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This is heaven for shoppers and tourist-junk-hell for almost everyone else, although there are some nice secure beaches like Magens Bay for about $8 US taxi fare and about $3 US entry fee. If you dock in the Crown Point yacht basin instead of the usual Havensight area, consider taking a water taxi from nearby Tickles restaurant (walking distance from the ship) to Water Island. This is a local hideaway with a very quiet beach just over the island crest.

The ship’s concierge can give the ferry schedule. It is the antithesis of the rest of St. Thomas and is kept a quiet secret by the locals. On this cruise we took a taxi ($8 US per person tip included) and then the ferry ($3 US) from Red Hook (alternately $7 US from downtown Charlotte) to neighboring Cruz Bay, St. Johns (again, the ship’s concierge can give you the ferry schedules). We have been to St. Thomas and/or St. John’s almost a dozen times, and the less-developed St. Johns is infinitely more pleasant in our opinion. I think that future cruise itineraries may even spend a day at each island. In any case, watch the ferry schedule closely since you need to allow time to return to the ship.

The north shore beaches on St. Johns (Hawksbill, Trunk, Cinnamon) are run by the US National Park Service and are world famous. Open air taxis will take you from the Cruz Bay ferry dock to any of these for about $4 US, or you can hike from the park headquarters building to Honeymoon beach – the rangers can give you maps and specifics. Each north shore beach has good snorkeling around the peninsulas which separate them, and some have their own snorkel trails with underwater signage (but more people). The fish are protected here and are larger and more colorful than on some other islands – with luck you might even see a Hawksbill turtle or spotted moray, both of which I saw this time.

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