How to Spend 5 Days on St. Thomas, Virgin Islands

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Sapphire Beach

How to Spend 5 Days on St. Thomas, Virgin Islands

St. Thomas is the most popular of the US Virgin Islands and welcomes hundreds of visitors daily who arrive by cruise ships or air. The island is rich in history and has truly magnificent beaches. It’s a great vacation destination, especially in the winter time. We spent 5 days on St. Thomas in December 2021 (and 6 days on St. John) and enjoyed every minute of it. Below are my recommendations on how to spend 5 days on St. Thomas, Virgin Islands.

How to spend 5 days on St. Thomas, Virgin Islands

We flew into St. Thomas in the evening, rented a car at the airport and drove to our wonderful studio in the Sapphire Village, near Red Hook. Because we were quite tired, we decided to just eat at Sudis, the restaurant/ bar on the premises. It was great to sit outside, enjoy the tropical warmth, and finally relax after a long journey from the West Coast.

Day 1:

Explore Charlotte Amalie

We started out first day by exploring Charlotte Amalie, the capital city of the US Virgin Islands. The town has a rich history and its multicultural influences are evident in the food, architecture, and culture. If you want to learn about the history of St. Thomas, do a self- guided walk through the historic part of town. Stop by some of the most historic buildings, such as Fort Christian, the Governor’s Mansion or Blackbeard Castle, many of which go back to the 19th century. Hike the 99 Steps among lavish vegetation, and admire the views over Charlotte Amalie and its harbor from above. Don’t forget to stroll along Main Street, one of the main shopping streets in town. Pop into some souvenir stores and check out the courtyards with restaurants and tropical plants. It’s enjoyable, especially when there are not many people around.

Relax at Magens Bay

Once we had our fill of Charlotte Amalie, we headed to Magens Bay Beach for a few hours of relaxation. Magens Beach is a prefect introduction to the region often called America’s paradise. The palm-fringed, white sand beach with crystal clear water is beautiful. It was fun to sit in the shade and enjoy the views. Both, the swimming and snorkeling were great, snorkeling especially to the right side of the beach. There is a fun beach bar, which we visited for our first Painkiller (a delicious tropical dark rum cocktail), and a local IPA. You can take your drinks onto the beach, which was very convenient. Remember, Magens Bay is the most popular beach on the island  and a large number of cruise ship passengers visit the beach. I recommend checking the schedule, and heading to Magens Bay when there are no cruise ships in port. That’s what we did.
After a full day outdoors, we headed back to Red Hook. There is a good selection of restaurants and bars to choose from, many of which have a great view of the water and the adjacent marina. I recommend the Tap and Still. It’s casual and fun.

Day 2:

Enjoy Sapphire Beach

Since we were going to spend 5 days on St. Thomas, we opted to make our second day pretty much laid back. We were staying at the Sapphire Village resort, so the Sapphire Beach was within a 5 minute walk from our condo. Sapphire Beach is a lovely beach, which offers everything you might expect of a Caribbean beach. The water is turquoise blue, the snorkeling and swimming are great, and the sand is soft and white. The palm trees and sea grapes provide shade, and serve as home to the mighty iguanas. Truthfully, you could easily spend your entire vacation on Sapphire Beach! The Sapphire Beach Bar is a great place to enjoy a drink. I tried a Rum Punch this time, which, had it been weaker, would have been really good.

Visit a local fruit stand

After spending several hours on the beach, we decided to do some local produce shopping. Whenever we travel to tropical areas, we love to eat the local fruit. The Virgin Islands, apparently, don’t grow a lot of their own produce, and actually import most of it from either the neighboring islands or the US mainland. But, as you drive around St. Thomas, you’re bound to find a few stands with giant local mangoes, avocados, papayas, baby bananas, as well as cucumbers and tomatoes. There is a local stand in Charlotte Amalie, right in the Market Square. The one we visited several times was south of Red Hook, on highway 32. The lady is there every day, so that’s convenient.

Explore Red Hook

Later that day, we decided to explore the little town of Red Hook. The business district is actually quite small, but there are several souvenir shops, and quite a few restaurants to choose from. There is also a great coffee shop, Lattes in Paradise, which we visited daily. In addition to coffee, they serve great breakfast sandwiches. Many of the businesses overlook Vessup Bay, so it’s really enjoyable to have dinner or a few drinks outdoors.  Just so you know, Red Hook also has a good quality grocery store – Moe’s Fresh Market where you can buy all the groceries you may need. 

