Soaking in Some Sun on St. Thomas // U.S. Virgin Islands

It was time to get off the boat. Finally. Although it was only a day, not even 24 hours since we set sail, I was eager to disembark from the ship and sink my toes into some soft white sand.

STUNNING St. Thomas >> such an easy trip from NYC! // www.apassionandapassport.com

SIDE NOTE: I have no problem sailing. I actually have learned to enjoy it. I don’t get seasick, have any fear of sailing, or a fear of falling over the edge by any means whatsoever. But I have this need to see everything and do everything on whichever port(s) the ship is stopping at, and lets just say I’m a little impatient. Sure, sitting by the pool on the ship is nice (when you can find an empty lounge chair), but it just doesn’t do it for me. I like adventure (to some extent). Cruises, for me, are all about getting off the ship, as ironic as that may be. However, the fact that I can plop my suitcase down once (and therefore unpack once), is rather appealing.

Since my family has been to St. Thomas numerous times, we decided to skip all the touristy stuff in Charlotte Amalie, and head straight to the beach. Also, since it was the first stop of the week, with our skin being as white as ghosts and all, we knew devoting some true beach time in was a priority of ours mine…

Morningstar Beach deemed to be the best option for us. We had been to Sapphire Beach (a rather popular beach in St. Thomas) in the past, and the taxi drivers’ fare was insane and a complete rip off to us. We were promised that Morningstar, only about 10 minutes away from the port, was just as nice. We took the chance and headed to the South Coast, away from the rest of the tourists heading elsewhere.

And boy, were we surprised. In a fabulous, white sand, blue sky, warm waters kinda way. And yes, I was excited to be on the beach. I’m always excited to be on the beach. Unless that beach is back home in New York… yea, we don’t really get along too well. That cold water and sea weed doesn’t really appeal to me. Could be the fact that I’ve been spoiled with caribbean beaches since I was young… But a St Thomas beach day can never do you wrong (the waters always fantastic!)

So we sat. And we sunbathed. And we drank. And we walked. That was the extent of our time on St. Thomas. It was gorgeous. There were some nice calm waves, which we thoroughly enjoyed to say the least. I’ll leave you with a few photos of the day:

After a day of bumming out, and thankfully not burning to a crisp (which sometimes happens the first day out in the sun), we made our way back to ship, stopping by some cute little shops first. Nothing that we haven’t seen before, so back to the ship it was. Thumbs up to a successful St Thomas beach day!

And I must say, even the departure from St. Thomas was spectacular. You don’t really realize how lush and green the island is when you’re standing on the beach looking out into the open waters. And the cliff-side houses with their colorful roofs just add to the beauty.

An added plus: US residents are not required to have a passport on St. Thomas! So if you are sick of Puerto Rico and are dying for some caribbean beach time, head on over to the US Virgin Islands (stop in St. Croix and St. John as well).