We are not beach people...Please help!

[AKR2011]

The husband and I are headed back to St. Thomas. We were there in 2013 and ferried over to St. John to visit the National Park, which was a great experience. We ended up back in St. Thomas a few months later in 2014 and took a city tour, visiting the place where they make the banana daiquiris and some other things. Now I am looking for something a bit off the beaten path, and NOT a beach. We are outdoorsy people, husband is a birder and I enjoy hiking. We love hands-on cultural tours too. Can anyone offer any suggestions? Virgin Islands Ecotours look good but all involve snorkeling 😞 Thanks in advance for your help!

[Ms411]

There is a great hiking trail at Magens Bay Beach. You might be able to see it on Google maps, but it's across the road from shed number 3. Look for the sign. It's been mentioned online a few times. At Magens you'll see terns, boonies, and pelicans usually, but the storm blew a lot of birds away but I heard they're coming back. It's lovely just taking a stroll from one end of Magens to the other on both the beach side and on the other side of the road that leads to the trail.

 

There are food tours and those are offered through some ships and you should be able to reserve online. St Thomas Food Tours is one and I think there's another.

 

The fort is now open, but it's closed on weekends and local and national holidays which means it's closed a lot. If you can't do the guided your it's not that interesting, but I got lucky and was able to get a guided tour with a guy named Levi (I think that's his last name). He really brought the fort to life.

 

There are also botanical gardens. Phantasea is the name I remember but I think there's another one. I think that's the one that has peacocks on the property but you can check their website. I haven't been there yet.

 

Water Island is a cool place to go if you rent a golf cart at the ferry dock and drive around the island. One time we hiked the island but it's more of a walk because it's mostly on paved roads. There is at least one map of the roads/trails on Water Island online so you can see where the trails and roads are. St Thomas/ Water Island has a fort built by Danes, the British, and the U.S, but you can't get to the British forts since the storms but you can see them from the Waterfront on Hassel Island in the St Thomas Harbor.

 

The National Park offers a bird walk tour on St John on most Fridays but it's offered too early for cruisers.

 

I am not much of a beach person either so I'm always looking for non beach activities. Cruising in Oct and I've been researching for activities for months already!

 

Edited July 6, 2019 by Ms411

[PORT ROYAL]

On 7/6/2019 at 5:54 AM, Ms411 said:

There is a great hiking trail at Magens Bay Beach. You might be able to see it on Google maps, but it's across the road from shed number 3. Look for the sign. It's been mentioned online a few times. At Magens you'll see terns, boonies, and pelicans usually, but the storm blew a lot of birds away but I heard they're coming back. It's lovely just taking a stroll from one end of Magens to the other on both the beach side and on the other side of the road that leads to the trail.

 

There are food tours and those are offered through some ships and you should be able to reserve online. St Thomas Food Tours is one and I think there's another.

 

The fort is now open, but it's closed on weekends and local and national holidays which means it's closed a lot. If you can't do the guided your it's not that interesting, but I got lucky and was able to get a guided tour with a guy named Levi (I think that's his last name). He really brought the fort to life.

 

There are also botanical gardens. Phantasea is the name I remember but I think there's another one. I think that's the one that has peacocks on the property but you can check their website. I haven't been there yet.

 

Water Island is a cool place to go if you rent a golf cart at the ferry dock and drive around the island. One time we hiked the island but it's more of a walk because it's mostly on paved roads. There is at least one map of the roads/trails on Water Island online so you can see where the trails and roads are. St Thomas/ Water Island has a fort built by Danes, the British, and the U.S, but you can't get to the British forts since the storms but you can see them from the Waterfront on Hassel Island in the St Thomas Harbor.

 

The National Park offers a bird walk tour on St John on most Fridays but it's offered too early for cruisers.

 

I am not much of a beach person either so I'm always looking for non beach activities. Cruising in Oct and I've been researching for activities for months already!

 

 

Think this is the best post on CC.  A wonderful informative personal post from a private person, and not by someone who looks to increase hits for their website in order to increase their income.

Edited July 8, 2019 by PORT ROYAL
Typo

[Ms411]

Wow! Thank you Port Royal! That's quite a compliment and I thank you for posting.

 

The more I travel the more I see the same recommendations over and over no matter where I look. It's like they assume everybody is visiting for the first time and they all want the same thing.

 

I like walking and talking when I'm traveling. Walking neighbirhoods and talking to people. I like shopping at local grocery stores and trying new snacks and small meals. Very seldom are those experiences posted on popular travel sites.

 

Hopefully I can contribute more non beach activities on other islands after my cruise. I have been to the islands on this itinerary before but with newbies so my focus was different.

 

Again, thanks for your very kind words.

 

[AKR2011]

Thank you so much, Ms411! That is so helpful. For some reason, one of the bugs with Cruise Critic right now is that I am unable to see my alerts. I had to go to my profile to see that you had responded, thus my late response here. I will definitely look up all of your suggestions. I truly appreciate all of your help! 👍