ST THOMAS · U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS
Sail out, snorkel in, drift back at sunset.
Catamaran sails, snorkel trips and island day trips across the U.S. Virgin Islands. Magens Bay, the reefs off Coki Point, the old harbor at Charlotte Amalie, and the short hop over to St John.
Signature St Thomas
Three days worth planning the trip around.
Anywhere warm has a beach and a boat. The Virgin Islands have a national park you sail to, green turtles grazing the shallows, and a passport day across to the Baths. Build the rest of the week around these.
A national park you sail to
The day on St John
Two-thirds of St John is protected as the Virgin Islands National Park, so most of its coast was never built on. Boats and ferries run over from Red Hook through the morning; by lunch you are floating the marked underwater trail at Trunk Bay and walking sand the developers never reached.
- 1 Snorkel St. John Tour from Sapphire and Margaritaville
- 2 Afternoon Snorkel, Pizza & Sunset Tour departing from St. Thomas & St. John
- 3 Circle the Island of St. John | Lunch stop at Lime Out (Taco Boat)
Green turtles, clear water
Snorkel with sea turtles
Green sea turtles graze the seagrass in the shallow bays, and the water is clear enough to watch one surface for air an arm's length away. The good skippers anchor where the turtles actually feed, off the busy beaches, and let you slip in quietly above them.
- 1 Turtle Cove Catamaran Snorkel and Sail at Little Buck Island STT
- 2 Snorkel & Swim with Turtles. Semi Private Tour to Buck Island & Honeymoon Beach
- 3 Half Day Luxury Catamaran Turtle Snorkel And Beach
Two countries, one day
Across to the BVI
Pack a passport and the day gets bigger. Boats run east across the channel to the British Virgin Islands, where the Baths at Virgin Gorda stack house-sized granite boulders into tidal grottoes you wade through to reach the beach, and Jost Van Dyke pours the Painkiller where it was invented.
- 1 The Baths and White Bay
- 2 Jost Van Dyke Funday & Willy T (Foxy’s, Soggy Dollar, Willy-T)
- 3 Day Yacht Excursions throughout the US or British Virgin Islands
Start here
The one everyone books.
More first-timers book this than anything else on the island. If you only have time for one thing, make it this one.
The classics
St Thomas's Most Popular Tours
Buck Island snorkels, the sail across to St John, sunset cruises off Charlotte Amalie. The trips most visitors book first.
By place
Pick where the day takes you.
St John for the national-park beaches. The Baths in the BVI for the boulders. Magens Bay for the sand. Charlotte Amalie for the old town. Christmas Cove for pizza off the back of the boat.
By tour type
Or just pick how you get out there.
Catamaran if you want the whole day on the water. Powerboat if you want speed and range. A snorkel trip if it's the reef and the turtles you came for. A sunset cruise when the light turns gold. Kayaks, yachts and the rest below.
Into the water
Where to put your face in the water.
Reefs, wrecks and turtle grass, all of it in water warm enough that you forget you're swimming. Three snorkel trips we'd line up first.
When the light goes
The evening sail.
The wind drops, the rum comes out, and the hills above Charlotte Amalie turn pink behind you. Our three favorite boats for the last hour of light.
Under sail
Make a day of it on a catamaran.
Trampolines over the bow, a cooler of painkillers, and an anchorage to yourselves for lunch and a swim. If we booked one full day on the water, it would be one of these three.
Short on time
Got a day off the ship?
St Thomas is one of the busiest cruise ports in the Caribbean, and the best short days start a quick ride from the dock. Here's what fits between the gangway and last call.
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