So you picked the perfect spouse, now how do you plan the perfect honeymoon? The US Virgin Islands are a great choice for many reasons: quick flight from the US, no passport required for US citizens, and, of course, everything is gorgeous!
Sunset on the ferry from St. John to St. Thomas
We chose the US Virgin Islands for our honeymoon in June 2022. This truly is the best destination for adventurous couples, because there are so many things to see and do! This itinerary is for couples who love snorkeling and beaching. If you are NOT looking for the all-inclusive honeymoon route, but are more interested in finding your own adventure and exploring two islands, read along for all of the details!
If you take anything from this itinerary: Stay within walking distance to a beach and take a boat excursion with Stormy Pirates!
Trip Itinerary (The Condensed Version)
One Week In St. Thomas and St. John, USVI
Can We Skip to the Good Part?
Day One: Hello, beautiful St. Thomas! Arrive on the island, check into your lodging, and hit the nearest beach! It's why we're here, isn't it? Find a beach bar and live your best beach bum life. I HIGHLY recommend staying near Sapphire Beach for prime location!
Day Two: Welcome to island time. Choose a beach to spend the day at and take it easy. We walked to Sapphire Beach. Bonus points if your lodging provides snorkeling equipment and coolers.. There's nothing better for a beach day! Enjoy a nice dinner and then grab groceries for the week (don't forget the drinks for the beach!).
Day Three: Take an excursion and experience all that the island has to offer! Seriously, you must book Beach Bar & Island Hop (https://www.viator.com/tours/St-Thomas/USVI-Beach-Bar-and-Island-Hop/d965-60399P17). I am receiving nothing for promoting this day trip and am not affiliated with Stormy Pirates in any way, but I wish I was! This was the BEST day of our honeymoon and we both loved every minute of boating, snorkeling, drinking rum punch, and exploring the ocean.
Day Four: Hello, white sand beaches of St. John! Hop the ferry and scoot over to this beautiful island, which is a National Park! Beach hop between Cinnamon Bay (million dollar homes on the cliffside) and Maho Bay (food truck vibes). They are so close together, you might as well see them both! St. John has a totally different feel than St. Thomas. I almost wish we spent our whole honeymoon on St. John.
Day Five: You loved St. John so much, you take the ferry back over. It's inevitable! Visit famous Trunk Bay and put that underwater snorkel trail to good use. Spend your whole day on St. John. Visit the farmer's market before boarding the ferry and buy some local fruit. It's delicious!
Day Six: Get out there! Take a hike or book an outdoorsy excursion. If I could redo this day, I would have done the Ram Head Trail hike in St. John and snorkeled at Salt Pond Beach on the way back from the hike. It is a 2.3 round trip hike with different views - cactus, cliff views, and gorgeous ocean! Instead, we booked a kayaking, hiking, and snorkeling excursion, which turned out to be better for families with kids than young couples. More review on that below! Spend your afternoon at the beach of your choosing.
Day Seven: Live your last full day to the fullest! Revisit your favorite beach or visit a new one (I would recommend Magens Bay). We revisited Honeymoon Beach on Water Island because we loved it. Make reservations for a nice dinner on your last evening.
Day Eight: Cling on to the end of your vacation with a morning beach walk. We walked on the closest beach to our condo, Sapphire Beach, and listened to the waves before going to the airport. All good things must come to an end!
Full Trip Itinerary (With Details)
One Week In St. Thomas and St. John, USVI
Live your best honeymoon! (Cowboy boots on the beach not included, unless your spouse rolls like that).
The BIG Version
Day One: Welcome to beautiful St. Thomas! Once you land at the airport, there are a line of taxis/vans outside waiting to take you to your destination. We stayed near Red Hook in Sapphire Village. Our VRBO was in the perfect location and I have linked it here.
(All opinions are my own, unfortunately I am not sponsored by VRBO, ha!) (https://www.vrbo.com/1581513?noDates=true&unitId=2142771).
It was easy to find a taxi in this area. Check into your lodging (there are plenty of Airbnb and VRBO options, as well as hotels and condos) and pull out those swimsuits.. You are here for the beach!
The walk from our VRBO to the beach.. Are you kidding??
We ate at Sudi's restaurant at our condo and took the short walk to Sapphire Beach. We spent the afternoon into the evening on the beach. Our Airbnb provided chairs and towels for soaking up the sun. We went back to Sudi's for dinner. Good food and drinks, great waitstaff and owners, and SO close to our condo!
Sapphire Beach was one of our very favorite beaches!
Day Two: We took the short walk to Sapphire Beach and spent the day snorkeling. Sapphire Beach was one of the best snorkel spots we visited! We saw sea turtles, and another snorkeler saw an octopus. My biggest tip is to apply sunscreen to your back and your calves - your backside gets so much more sun when you are snorkeling and your back is up in the water! We grabbed lunch right on the beach at Sapphire Beach Bar. Seriously, the best fish tacos. They have great drinks here, too!
