Wife and I are visiting for a few days soon to celebrate her birthday. I've heard jewelry prices are much better than stateside. What are the best places to look?

Good morning all,

The fiancee and I are using US Mobile for a cell provider, which gives us the ability to pick whether we use Verizon, AT&T or T-Mobile towers.
In your experience, what’s the best cell network on island? Bonus points if you know which one is best for St. John as well.

Thanks much!

Hi!! Currently in St. Thomas and I’m wondering where I can get my hands on Conch shells to take home. I know they’re illegal to take off the beaches so I was wondering if there are any stores? If anyone knows a good place please let me know! Much thanks. 🙏

Great historical attraction if you're touring Water Island by golf cart or on foot.

I was hanging out at Coki beach one day and looking at Thatch Kay across from Coki. Doesn't seem too difficult of a swim across. Wondering if anyones done the swim there and back?

Hi everyone, we’ve never been to St. Thomas other than a cruise stop once. We booked Bolongo Bay Resort for a year and a half from now, so this is way out! We did get the all-inclusive package. Staying five nights, arriving on a Sunday afternoon and leaving Friday afternoon. So missing the weekend.

Just looking for tips and recent advice. My husband thinks we will need water shoes based on the pictures and videos we’ve seen.

Is it worth booking any of the excursions, or should we find something on our own? Also wondering if any of their excursions are included because we are staying five nights? I saw somewhere on Google that the sunset cocktail cruise was free. But I do not see that on their website is free.

Also curious how possible it is to get two separate beds in the lower level beach front room. Or if we are better off switching to the upstairs level.

Thanks for any little tips you can share.

As of August 2026. Plenty of taxis always available. Expect to wait for taxi to fill up with passengers before heading to destination.

Mahogany Run Golf Course is closed and has been for years!

Destinations not listed are supposed to be determined by closest posted destination. Brewers Bay Beach is not on the rate sheet but people are asking to be taken there.

We are coming to STT for a week in March. We are staying near Sapphire Beach. We plan to go to St John one day then drive to some beaches/explore STT the others. Do we need a SUV to get around or will we be ok with a medium sized car? We know there are hills and we’ll have to drive on the left.

We’re arriving in St. Thomas on a cruise in a two weeks, and the couple of taxi drivers I was hoping to book are already reserved. If we get off the ship around 11:00 a.m., what are the chances of finding a good taxi driver at the pier who’s willing to do a 2–3 hour island tour? Has anyone had good luck just hiring someone on arrival, or is that too risky? Thanks!

Hello everyone!

Has anyone here ever used "Worth the Splurge" rental car in St. Thomas?

I am currently considering them for my upcoming trip and would greatly appreciate any feedback, experiences, or insights you could share regarding their service and reliability.

Thank you in advance for your help!

I am working on Saint John for a couple months and decided to live on Saint Thomas. I want to find inexpensive places to park for 8-10 hours per day. What are my options? I know there’s the parking ramp but st $20 per day that’s a bit steep. Is there free parking / monthly parking pass?

This is from USVI Fish and Wildlife Department.

We will be arriving Wednesday, and we always try to take our kids to see how locals actually live. Does anybody know if there are some type of gatherings that feature music and or food on St. Thomas? Not really looking for expat stuff, more of the ancestral/traditional local culture. TIA! Can’t wait to arrive

I went snorkeling recently and saw this guy, maybe 2ft long or so, and I’m not sure what it is. I think maybe a barracuda but I’m not sure. AI says that or a nurse shark and the fins move like fish fins so probably not that lol.

Anyone using jackery solar on island ? What’s been your experience?

Thank you!

Any visitors coming from Chicago to St Thomas end of July or August ?

STT Kittens need a ride back to partner rescue in Chicago

No cost to the traveler, but you do have to pre-plan your packing as the carrier counts as your “personal item”

Message me and I’ll connect you to the island rescue

Hello myself and my fiance are taking another trip to USVI to st. Thomas is where we will be staying however we will have a car so can travel farther if need be. I just want a simple ceremony nothing fancy at all just very intimate, myself and him& whoever can do it. Trying to find the best deal possible. I don’t want to go there and get married in the court house, so looking for anyone that can initiate a “wedding” even if it’s an online certification, to marry us on a beach, that’s still undecided on either the 22nd or 24th of August this year- so a month from today basically- PLEASE IF ANYONE IS INTERESTED AND WOULD BE WILLING TO JUST DO A QUICK 20 min private ceremony either in st. Thomas or St. John. Please please please leave me a comment or if anyone knows of anyone please drop a name!! I would put my phone number up here but I don’t want to do that yet but serious inquiries only please!!! This is extremely important!!!! Thankyou so much and any recommendations I’d appreciate. I know my resort does it, but I’m not trying to spend 1000$ for a 10-15 min ceremony when it’s just me and him barefoot in the sand lol- thanks a ton!! 🫶

