| Caribbean Stopover at St. Thomas of the U.S. | | | | island itself is very lush withgreenery |
| Virgin Islands | | | | everywhere. |
| | | | |
| | | | At Coki Beach, my partner rented her |
| | | | snorkeling gear for $20 US |
| One of the most popular ports of call for | | | | |
| Caribbean cruise shipsis St. Thomas, one of | | | | (I brought my own). To my surprise, the |
| the U.S. Virgin Islands. On the three | | | | rental attendant gave useach a hard biscuit |
| | | | to feed the fish while we were in the water. |
| Caribbean cruises that I took so far, two of | | | | |
| them included astopover in St. Thomas. On | | | | Once we got into the water, dozens of |
| both occasions, there was a consensusamong | | | | tropical fish immediatelycrowded around us. I |
| other passengers we met that St. Thomas was | | | | guess they knew the drill quite well. |
| one of thenicer islands visited. Although the | | | | Weripped off small pieces of the biscuits and |
| driving in St. Thomas is onthe left hand | | | | the fish went for it,even if the food was |
| side, it is still U.S. territory so this | | | | just inches away from our face masks. |
| Caribbeanisland features many other | | | | Theyellowtail snappers, sergeant majors and |
| conveniences of being American soil. | | | | occasional parrotfishdisplayed no fear of us |
| | | | at all. At one point, my partner held outa |
| These included easy telephone connections for | | | | larger piece of her biscuit and some of the |
| calls back to themainland, the use of U.S. | | | | fish darted in tonibble at it. After about an |
| currency and English as the mainlanguage. St. | | | | hour in the warm water, it was timeto say |
| Thomas is also one of the cleanest of | | | | goodbye to our new aquatic friends. This |
| Caribbeanislands and the locals do not | | | | experience at |
| aggressively hustle the touristslike they do | | | | |
| on other islands. Many passengers stated that | | | | Coki Bay with the fish was one of the factors |
| St. | | | | which eventuallyinfluenced my partner to |
| | | | become a certified scuba diver herself. |
| Thomas is a place they would like to come | | | | |
| back to in the future. | | | | Another $15 US cab ride took us back to the |
| | | | cruise ship portwhere we spend the rest of |
| During my first visit to St. Thomas, I took | | | | the day browsing the many duty freeshops |
| the Atlantissubmarine excursion which took | | | | located there. A similar snorkeling trip |
| tourists down to see an actualocean reef. It | | | | arranged throughthe cruiseship would have |
| was a bit pricey but that was expected. | | | | cost us double the amount we paid. St. |
| Seeing anocean reef with the marine life up | | | | |
| close for the first timeduring this submarine | | | | Thomas is definitely not an inexpensive |
| ride actually influenced me to take upscuba | | | | island for either cruiseship passengers or |
| diving. During my second trip to the island, | | | | resort tourists staying there but |
| we decidedthat we would spend some time | | | | extracomfort and quality of the island are |
| snorkeling in the local waterssince at that | | | | quite noticeable comparedto many other |
| time, my partner wasn't a certified scuba | | | | Caribbean destinations. From my readings, the |
| diveryet. My advance research suggested that | | | | othermain islands of the U.S. Virgin Islands |
| Coki Bay on the northeastside of St. Thomas | | | | which are St. John and |
| was a nice place to snorkel. When our | | | | |
| cruiseship docked at Charlotte Amalie, the | | | | St. Croix, are more laid back and less |
| capital city of the U.S. | | | | commercialized than St. |
| | | | |
| Virgin Islands, we hailed one of the many | | | | Thomas. I would like to visit them in |
| taxi cabs at the port. | | | | addition to another returntrip to St. Thomas |
| | | | in the future for a multi day scuba |
| It was a $15 US fare to Coki Beach where Coki | | | | divingtrip. For those thinking of going on a |
| Bay is located. Ittook only about 15 minutes | | | | Caribbean cruise, I woulddefinitely recommend |
| to get there. The scenery along theway was | | | | one that has St. Thomas as one of its portsof |
| magnificent as we went up a hill and saw our | | | | call. It is one of the better islands on any |
| cruise shipin the distant harbor below. The | | | | Caribbean cruiseitinerary. |