St Thomas - Gorgeous Caribbean Port

From my Norwegian Epic Cruise in Nov 2012

Magens Bay

This was my second time visiting St Thomas as a cruise port and as always I wanted to explore new territory.  My first time was a wonderful visit to Coral World Ocean Park which was a fun experience of observing sea life from their undersea observatory for both me and my young son.  For this second visit, I was inspired by the gorgeous pictures I had seen of Magen's bay.  Little did I know what a great choice spending the morning at this big beautiful beach would turn out to be!

View From Our Drive

Right off the ship, I grabbed a one-way taxi for $8 to Magens Bay.  After waiting a few minutes for the 5 rows in the open air make-shift Jeep to fill up, we headed out on the "wrong" side of the road. I found it ironic as I saw American flags, the boy scouts building, a US court house and yet we were driving on the left hand side of the street.  The driving was reminiscent of other countries I have been in with narrow roads, hairpin turns, and speeds way too fast for the conditions.  I don't normally get motion sick but I had to keep my eyes in front of me instead of taking in the lovely sea views or I was going to lose my breakfast!

Once we arrived at Magen's Bay, I did what I do.  Explore!  I walked the full length of the beach both ways to find the best place to settle in for a couple of hours.  I found said place at the far end from where the taxi dropped us. Not only were there a lot less people but there were 30 or 40 pelicans fishing for their morning meal.  It was spectacular to watch bird after bird dive bomb down into the water and then pop back up.  Sometimes two at once would dive down to virtually the same spot.  I have seen birds fish before and have always thought it fascinating to watch but this was the best yet!  As I sat there and watched, I wondered if they got a fish on every try or if it took 2 or 3 or even 5 tries before they were successful.  I did know that they wouldn't quit until they got what they needed no matter how many tries it took. 

After watching the nature show for quite awhile, I decided to see what kind of show I could see under water so I put on my snorkel gear.  It didn't take me long to find out why there were so many pelicans fishing in this spot.  There were hundreds, no thousands of small silver fish swimming around.  I have never seen so many fish in one place in my life.  My presence and others did not bother the fish or the pelicans.  The birds just kept right on diving down, sometimes only a few feet away from me.  The fish only swam away when a huge two foot long silver fish would occasionally swim by.  The first one I saw at that size startled me and I hoped he didn't eat people!  

I started getting hungry so it was time to head back to town. My goal was to find a spot with wifi for lunch so I could text and/or call my hubby and son.  After two failed attempts, I found a lovely hidden beer garden claiming to have the worlds best margarita.  Although there was no wifi here either, I decided to stay for the ambiance and the Virgin Islands beer which I later found out is brewed in the US.  I found more irony! They drive on the left side of the street and don't have wifi but they brew their "local" beer in the US.  I sat next to a lively older couple from Florida at the bar and we had an enjoyable chat while I ate a fresh fish sandwich and drank my tasty Tropical Mango Pale Ale.  It was a travel moment to be archived in the enrichment files of life! 

After lunch I went in search of wifi again.  There were six cruise ships in port including Royal Caribbean's Allure of the Seas, the largest cruise ship at sea, so the streets were very busy.  Much busier than I prefer so I was beginning to wish I had stayed at Magens Bay.  I finally struck gold in an area of shops that was set up like an outdoor mall.  I got to text my boys and post on Facebook so my wifi mission was finally complete.  

Walkway to the Cruise Port

I wasn't sure of the best way back to the ship.  I knew I would prefer to walk if possible but one of my cab-mates had told me it wasn't safe.  This seemed doubtful to me with all of the tourism so I asked a friendly bartender from the US if a walk back to the ship was advisable.  Not only is it safe, but it's a lovely walk through a beautiful scenic yacht community.  I was glad I asked!  As I started walking, I happened upon a gentleman who looked at me as though I were crazy when I told him I was walking back to the ship.  You would think it was a 10 mile walk by his attitude and the mass of other people flocking to the taxi cabs to get a ride back.  Now the walk is only one mile and as I mentioned it's a lovely walk at that.  If I ever think that a one mile walk along the Caribbean Sea is too long, shoot me! 

Sailing Away from St Thomas

We were back on the ship early which was nice because I got to watch us leave St Thomas in the daylight, taking in gorgeous island views as we sailed away. To cap off a great Caribbean day at port, that night was a gorgeous full moon at sea. I love the way the moonlight shines on the water, so soft and yet bright enough to light up the night.  As I gazed at such beauty at sea from my balcony, I knew this was one of the many reasons I will always love cruising.  The beauty of the moon over the Caribbean was food for my soul!


I hope you have enjoyed reading my entry from this Traveling Travel Agent's travels!  I am a travel agent because I love to travel and I love helping other people travel! Through strategic partnerships, I offer my clients preferred rates, complimentary upgrades and extra amenities like wine or shipboard credit. If you would like to receive travel offers from my agency, Purple Palm Vacations, please sign up for our Exclusive Travel Specials.