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ST. THOMAS: ISLAND ROADWAY ADVENTURES
Roads, Neighborhoods & Sights From St. Thomas, USVI
Photo Page 2 of 4
Caribbean Beach - Copyrighted
Beautiful beaches await, but you may be in for an adventure getting to them!.


  Welcome to the St. Thomas Cruise Ship Destination web site.  Thank you for visiting.

  This web site provides pictures and information for people visiting the Caribbean island of St. Thomas.  It is especially tailored for cruise ship passengers arriving in St. Thomas for only a day.

   This is one of a series of pages that share pictures and visitor information about St. Thomas.  If you would like to start our "virtual tour" from the beginning, please click here.

   The previous page showed how a taxi coordinator assigns cruise ship passengers to taxis going various places around the island.  The system may be logical, but it didn't work well for us.
    When we told the taxi coordinator our destination (Sapphire Bay Beach), she directed us to waiting 15 passenger van.  Once we were inside, the doors closed and the taxi van drove away.  The driver then stopped about half a block away from the dock.  We didn't understand what was happening.
    He made us (and several other cruise ship passengers) wait until his taxi van was completely full of passengers.  This took about 20 minutes.  The driver was grumpy.  He didn't care about getting us to our destination in a timely manner... or even explain how long we would have to wait.  He only wanted to insure that he van was filled with paying customers.
    After packing the van full, he drove fast and recklessly on the twisted mountain roadways.  The van rattled and the glass was cracked.  The professional appearance of the taxi system at the dock gave way to the reality of third world craziness.  Honestly, it was scary.
    Our return trip was with a different taxi driver.  He was a much better driver and a much nicer man.

    TAXI TIP:  If you are not immediately happy with your taxi driver or the way he treats you, WALK AWAY!  Tell the taxi coordinator and wait for another cab.  In St. Thomas you will have long taxi rides over hilly terrain.  It's important that you have a safe driver with whom you are comfortable.

   Note:  This page contains several high resolution, large size photographs.  As such this these  pictures may take extra time to download, especially with a dial-up internet connection.  If some pictures are missing, click your browser's "Refresh" button.
    Double-click any photograph to enlarge.


Map Of St. Thomas - Copyrighted
        Take a look at this map of St. Thomas.  It shows the entire island.  Note how many of the most popular destinations are spread out far away from the cruise ship dock.  Popular destinations are indicated by blue asterisks.
        You'll need a taxi if you want to visit the wonderful beaches at Sapphire Bay or Magens Bay.  You'll also need a taxi to catch the ferry to St. John's (the ferry is at Red Hook) or visit Coral World.
       It may be possible to walk from the cruise ship dock to the downtown shopping district.  However, the streets are crowded with traffic and the walkways are difficult for pedestrians.  Most cruise ship passengers are more comfortable taking the short and relatively inexpensive taxi ride from the dock to downtown.
       To give you an idea of island travel time, note the circled star over Charlotte Amalie (the location of the cruise ship dock.)  It takes about 30 minutes to get from the dock to Sapphire Bay (and Red Hook) on the island's northeast side.
       The roads in St. Thomas are all two lanes wide with many steep grades.


St. Thomas Tourism Taxi - Copyrighted
   St. Thomas drivers us the road's left-hand side.  This picture was taken on the hill leading east away from the cruise ship dock in Charlotte Amalie.  Our taxi (van) is speeding up the steep incline.  Other vehicles (including the white and yellow taxi van seen in the picture) are speed down the hill.  Drivers were taking tight turns very quickly.  These road conditions and crazy driving style were immediately concerning to everyone in our taxi van.


Crazy Taxi Ride - Copyrighted
   Taxi van passengers braced themselves throughout the fast and hilly ride.  In some cases passengers held on to keep from flying out of their seats.


St. Thomas Harbor - Copyrighted
   A view from out the taxi's window.  It was taken high on a hill overlooking St. Thomas Harbor.


St. Thomas Houses - Copyrighted
   Another view from the taxi's window.  Many homes on St. Thomas are built into the hillsides.

St. Thomas Trash Dumpsters - Copyrighted
   After being on a luxurious cruise ship we immediately felt the contrast in surroundings.  Island residents dump their trash in large dumpsters.  The dumpsters are simply left along the side of the road.
Old Derelict Boat - Copyrighted
   We passed marinas along the way to Red Hood/Sapphire Bay.  We didn't expect to see large numbers of derelict boats just left along the side of the road.
Red Hook, St. Thomas - St. John's Ferry - Copyrighted
   This was our taxi stop in Red Hook for the ferry to St. John's.   The condition of this area was well below what we had come to expect from travel brochures.
    I don't point out these things to knock St. Thomas.  Island residents have limited landfill space and economic opportunities.  Cruise ship passengers should be aware of the sometimes impoverished conditions that exist on Caribbean islands.   Not everything is going to look "postcard perfect."


Sapphire Bay Resorts - Copyrighted
   The scenery began to improve dramatically as we neared the entrance to the Sapphire Bay Beach resorts.


Sapphire Bay Beach Resort - Copyrighted
   This was the scene as we came down the mountain and headed into the Sapphire Bay area.


White Sand Beach, Caribbean - Copyrighted
   Once you arrive at the beach things are dramatically better.  This picture shows the beach at Sapphire Bay.

   Now that we've finally arrived, it's time to enjoy the wonderful Caribbean beaches!  Click here to continue our virtual tour of St. Thomas.

CONTACT
  Click here to contact the author of this web site.
Thank you for visiting the St. Thomas Cruise Ship Destination web site.


NEXT:
St. Thomas Caribbean Beach Pictures


Return To Cruise 101: A Beginner's Guide To Cruise Ships





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