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St. Thomas cruise port: what to do in 4 hours
Your ship is in port for 4 hours or so? Once you subtract getting off, the way back and a margin before all aboard, you have roughly 2 to 3 hours to enjoy. This is what a 4-hour stop makes possible.
Best use of 4 hours
- Skyride to Paradise Point (1.5 h, at the pier): A cable car lifts you from across the road at Havensight to a hilltop bar and lookout over the harbour and the cruise ships. The quickest view on the island if you have little time.
- Downtown Charlotte Amalie (2.5 h, 10 min away): Danish-era warehouses turned into jewellery and duty-free shops along Main Street, the red Fort Christian, Emancipation Garden, and the 99 Steps up the hill past old houses. Shade is scarce at midday.
- Drake's Seat and Mountain Top (2.5 h, 20 min away): The classic short island drive: the lookout over Magens Bay and the British Virgin Islands at Drake's Seat, then the shop and bar on Mountain Top. Most safari taxis offer this as a two-hour loop.
- Brewers Bay (3 h, 20 min away): A quiet beach by the university, near the airport and closest to Crown Bay. Calm water and few facilities; popular with locals and good for snorkelling along the rocks.
- Magens Bay (3.5 h, 20 min away): A long, sheltered horseshoe of sand on the north side, run as a park with an entrance fee, lifeguards, a bar and loungers for rent. The most popular beach for cruise guests.
- Coki Beach and Coral World (3.5 h, 25 min away): Small, busy beach on the north-east coast where fish swarm over the reef a few metres from the sand. Next door, Coral World Ocean Park has an underwater observatory and marine animal encounters.
- Snorkel sail to Buck Island (4 h, 5 min away): Half-day catamaran trips sail out of the harbour to Buck Island and Turtle Cove, where green turtles graze over the seagrass and a sunken freighter lies in shallow water.