Day 3:

Admire the magical Lindquist Beach

We planned for a busy day of sightseeing on day 3. We started early with a few hours on Lindquist Beach, located in Smith Bay. Lindquist Beach was, in fact, one of my favorite beaches on St. Thomas. The calm shallow water, the lovely setting, and the fact that not many tourists come here, make Lindquist Beach a hidden gem. Because Smith Bay is a marine protected park, there is an entrance /parking fee of $5 per person. We arrived before the booth opened, so there was no charge.

Swim with the turtles at Brewers Bay

After several hours of enjoying the morning sun, we decided to explore more of the island. Our first destination was, well, another beach – Brewers Bay. Brewers Bay is a beach mostly frequented by the locals, with picnic tables and showers. It is a gorgeous beach with calm waters. We saw multiple turtles here and a lot of fish. This beach is very close to the airport, so if you have time before your flight, this is a good place to come to. We actually did that before our flight back home, so Brewers Bay was a beach we visited twice. Several food trucks come to Brewers Bay regularly, and I highly recommend trying their pates. Those meat stuffed pastries are a local specialty and are wonderful.

Enjoy a banana daiquiri and the sweeping views from Mountain Top

Once we had gotten enough sun for the day, we drove up to Mountain Top, the highest point on St. Thomas, to enjoy panoramic views of Magens Bay and other islands. We had some clouds that day but the views were still great. Mountain Top claims to be home to a banana daiquiri, so why not enjoy one while admiring the views? If you want to do some shopping, you’re at the right spot, too, as Mountain Top has a large gift shop with lots of souvenir things.

Stop at Drake's Seat and Charlotte Amalie Overlook

From Mountain Top, we continued east on Highway 40 until we reached another view point, the frequently visited Drake’s Seat. This overlook offers views similar to Mountain Top, over the lovely Magens Bay and the British Virgin Islands.  A few miles further east, this time on the right hand side, you will come to Charlotte Amalie Overlook. From here, you will be able to admire Charlotte Amalie and its harbor, as well as Hassel Island and Water Island. The views are splendid, well worth the trip.

Finally, after a busy day outdoors, it was great to go to Red Hook for a happy hour drink and a dinner. Island Time Pub was our choice this time. Great deck and great vibes.

Day 4:

Sapphire Beach again

We had a slow morning on day 4. We drove to Red Hook for a latte and breakfast at Lattes in Paradise, which was a great way to start the day. Afterwards, we returned to Sapphire Beach for a few hours on the beach. After a busy day the day before, it was nice to enjoy a relaxing morning.

Kayak the Mangrove Lagoon

Later in the day, we headed to the Mangrove Lagoon. While preparing for the trip, we read a lot about kayaking the lagoon with the Virgin Islands Ecotours and decided to do that. However, rather than going on a tour, we opted to just rent kayaks ($29 pp for 4 hours) and explore on our own. It was enjoyable to kayak among the mangroves, check out Cas Cay and hike to the Red Point Blow Hole. We had previousely seen the Spuoting Horn in Hawaii and another blowhole on the Oregon Coast, but the hike was nice and we got to see a lot of hermit crab. Overall, kayaking among the mangroves was a neat thing to do but except for a stingray and hermit crab, we didn’t see a lot of marine life.  

Day 5:

Coki Beach

Time passes quickly on a great vacation and our 5 days on St. Thomas were quickly coming to an end. On the last day, we decided to spend the morning relaxing on Coki Beach. This was another lovely beach with great snorkeling, calm water, and white sand. This is a popular beach as many tourists go to the nearby Coral World Ocean Park and afterwards visit Coki Beach. Since we arrived early, we didn’t have issues with parking but may be limited, so keep that in mind.
Red Hook ferry to St. John

Havensight

After we left Coki Beach we drove back to Red Hook and took an early ferry to St. John.  However, if you still want to do some more sightseeing, I recommend checking out Havensight. We visited it after our visit to St. John, on the way to the airport, as we had several hours to spare. Havensight is a big shopping mall and a harbor where some of the cruise ships dock. It was interesting to see just what it was about since it is always mentioned in the guidebooks and travel blogs. We didn’t spend much time there but if you are into shopping, this would be a good place to shop.

Take a ferry to St. John

Taking a ferry to St. John from Red Hook is easy and inexpensive. There are passenger ferries as well as car barges running virtually every hour. Even if you’re not going to be able to stay on St. John overnight, you still must, in my opinion, visit St. John even for a day. The national park has splendid beaches and sugar plantation ruins, which deserve to be seen. Click on the link above to read about the most beautiful beaches on St. John. They are truly spectacular.

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