Blue blue water.
That is often what I say when I see things like this:
The Baths, Virgin Gorda
And this:
Trunk Bay, St. John
There is nothing I love to see more than that blue blue water.
Tim and I just got back last week from our first visit to the Virgin Islands, where we enjoyed several beaches, boating, snorkeling, drinking painkillers and just plain relaxing.
The Virgin Islands are a unique place in the Caribbean in that it is super easy to visit more than one island via boat and/or ferry. The idea of island hopping really appealed to Tim and I as we often can’t stay in one place when we are on vacation. We typically have to see everything that we can see. So, when we were trying to decide where to go, this aspect definitely appealed to us.
We started off our trip flying into St. Thomas, the gateway to the Virgin Islands. This is also where we set up our base camp, staying at the Frenchman’s Reef Marriott. The hotel had great service, beautiful Morning Star beach and plenty of restaurants and activities to choose from. While it was a big resort, it didn’t feel crowded. We were always able to find a lawn chair by the pool or the beach.
After finding our way from the airport to the rental car office and then to the hotel in our rental car (more on driving on St. Thomas in a bit), we were ready to relax. Tim had made us reservations at Havana Blue. One of the best restaurants at the hotel, if not the entire islands. Right by the ocean, you could hear the waves hit as you enjoyed your meal. We enjoyed tapas at the Cuban-inspired, tropical restaurant, both times we ate there — on our first and on our last nights. From sticky shrimp to fillet tacos and passion fruit ceviche with plantains to the mango pain killas, it was really yummy.
On our first full day on the island, we decided to go out exploring. We had rented a car after all. Driving in St. Thomas is not for everyone. The roads are narrow and at times reminded me of being on a roller coaster. However, we often like to get out and beach hop and snorkel. Our first stop was Coki Beach, known for its snorkeling. However, to get there you have to get off the main road and take a less-traveled road to the beach. While it was a less-traveled road, we didn’t think there would be water running across it! After waiting a bit to see other cars go over it, we did it too and came upon a gorgeous beach. At Coki Beach, you’ll meet several locals who will want to do everything for you from finding you a parking spot to renting you a lawn chair and selling you a drink. We were just there for the snorkeling and really enjoyed it. There are tons of fish and on the right side of the beach, there are some rocks that offer some great corals. After leaving and getting on the main road, we enjoyed lunch at Duffy’s Love Shack. This is a must stop for your visit in the Virgin Islands. If we would of been there longer we would of also visited again for happy hour and later into the night for dancing. We had the best conch fritters we’ve ever eaten. Conch fitters are our favorite thing to eat in the Caribbean. After finishing up there, we went back to the hotel for beach and pool time.
Day 3 was my favorite day (although it is a close tie with Day 5). On this day, we did our excursion to the British Virgin Islands. We hoped on our boat early at 7 a.m. and made our way to Virgin Gorda, home of The Baths. Pictures do not do these large rocks justice (see above). Nor do pictures show the crazy trail we hiked to get to this beach. Absolutely beautiful! After this stop, we had lunch at Marina Cay, home of Pusser’s Restaurant. Tim enjoyed a cuban sandwich and I a mahi mahi sandwich, and of course, we had painkillers! After lunch it started to rain, but that didn’t stop us from snorkeling Diamond Reef. After snorkeling we continued on to Jost Van Dyke, where we enjoyed swimming into the famous Soggy Dollar Bar, our last stop in the British Virgin Islands.
Soggy Dollar Bar, Jost Van Dyke
After clearing customs in St. John (and getting our passports stamped — yay!) we were back to St. Thomas for sunset.
On Day 4, we started out with beach boot camp and then decided to do some more exploring as it started to rain. We drove to Mountain Top, where we got a beautiful view of Magen’s Bay, before driving back down to that beach. However, little did I know that sand flies love rainy weather. After spending the afternoon at Magen’s Bay, I woke up the next day covered in sand fly bites! Ouch! Remember to wear your bug repellent here!
On our last full day, we took the car barge to St. John. We instantly fell in love with St. John. If we ever return, we would get on the ferry to St. John straightaway after landing at the St. Thomas airport.
On St. John, we started out at Trunk Bay (pictured above) in the morning, before the cruise ships dropped off all of their passengers. We darn near had the entire beach to ourselves. We did the underwater snorkel trail, where Tim had yellow-stripped snappers try to eat his Go-Pro! After that we hit Maho Bay where while snorkeling we spotted a huge sting ray! It happened so fast we didn’t even get a picture! Then we made our way round the island to Leinster Bay, stopping at Skinny Legs for lunch. The grand finale was snorkeling Haulover Bay before making our way back to Cruz bay for the 4 p.m. ferry back to St. Thomas.
As you can see, it was beautiful. While the rocky beach could deter some, the snorkeling is totally worth it.
We got back to St. Thomas just in time for sunset:
This had to of been the best sunset all week. To top it off, we enjoyed dinner at Havana Blue again.
To end our trip, we spent the next and final morning before having to catch our flight at 3 p.m., sitting on Morning Star Beach and enjoying the pool. We had pool all to ourselves, which was awesome.
And that was our trip in a nutshell. I would definitely recommend the Virgin Islands to anyone looking for adventure, island hopping and beautiful white sand beaches with that blue blue water.
A Writing, Daydreaming Fool 
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