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St Thomas AGAIN...running out of new things

mitsugirly

By mitsugirly,
in St. Thomas/St. John

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mitsugirly Great Review Rare

mitsugirly

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We have been to St Thomas several times by cruise ship AND have stayed in St Thomas on land vacations a few times. 

 

We are coming back to this beautiful island (by cruise ship) again and looking to see if anyone has any suggestions on something we might have not done before or missed while there in the past. We loved anything that involves water (snorkeling, scuba, beach) or activity (4-wheelers or buggy tours, nature). 

 

Here's our list of things/places we've been to while there:

 

Sapphire Beach

Coki Beach

Lindquist

Brewers Bay

Lindberg Beach

Secret Harbour

Magens Bay

Cowpet Bay

 

Coral World

Parasailing

Drakes Seat

Sea Trek

Ocean Surfari Boating

BOSS Sea Scooters

Scuba Diving at Coki and Secret Harbour

Kayaking at Cas Cay Mangroves

 

Anyone have places or anything different to suggest we would enjoy? I would appreciate it. Thanks in advance.

 

**edit to say we will be there from 11-7pm**

Edited by mitsugirly
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Ms411

Ms411

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You haven't been to Water Island or St John? I thought you had been to Maho?

 

My favorite is hiking Caneel Hill on St John and then walking to the beach after. Hike back via Lind Point Trail.

 

At least one company used to offer kayaking to Water Island with snorkeling.

 

You may be able to do guided tour of Hassel Island. Not sure if their winter schedule will have afternoon hiking tours.

 

Have you tried paddleboarding?

 

There's an inflatable water park at Emerald Beach now. Splash Zone. Saw a video on youtube.

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mitsugirly Great Review Rare

mitsugirly

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7 minutes ago, Ms411 said:

You haven't been to Water Island or St John? I thought you had been to Maho?

 

My favorite is hiking Caneel Hill on St John and then walking to the beach after. Hike back via Lind Point Trail.

 

At least one company used to offer kayaking to Water Island with snorkeling.

 

You may be able to do guided tour of Hassel Island. Not sure if their winter schedule will have afternoon hiking tours.

 

Have you tried paddleboarding?

 

There's an inflatable water park at Emerald Beach now. Splash Zone. Saw a video on youtube.

 

We have not been to Water Island so I'll check into that. Is Water Island far to kayak to?

 

Yes we have been to St John and multiple beaches over there. 

 

I'll look into Hassel Island. Never heard of that one. Thanks.

 

Haven't done paddleboarding and I don't think that's something I could do with my previous foot/leg injury.

 

Emerald Beach (Lindbergh) was one of my least favorite beaches/area when we were there before so not sure if I'd want to head back there. 

 

 

6 minutes ago, TTEllis said:

Take the ferry to St. John and spend the day over there, catch the 5pm ferry back to St. Thomas. 

St. John was not on your list, it's definitely a consideration. 

 

We've already done the ferry to St John and went to the beaches during one of our land vacation stays in St Thomas (and also did an excursion by boat over there once as well). 🙂 

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Ms411

Ms411

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Water Island is closer than St John, and if they are still doing kayak tours they leave probably leave from Emerald Beach area. The water going to Water Island can be rough because there's lots of activity in the water, but the guides decide if it's safe to go out. It's best to go when there isn't a ship at Crown Bay.

 

You can also take the little ferry over to Water Island and rent a golf cart to tour around. They used to charge a daily fee. You can tour around then go to the Honeymoon Beach on Water Island.

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mitsugirly Great Review Rare

mitsugirly

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2 hours ago, cruise4hobby said:

How about Mountain Top?

 

 

When I look Mountain Top up, it looks like just a place to go up with shopping and drinks and just a picture opportunity or is there more to it?

 

 

2 hours ago, Ms411 said:

Water Island is closer than St John, and if they are still doing kayak tours they leave probably leave from Emerald Beach area. The water going to Water Island can be rough because there's lots of activity in the water, but the guides decide if it's safe to go out. It's best to go when there isn't a ship at Crown Bay.

 

You can also take the little ferry over to Water Island and rent a golf cart to tour around. They used to charge a daily fee. You can tour around then go to the Honeymoon Beach on Water Island.

