St Thomas advice and suggestions.
 

The wife and I are headed to St. Thomas next week and I'm looking for some advice on the following topics.

1. Car rental - Should we rent a car for our week and half stay in St. Thomas? We want to explore the entire island, but just not sure if we should rent a car or rely on taxi's. If you recommend renting a car, any dealers we can rely on for good prices and service?

2. Restaurants - We don't like staying all inclusive so we will be exploring all the good restaurants in St. Thomas. What can you recommend for Italian, seafood, and Chinese? We are staying at the Morningstar in the Frenchmen's Reef.

3. Sightseeing - What should we definitely include on our sightseeing itinerary? We want to explore the whole island and perhaps even St. John's.

I plan to submit a detailed trip report when I return... perhaps even memorialize our trip with a new blog.

1- yes i would get the car for the whole time. taxi pricey and car means you can go whereever whenever. marriott is not in walking distance to anything at all. they do have a water taxi into charlotte amalie. if you plan to take your car to st.john be aware that 2 companies will allow this the rest will not. i think avis is one of the 2 that does.
2-the best restaurant on island is at morningstar. it's called havana blue. wonderful food in a gorgeous room. reserve your table for sunset time if possible.
blue moon cafe at secret harbour beach resort is very good. nice food in very casual, very beachfront openair space. good for lunch or dinner.
tony romano has great italian - located on the coki beach road.
brunch at the ritz was good. everything from eggs to sushi to carved roasts and dessert. warning oh so pricey.
3- this map should help planning: http://www.frommers.com/images/desti..._st.thomas.jpg
see magens beach. go early in the am or late afternoon to avoid ship ppl.
coral world at coki beach is kinda fun. you can touch things like rays & turtles. and they have some cool underwater stuff like snuba. www.coralworldvi.com
stop at drakes seat. wonderful view of channel
ride tram across from havensight mall. again at sunset - have a drink at the top and gaze over the sparkles on the harbor. shop til you drop in duty free charlotte amalie.
take at least one excursion by boat. this one is outstanding: http://newhorizonscharters.com/ book now, very popular.
a/or a catamaran trip to site see or snorkel
shore snorkel from secret harbour beach or beach at sugar bay - wyndham resort.
have a great trip.

Virginia

Thank you for the reply.

Based on the map, it looks like Charlotte Amalie is less than two miles from Morningstar. The wife and I are avid walkers so we were thinking that this could be our daily walk - into heart of downtown.

I can see that the need for a car is probably high based on some of your recommendations; otherwise, you'll spend most of your time jumping in and out of taxi's.

Probably won't take a car to St. John's. We'll probably just take the ferry and then walk around or take a taxi.

Any suggestions on who to rent a car from?

We spent two weeks on St. Thomas a few years ago. We rented a car for the entire time which allowed us to see the island on our own schedule. Plan on spending one day at Megans Bay and at least one day on St. John. We took the ferry from Red Hook early one morning and spent the entire day over there going to different beaches and snorkeling. Also spent one day on the "Heavenly Days" catamaran and the "Lady Linsey" catamaran. I don't think walking is a good idea in St. Thomas as I remember it being very hilly with lots of traffic. Also, stay out of Charlotte Amalie when there are a lot of cruise ships in port.

ShirleyK

Thank you for your reply and the information you provided. Very helpful indeed.

Do you recall who you rented your car from? I noticed the Discount now allows you to take your car to St. Johns. They advertise that their rates are the lowest on St. Thomas.

By your comment "stay out of Charlotte Amalie when there are a lot of cruise ships in port", I'm assuming you mean that it is wall-to-wall people? I've heard this before so we will definitely stay away.

Megans Bay is definitely on our list of things to do.

Any other points of interest you would recommend?

st. t does have hilly, windy, narrow roads - not generally condusive to walking. i've emailed a bud who lived there for a couple years to ask if there are sidewalks from morningstar into town.
if i recall correctly if you go straight past the airport entrance the traffic mostly goes away and the road is fairly flat for a while. this would be towards brewers bay beach.
we rented a sebring convertible from budget. it was fun!
here's a page with loads of info: http://www.wheretostay.com/caribbean...St_Thomas.html
and holy smokes click on the map tab on above site. i've never seen it before. zoom in.it's amazing. i could trace the road from marriott into town and saw no sidewalks. check it out.

If you rent the car, and want to get off the beaten path, Lindquist Beach is beautiful. It's on the map referenced above.

Virginia

Thanks for the link. The map is excellent and I used it extensively to look over St. Thomas and the MorningStar hotel and beach.

This is a great resource for our trip and will come in handy. I've bookmarked it and will use it extensively.

John

if you try lindquist be careful of the short road that goes in - often rutted. entrance is between gate in chain link fence that is permanently propped open. coming from red hook turn right just after an airport sign. also do not leave any of your stuff visible in your car while your on this beach. good snorkeling out to the right where you can see a bit of break.

Restaurant "off the beaten path" Craig and Sally's in Frenchtown area.

Recommended site "off the beaten path": Syngagogue Hill--great old neighborhood, and beautiufl historical synagogue.