My family’s visit to St. Thomas was an unplanned one. Originally, we had been anticipating our departure to Poland for several months. We were going to visit Krakow, Warsaw, and my great grandparent’s hometown, Rzeszow. Unfortunately, we discovered the night before our flight that my passport’s validity was ten days shy of meeting the Schengen Area Requirement.
My mom was still eager to travel somewhere despite the disappointment. So, within 24 hours, we were off to the Caribbean.
St. Thomas was absolutely beautiful. It was a unique time to visit the island considering the fact that its population was still recovering from the devastation of two massive hurricanes.
The people’s attitudes reflected the roughed-up landscape, but despite the tragedy, we encountered plenty of kindness and witnessed so much community.
Not to mention, the lizards were fun to be greeted by in the morning –
Below are some of the beaches we went to:
Coki Point Beach –
This beach is fantastic to visit if you’re interested in scuba diving, snorkeling, and meeting locals!
Magens Bay Beach –
I had the opportunity to go paddle boarding (my first time) and enjoyed the quiet away from the crowded beach – it’s only crowded really when the cruises pull in to the island.
Trunk Bay (St. John) –
Trunk Bay must’ve been my favorite beach. Because of the hurricanes, the beaches are very empty due to abandoned establishments. It was quiet and relaxing and later that day we had a chance to swim with sea turtles!
First you have to ferry on over, which is a bit of a stressful time, but it’s definitely worth the relaxation in the end.
People are allowed to snorkel near the rocks in the image above.
Although we weren’t planning a tropical getaway, we sure had fun!
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