| One of the most popular ports of call for | | | | everywhere. |
| Caribbean cruise ships is St. Thomas, one of the | | | | At Coki Beach, my partner rented her snorkeling |
| U.S. Virgin Islands. On the three Caribbean cruises | | | | gear for $20 US (I brought my own). To my |
| that I took so far, two of them included a | | | | surprise, the rental attendant gave us each a hard |
| stopover in St. Thomas. On both occasions, there | | | | biscuit to feed the fish while we were in the |
| was a consensus among other passengers we | | | | water. Once we got into the water, dozens of |
| met that St. Thomas was one of the nicer islands | | | | tropical fish immediately crowded around us. I |
| visited. Although the driving in St. Thomas is on | | | | guess they knew the drill quite well. We ripped off |
| the left hand side, it is still U.S. territory so this | | | | small pieces of the biscuits and the fish went for |
| Caribbean island features many other | | | | it, even if the food was just inches away from |
| conveniences of being American soil. These | | | | our face masks. The yellowtail snappers, sergeant |
| included easy telephone connections for calls back | | | | majors and occasional parrotfish displayed no fear |
| to the mainland, the use of U.S. currency and | | | | of us at all. At one point, my partner held out a |
| English as the main language. St. Thomas is also | | | | larger piece of her biscuit and some of the fish |
| one of the cleanest of Caribbean islands and the | | | | darted in to nibble at it. After about an hour in the |
| locals do not aggressively hustle the tourists like | | | | warm water, it was time to say goodbye to our |
| they do on other islands. Many passengers stated | | | | new aquatic friends. This experience at Coki Bay |
| that St. Thomas is a place they would like to | | | | with the fish was one of the factors which |
| come back to in the future. | | | | eventually influenced my partner to become a |
| During my first visit to St. Thomas, I took the | | | | certified scuba diver herself. |
| Atlantis submarine excursion which took tourists | | | | Another $15 US cab ride took us back to the |
| down to see an actual ocean reef. It was a bit | | | | cruise ship port where we spend the rest of the |
| pricey but that was expected. Seeing an ocean | | | | day browsing the many duty free shops located |
| reef with the marine life up close for the first | | | | there. A similar snorkeling trip arranged through |
| time during this submarine ride actually influenced | | | | the cruiseship would have cost us double the |
| me to take up scuba diving. During my second | | | | amount we paid. St. Thomas is definitely not an |
| trip to the island, we decided that we would | | | | inexpensive island for either cruise ship passengers |
| spend some time snorkeling in the local waters | | | | or resort tourists staying there but extra comfort |
| since at that time, my partner wasn't a certified | | | | and quality of the island are quite noticeable |
| scuba diver yet. My advance research suggested | | | | compared to many other Caribbean destinations. |
| that Coki Bay on the northeast side of St. | | | | From my readings, the other main islands of the |
| Thomas was a nice place to snorkel. When our | | | | U.S. Virgin Islands which are St. John and St. Croix, |
| cruise ship docked at Charlotte Amalie, the capital | | | | are more laid back and less commercialized than |
| city of the U.S. Virgin Islands, we hailed one of the | | | | St. Thomas. I would like to visit them in addition |
| many taxi cabs at the port. It was a $15 US fare | | | | to another return trip to St. Thomas in the future |
| to Coki Beach where Coki Bay is located. It took | | | | for a multi day scuba diving trip. For those thinking |
| only about 15 minutes to get there. The scenery | | | | of going on a Caribbean cruise, I would definitely |
| along the way was magnificent as we went up a | | | | recommend one that has St. Thomas as one of |
| hill and saw our cruise ship in the distant harbor | | | | its ports of call. It is one of the better islands on |
| below. The island itself is very lush with greenery | | | | any Caribbean cruise itinerary. |