 

 

Hmmm, this ferry schedule thing and reading reviews on it makes me a little leery about going over there...especially with 3 ships in port and one of them being almost 7000 passengers alone. 😞 

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mitsugirly Great Review Rare

mitsugirly

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So I just found something that looks fun and interesting... Has anyone done the VI Jet Boat? It reminds me of the "Twister" they had in Cozumel. 

 

I did a search on here and can't find any mention of it. I might have to post a new thread to ask if no responses but keep the idea's coming just in case.

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TTEllis

TTEllis

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Screaming Eagle?? 

So where does the jet boat take you?? 

You zip around the island waving at everybody like they did on Barbados for $175 a pop for about 2 1\2 hours??🖕That was 20 years ago.😳

Do we at least get taken to a beach that's not on the map?

Could be something to consider for those of us who would enjoy doing something new on the island. 

 

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Ms411

Ms411

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The Screaming Eagle is listed on vijetboat.com which has other boat activities not just Screaming Eagle.

 

In the past they picked up near the cruise ships and mostly sped around on the southern part of the island.

 

It's for people who love speed and splashes. I didn't check to see if there's a beach stop. I think they also served an adult beverage after the boat ride.

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ericosmith

ericosmith

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On 11/2/2023 at 5:17 PM, mitsugirly said:

When I look Mountain Top up, it looks like just a place to go up with shopping and drinks and just a picture opportunity or is there more to it?

Nope, a huge junk store, overpriced drinks, but a porch out back with a great view.  

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CruiseMomTX

CruiseMomTX

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We booked a tour recommended on here for our recent day in St. Thomas. 

 

https://www.stthomasadventures.com/stthomasjeeptours

 

It was a private Jeep tour and our guide for the day was Bill he was fantastic as was our tour!  We met him outside of the port area.  We first went to a snorkeling spot and got to see quite a few turtles and other things, he got some great pictures for us too.  It was my Husband, my Mom and myself so he was able to tailor the tour to our needs.  He took us all around the island stopping at several placed for great views and pictures.  We had a lunch stop at The Shack, delicious lunch and drinks.  He also surprised my mom with a slice of cake and candle as we were celebrating her birthday a little early.  We wanted a little souvenir shopping so he stoped at a great scenic lookout area that had a few local vendors with great prices.  We wanted to take a look at a local grocery store for fun so he stopped at I think the one he said he shops at and then we walked across the street to a nice shop at a marina.  At the shop we paid a few dollars for bait to feed the tarpon fish out back.  They do have a set tour where you have several snorkeling spots but my mom can't snorkel so we just wanted the one stop.  While he took us snorkeling he set my mom up on the beach with a chair in the shade and water and beer.  It was a fantastic day and I highly recommend them!!  Bill emailed me a day or so ahead of time to finalize our plans then we communicated via text.  

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mitsugirly Great Review Rare

mitsugirly

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On 11/4/2023 at 11:05 PM, ericosmith said:

Nope, a huge junk store, overpriced drinks, but a porch out back with a great view.  

 

That's what I figured. 

 

20 hours ago, CruiseMomTX said:

We booked a tour recommended on here for our recent day in St. Thomas. 

 

https://www.stthomasadventures.com/stthomasjeeptours

 

It was a private Jeep tour and our guide for the day was Bill he was fantastic as was our tour!  We met him outside of the port area.  We first went to a snorkeling spot and got to see quite a few turtles and other things, he got some great pictures for us too.  It was my Husband, my Mom and myself so he was able to tailor the tour to our needs.  He took us all around the island stopping at several placed for great views and pictures.  We had a lunch stop at The Shack, delicious lunch and drinks.  He also surprised my mom with a slice of cake and candle as we were celebrating her birthday a little early.  We wanted a little souvenir shopping so he stoped at a great scenic lookout area that had a few local vendors with great prices.  We wanted to take a look at a local grocery store for fun so he stopped at I think the one he said he shops at and then we walked across the street to a nice shop at a marina.  At the shop we paid a few dollars for bait to feed the tarpon fish out back.  They do have a set tour where you have several snorkeling spots but my mom can't snorkel so we just wanted the one stop.  While he took us snorkeling he set my mom up on the beach with a chair in the shade and water and beer.  It was a fantastic day and I highly recommend them!!  Bill emailed me a day or so ahead of time to finalize our plans then we communicated via text.  

