Best Caribbean vacation # 11 is St. Thomas, Virgin Islands

photo by F H Mira	via PhotoRee

The best Caribbean vacation destination number 11 is St. Thomas, Virgin Islands. St. Thomas is one of three islands in the U.S. Virgin Islands, the others being St. John and St. Croix. The U.S. Virgin Islands are an unincorporated territory of the United States.

photo by Joe Shlabotnik	via PhotoRee

The island of St. Thomas has a population of over 50,000 people living on its rather hilly terrain. St. Thomas was originally settled by the Dutch and Charlotte Amalie is one of the oldest cities in the Caribbean islands. The U.S. purchased the Virgin Islands in 1917 as part of a a strategy to control the Caribbean and the Panama Canal.



The climate on St. Thomas is typical of most Caribbean islands and is a popular winter vacation destination as high temperatures in January average 86 degrees. The geography of St. Thomas is different from many Caribbean islands which are rather flat like the Cayman Islands or the Bahamas. The roads tend to switchback and snake all over the hills. One advantage to this type of terrain is the views from higher elevations which are spectacular of the surrounding islands.

photo by Der Etienne	via PhotoRee

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Charlotte Amalie is a picturesque harbor town dating back to the 1600's and has a fine tourist friendly downtown area through the old cobblestone streets. This area can be overrun with tourists when a cruise ship is in port, which is quite often as St. Thomas is a popular stop for them. Red Hook is another area to visit on the East end of the island which also has a few restaurants and shops and a ferry to St. John.

St Thomas has some fine beaches, the most well known would be Magens Beach, which, a mile in length is probably the largest beach on the island. Saphire Beach and Secret Harbour are a couple other nice beaches, a great tip though is to take the ferry to St. John for a day trip as their beaches, like Caneel Bay are arguably better. Remember that beaches facing the Atlantic will tend to have more surf and Western beaches will tend to be calmer.

photo by yawper	via PhotoRee

All in all, St. Thomas deserves to be regarded as one of the best Caribbean vacation destinations, and you'll find great deals there on Book It. If you've been to St. Thomas, please feel free to leave a comment about your experience there. Thanks! Don't forget you can Find Last Minute Deals at hotels.com!

I have a ranking of the top 10 best resorts in St. Thomas here.