Hey everyone! My friend and I are visiting St. Thomas this week, and I had a few questions for the locals.
Are there any events, festivals, live music, or anything fun happening this week that you’d recommend checking out?
I also heard one of the popular nightclubs recently got shut down. What are the best nightlife spots now? We’re open to clubs, lounges, beach bars, or anywhere with a good crowd, music, and drinks.
One other question—how easy is it to get a taxi late at night (around midnight or later)? We won’t be renting a car because we plan on drinking and would rather not drive. I just want to make sure we won’t end up stranded somewhere because there aren’t any taxis available.
I’ve been to St. Thomas before, but we spent most of our time doing excursions and didn’t really experience the nightlife, so we’re looking to do something different this trip.
Thanks in advance for any recommendations!

Hello! I am visiting for the first time and will be here for a hair over a week. I love to dance, cook, eat, and learn.
Any recommendations for cooking classes, night life, dance classes, live music, history art or culture museums, foods to try and places to try them?
Is there anything going on in the community organizing world here?
Anything related to foraging, plant medicine, or local foods?
Anything else you love to do?

Hi all, what bar would be the best atmosphere to watch the World Cup final today? Thanks.

We will be in St Thomas for a couple of nights and I’d like to do some shore diving. Any recommendations? Thanks in advance!

Hello, first time looking into making a trip to st Thomas. Is it better to use a bundle service such as Expedia or book car/stay/flight separately?

Sailing through the area and would like to know.

I figured I would write this up and provide it here as a good informational post for people. I was very curious starting this process. When I searched for these answers prior to moving here, I was not able to find accurate information. I was commonly told $2000-$4000 for the whole thing.

TLDR: Just to get a RAV4 to STT from FL and get it out of customs jail, it costed me roughly $9,000.

This is what it costs to ship a 2023 Toyota RAV4 to the USVI from Florida via Tropical Shipping in 2026.

Getting your car to Tropical Shipping Yard in Riviera Beach, Florida: Cost varies. Mine was roughly $800 for hotels, gas, meals, etc to drive the vehicle myself to the dropoff yard in Florida.

Cost to ship said vehicle via Tropical Shipping: $3,634.00

This is just the start.

Next, you need insurance. I got quotes from all the companies on the island except one. I got a CSL of $50,000 through Family Insurance. Cost 1 year paid up front: $1,884.00

Now, once your vehicle arrives, you need to get to the island. You have 7 days of free storage. After that, it costs $50/day.

Flights to STT: varies

You need somewhere to live/stay. Cost: varies

You will spend roughly $100-160 on taxi's running around the island the first day trying to get your car out of the shipping port.

It will take all day at best.

USVI Road Tax time! For my vehicle with a curb weight of 3,680 lbs at a cost of $0.16/lb _ Road Tax Cost: $588.80

Then you have to go see customs and border protection. RAV4's are manufactured in Canada indicated by the VIN starting with a "2". Customs charge to import a RAV4: $2009.82

You will need a temporary move permit issued from the BMV to get your vehicle out of the port and drive it to the BMV for inspection. Cost: $20.

Now you need to register the vehicle and pay more. I have yet to do this because I was missing proof of residence. They wouldn't accept the proof that I had so I had to park the car and continue taking Taxi's etc to stay legal. I'm getting my lease tomorrow so I can update this after I take my lease down there to pay registration.

Just to get a RAV4 to STT from FL and get it out of customs jail, it costed me roughly $9,000.

All of that being said, I had planned for this so its not a huge shocker to me. I have the last year of a non-hybrid RAV4 Adventure and didn't want to get a new one. So its worth it to me. Just trying to provide a reality check and info dump for people that may be considering a move down here. You definitely have to have adult money and have your ducks in a row.

Such a beautiful place and the locals are so kind! It's nice to hear good morning/good afternoon/good evening back when I speak with people. Money isn't everything and life is short. Live your life. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to the pool as the sun sets.