United States Virgin Islands consist of St.
Thomas, St. John and St. Croix. St. Thomas is the busiest port among the three
islands even if it’s not the biggest. The capital of St. Thomas is Charlotte
Amalie, name given after the German wife of Denmark’s King Christian V. What
Denmark has to do with the Virgin Islands? I didn’t know its history until I
arrived here. The Danes (people from Denmark) arrived in the 16th
-17th century, the first colony in St. Thomas date from 1666,
attracted by the large size of the island and the conditions to plant sugar
cane and tobacco, as well as for the protected harbor. In 1671, the Danish West
India Company open an office in St. Thomas then the headquarters moved to St.
Thomas from Copenhagen in 1915. During the 17th – 18th
Century, the trade was booming after the American War of Independence; St.
Thomas becomes a famous port for the slave market attracting buyers from other
islands and the American colonies. However, after the First World War, in 1917,
the United States purchased the three islands; St. Thomas, St. John and St.
Croix from Denmark. Nowadays, US Virgin Islands are one of the most famous and
fabulous tourism destination and yachting hub in the Caribbeans.
Until today, when we explore St. Thomas, we
still can see the street names both in English and Danish, similar to Macau
where we have street names in Chinese and Portuguese and both are official
languages of the former Portuguese territory. Nevertheless, unlike Macau, here only
English is official language. I can survive better than in the Dominican
Republic and Puerto Rico because everyone speaks English! And I don’t need Joao
to be my personal translator anymore. The restaurants and bars turn on the
English news from CNN or have English music in the background. However, we
still can here several different dialects from the different communities that
live in the island.
We anchored s/v Dee on the Long Bay, where is
the terminal for the cruising ships. Every other day, we wake up with the
silhouette of a high wall; it’s the giant cruising ship loading thousands of tourists.
We had the chance to have lunch in an Asian restaurant near the terminal that is
only opened when the cruising ship arrive, catering for the Filipino crews of
the cruising ships. Imagine how busy the terminal is. Actually, the restaurant
serves only Filipino food all you can eat for 11.99USD excluding drinks. The
restaurant is always full of Filipino people, making us feeling at home, like
in Macau on Sunday afternoon! I talked with one of the crew; they arrived with
the Disney cruising ship coming from Miami and will head back to the States.
Somehow, I feel that the city itself rely on the cruising boats too much. We
can see from the days without the cruising boats in the terminal, the city and
the businesses in town are empty just like an abandoned place.
In this bay we have the Yacht Haven Grande from
the Island Global Yachting (IGY) group. We didn’t check the price but just to
have an idea, there are only mega yachts, no sailing boats in the marina! The
marina is a luxury one, well maintained and safe with 24hrs security guards. We
went to the marina office to ask information regarding fueling, refilling water
tanks, mechanics and some other stuff. The staff was nice and helpful even we
are not exactly their target clients. We have to pay for the water because our
watermaker just decided to stop working. The price here is 25 cents per gallon.
I asked the staff where would be possible to refill the water for free. The
answer showed me the characteristic of St. Thomas without being surprised
“There is no such thing in St. Thomas”!
Talking about our watermaker, we have to fix it
before we leave St. Thomas. The labor here is also expensive. For the mechanic
to come into our boat and check what went wrong we had to pay 101 USD per hour.
Another thing we had to fix was the windlass; the labor to install it would
cost 75 USD per hour. The wood work labor 70 USD per hour. To compare with what
we paid in the Dominican Republic, around 25 USD per hour. On other hand, I
don’t mind to pay more than triple if the work is well done in one time unlike
in the Dominican Republic. Ah! The working hours here, it’s Caribbean style! No
one work on Saturday and Sunday! So just enjoy the weekend, do what tourists
do, drinking coconut juice and go to the beach! Then wait for Monday. The good
thing is they start quite early, 7 o’clock most of the boat related shops are
already opened and 8 A.M. for the local supermarket.
If you plan to buy a mobile SIM card, please be
careful, it’s very tricky! We got one which is supposed to be with unlimited
internet access but we were informed after 1 day of buying it that we couldn’t
be able to connect the internet because was unlimited for only 2GB! Then, some
days after we couldn’t connect to the internet at all, we tried to contact the
provider again. The answer was a joke! We are over using the internet! We
explain to the person in charge that if it’s unlimited means no limit! We can’t
refund even we are not satisfied. So friends, don’t be upset of over
advertisement in Asia because even in America it’s just the same. By the way,
the provider is H2O, for your information.
