(February 2023)
We departed Jost Van Dyke Island of the British Virgin Islands (BVI), for a short 19 mile sail over to US Virgin Islands (USVI) which also lies in the leeward islands of the lesser Antilles. The island territory consists of 3 major islands: St. Croix, St. Johns, and St. Thomas as well as 50 other surrounding minor islands and cays. It became an organized, unincorporated US territory after it was purchased from the Dutch in 1917 for 25M ($614M in 2024 dollars).
While I could not find an agreed upon nickname for the USVI islands. The Islands are mostly just known for their unique history, beautiful landscapes and laid back vibes. I did find it referred to as “American Paradise” though each of the major islands seemed to have their own nicknames. St. Thomas, where we will be stopping, is known as “Rock City” due to it’s rugged and hilly terrain from it’s volcanic origins.
We chose the very protected harbor of the USVI’s capital city, Charlotte Amalie, as our stop over point in the island chain. A city once called “Typhus” (aka Tap House) for it’s many taverns. It was once back in the day a popular pirate hangout. During our short visit here, I would classify it’s current modern status as “Cruise Ship Central”. It is clearly a huge shopping spot with lots of duty free offerings. On busy days, St. Thomas can see 10,000-20,000 cruise passengers disembarking from multiple ships, which as you can imagine leads to significant crowds. The popular downtown area of the city feels like a cruise ship pier with small shops trying to persuade you in with today’s deals to buy their jewelry, electronics, etc.
To be fair we have heard amazing things about the Island outside of the city and on the the other main islands. We didn’t have long enough to stay here so we will just have to come back to see the rest!
Fun Fact: It is the only place in the United States where vehicles drive on the left side of the road.
Checking In
The anchorage was pretty crowed so we opted to anchor in about 6 meters of water off the seawall off the waterfront to be a bit out of the fray. It was a bit noisy from the street and planes, but overall a calm anchorage. Just stay out of the path of the sea planes! The customs and immigration office is located at the same building as the ferry terminal. There is a dingy dock you can use. You an check in with CBP roam or go to the office where they will print out the forms. We were the only ones in there so it took about 20 min.
Airport: Cyril E. King Airport serves St. Thomas & St. John. Henery E Rohlsen Int’l Airport serves St. Croix
Cash Money: USD
Official Language: English!
The Highlights
Our next passages was going to be our longest as a couple to date with 4 days at sea most likely, so we had to wait here in the USVIs for about a week for the right weather window to pass (though we should have a waited a bit longer, more on that in the next post!). So we plenty of time had time to sample some of the local flavor and catch the Eagles/Chiefs SuperBowl game. Being from Philly this was a must watch 🙂 Sadly, I lost most of my photos through this stretch, so mostly just a write up to follow.
Provisioning
Pueblo Grocery Store – The best grocery store for your buck located just northeast of the touristy Havensight Mall heading into the ‘regular’ streets with the locals. Quite the difference as you start to see the poverty of the outlying areas beyond cruise ship central. It’s well stocked and cheaper to the markets right off the docks.
Moe’s Fresh Market – Speaking of markets right off the dock. This place has a great selection of fresher food and meals as well as more gluten free vegan and organic items if that is your desire. But the prices are definitely of the take advantage of the tourist sort.
Kmart – These still exist?! Who knew. Just across the way from the Pueblo Grocery. This is were we were able to purchase our local SIM cards. They also had a grocery with lots of provisioning, prices are decent, but stock is mostly shelf stable type of foods and sodas.
Chandlery – We took a VERY bumpy ride in Nugget (our dinghy) in heavy winds around Shipley Hill into Crown Bay Marina where there was a large well stocked chandlery. While there we stopped in to the neighboring Scoops & Brew for coffee and an ice cream to heal the pain of departing with more boat bucks. They also served some fun adult beverages which may also have been fun, but we had the VERY bumpy return to the boat still to go!
The Water Front
The waterfront is the hub of activity as it is right off the cruise ship docks. It is a vibrant shopping area full of local markets, dusty free shops and waterfront promenades stretching out from the harbor view. We sampled a few of their offerings.
St. John Brewers Brewtique at Mongoose Junction – One of our favorite little stops. We popped in as we were walking the shops. They had a huge selection of beers and the waitstaff were very engaging and fun. Giving us all kinds of tips for the area. The Island Hoppin’ IPA was my favorite. They had a fun shop with lots of great take aways as well.
Green House Bar & Restaurant – We hit up happy hour here and very much enjoyed the atmosphere. A family friendly vibe with open air and a great view of the harbor.
Frenchtown Brewing – Cool little upstairs small batch brewery. They had 4 beers on tap, they were meh honestly and it was just us and the owner while we were there. Not a whole lot going on honestly. We think they brew more for shipping to local places that catering walk ins for taskings. The owner was nice and gave us a bit of history before going about his work again. There is a dinghy dock for $10/day down the street (or you can just walk from the customs/ferry dock).
One other must do while wandering around… Virgin Islands Ice Cream Company, tucked into a tight alleyway. The girls manning the place were a lot of fun and the variety of ice cream was unmatched in our travels so far! Bonus, it was SO good!
Havensight
Another popular area closer to the cruise ship docks is a large open air style shopping mall full of touristy shops and restaurants and outdoor kiosks. A lot of energy and very pretty at night. We avoided the area when cruise ships were docked, but found it a great area “after hours” when the cruise ships loaded all their people back up for their next destination. We stalked the place for a good place to watch the Superbowl. The area it self is one large outdoor shopping mall.
The Smoking Rooster – Want smoked meats? This is your place. Great Dive bar atmosphere, good service. The smoked brisket Mac and Cheese was amazing. Meat was fall off the bone and full of flavor. We were big fans.
Walking around looking for a good dinner spot, we stumbled into 13 Restaurant probably b/c as we were perusing the menu we noticed they had a bottle of Justin Wine on the menu. Our favorite! So we got a table on the water overlooking the super yachts on the docks and had a very nice ‘fancier’ dinner from their creole/southern comfort style menu. Expensive, but not something we do often so a real treat.
A little off the beaten path found in search of free WIFI, we found Barefood Buddha. High recommend this place! It is a great coffee shop with all the options and had an amazing healthier variety of meals, smoothies, coffee and teas. It was such a great find, we went back more than once during our stay.
We decided that the Tap & Still would be our go to for the upcoming Super Bowl. Keep in mind this place is RIGHT OFF the cruise ship pier so can be incredibly overrun with the cruisers looking to drink off the ship while their families shop or they wait for the their departure time. Thankfully game time was after the cruise ships loaded back up for the day and somehow we managed to get front row bar seats for the game. Our luck! The placed filled up quickly as the game got going. The drinks and burgers were good, bartenders fun and atmosphere exactly what you would want for a big game day event. Sadly the Eagles lost Super Bowl LVII 38-35 it a nail biter. There is always next year…
UP NEXT: Our Scariest Passage to Date – A Wild Ride to Turks & Caicos
Provisioned & Game behind us, it was time to head out on our biggest passage as a sailing cruising couple yet. 400+ miles to Turks & Caicos with no other crew on board. The weather window was opening, so it was time to test our mettle…and boy did it!