Everything You NEED TO KNOW Visiting US Virgin Islands 2022

What's going on everybody? This is Island Hopper TV coming to you from the U.S. Virgin Islands. We're going to do a things to know when you visit. Let's get into it. First thing to talk about is the island geography. Three main islands in the U.S. Virgin Islands. St. Thomas, St. John, and St. Croix. St. John and St. Thomas are very close together. In fact, the main airport when you arrive is going to be on St. Thomas. Now the big city, the capital, is Charlotte Amali. If you include all of the islands and k's around the U.S. Virgin Islands, you're upwards of around 50 in total. If you look offshore right now, you would see smaller islands just off the shore, uninhabited, literal virgin islands. So that's something that I thought you needed to know first. So let's talk about beaches. As you can see right here, this is just one of many, and I mean over 50, that I've been to since I've been here, where the water is clear, the sand is beautiful. This one is average compared to what you can get. Mangus Bay, you have Maho Bay, you have Trunk Bay. Now if you were to ask me which island has the best beaches, I would say it would come down to St. Thomas and St. John, but I would say overall I felt as though St. John just seemed to have a lot more of that beautiful water. Now there are beautiful beaches on St. Thomas, but I would say St. John really took the cake when it comes down to it. And most of the beaches on both islands are going to be facing on the north side of the island. Some more things to know about the U.S. Virgin Islands. It is a U.S. territory that was bought by the United States in 1917 from Denmark, so its history is with Denmark and Norway. Previous to that, the people that lived here, Native Indigenous people, as well as Christopher Columbus, believed to have discovered this area in 1493. Another thing to know is when you come here, you don't necessarily need a passport. In fact, you don't need a passport because it is a U.S. territory. They also transact in U.S. dollars, and they do prefer cash transactions. They will take some of your credit cards in certain places, but for the most part, you're going to want to carry U.S. dollars with you, so go to the ATM whenever you get a chance because the beaches do charge also. So I just wanted to point that out about the transaction, the currency, mostly in cash, although some places will take your Amex or your Visa. All right, let's talk about transportation. When you arrive at the islands, like I said previously, you're going to arrive in St. Thomas at the airport known as Cecil King. Actually, it's really close to where I'm at. I can actually hear a plane turning its propellers right now. When I arrived from Puerto Rico, I flew in on a twin-engine aircraft, very small with Silver Airlines, but I have seen Delta, large 757s, 767s, United, American, so big airlines do fly in here. Now, when it comes to getting around the island, they do have taxis, but they don't have Uber, okay? So going to your hotel, you can ask, who's your preferred taxi? They will give you a list of numbers that you can call or you can meet somebody at the airport, but the best way to get around the island is going to be in an actual car that you rent from Hertz or Avis, one of the rental car companies here. Most of the rental cars are going to be Jeeps. I personally, we got a Jeep. It costs $137 a day plus $30 a day for insurance because if you want to go to other islands like St. John, they have a barge where you drive your vehicle onto that barge. It costs $60 for a round trip to do that. Look it, here comes an aircraft right here. Big old American aircraft right there, American Airlines. Anyways, so the ferries, if you don't want to drive your own car onto the barge, you can actually get on a high-speed ferry that will take you to St. Croix or to St. John. All right, let's talk about transportation to BVI, British Virgin Islands. Very close, within close proximity to the USVI, but the problem is you have to have proper medical clearance to get over there. From what I understand, BVI is a little bit more strict than you have here in the US Virgin Islands with getting in with that medical clearance, if you know what I'm saying. So just make sure if you do choose to do that, that you talk to the proper ferry company that can get you there, but also make sure you have proper documents to get in there. Yeah, so even though it's really close, like I said, not as easy as you would hope to get into the British Virgin Islands, although I hear they're beautiful. Virgin Gorda, Tortola. So hopefully you guys can get there, depending on what time of the year or when you actually watch this video. Maybe it is open by then. So let's talk about safety. Now, I did read articles before I came here. In 2009, there was some armed robbery incidents that had happened, but it seems like they've gotten it under control. So safety in St. Thomas, in St. John, St. Croix, from my experience, it's been