Call for a cab when you are ready for dinner and head into Red Hook! We had the best luck with VI Taxi. It was about $5 per person, each way, from Sapphire Beach to Red Hook. Grab dinner and then stop at Moe's Market for groceries. Groceries are more expensive on the island, but this is to be expected. We grabbed some drinks for the beach, fruit, and breakfast items.
Day Three: Take an excursion day - you deserve it! We chose Beach Bar & Island Hop (https://www.viator.com/tours/St-Thomas/USVI-Beach-Bar-and-Island-Hop/d965-60399P17), and I CANNOT recommend this excursion enough. This was both of my husband and I's favorite day of the honeymoon. This excursion was from 9 AM to 5 PM, and we spent the day island-hopping on a boat.
We fell in love with snorkeling on this trip!
Our first stop was Water Island (Honeymoon Beach), which was my favorite beach of the entire trip. Dinghy's Beach Bar had fantastic food and drinks. You have to try a bushwhacker - it tastes like an alcoholic milkshake! The bang bang shrimp are HUGE and delicious. We got out in the water, snorkeled, and soaked up the sun. We saw a starfish and sea turtles here!
Our next stop was Christmas Cove. We got out, snorkeled, and even got some pizza from a boat in the ocean. Pizza Pi is a floating pizza restaurant, only accessible by boat! The pizza was amazing, and honestly, everything tastes better on a boat in the Virgin Islands. Plus, the pizza was included in the cost of the excursion (free lunch!).
Vacation calories don't count.
Our captain and guide were so much fun and shared interesting history about the area as we sailed. Don't forget about the OPEN BAR! Get your free pirate punch on!
After our exciting day, we stopped at The Tap & Still Redhook for an early dinner. This restaurant was right next to the marina from our excursion. They had great burgers! After, we walked down the strip in Redhook and visited some souvenir shops.
Day Four: Catch the ferry into St. John! St. John is a gorgeous island and it lives up to all of the hype. It's a short ferry ride from Red Hook in St. Thomas to Cruz Bay in St. John (This is the route we took - but there are other routes from St. Thomas, depending on where you stay!). It ended up costing around $30 for the 2 of us, roundtrip. When you arrive in St. John, take a short walk to 18°64° Sushi Restaurant and enjoy sushi in a beautiful location. Then, catch an open air taxi to the beach! We chose to visit Cinnamon Bay and Maho Bay. Hop from beach to beach when you are ready. There are taxis to take you between the beaches. While the beaches are close together, walking is not a safe option (although it can be done, because we walked it... I would not recommend!).
Have a Mama Mia moment in this ruin on Cinnamon Bay.
Cinnamon Bay is a beautiful beach with very cool ruins. There are some directly on the beach and some sugar plantation ruins on a trail across the road. You can see beautiful homes on the hill from this beach - the area is referred to as the "Hollywood Hills."
Do you recognize any reality TV show homes on Cinnamon Beach's Hollywood Hills?
Maho Bay is, of course, another beautiful beach. You really can't go wrong with any beach in the USVI, especially on St. John!
Maho Bay
Catch the open air taxi back to the ferry, and board for return to St. Thomas. I highly recommend returning right around sunset - this way, you get a sunset cruise without booking an extra excursion!
In Redhook, we ate dinner at Duffy's Love Shack. This was the best meal we ate the entire trip, and it's a bar in the middle of a parking lot. Duffy's is a must try!
Day Five: One day in St. John just wasn't enough. Take the ferry to St. John and visit famous Trunk Bay. Be sure to bring along your snorkel gear for the underwater snorkeling trail. However, you may not need your snorkeling gear at all! There was a huge sting ray swimming in the shallow water right beside us.
Hi, buddy!
Get some sun (or hide under a tree if you are severely sunburnt like I was), drink some frozen drinks, and snorkel. Enjoy your beach day and then catch the taxi back into Cruz Bay. Browse the farmer's market for goods, souvenirs, and delicious locally grown fruits. PRO TIP: Take the return ferry just before sunset. This way, you can watch the sunset from the water and get a sunset cruise without booking an extra excursion. If you are like us, you loved Duffy's so much that you eat dinner there again.
Day Six: Take a walk on the wild side of the island! We chose to book a second excursion to learn more about the island's history and ecosystem. We booked with Virgin Islands EcoTours (Cas Cay Kayak, Hike, & Snorkel Tour). It was from 9:30 AM to 12:30 PM. This would be a really amazing tour for beginner outdoorsmen or kiddos and families. If you are more experienced with kayaking, this may not be the best tour for you. If I could go back, I would have chosen either a different excursion or found a hike to do instead.
There is still a lot of day left after the end of this tour, so pick a beach to spend your afternoon at! We returned to Sapphire Beach, enjoyed lunch at Sapphire Beach Bar, and did some more snorkeling. The sargassum (brown seaweed) was horrible on this day, but that is all up to Mother Nature! We didn't have any other trouble with sargassum on our June VI trip, but it is something to research before picking your dates.