I like it here even I don’t have a big wallet.
We heard people said it’s pricey but the daily life and food products we got are
normal price. There are local, Asian, Western restaurants and supermarket for
fresh food. What people said its expensive maybe, from our experience, would be
the restaurants. We paid around 90 USD just for 2 sandwiches and a pitcher of
cocktail! At least they bring iced water for Noel! That’s what we pay more;
it’s called “service”. US Virgin Islands are the paradise for shoppers, its tax
free, what you see on the price tag is what you pay unlike in Puerto Rico that
they add States and local taxes on top of the price. Just right next to our
dinghy dock, there are many luxury brand name shops in the middle of the
garden! Many jewelry shops in downtown are calling my name, they are
contemporary design with reasonable prices, and unfortunately I don’t need it
now or if needed I don’t have the money! Not only brand name shops, local
market and brands are everywhere, souvenir t-shirts (3 pieces) cost 10 USD.
The transportation here is mostly by truck
(like songtaew in Thailand or jepney in Philippines) which the local call
“safari”. It costs 1-2 USD depending on the distance you go. We would like to
rent a car to explore the island because of its mountain streets and bird-eye
views where the bus doesn’t, but we have to give it up. If you buy a second
hand car here and sell it before you leave the island I think it’s even cheaper
than renting the car! The price is around 70-90 USD per day.
There’s an hydroplane going from St. Thomas to
St. Croix at only 80 USD, few minutes flying. We saw many people taking the
ferry to other islands like St. John or St. Croix, which is quite convenient
and with acceptable price. Taxi service in St. Thomas, we didn’t had the chance
yet since the island is small and we can go wherever we want by “safari”.
Because of being one of the jet setter
destinations, St. Thomas has big franchising hotel chains like Marriott or
Westin. We saw young fashionable well dressed men and woman, and some even come
to the island with leather shoes! We didn’t had a chance to visit any beaches
in St. Thomas yet since we have to solve the problem of our watermaker and windlass,
reason why we anchored s/v Dee in the heart of the city. Our sailing friends
arrived few days after us and anchored outside near the Water Island. They told
us that the water there was crystal clear just like in the Bahamas. We hope we
finish the boat fixing episodes soon and we can enjoy the nature around us,
otherwise our reserve money will be finished and we will not be able to finish
our route, let alone visiting paradise places.
Exploring St. Thomas, United States Virgin Islands
Thomas, St. John and St. Croix. St. Thomas is the busiest port among the three
islands even if it’s not the biggest. The capital of St. Thomas is Charlotte
Amalie, name given after the German wife of Denmark’s King Christian V. What
Denmark has to do with the Virgin Islands? I didn’t know its history until I
arrived here. The Danes (people from Denmark) arrived in the 16th
-17th century, the first colony in St. Thomas date from 1666,
attracted by the large size of the island and the conditions to plant sugar
cane and tobacco, as well as for the protected harbor. In 1671, the Danish West
India Company open an office in St. Thomas then the headquarters moved to St.
Thomas from Copenhagen in 1915. During the 17th – 18th
Century, the trade was booming after the American War of Independence; St.
Thomas becomes a famous port for the slave market attracting buyers from other
islands and the American colonies. However, after the First World War, in 1917,
the United States purchased the three islands; St. Thomas, St. John and St.
Croix from Denmark. Nowadays, US Virgin Islands are one of the most famous and
fabulous tourism destination and yachting hub in the Caribbeans.
still can see the street names both in English and Danish, similar to Macau
where we have street names in Chinese and Portuguese and both are official
languages of the former Portuguese territory. Nevertheless, unlike Macau, here only
English is official language. I can survive better than in the Dominican
Republic and Puerto Rico because everyone speaks English! And I don’t need Joao
to be my personal translator anymore. The restaurants and bars turn on the
English news from CNN or have English music in the background. However, we
still can here several different dialects from the different communities that
live in the island.
the terminal for the cruising ships. Every other day, we wake up with the
silhouette of a high wall; it’s the giant cruising ship loading thousands of tourists.
We had the chance to have lunch in an Asian restaurant near the terminal that is
only opened when the cruising ship arrive, catering for the Filipino crews of
the cruising ships. Imagine how busy the terminal is. Actually, the restaurant
serves only Filipino food all you can eat for 11.99USD excluding drinks. The
restaurant is always full of Filipino people, making us feeling at home, like
in Macau on Sunday afternoon! I talked with one of the crew; they arrived with
the Disney cruising ship coming from Miami and will head back to the States.
