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