Excursions on St. Thomas and Grand Turk

LilMissLL and I are cruising in two weeks. The ship sanctioned excursions look dull and/or overcrowded. Anyone have any cool ideas for St. Thomas and/or Grand Turk? In Puerto Rico we have already booked a 5 hour kayak trip through bio -luminescence.

librarylady said:

LilMissLL and I are cruising in two weeks. The ship sanctioned excursions look dull and/or overcrowded. Anyone have any cool ideas for St. Thomas and/or Grand Turk? In Puerto Rico we have already booked a 5 hour kayak trip through bio -luminescence.

Find a good Greek Diner

Pssst: One person's "Brigs" might be another's "Excusions" and "Thjomas."

DaveSchmidt said:

Pssst: One person's "Brigs" might be another's "Excusions" and "Thjomas."

Thankey! (That took 3 minutes)

In St Thomas a few months ago, we went to the beach where Hannah and her horse commercials are filmed.  It was called Lindquist Beach. It was absolutely stunning and the only other people there were one other couple (tourists) and a local grandmother and her little grandson.  There were nice clean new showers and toilets and a few picnic tables.  No chair rentals, no food- so be aware.  The lifeguard took my husband and older nephew out to a snorkel reef and it was amazing.  When they came back, he taught my little nephew how to snorkel in a small reef closer to shore.  It was an absolutely amazing day.  So much better than the ship excursions to the crowded beaches. We took a cab there and arranged for him to come back and pick us up.

I just want to say the bioluminescent swim in PR is one of the most magical things I've ever done. I saw this and thought of getting it, just to remember!

http://www.uncommongoods.com/product/bioluminescent-dino-pet

The last time I was in Grand Turk, it was a sleepy island with no cruise ship dock, and no Jimmy Buffet's, so I'm sure it's completely different. But the place where we stayed gave us a golf cart to explore the island (and dodge the donkeys), which was super fun.

In St. Thomas, you can hop on a "Safari Cab" (a converted pickup truck with a bunch of seats in the back)  They basically do a full circle around the east end of the island and back to Charlotte Amalie.  Take it to the far eastern end of the island where you will find Sapphire Bay, one of the nicest beaches on the island.  Then just up the road is the cute little town of Red Hook, with nice places to eat lunch and watch the boats go by.  Then back on a safari cab.  Otherwise, you can walk around Charlotte Amalie and buy jewelry....

We've been to St. Thomas several times, including just 2 weeks ago.   

In St. Thomas, you might want to consider going to St. John which is quite a different experience from St. Thomas and the hustle of Charlotte Amalie.  You can take the ship's excursion or take a cab to the Redhook terminal where the ferry goes to St. John.  Check out Trunk Bay.    

As Rob Sandow suggested, it's always fun to take a safari truck tour of the island. If you want something a bit more "lively", consider booking with Sunny Liston (google or Youtube his name) who plays loud island music while touring and takes you to Mountain Top  (where the banana daiquiri was supposedly invented).   After the tour, he will drop you at a beach for a couple of hours, pick you up and return to the ship.  Megan's Bay Beach is pretty but quite crowded.  Sapphire is another popular beach but there are other more quiet beaches.  

Godfrey is another popular safari truck tour operator...he offers a much more sedate and informative experience.  

Shopping in the streets and alleys of Charlotte Amalie is fun if you like that sort of thing but it will be crowded and high pressure.  If you are in the downtown area, you can walk up the 99 steps to Blackbeard's castle for the nice view but not sure it's worth it to take the official "tour"...it's a bit cheesy and historically questionable talk on pirates.

Your ship will most likely dock at Havensight which is about 1 mile or so from the main downtown area.  There is a large shopping area at Havensight, in which many of the stores are branches of the ones downtown. Also, just a few steps from Havensight, for about $25, there is a skyride (a gondola) that goes up to Paradise Point which offers a magnificent view of the harbor.  At the summit is a restaurant and a few gift shops.  The most interesting shop is owned by a man who dives and finds items from long ago sunken ships. He authenticates the items and has a collection of old coins, muskets, silver, etc.

We love St. Thomas...hope you enjoy it, as well.