St. Thomas: What to Do and Where to Stay

St. Thomas and St. John exceeded all expectations. The people were wonderful, the water breathtaking, and the activities abounded. Read on to learn what we did, where we stayed, things to know, what we would do differently next time, and what we would do exactly the same. And lastly, all of the design inspiration we gathered!

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St. Thomas is one of three islands comprising the United States Virgin Islands (USVI). The islands were purchased by the United States in 1917 from Denmark for $25 million dollars. A more recent significant event was the landfall of Hurricane Irma in 2017, wreaking havoc on St. Thomas. It was the worst hurricane on recored to hit the island.

Where We Stayed

My in-laws treated us all to their timeshares at the Marriott in Frenchman’s Cove. It was perfect for our family! The property was about a 15-20 minute cab ride from the airport. The villas all had gorgeous views! The pool and beach were right next to each other, making it easy to keep an eye on each other whether on land or in the sea. Perfect for families, the ocean was protected by coves which minimized the waves and made for optimal floating. Anchored lily pads in the water made for a fun destination swim. Two of our activities (snorkeling and night kayaking) left directly from the dock on the beach which was very convenient, especially with a large group like ours! A short shuttle or walk away, we also had access to the Westin pool and restaurants next door. The Marriott property had a mini mart as well as a pool side restaurant, both of which we utilized several times each day.

Our family of 4 stayed an extra day (the price in airline tickets on a Sunday v. Saturday was significant by the time we actually booked our flights). We shifted over to the Westin. The Westin was completely destroyed in Hurricane Irma and has been re-designed in such lovely ways. Even the water filling stations were beautiful! At the Westin, we not only had access to their pools, but also to the beach next door at Buoy Haus. I could (did) stare at and soak in that turquoise water all day long.

What a brilliant idea! A plant wall of the three USVI islands- love it.

Even a glance upward, gave lovely design views.

Just look at that water…

Where We Ate

We were fortunate to have full kitchens in our villas and took advantage of them on several nights. We also ordered pizza through the Cari app one night. The Westin/Buoy Haus boasted several restaurants and was conveniently located next door so we didn’t venture out beyond that. However, we now feel as though we are semi-experts on Westin dining.

The Salt Shack is part of Buoy Haus and is right on the beach. We were able to get a couple of booths next to each other. The server was somehow able to keep track of all our booth hopping and beach going. (It was great that the kids could step out and play on the beach while we waited for our food.)

Luna Mar is off of the Westin lobby and has ocean views from the deck. The dinner was delicious and the tiramisu was the perfect way to finish off a wonderful night of family photos and togetherness.

On our last night, R and I got drinks and an appetizer at Sugarfin (they also serve sushi, etc.) which somehow also had the most gorgeous views.

Our family then went on to Isla Blue (also located in Buoy Haus). The sweeping views at dusk were the real treat! The menu seemed a little bit more limited and fancy. There was not a listed children’s menu, but if you asked (we did), there were chicken tenders available for kids. The place settings were inspirational.

What We Did

Relaxing at the pool and beach, taking in the views, and spending time with family were a top priority. That said, there were several day/half-day activities that fit in flawlessly with our laid back, vacation lifestyle.

We went on a 3 hour snorkeling trip on a catamaran to swim with the sea turtles. We took off from the Marriott dock and, after an approximate 20-minute sailing experience, the boat anchored off of Little Buck Island. We dove directly into the ocean for a tour of the reefs and to swim with the turtles. This was a very natural experience. (I have done sting ray swimming before and the rays were definitely trained to come to the tourists). For this, it truly felt as though we were just observers in a sea turtle’s world. After we finished snorkeling, the crew whipped up some beverages (Pain Killers seem to be the Bahama Mamas of St. Thomas) and put out some snacks for the sail back to shore.

Our larger family visited St. John in waves. Our family of 4 took the ferry from Red Hook (about a 20 minute cab ride from our hotel). It took about 20 minutes to get over to St. John. (I know… how does everything take 20 minutes? Lol.) More than two-thirds (5,500 acres) of the island is a designated National Park. (We have really been racking up our National Park visits within the last year for a grand total of 3!) You can read about Acadia here and Joshua Tree will be coming soon.)

