Caribbean Stopover at St. Thomas of the U.S. Virgin Islands

One of the most popular ports of call forgear for $20 US (I brought my own). To my
Caribbean cruise ships is St. Thomas, one of thesurprise, the rental attendant gave us each a hard
U.S. Virgin Islands. On the three Caribbean cruisesbiscuit to feed the fish while we were in the
that I took so far, two of them included awater. Once we got into the water, dozens of
stopover in St. Thomas. On both occasions, theretropical fish immediately crowded around us. I
was a consensus among other passengers weguess they knew the drill quite well. We ripped off
met that St. Thomas was one of the nicer islandssmall pieces of the biscuits and the fish went for
visited. Although the driving in St. Thomas is onit, even if the food was just inches away from
the left hand side, it is still U.S. territory so thisour face masks. The yellowtail snappers, sergeant
Caribbean island features many othermajors and occasional parrotfish displayed no fear
conveniences of being American soil. Theseof us at all. At one point, my partner held out a
included easy telephone connections for calls backlarger piece of her biscuit and some of the fish
to the mainland, the use of U.S. currency anddarted in to nibble at it. After about an hour in the
English as the main language. St. Thomas is alsowarm water, it was time to say goodbye to our
one of the cleanest of Caribbean islands and thenew aquatic friends. This experience at Coki Bay
locals do not aggressively hustle the tourists likewith the fish was one of the factors which
they do on other islands. Many passengers statedeventually influenced my partner to become a
that St. Thomas is a place they would like tocertified scuba diver herself.Another $15 US cab
come back to in the future.During my first visit toride took us back to the cruise ship port where
St. Thomas, I took the Atlantis submarinewe spend the rest of the day browsing the many
excursion which took tourists down to see anduty free shops located there. A similar snorkeling
actual ocean reef. It was a bit pricey but thattrip arranged through the cruiseship would have
was expected. Seeing an ocean reef with thecost us double the amount we paid. St. Thomas is
marine life up close for the first time during thisdefinitely not an inexpensive island for either
submarine ride actually influenced me to take upcruise 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 timeare 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. Myother main islands of the U.S. Virgin Islands which
advance research suggested that Coki Bay onare St. John and St. Croix, are more laid back and
the northeast side of St. Thomas was a niceless commercialized than St. Thomas. I would like
place to snorkel. When our cruise ship docked atto visit them in addition to another return trip to
Charlotte Amalie, the capital city of the U.S. VirginSt. Thomas in the future for a multi day scuba
Islands, we hailed one of the many taxi cabs atdiving trip. For those thinking of going on a
the port. It was a $15 US fare to Coki BeachCaribbean cruise, I would definitely recommend
where Coki Bay is located. It took only about 15one that has St. Thomas as one of its ports of
minutes to get there. The scenery along the waycall. It is one of the better islands on any
was magnificent as we went up a hill and saw ourCaribbean cruise itinerary.Clint Leung is owner of
cruise ship in the distant harbor below. The islandFree Spirit Gallery an online gallery specializing in
itself is very lush with greenery everywhere.AtInuit Eskimo and Northwest Native American art
Coki Beach, my partner rented her snorkelingincluding carvings, sculpture and prints.