island. We needed to drive everywhere, and we were very glad to not have to rely on (or pay for) taxis. We also loved the freedom of going on our own schedule. We took the car barge over to St. John for a day (loved it!) and had no problem at all. We stuck to the main road, and went to Cinnamon Bay and Trunk Bay. Had no problems at all with the compact car doing that.

Driving on the "wrong" side of the road isn't as bad as it sounds. As STT Resident mentioned, the speed limits are very low, and that helps alot with getting used to driving. Just remember this one phrase: Keep your shoulder to the shoulder. It helped us to remember which side of the road we were supposed to be on! The roads are narrow and hilly (some are very steep) and have some sharp turns. But when you are only going 25 MPH, it's really not that bad.

For groceries, we stopped at both Cost-U-Less and a local Pueblo store. We ran to Marina Market (in Red Hook) for a few items, but they are definitely more expensive. For us, it was a matter of convenience, which is why we went there.

We loved the lisland, and hope to be back again soon. Have a wonderful vacation!

HMMM..Really thinking we need to rent, will be checking on prices tomorrow. What are the current gas prices?

Gas is selling between $4.75 -4.95 a gal - but the island is only 13 mi long and 3 mi wide so @ 20-25 mph you won't be racking up a lot of driving hours.
Also there is no open container law - you can drive with a beer or cocktail in hand - I am not encouraging drunk driving by any stretch, but on that front things are considerably different in the USVI than in many stateside locales - for better or worse, depending on your perspective.
I do recommend a rental car if the situation fits your plan.

PLEASE DO NOT DRINK AND DRIVE. Alchohol will impair you judgement and reaction times on STT just like at home. Operating an unfamiliar car on strang roads will add further challeges. If you are uncomfortable driving whil under the influence at home (smart choice) then you will be even more uncomfortable here. Any advise to the con tray is dangerous.

That is true, we won't be racking up a whole lot of $ at the gas station. And no worries on the drinking and driving, we are going to be safe..not stupid. Thanks so much everyone, will defiantly be renting a car.

I think we were all being fairly honest and helpful - you don't have to be defiant about it.;)

exit zero wrote:
I think we were all being fairly honest and helpful - you don't have to be defiant about it.;)

Ah. my necessary morning chuckle comes early today! 😀

I am actually traveling next week. I ended up renting from a thurs-tues and the rental cost was $106 through hertz. Check out the entertainment book online and they have some good promotions for rental cars.

$106 total or $106 per day? $106 total even when you add on extra drivers, insurance, tax etc is screaming deal for 5 days