24 hours in St. Thomas

May 18, 2007 6:47 AM

So I'm going to St. Thomas June 5th for 24 hours... alone. How can I make the most of it? I am excited and scared.

Hey guys. So I'm going on another spur of the moment adventure, and I'd love a little guidance.

So thanks to Spirit Airlines and their awesome specials, I am flying out of Myrtle Beach to St. Thomas June 5th-6th. The trip only cost me $63 bucks, I couldn't turn it down!

Except now I'm flying to an unfamiliar island by myself. I'm 24 years old, adventurous, and I love to get wild and crazy and have a good time.

So here's the question:
I get to the island at 2pm Tuesday, my plane leaves at 3pm Wednesday... what should I do?

I haven't booked a hotel room yet, because I don't know where I should do that. I'd like to get an inexpensive room somewhere within walking distance of a vibrant night life area. Sadly I don't know what part of the island is my best choice. I figured I'd use www.priceline.com to find a cheap hotel deal once I'd settled on a location. I just want to be around friendly people my age. I've heard good things about the Coki Beach area.

Where should I go? What should I do? Will it be easy for an outgoing guy like myself to meet interesting people my age? Any top secret suggestions for getting a cheap room to eventually crash in after soaking up each and every experience possible on a 24 hour trip?

PS. Anyone actually live on/around St. Thomas who would enjoy some spur of the moment MeFi company?

posted by ZackTM to travel & transportation (8 comments total)

I was on/in St. Thomas last year at Christmastime and I was actually surprised at how little "nightlife" there seemed to be. We took a boat over to St. John's and that was a little bit more "action-packed" (shops and etc.) but I didn't see as many clubs/bars as I had expected.
So I'd recommend hopping over there, the boat ride was not expensive. Both islands are beautiful and interesting and a lot of fun - no matter what you end up doing, you'll have a blast!
I'm sure having a drink at one of the bars will lead to interesting conversations and lively people to meet and chum around with!
posted by slyboots421 at 7:01 AM on May 18, 2007

P.S. I'm also 24 and didn't see a TON of people our age around there, but maybe it was the season. Y'know, a little more family-vacation oriented.
posted by slyboots421 at 7:02 AM on May 18, 2007

Pop over to the Love Shack, it is a bar in a tent in front of a strip mall but it is a good place to get things going. You will find tourist and locals there. Behind it, in the two story strip mall itself, is another pub type place that gets going around 1:30 am.

Treat yourself to some awesome sushi at the Buddha bar. It is some of the best I have ever had. The outside of the place looks like hell but once you are inside things get better.

As for beaches... you might try to sneak yourself down to the Ritz- they really can't stop you. It has a subdued but nice bar scene and good people watching believe it or not. The bar tenders pour em strong!

If you are only there for 24 hours I am not sure I would waste my time getting a room. You are going to be out till 4 in the morning easy. The cab ride to the plane is going to be another 30 minutes to an hour and then you have to get through security at the airport.

I say go out for the night, grab an early breakfast somewhere and then head over to the plane- crash at the airport, wake up and go home. You don't really need to worry about cleaning up after the beach. Most folks are sporting the freshly surfed look.

Outside of the resorts things look pretty seedy but don't let it fool you- there is still fun to be had and crime on an island whose economy is based on tourism is usually low- case in point here. All the same, common sense will take you a long way.

I don't know if you are hetro, homo or none of the above but all the locals are pretty nice and you are going to find folks from all over the world working different gigs. Try to hook up with some of the europeans. Everyone speaks english so you should have no problem there. Have good time!
posted by bkeene12 at 7:29 AM on May 18, 2007

my folks live there, so i'm there a lot. i find that younger folks tend toward st. john, as st. thomas really caters more to families, snowbirds, and the cruise ships. you'll meet more locals there.

that said, there are certainly places to go. if you are flying in, the beachcomber or the best western near the airport are both fine and relatively budget. it's a small island and there are always taxis available--i wouldn't bother to sleep over at coki beach, although it is pretty and a great place to hang out for a few hours. if you only have one afternoon and one morning to explore, i would go to magen's bay one day and coki beach the other. plenty of beach activities at both, and they attract enough of a variety of people that you will surely meet some folks to go out with later.

for nightlife (you'll just have to google these) your best bets are the greenhouse, downtown, and the hard rock cafe, also downtown.

you might also look into the shipwreck (near havensight), duffy's (a small place in a parking lot in red hook, so it's hit or miss, but it is one of my favorite places to eat), the warehouse (also in red hook), iggy's (at the bolongo bay resort), and latitude 18 (also near red hook).

have fun!
posted by thinkingwoman at 7:47 AM on May 18, 2007

excellent suggestions so far, I hope they keep coming! I definitely like BKeene12's suggestion of no hotel, because I am a cheapskate whenever possible.
posted by ZackTM at 8:32 AM on May 18, 2007

I was just in St. Thomas in January- I would recommend getting a very cheap place to spend the night in Red Hook.

Spend your first day on the beaches of the nicer hotels there, and hit Duffy's at night (yeah, its in the parking lot of a strip mall, but it does seem to be where people our age go).

The next morning, take an early ferry over to St. John and go on a kayaking trip. I did my 3 hour kaying tour with an awesome girl named Lindsey, I would recommend her. Then spend the time you have left eaching lunch by the beach on St. John (they have several beachside restaurants) and take the ferry back to St. Thomas and fly home.
posted by rmless at 9:40 AM on May 18, 2007

First off, don't expect US-level amenities and efficiency.

I'd recommend St. John for beaches and daytime fun. It's got more nature, a more fun downtown-ish area, and just feels less tacky-touristy. It's like a $6, 20 minute ferry ride away. You won't go to St. Croix, which is much further.

Charlotte Amalie is not the world's safest place at night. There's a reason that some of the hotels there are super gated. Not that you should be freaked out, but it's not Disneyworld.

I think you can take a pretty cheap open-air taxi from Charlotte Amalie to Red Hook, if you are in the mood.

(The Hard Rock Cafe has recently closed. Sorry, thinkingwoman).
posted by ibmcginty at 12:02 PM on May 18, 2007

I wouldn't spend time going to St John. It's going to take up to 40 minutes from the airport to the ferry depending on cruise ship related traffic, then you have to wait for the ferry (both ways) and you'll spend about an hour. hour and a half getting on/off the boat and traveling between the islands. You've already used up a big chunk of your time and haven't really done anything. If you had two days, I'd say to get over there, but not with just one.

St. Thomas is more nightlifey anyway, and the beaches might be better in St John, but not that much better. Greenroom is great for booty-shaking nightlife, I strongly recommend Cuzzins for dinner, and it's worth taking an open air cab over to Magen's Bay if there's only 2 or 3 cruise ships in port (find another beach if there's 5 or 6). This kayak/snorkel tour was excellent, but we were on a tour without any cruisers. I can't vouch for what it's like when there's 20 or more old people and family types. It'd be worth calling ahead (bring your phone, mine didn't incur extra charges for use in the USVI) to see what kind of crowds they were expecting.
posted by jaysus chris at 11:48 PM on May 18, 2007