 

Sounds great if you've never been to the island and actually stayed. We've stayed multiple times so have been just about everywhere so wouldn't want a tour of any kind. We have done the snorkel boat tour they do from the shop with the Tarpon and it was amazing, but went into the night with dancing and had a great time. 

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cruisenfromjersey

cruisenfromjersey

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On 11/2/2023 at 12:43 PM, mitsugirly said:

We have been to St Thomas several times by cruise ship AND have stayed in St Thomas on land vacations a few times. 

 

We are coming back to this beautiful island (by cruise ship) again and looking to see if anyone has any suggestions on something we might have not done before or missed while there in the past. We loved anything that involves water (snorkeling, scuba, beach) or activity (4-wheelers or buggy tours, nature). 

 

Here's our list of things/places we've been to while there:

 

Sapphire Beach

Coki Beach

Lindquist

Brewers Bay

Lindberg Beach

Secret Harbour

Magens Bay

Cowpet Bay

 

Coral World

Parasailing

Drakes Seat

Sea Trek

Ocean Surfari Boating

BOSS Sea Scooters

Scuba Diving at Coki and Secret Harbour

Kayaking at Cas Cay Mangroves

 

Anyone have places or anything different to suggest we would enjoy? I would appreciate it. Thanks in advance.

 

**edit to say we will be there from 11-7pm**

I used to follow your trips all the time…..always looked at your pics…..but then Covid happened…good to read your stuff again! 
have you ever hired your own boat captain? We did that a few ….probably longer than a few years ago… there were 10 of us and he sent a taxi to pick us up took us to Red Hook…..we boarded his catamaran! It was private and he took us snorkeling…..and made us lunch and drinks when we were done! Took us anywhere we wanted! I think it was the best excursion ever! I know there are some smaller boats that do the same thing! 
 

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mitsugirly Great Review Rare

mitsugirly

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On 11/14/2023 at 12:03 AM, kona_wahine said:

We did the bar\peddle boat thing out to honeymoon beach. We had about 2 hours at 5he beach, had a great time. 

 

I did look them up a little bit ago and thought it might be a good option, especially being able to go over to Water Island for the first time...but it's not available for the date we are there.  

 

 

23 hours ago, WiddyTwo said:

Not sure if this is something you would be interested in but Fantastic Race does a race in St Thomas. My husband and I did one in Cozumel and are thinking about doing one in St Thomas in January. 

 

It's probably not because of my leg. I can't race anywhere. I'm more of a sloth and slow moving because of my injury over the last few years. 

 

18 hours ago, cruisenfromjersey said:

I used to follow your trips all the time…..always looked at your pics…..but then Covid happened…good to read your stuff again! 
have you ever hired your own boat captain? We did that a few ….probably longer than a few years ago… there were 10 of us and he sent a taxi to pick us up took us to Red Hook…..we boarded his catamaran! It was private and he took us snorkeling…..and made us lunch and drinks when we were done! Took us anywhere we wanted! I think it was the best excursion ever! I know there are some smaller boats that do the same thing! 
 

 

Aww thanks. We still traveled to land vacations during Covid. I have all my trip reports on my website. We do a lot of land vacations now too and really enjoy them. 

 

We haven't hire a boat and never really consider it since it's so expensive and there's only 3 of us. It sounds like a lot of fun but not worth the price unless we had a big group and the rest of my family was coming along. 

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mitsugirly Great Review Rare

mitsugirly

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My other dilemma is that we need a place to do a scuba (discover) on vacation. We always dive at least once (sometimes twice now) while on vacation and the choices are limited this cruise. 😞 

 

I'm thinking maybe St Thomas is the only option to dive this cruise but that won't take all day so still considering maybe do the VI speed boat after a dive. Ugh. Time is ticking.  

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  • 2 months later...
vinotinto

vinotinto

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@mitsugirly I see on your awesome site that you’ve had many land vacations in STT. If you were spending a port day via NCL, which beach would you choose? They all look great! Looking for calm, clear water, a little snorkeling, chair rentals, a beach restaurant for sustenance. There is another large ship in port that day (RCCL). Megans, Sapphire, Coki, Secret, Brewster or something else?

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