With more than three dozen hiking trails, it was tempting to make this a trekking adventure. However, in order to optimize our time on the island and see as much as we could, we decided that renting a car was the way to go. After visiting 3 rental agencies and being told there were no vehicles to rent or a minimum 3-day rental during this peak season, we finally found a rental place with a Jeep available. (Side note: there are so many Jeeps on the island!) Driving is on the lefthand side. We were nervous about this fact, but R adjusted very quickly. We met some friends at Trunk Bay for swimming, snorkeling and ice cream. The parking was a little bit difficult so 3 of us were dropped off while R parked the Jeep up the road. Admission was $5 for adults (the kids were free). We brought our own snorkeling gear but there was a place by the beach where you could rent as well. There were also changing rooms and bathrooms nearby.

With the white sandy beaches and clear turquoise water, we could have stayed all day but wanted to see the rest of the island before catching the ferry back to St. Thomas. We observed a variety of wildlife on our steep climbs and winding descents around the island. It would have been fun to explore Cruz Bay/Mongoose Junction (the restaurants and shopping looked really nice) but the kids were anxious to get back for some pool time with the cousins before the sun set. This is definitely a next time activity!

We spent the next day by the pool/beach, celebrated our daughter’s birthday, and then some of us went out for night kayaking. Our guides were entertaining and knowledgable! The kayaks had glass bottoms with LED lighting so we could see all of the sea creatures gliding below us. I was slightly nervous about the trip, but we stayed mainly in the coves and the water was very calm.

Our final activity was deep sea fishing. We have been fishing in the ocean a number of times but have never been as far out as we were on this trip. Fishing involves a lot of patience (more than I possess) but we did get some deep sea bites (only for the line to be bit or snapped after so many minutes of work- ugh)! We then did more surface fishing and finally saw some success. Our guide was great and made sure that we didn’t go home empty handed. He filleted our catches for us and sent us home with dinner for the grill. Our daughter was even brave enough to try some raw “sushi” as he was filleting- it doesn’t get much fresher than that! Our kids also had a lot of fun feeding the tarpon fish extra bait.

On the last night that we were all together as a large group, we had family photos taken. It went so much more smoothly than I had imagined, and we are excited to get the photos back soon!

Things to Know

Here is a list of random things that were relevant for our trip. As always, you should read up on it via official websites before planning your own trip.

Sunscreen- I love that St. Thomas cares about its oceans, reefs, and wildlife! They require/recommend mineral sunscreen use. Fortunately for me, my favorite sunscreen is just that… bonus that the top turns color in UV rays to show that even on cloudy days, you are in fact getting sun (ah-hem all teenage daughters).

Airport/Passports/Customs- Even though St. Thomas is a United States territory, you will need to go through Customs on your way home. Because we all have passports, we went that route. The airport is small. You deboard/board the planes on the runway. The lines for flight check in are outside and can be long depending on the day, so dress accordingly and bring water/snacks. If you plan to go to the British Virgin Islands (many people do), you will need your passports.

Taxi- In our experience, the taxis generally charged anywhere from $15-18 per person for a one way trip. There are also official taxi stands- all of our cabs were official and are really the only way you should go.

Jeep/Car Rentals- We did not rent a car for our family of 4. If our family were any bigger or if we needed to get to places off of our resort daily, a car would have been ideal. In fact, even with our little family, I think that next time we would rent a car. A possible thing to note, if you plan to take the car ferry to St. John, you may want to request a jeep/ 4 wheel drive vehicle from the outset. Other cars seem to work, but for peace of mind, the 4 wheel would be what we would do.

Food prices/Groceries- Food on the islands is expensive! (Think $15 for a container of yogurt or a pint of ice cream.) My original plan was to go to the grocery store, but it wasn’t close and it would have been $32 round trip me to take a cab to get to one. I brought oatmeal, microwave popcorn, a bag of pasta, and granola bars in my luggage and am really glad that I did. If you do go to Red Hook, we popped into Moe’s Grocery Store and it was much nicer than I had pictured. (We made this discovery on the last day. Of course.) So, if you are taking the ferry or going out fishing any of the days, leave enough time to pop into the grocery store and get some essentials.

Cruise Ships- You can easily find cruise ship schedules online and I recommend that you do pay attention to them if you plan to leave your resort. We specifically planned our St. John excursion on a day when only 1 cruise ship was docked. It can literally be a difference of 7,000 extra people on the islands trying to do the same things that you want to do.