Long a superyacht charter haven, the US Virgin Islands are blessed with a year-round pleasant climate and clear blue waters, with well-equipped marinas which make for easy cruising.
The U.S. Virgin Islands are a sophisticated alternative to their British neighbours. There’s a little bit of everything dotted within the USVIs. Ancient ruins vie with cosmopolitan cities for your attention, while the whole is tied together with that pristine, sparkling water. Deep, lush rainforest tumbles down island slopes to turquoise waters; not just on the main islands of St Thomas, St John and St Croix, but across the whole spread of islets, providing more photo opportunities than you could possibly take advantage of on a single trip.
High impact activity on St Thomas
Considered the more sophisticated cruising ground when compared to the neighbouring British Virgin Islands, the USVIs’ St Thomas boasts buzzing nightlife, shopping galore and plenty of casinos to offer the perfect foil to all that clear blue serenity offshore.
Don’t miss:
- Test your skills on the world-class golf course
- Try your luck in a St Thomas casino
- Climb Charlotte Amalie’s 99 steps for an unbeatable view across the Caribbean
- Sample St Thomas’ three S; shopping, snorkeling and sightseeing
- Visit the second-oldest synagogue in the western hemisphere
- Check out the childhood home of French impressionist, Camille Pissarro
- Take in some steel pan and Calypso in one of St Thomas’ buzzing night spots.
Cross-culture melting pot in St Croix
St Croix serves up a diverse mix due to the many cultures which have left their stamp on it. This diversity continues in the seas surrounding St Croix where you can dive a wall, wreck, pier and reef all in a day.
Don’t miss:
- Explore a colonial-era church
- Explore Buck Island, one of three underwater national monuments in the U.S.
- Take in Crucian culture in Christiansted
- Try surfing a local break at Cane Bay Beach
- Visit Captain Morgan’s distillery
- Feed a non-alcoholic beer to St Croix’s world famous beer-drinking pig at Mt Pelier Domino Club
- Visit the easternmost point in the United States; Point Udall
Quiet bays and pirate wrecks on St John
If all of that activity has you ready to wind down, head to St John to soak up its unique brand of laidback romance. Quiet bays and pirate ruins are a recipe for perfect hours spent exploring, and with 60% of its land area formed from a national park, finding a peaceful spot to take it all in is never a problem.
Don’t miss:
- Step back in time and explore the Annaberg Sugar Plantation Ruins
- Watersports - swimming, diving, waterskiing - whatever takes your fancy, St John is the place to indulge
- Walk the Reef Bay Trail to view ancient Petroglyph rock carvings, before encountering plantation ruins near Genti Bay
- The underwater nature trail at Trunk Bay
- Sample indigenous Caribbean food at one of the locally run restaurants when you hop off the yacht to explore
The islands boast direct flights from many North American cities and capital city, Charlotte Amalie’s port is the most visited in the Caribbean, making the USVIs incredibly easy to reach. Lying in the northern section of the Leeward Islands, this group of islands are a microcosm of the best of the Caribbean, with just as much opportunity to kick up your heels as to lay back with a good book and drift a while.
Contributed by: Jo Morgan