safe. Although at night, I have heard from locals and other tourists that there are certain areas in the towns, in the city centers, that you just shouldn't be going to. So if you do go out, try to go out with a group of friends. Don't get too drunk or carried away with anything like that, but safety with the people, pretty safe from my experience. I would say you're not going to have any issues. I haven't seen anything or heard of anything since I've been here, but the things that I did hear about was someone was hiking and they fell off a cliff, so be careful with that. And I would also say be conscious of driving too fast around here, because the locals, they definitely drive fast, and you don't want to be in a situation where you're an unskilled driver driving on the wrong side of the road, okay, because out here, you drive on the left side of the road, not the right side of the road, and the steering wheel is still on the same side, just you're on the left. Something interesting. So if you're not used to that, I would say don't get too carried away with driving fast around here. The streets, the roads, they are really tight, so I would say the driving and the hiking, that's some of the most dangerous stuff you're actually going to do here, but it's not really that dangerous. The people here, yes, they're very friendly, but they're on island time. That means they take it slow, except for when they're driving, of course. Now, one of the things you can do to make your stay easier here is be friendly. Ask them, how are they? You know, how was your day? How's your night? How are you, sir? How are you, ma'am? Stuff like that goes a long way for respect because that is part of the island way, so being respectful, being polite, going out of your way to check on their wellness, very important. People here are going to be friendly overall, but they do have the island time vibe, meaning you got to slow it down a little bit. Let's talk about pricing in the U.S. Virgin Islands. So from my experience, I found that you couldn't find anything under $150 a night. After taxes, it really goes up from there. When it comes to Airbnbs, yes, they have them, but when you factor in cleaning fees, you're still paying around $200 to $300 a night. So U.S. Virgin Islands is not affordable for accommodation. When it comes to the rental cars, again, $135 a day, plus the insurance. The gas, it seemed like today I filled up, it was $379 at just a regular gas station. The food prices, you know, for a dinner, $15 per meal and up from there depending on where you go, but overall, I would say the prices are comparable to something like Hawaii. Really, the thing with the accommodation is it's limited because of the hurricane that hit, so do keep that in mind when you come down here. All right, when you come out to the U.S. Virgin Islands, you're going to want to try a variety of different Caribbean cuisines, including conch fritters. I know that sounds kind of unique. You guys who've been to Key West already know what's going on with that. They also have callaloo, which is a soup, and then lots and lots of rum. They have pate, which is kind of like a French influence. So you have these variety of different cuisines that come together out here in the islands, and this is kind of the staple of the diet. And while you're taking down that rum, you can also have some Johnny Cake. For those of you like sponge cake, Johnny Cake might be something that you're into, or fungi, however you want to say it, but it's like an okra and a mushroom. It's a really good cuisine that you can get at any one of these local restaurants in town. So many different cuisines that you'll want to try. All you have to do sometimes is just sit down at the bar and say, hey, what's a local cuisine? Me personally, I had some fried shrimp and I had some blackened shrimp with some french fries. I also had a burger while I was here, so they have lots of that. Even some barbecue, you know, they had a Texas style barbecue. Lots of different cuisines. Sushi, Chinese food, Thai food, and a whole bunch of different cuisines are going to be available to you on this island. If you wanted to know which one they say is the best for food, it's usually between St. Croix and St. Thomas, but from what I understood, St. Thomas takes the cake most of the time. St. John, the food options are kind of limited. I will also say on St. Thomas, I saw at least three different McDonald's and three different KFC along with a Pizza Hut. So for those of you who have kids, that food might work out for you as well. So in conclusion, I would say when you come to the U.S. Virgin Islands, prepare to arrive in St. Thomas, get a rental car, and cross the channel over to St. John with that rental car on the barge. That would be my best bet for getting around the island. Yes, the taxi cabs exist, but if you want that real adventure, you're going to want to rent a car. But if you're looking to just chill out, just find a pretty beach and get a hotel or Airbnb nearby.