Somehow, I feel that the city itself rely on the cruising boats too much. We
can see from the days without the cruising boats in the terminal, the city and
the businesses in town are empty just like an abandoned place.
the Island Global Yachting (IGY) group. We didn’t check the price but just to
have an idea, there are only mega yachts, no sailing boats in the marina! The
marina is a luxury one, well maintained and safe with 24hrs security guards. We
went to the marina office to ask information regarding fueling, refilling water
tanks, mechanics and some other stuff. The staff was nice and helpful even we
are not exactly their target clients. We have to pay for the water because our
watermaker just decided to stop working. The price here is 25 cents per gallon.
I asked the staff where would be possible to refill the water for free. The
answer showed me the characteristic of St. Thomas without being surprised
“There is no such thing in St. Thomas”!
before we leave St. Thomas. The labor here is also expensive. For the mechanic
to come into our boat and check what went wrong we had to pay 101 USD per hour.
Another thing we had to fix was the windlass; the labor to install it would
cost 75 USD per hour. The wood work labor 70 USD per hour. To compare with what
we paid in the Dominican Republic, around 25 USD per hour. On other hand, I
don’t mind to pay more than triple if the work is well done in one time unlike
in the Dominican Republic. Ah! The working hours here, it’s Caribbean style! No
one work on Saturday and Sunday! So just enjoy the weekend, do what tourists
do, drinking coconut juice and go to the beach! Then wait for Monday. The good
thing is they start quite early, 7 o’clock most of the boat related shops are
already opened and 8 A.M. for the local supermarket.
careful, it’s very tricky! We got one which is supposed to be with unlimited
internet access but we were informed after 1 day of buying it that we couldn’t
be able to connect the internet because was unlimited for only 2GB! Then, some
days after we couldn’t connect to the internet at all, we tried to contact the
provider again. The answer was a joke! We are over using the internet! We
explain to the person in charge that if it’s unlimited means no limit! We can’t
refund even we are not satisfied. So friends, don’t be upset of over
advertisement in Asia because even in America it’s just the same. By the way,
the provider is H2O, for your information.
We heard people said it’s pricey but the daily life and food products we got are
normal price. There are local, Asian, Western restaurants and supermarket for
fresh food. What people said its expensive maybe, from our experience, would be
the restaurants. We paid around 90 USD just for 2 sandwiches and a pitcher of
cocktail! At least they bring iced water for Noel! That’s what we pay more;
it’s called “service”. US Virgin Islands are the paradise for shoppers, its tax
free, what you see on the price tag is what you pay unlike in Puerto Rico that
they add States and local taxes on top of the price. Just right next to our
dinghy dock, there are many luxury brand name shops in the middle of the
garden! Many jewelry shops in downtown are calling my name, they are
contemporary design with reasonable prices, and unfortunately I don’t need it
now or if needed I don’t have the money! Not only brand name shops, local
market and brands are everywhere, souvenir t-shirts (3 pieces) cost 10 USD.
(like songtaew in Thailand or jepney in Philippines) which the local call
“safari”. It costs 1-2 USD depending on the distance you go. We would like to
rent a car to explore the island because of its mountain streets and bird-eye
views where the bus doesn’t, but we have to give it up. If you buy a second
hand car here and sell it before you leave the island I think it’s even cheaper
than renting the car! The price is around 70-90 USD per day.
St. Croix at only 80 USD, few minutes flying. We saw many people taking the
ferry to other islands like St. John or St. Croix, which is quite convenient
and with acceptable price. Taxi service in St. Thomas, we didn’t had the chance
yet since the island is small and we can go wherever we want by “safari”.
destinations, St. Thomas has big franchising hotel chains like Marriott or
Westin. We saw young fashionable well dressed men and woman, and some even come
to the island with leather shoes! We didn’t had a chance to visit any beaches
in St. Thomas yet since we have to solve the problem of our watermaker and windlass,
reason why we anchored s/v Dee in the heart of the city. Our sailing friends
arrived few days after us and anchored outside near the Water Island. They told
us that the water there was crystal clear just like in the Bahamas. We hope we
finish the boat fixing episodes soon and we can enjoy the nature around us,
otherwise our reserve money will be finished and we will not be able to finish
our route, let alone visiting paradise places.
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