Our Week in the U.S. Virgin Islands
Last month, my husband and I spent a week in the U.S. Virgin Islands with another couple. It was a wonderful week with much-needed time away, lots of good food, sun, and exploring. Today I’m sharing a recap of our trip to the U.S. Virgin Islands, what we did, where we ate, and some tips for planning your trip to the Virgin Islands.
If you didn’t know, the U.S. Virgin Islands is one of the 63 National Parks! This was a main reason we wanted to go (as did our friends), and we wanted to go somewhere warm to escape the wintry weather here in Tennessee. We had no idea just how cold it would get when we started planning this trip last summer, and boy was that sunshine a blessing!
To get there, we flew into the main airport in Charlotte Amalie on St. Thomas. We then took a taxi (shared with others) from the airport to Red Hook on the other side of the island (about 35 minutes and $40 for me, my husband, and our two bags), and then took a ferry from Red Hook to Cruz Bay on St. John (about 20 minutes). My husband and I later learned you can take a ferry directly from Cruz Bay to Charlotte Amalie; we did that on our way out heading back to the airport, and it was much more efficient and cheaper. Ferries rule.
Lastly, we picked up our rental car from Mr. Piper’s Jeeps before making our way to our home for the week.
Where We Stayed
We stayed at a lovely vacation rental on the Coral Bay side of St. John. The back balcony overlooked the bay below and gave us some magnificent sunrises and moonrises. We were about 10 minutes from a grocery store and a couple of restaurants, 15-20 minutes from hiking trails and beaches, and about 30 minutes to more restaurants and Cruz Bay.
Here’s what we did in the U.S. Virgin Islands!
Hiking in the National Park // Most of the island of St. John is a U.S. National Park. There’s more than 20 miles of hiking trails across the island, which is pretty impressive, considering how small the island is. We decided to do two trails in one day—which locals later told us was pretty insane. We started with the Ram Head Trail, which was about 2.5 miles out and back. It ran along the coast of the island and led up to a peak with a magnificent view of the bay. The second trail we did was the Reef Bay Trail, which was about 4 miles out and back. This one led to some old ruins of a sugarcane plantation. Though the scenery was pretty, I did not enjoy the uphill hike out, and was more than ready for dinner and a drink afterward!
Snorkeling and Lime Out // This was definitely the highlight of the trip for me! We booked a snorkeling excursion through Cruz Bay Watersports that included a super unique lunch stop. Lime Out is a floating, swim-up taco bar in the middle of Coral Bay (we could actually see it from the balcony of our rental). After snorkeling, we swam up to Lime Out for drinks and tacos, quite literally while floating in the clear blue water. I loved my two tacos (Rum Ribs and Shrimp) and Hunter’s Passion drink. I was apparently the only person on our boat who didn’t see a turtle while snorkeling, but I did see a bunch of cool fish, sea urchins, and a couple crabs.
Day trip to St. Thomas // Our friends planned a day trip to one of the British Virgin Islands. My husband and I opted to ferry over to St. Thomas and explore around there for the day. After grabbing coffee and a smoothie, we browsed a few shops, had a few beers at a local brewery, and visited an art gallery by an extremely talented native photographer.
Beach Day // We couldn’t do an island vacation without a beach day! Most of the beaches on St. John are on the north side of the island, pretty much right next to one another. We chose Cinnamon Bay Beach since it was pretty quiet, not too crowded, and very pretty. There was plenty of parking, a visitor center, a food and drink shack, and rentals for snorkeling, paddle boarding, and kayaking in the bay. We brought our own drinks and snacks and had a lovely beach day.
Where we ate and drank in the U.S. Virgin Islands
I’m really proud of myself for eating seafood every day we were there. There was no shortage of great food options on St. John. We also asked some locals for recommendations, and they did not steer us wrong.
Johnny Lime // A sister restaurant to Lime Out, located on Coral Bay near our rental house. We grabbed dinner and drinks here the first night and enjoyed our food with some live music in the background. I’d never had a fish sandwich on arepas instead of a bun. While it was tasty, it quickly turned into a fork-and-knife situation.
Surf Club Cantina // Next door to Johnny Lime, we had lunch here between hikes. I think this place surprised us the most. I was pleasantly surprised to see conch fritters on their appetizers list (a food I loved when we went to Key West), so I promptly ordered a basket for the table. Their Fish & Chips were golden, flavorful, and crispy. My husband and our friend opted for their daily special of Ahi Tuna tacos and raved about them for the rest of our trip.
Windmill Bar // This was probably the most “tourist trap” place we went. Food and drinks were fine (not bad, but nothing to write home about), but the view across the bay was the main attraction. They even have a running live stream on YouTube so you can live vicariously through the view and real-time diners.
Longboard // We ended up here just in time for happy hour after our snorkeling trip. While their menu has some entrees, they really shine with small plates and shareables. We shared their mahi sliders, crispy Brussels sprouts, fried calamari, and dumplings. All were delicious, as was my Kon-Tea-Ki cocktail. Highly recommend Longboard for a chill vibe to enjoy with no rush.
St. John’s Provisions // Husband and I grabbed coffee and breakfast here before heading over to St. Thomas. They had a wide selection of breakfast sandwiches, freshly-baked pastries and breads, made-to-order smoothies and coffee drinks. My bacon egg and cheese biscuit was huge and filling. Super quick and easy to start our day!
Parley Cafe // We stopped into this cafe upon arriving on St. Thomas. Situated in a restored rum warehouse in the historic district, it was the most “Instagrammable” eatery we went (although I neglected to take advantage of the Instagrammable-ness, naturally). Though their house-baked pastries and breakfast sandwiches looked appealing, I opted for their “Downtown Shakeup” smoothie, upon recommendation from the barista. The peanut butter, banana, and espresso flavor combo surprised me and I quite enjoyed it.
St. John’s Brewery // What an awesome place on St. Thomas. This brewery sits in an historic building, with original brick and mahogany wood ceilings still in tact. Grab a seat at their spacious bar and enjoy a pint, flight, shandy, seltzer, house-made ginger beer or lemonade. We’d had some of their Love City seltzers so we were excited to try their beers. I wish I could have brought some of that Juicy Booty IPA back, and my husband loved their Island Summer Ale and Pale Tourist pale ale. Our bartender Kim was incredible; she told us the history of the city and building, and gave us recommendations for where to go next. She also made me the most delicious shandy with their house lemonade, ginger beer, and mango pale ale.
The Refinery // By far the best meal we had on St. John. The Refinery was a recommendation from the captain of our snorkeling excursion (Erin, if you’re reading this, thank you), and I’m so glad we got to go. I don’t always see Jungle Birds (my favorite tiki drink) on cocktail menus, and when I do, it’s an easy “yes” for me. It paired wonderfully with my grilled chili lime mahi, mango chutney, and crispy yucca fries. It’s my goal this summer to recreate that mango chutney at home.
Overall, it was a wonderful trip, and we’d go back in a heartbeat. Next time, though, we’d probably stay on St. Thomas and day trip to the other islands. We didn’t make it to St. Croix, the third U.S. Virgin Island, so that’s definitely on our list for next time!
