First time in St. Thomas

[darkauburnnotred]

I will be stopping in St. Thomas on Wednesday, May 15. From what I can tell, my ship (Allure of the Seas) will be the only one in port that day. My fiance and I would like to go to the beach (most likely Magens Bay) and possibly shop and sightsee.

 

Here is where my inexperience comes in: This is the first time either of us has been out of the mainland United States. A coworker of mine told me that I can get a taxi to Magens Bay and then come back and shop downtown. Can we walk from downtown Charlotte Amalie back to the ship? Is there another shopping area closer to the ship?

 

I noticed that the ship offers a sightseeing tour but it does not include shopping time. The private tours that I have looked at do include it. Would I be better off going with either Sunny Liston or Godfrey or the ship?

 

Any advice you can give would be helpful. Thanks!

[trish1c]

If it's your 1st time outside of the mainland US, take a tour to be on the safe side.

We'd been to St. Thomas many times. We shopped in the morning, stowed our treasures back in the cabin & then took a taxi to Megan's Bay. It was a lovely calm beach but it's $8 pp for the taxi, then $4 pp to get in. Once there you can rent chairs, umbrellas & mats but they aren't cheap & require hefty deposits. There is a bar restaurant but again, it's not cheap. The water was lovely but even with a slight breeze we were bombarded with flying sand.

[Bigfish31]

Since you are on the Allure, I believe you will be docking at Crown Bay. Downtown is about a 45 minute walk. There is some shopping at Crown Bay(see Crown Bay map) http://www.virginislandsthisweek.com/us_virgin_islands_maps/. You can't go wrong with either Sunny Liston or Godfrey but if going to the beach is your first priority this is what I would do: walk 5 minutes to Crown Bay Marina and catch the ferry to Water Island($10pp/round trip) and then walk 10 minutes to Honeymoon Beach. Take the ferry back and you still could grab a cab and head downtown.