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 saint 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 amalie 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 uh mangus bay you have maho bay you have trunk bay now if you were to ask me which b which island has the best beaches i would say it would come down to saint thomas and st john but i would say overall i felt as though st john just seemed to have a lot more of that uh 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 us 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 uh previous to that uh 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 us dollars with you so go to the atm whenever you get a chance because uh 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 saint thomas at the airport known as cecil king actually it's really close to where i'm at i can actually hear a plane uh 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 we got a jeep it costs 137 a day plus 30 a day for insurance is if you want to go uh two other islands like st john they have a barge where you drive your vehicle onto that barge it costs sixty dollars for a round trip to do that look at here comes an aircraft right here big old american aircraft right there american airlines anyways so the ferries if you don't want to do uh drive your own car onto the barge you can actually get on a high-speed ferry that will take you to saint croix or to uh 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 u.s 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 uh 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 under control so safety in st thomas in st john saint croix from my experience it's been safe although at night i have heard from locals and other tourists that there are some 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 uh out here you drive on the left side of the road not the right side of the road and the steering wheel's 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 man 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've 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 two to three hundred dollars a night so us virgin islands is not affordable for accommodation uh when it comes to the rental cars again 135 dollars a day plus the insurance the gas 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 uh 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 us 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 kalu 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 a staple of the diet and while you're taking down that rum you can also have some johnny cake for those of you who like sponge cake johnny cake might be something that you're into or fungi 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 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 cuisine sushi chinese food thai food and a whole bunch of different cuisine are going to be available to you on this island he wanted to know which one they say is the best for food it's usually between saint croix and st thomas but from what i understood saint thomas takes the cake most of the time st john the food options are kind of limited i will also say on saint 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 saint thomas get a rental car and cross the uh 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 [Music] you

Channel: Island Hopper TV

Views: 84,057

Keywords: 4K, Walking Tour, Virtual Tour, Travel, Vacation, Go Pro Vlog, Travel Guide, US Virgin Islands, St Thomas, St Croix, St John, visit US Virgin Islands, British Virgin Islands, usvi

Id: qaQEJQkGY1s

Length: 10min 12sec (612 seconds)

Published: Sun Oct 31 2021