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My fiance and I have chosen St. Thomas as our honeymoon destination from July 31-Aug 9. We have booked NOTHING at his point. We have found tons of ideas for air/lodging/rental car/restaurants. We would love insights as to any of these ideas.
Hotels:
Marriot Frenchman's Reef (is $171/night a good rate?)
Wyndham Sugar Bay
Secret Harbor Resort
Rental Car:
is it best to get a rental car? I have heard from numerous posters that a Jeep is the best way to go. Is that true? Or it a better idea to cab it everywhere?
Shopping:
At the sake of sounding completely uneducated, what exactly is duty free shopping? I guess I know that it is tax free, but are they super bargains? Can anybody give me an example of something they have bought in USVI vs something similar in the states? Is there that much of a savings?
Beaches:
What are the BEST QUIET BEACHES?
Restaurants:
Being that we are on our honeymoon, I want to take my special lady to the best and finest restaurants that the USVI has to offer. She is fairly open to most types of food, but loves Italian, American, Mexican and Seafood.
Day Trips:
While there, I would love to go over to St Johns or St Croix for a day. Is there a ferry or auto ferry? How much does that cost?
Thank you for any help you can give me. For the most part, we have a flight in mind that we will take, however, if some super deal comes along with flight+hotel+rental car, I'd be tempted to book that.
Welcome Jaker!
You have come to the right place. Spend a couple of hours on this weblog (Go back 20-39 pages) and you will have the answers to nearly all your questions! I go to St. John (no s) so I will defer to others. But there is no question that hasn't been asked (usually 50 times!) Congrats you are going to love the USVI!
Hello Jaker,
Congrats!
A rental car is a great idea if you want to do a lot of site seeing, beach hopping, eating out at restaurants, shopping. Taxis are going to add up quickly if you are using them somewhat often. Also a rental gives you flexability to go and come as you like. You don't need a Jeep on St. Thomas, a car is fine. Lots of cabs available if you want to go that route.
For shopping, some things are great deals and some things are not. For example alcohol is pretty cheap, lots of great deals on jewerly, some good deals on electronics/cameras, good deals on china and linens, some deals on perfume, cologne, makeup. If you are looking for things like laptops; then they are cheaper in the states then here in most cases. So some things are a great deal and some aren't.
Quiet beaches. Hull Bay, Brewers Bay is usually pretty sparsely populated, so is Emerald Beach. Secret Harbor isn't without people but its typically a lot fewer people then at popular beaches like Magens Bay & Coki Beach. Take the ferry over to Honeymoon Beach on Water Island - that's usually quiet. Also take a day trip over to St. John.
For good Italian try Vigilios, Romanos and Fagiolis. For unique dishes, very good, try Craig & Sallys. Also Banana Tree Grill; I've had good seafood there and they have a great view and service. Havana Blue at Marriot has gotten good reviews, haven't been yet. Blue Moon Cafe is nice, its at Secret Harbor. Try some local food too; check out Cuzzins, Gladys & Lillians while downtown Charlote Amalie. Cafe Amici downtown is also good for lunch. For a couple casual meals you can try Sibs on the Mountain, Hook, Line & Sinker, Greenhouse, Tickles. For live music and dinner you might do Happy Hour at Paradise Point on Wednesday evenings. Lots of places to eat here :).
There is a ferry to St. John, Water Island and the BVI. There is one to St. Croix also, but it runs only until May - its a seasonal ferry, you can take the seaplane or an inter-island airline though. For all the ferry schedules, costs, details - scroll to the top of this page and click on 'Ferry Schedules'.
Happy Planning. Order some books, maps, booklets to help you plan and decide where you want to go, eat, rent, shop. Check out the selection at http://www.vitraders.com
--Islander