We ate dinner at Sudi's Beach Bar. Luckily, this great little bar was right next to our condo. The power went out on St. Thomas this night, but Sudi's had a generator to keep the drinks flowing and party going. Island living! (It's important to remember that your power may go out and this happens on the island. Give it some time, it should come back on!)
Day Six: It's your last full day! If you found a beach you just can't live without seeing again, go back for a visit! If you are ready for a new adventure, check out Magens Bay. There is a $5 entrance per person to Magens Bay, but it is known as one of the most beautiful beaches in the world. We skipped Magens Bay, but I have regrets now, and I wish we would have went!
We returned to Water Island to spend the day on Honeymoon Beach (St. Thomas, not St. John, these are two different beaches). This was my favorite beach from the trip; I wanted to go back! We ate at Dinghy's Beach Bar again and enjoyed more amazing frozen drinks! We also saw more sea turtles while snorkeling. It was the perfect last day for us, because we already knew that we loved this beach.
How can you skip Honeymoon Beach when you are on your Honeymoon?
It was much more difficult to get to Water Island without the boat excursion, though. We had a very long taxi ride from Sapphire Beach to Charlotte Amalie to catch the small ferry to the island, which we bought tickets for on the boat (you can't pre-purchase). We missed the first boat to the island (we literally watched it cruise away!), so we killed some time with drinks near the dock at Tickles.
After a blissful day at the beach, we caught the ferry back to the mainland of St. Thomas. We had dinner reservations at MaFolie, so we called a taxi and went up into the hills. This restaurant had a gorgeous view of St. Thomas from up high, but unfortunately, it did not live up to the hype for us. We personally found the food to be less than desirable, but very expensive, and we had a horrible time finding a taxi to take us back to our condo. MaFolie is a hotel and restaurant, but it is on a side of the island that is not as commonly travelled. As we were reliant on taxis, we waited over an hour to find a taxi to take us back to Redhook/Sapphire Beach. If I could go back, I would have made reservations elsewhere for dinner!
View from MaFolie Restaurant & Hotel in Charlotte Amalie
Day Six: Can anyone else just not accept that vacation is over? We had an early afternoon flight, but we made the most of our morning by walking Sapphire Beach one last time and watching the waves hit the rocks.
Sapphire Beach was the prettiest beach to walk.
Then, we called our taxi and made our way to the airport. Keep in mind that even US citizens returning to the US have to go through customs. There was a huge line and wait when we went in June 2022. We did hear that the process was quicker if you had a passport, but passports are not necessary for US citizens. Budget extra time to get through customs before your flight home.
Taxi! Taxi!
I can't recommend VI Taxi enough. We tried calling other companies in a pinch, but VI Taxi was the one that always pulled through. Has anybody else NEVER called for a taxi? It's okay, it's actually pretty easy! It's important to note that VI regulates their taxis and all taxis charge the same rate for the same route, and you can find these rates online. You want to make sure that the taxi belongs to the VI taxi association and isn't just someone driving privately if you are hailing a taxi on the street. Taxis here charge per person, per trip. It is not charged by the carload like an Uber. For example, if you are going from Sapphire Beach to Redhook, it will be $5 per person, one way.
We chose to use taxis instead of renting a car. This was largely due to the price of renting a car. We found it to be cheaper to use a taxi as needed than to rent a car every day of our trip. For the most part, it was easy to find a taxi to get from point A to point B, and we usually weren't going too far. St. Thomas is easy to get around in a taxi. However, if you are staying on St. John, I would recommend renting a car, because it is more spread out. Most transportation will be 4-wheel drive due to conditions of the roads. Once we got to the island and saw the driving conditions, I was thankful that I would not be driving! People in the islands drive on the other side of the road, and the roads are much narrower. I know that I wouldn't have felt comfortable driving myself. If you are brave enough to drive, and want more freedom to explore as you please, I would recommend renting a car. It would have made our trip easier, because we would have been able to explore more rather than staying in a general area. However, for the ease of not driving and the price of rental cars, taxis were the way to go for us.
Should I Stay or Should I Go?
Location is important when planning your trip to USVI. You need to choose which activities or beach you want to see the most and book your lodging from there. I chose to stay on Sapphire Beach because we could walk to the beach and restaurants, and it's a 5 minute drive from Red Hook. Red Hook is a big town on St. Thomas with restaurants, grocery stores, and the ferry to St. John. Many taxis are also based out of Red Hook, so they are close by to drive you. I highly recommend staying on Sapphire Beach for convenience, and also, for the extreme beauty of waking up every day to Sapphire Beach.
We met another couple on their honeymoon who stayed in Charlotte Amalie. They said that they had to find a taxi every single day to a beach, because their hotel was not close to any beaches or excursions. It's important to know that St. Thomas is a fairly big island, and not everything is close together, so you have to book lodging accordingly or spend every morning in a cab.
When I started planning, I wanted to stay on St. Thomas for half of the trip and St. John for the other half. I ultimately decided not to for convenience sake. However, if we ever go back to USVI, I would stay on St. John and rent a car to truly enjoy the island.
Congratulations and happy honeymooning! Katie
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