What to do in St Thomas without a shore excursion?

Question

time frame 8am to 5 pm?

Answer 1

There is a bunch of duty free shopping right there when you dock and then at Havensight Mall as well. The tram to paradise point offers a magnificent view of the island and at the top is a relaxing restaurant with hammocks and tropical drinks and a cool bird show with all sorts of exotic birds. The is a awesome outdoor flea market east of that area that's open when the cruise ships are in port.
The most beautiful beach on St. Thomas is Magen's Bay it is ranked as one of the top 10 in the world, it's about a 20 minute cab ride (about $8 per person) but it is worth it.
There are also a Coral World with an underwater aquarium and the Atlantis submarine ride. Check out www.usvi.net it has more detailed info on everything I have listed.

Answer 2

I assume you're coming in via cruise ship. There's actually a lot to do right there where you dock. You'll be docking in Havensight and there's a huge open air mall where you can pick up anything from jewelry, to liquor, sunglasses, souveniers, the works. If you want something fun to do that isn't too pricy and not to far from the dock then hop on the Paradise Point Tramway (this might be listed under shore excursions, but it'll only take you 5-10 minutes for you to walk there yourself). I highly recommend you take a ride to Main Street. Some other direct destinations I recommend is checking out Coral World Marine Park & Underwater Observatory, catching a ferry to St. John (you can get there and be back in under 3 hours if you wanted), or visiting Mountain Top and trying one of their Banana Daiquiris. I've listed a great site for touring the island.

Answer 3

Well, if you haven't been to St. John, then go there. The most beautiful beaches I have ever seen. And I ave been to many including all over Oahu and Maui.

When we were in St. Thomas last December for a cruise we did the following:
- Took a Taxi to Red Hook. (20-30 minutes)
- At Red Hook take the ferry to Cruz Bay, St. John. (15-20 minutes)
- Taxi on St. John to Trunk Bay in the national park.
- Stayed for 2-3 hours and loved it. Snorkling was okay at Trunk Bay, better in Hawaii. Beach and water was absolutely amazing.
- Taxi from beach back to Cruz Bay.
- Ferry from Cruz Bay to Charlotte-Amalie downtown. Not Red Hook. (45 min trip)
- Ate food.
- Shopped for 2 hours.
- Taxi back to cruise ship.

This was the best excursion we did the whole trip, and we made it up ourselves. St. John is just amazing and was the highlight of our trip by far. We are definitely heading back there. St. Thomas was really nice too, just more for the shoppers.

Remember your taxi times and ferry schedules and everything will run smoothly. Also, leave more time than necessary for the taxi from downtown Charlotte-Amalie to the port. You can see the ships from downtown, but when rush hour kicks in, it does take a while. I would leave an hour to be safe.

Ferry Schedules: http://www.vinow.com/general_usvi/interisland_ferry/

Have fun!

Answer 4

Shore excursions are fun, but you can do a lot without them. There is a lot of shopping and things like that. You can take a taxi to get around and just go all over the place. When you get in the taxi ask them what they recommend. Just have fun and explore!

Answer 5

Walk off the ship and get a cab. There are LOTS of them, and the rates are fixed. It cost me 8 dollars per person to go to Magens Bay Beach. 8 to get back to the port, and 2 per person to enter the beach. GREAT place, very clean change/showerhouses( they use chlorinated sea water).
For 18 per head, a bargain.
And the beer at the snack shack is C O L D !!!!!

Answer 6

There is the aquarium, the beach and shopping..other than that not much to do.