Car Hire in St Thomas of the US Virgin Islands
Car Hire in St Thomas, St Thomas of the US Virgin Islands
Caribbean Stopover at St. Thomas of the U.S. Virgin Islands By Clint Leung One of the most popular ports of call for Caribbean cruise ships is St. Thomas, among the many U.S. Virgin Islands. Over the three Caribbean cruises that I took so far, two of them included a stopover in St. Thomas. For both occasions, there was a consensus among other passengers we met that St. Thomas was one of the many more relaxing islands visited. Although the driving in St. Thomas is on the left hand side, it's still U.S. territory so this Caribbean island features various other conveniences of being American soil. These included quick telephone connections for calls back in the mainland, using U.S. currency and English as the main language. St. Thomas is also one of the many cleanest of Caribbean islands and the locals do not aggressively hustle the tourists like they do on different islands. Numerous passengers said that St. Thomas is a place they would like to come back to in the future. During my first visit to St. Thomas, I took the Atlantis submarine excursion which took tourists down to see an actual ocean reef. It was a bit expensive but that was expected. Seeing an excellent ocean reef with the marine life up close for the first time during this submarine ride actually influenced me to take up scuba diving. Within my second vacation to the island, we all chose that we would spend some time snorkeling in the local waters since at that time; my partner hasn't been a qualified scuba diver yet. My advance research suggested that Coki Bay over the northeast side of St. Thomas was a wonderful spot to snorkel. When our cruise ship docked at Charlotte Amalie which is the capital city of the US Virgin Islands, we hailed one of the many taxi cabs at the port. It was a $15 US fare to Coki Beach where Coki Bay is at. It took approximately 15 minutes to get there. The landscapes along the way were superb as we went up a hill and saw our cruise ship in the distant harbor beneath. The island itself is very lush with greenery everywhere. At Coki Beach, my partner rented her snorkeling gear for $20 US (I brought my own). To my surprise, the rental attendant gave us each a hard cookie to feed the fish while we were in the water. Once we got into the water, a multitude of tropical fish immediately crowded all over us. Perhaps they knew the drill very well. We ripped off small pieces of the cookies and also the fish went for it, even if the food was just inches away from our face masks. The yellowtail snappers, sergeant majors and occasional parrotfish displayed absolutely no fear of us at all. At one point, my partner held out a larger bit of her biscuit and some of the fish darted in to nibble at it. Soon after about an hour in the warm water, it was time to say goodbye to our new aquatic friends. This experience at Coki Bay together with the fish was one of several factors which eventually influenced my partner to become a certified scuba diver herself. Another $15 US cab ride took us back to the cruise ship port where we spend the rest of the day browsing the many duty free shops located there. A similar snorkeling trip arranged through the cruise ship would have cost us double the amount we paid. St. Thomas is definitely not an inexpensive island for either cruise ship passengers or resort tourists staying there but extra comfort and quality of the island are quite noticeable compared to many other Caribbean vacation spots. From my readings, the other main islands of the U.S. Virgin Islands which are St. John and also St. Croix, are certainly more laid back and less commercialized compared to St. Thomas. I would like to visit them in addition to a second visit trip to St. Thomas in the future for a multi day scuba diving trip. For all thinking of taking a Caribbean cruise trip, I would definitely recommend one that has St. Thomas as one of its ports of call. It is among the finest islands on any Caribbean cruise itinerary. About the Author: Clint Leung is owner of Free Spirit Gallery http://www.FreeSpiritGallery.ca , an online gallery specializing in Inuit Eskimo and Northwest Native American art as well as carvings, sculpture and prints. Free Spirit Gallery has numerous information resource articles with photos of authentic Inuit and Native Indian artwork and also free eCards.
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