what's going on everybody this is island hopper tv coming to you
from the u.s virgin islands we're going to do a things to know when you visit let's get into it
first thing to talk about is the island geography three main islands in the u.s virgin islands
st thomas st john and saint croix st john and st thomas are very close together in fact the
main airport when you arrive is going to be on st thomas now the big city the capital is charlotte
amalie if you include all of the islands and k's around the u.s virgin islands you're upwards of
around 50 in total if you look offshore right now you would see smaller islands just off the
shore uninhabited literal virgin islands so that's something that i thought you needed to know first
so let's talk about beaches as you can see right here this is just one of many and i mean
over 50 that i've been to since i've been here where the water is clear the sand is beautiful
this one is average compared to what you can get uh mangus bay you have maho bay you have trunk bay
now if you were to ask me which b which island has the best beaches i would say it would come down to
saint thomas and st john but i would say overall i felt as though st john just seemed to have a
lot more of that uh beautiful water now there are beautiful beaches on st thomas but i would say st
john really took the cake when it comes down to it and most of the beaches on both islands are going
to be facing on the north side of the island some more things to know about the us virgin islands it
is a u.s territory that was bought by the united states in 1917 from denmark so its history is
with denmark and norway uh previous to that uh the people that lived here native indigenous
people as well as christopher columbus believed to have discovered this area in 1493. another
thing to know is when you come here you don't necessarily need a passport in fact you don't need
a passport because it is a u.s territory they also transact in u.s dollars and they do prefer cash
transactions they will take some of your credit cards in certain places but for the most part
you're going to want to carry us dollars with you so go to the atm whenever you get a chance because
uh the beaches do charge also so i just wanted to point that out about the transaction the currency
mostly in cash although some places will take your amex or your visa all right let's talk about
transportation when you arrive at the islands like i said previously you're going to arrive
in saint thomas at the airport known as cecil king actually it's really close to where i'm at i can
actually hear a plane uh turning its propellers right now when i arrived from puerto rico i flew
in on a twin engine aircraft very small with silver airlines but i have seen delta large
757s 767s united american so big airlines do fly in here now when it comes to getting around the
island they do have taxis but they don't have uber okay so going to your hotel you can ask
who's your preferred taxi they will give you a list of numbers that you can call or you can
meet somebody at the airport but the best way to get around the island is going to be in an actual
car that you rent from hertz or avis one of the rental car companies here
most of the rental cars are going to be jeeps i personally we got a we got a jeep it costs 137 a
day plus 30 a day for insurance is if you want to go uh two other islands like st john they have a
barge where you drive your vehicle onto that barge it costs sixty dollars for a round trip to do that
look at here comes an aircraft right here big old american aircraft right there american airlines
anyways so the ferries if you don't want to do uh drive your own car onto the barge you can actually
get on a high-speed ferry that will take you to saint croix or to uh st john
all right let's talk about transportation to bvi british virgin islands very close within close
proximity to the usvi but the problem is you have to have proper medical clearance to get over there
from what i understand bvi is a little bit more strict than you have here
in the u.s virgin islands with getting in with that medical clearance if you know what i'm saying
so just make sure if you do choose to do that that you talk to the proper ferry company that can get
you there but also make sure you have proper documents to get in there yeah so even though
it's really close uh like i said not as easy as you would hope to get into the british virgin
islands although i hear they're beautiful virgin gorda tortola so hopefully you guys can get there
depending on what time of the year or when you actually watch this video maybe it is open by then
so let's talk about safety now i did read articles before i came here in 2009 there was some armed
robbery incidents that had happened but it seems like they've gotten under control so safety in st
thomas in st john saint croix from my experience it's been safe although at night i have heard from
locals and other tourists that there are some certain areas in the towns in the city centers
that you just shouldn't be going to so if you do go out try to go out with a group of friends
don't get too drunk or carried away with anything like that but safety with the people pretty safe
from my experience i would say you're not going to have any issues i haven't seen anything or heard
of anything since i've been here but the things that i did hear about was someone was hiking
and they fell off a cliff so be careful with that and i would also say be conscious of
driving too fast around here because the locals they definitely drive fast and you don't want to
be in a situation where you're an unskilled driver driving on the wrong side of the road okay because
uh out here you drive on the left side of the road not the right side of the road
and the steering wheel's still on the same side just you're on the left something interesting so
if you're not used to that i would say don't get too carried away with driving fast around here
the streets the roads they are really tight so i would say the driving and the hiking that's some
of the most dangerous stuff you're actually going to do here but it's not really that dangerous
the people here yes they're very friendly but they're on island time that means they take
it slow except for when they're driving of course now one of the things you can do to make your stay
easier here is be friendly ask them how are they you know how was your day how's your night how
are you sir how are you man stuff like that goes a long way for respect because that is part of the
island way so being respectful being polite going out of your way to check
on their wellness very important people here are going to be friendly overall but
they do have the island time vibe meaning you've got to slow it down a little bit
let's talk about pricing in the u.s virgin islands so from my experience i found that
you couldn't find anything under 150 a night after taxes it really goes up from there when
it comes to airbnbs yes they have them but when you factor in cleaning fees you're still paying
around two to three hundred dollars a night so us virgin islands is not affordable for accommodation
uh when it comes to the rental cars again 135 dollars a day plus the insurance the gas
seemed like today i filled up it was 379 at just a regular gas station the food prices you know for a
dinner 15 per meal and up from there depending on where you go but overall i would say the
prices are comparable to something like hawaii really uh the thing with the accommodation is
it's limited because of the hurricane that hit so do keep that in mind when you come down here
all right when you come out to the us virgin islands you're going to want to try a variety
of different caribbean cuisines including conch fritters i know that sounds kind of unique you
guys who've been to key west already know what's going on with that they also have kalu which is a
soup and then lots and lots of rum they have pate which is kind of like a french influence so you
have these variety of different cuisines that come together out here in the islands and this is kind
of a staple of the diet and while you're taking down that rum you can also have some johnny cake
for those of you who like sponge cake johnny cake might be something that you're into or fungi fungi
however you want to say it but it's like an okra and a mushroom it's a really good cuisine that you
can get at any one of these local restaurants in town so many different cuisines that you want to
try all you have to do sometimes is just sit down at the bar and say hey what's a local cuisine me
personally i had some fried shrimp and i had some blackened shrimp with some french fries
i also had a burger while i was here so they have lots of that even some barbecue you know they had
a texas style barbecue lots of different cuisine sushi chinese food thai food and a whole bunch
of different cuisine are going to be available to you on this island he wanted to know which
one they say is the best for food it's usually between saint croix and st thomas but from what i
understood saint thomas takes the cake most of the time st john the food options are kind of limited
i will also say on saint thomas i saw at least three different mcdonald's and three different
kfc along with a pizza hut so for those of you who have kids that food might work out for you as well
so in conclusion i would say when you come to the u.s virgin islands prepare to arrive in
saint thomas get a rental car and cross the uh channel over to st john with that rental
car on the barge that would be my best bet for getting around the island yes the taxi cabs exist
but if you want that real adventure you're going to want to rent a car but
if you're looking to just chill out just find a pretty beach and get a hotel or airbnb nearby
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