Visitors arrive to the USVIs via St Thomas. The place has a way to strike quite a first impression. Cliffs raised high up in the sky, red roofs blooms over the hills, and all around the clear blue sea, yacht lined up the shore lines. Unfortunately, when you disembark from your plane or boat, you’ll find you’re sharing this scene with 20, 000 tourists who just piled up from the seven cruise ships docked in the harbor.
Years ago, St Thomas made a bargain with the devil: provide us with a good and steady source of income and we’ll give you our innocence and our environment. And so it became the darling of the cruise-ship industry and its two million passengers. In 2007, St. Thomas ranked last in the ‘world’s most beautiful islands’ survey by National Geographic, which called it ‘totally spoiled’ and ‘one big ugly jewelry store.’
That’s true…to an extent. Most of the mob-fest happens in Charlotte Amalie. Visitors who make the effort to move deeper into the 30-sq-mile island will find opportunities for surfing, kayaking through mangrove swamps and getting face-to-face with sea turtles.
An irony from most information you’ll find on the web, its up to you to see for yourself and find out. Sum of all this, there may be more good than a bargain from the devil in this place.