Over the past years, I have been to St. Thomas ten or more times. We have experienced the island the top, the bottom, we have seen many of the beaches and were even engaged there 13 years ago, but we have never sailed the islands that surround the coast.
While cruising on Freedom of the Seas last week we opted to see the island from a different perspective and sail on the Kon Tiki Glass Bottom Raft Harbor boat.
Our tour started right on the dock in front of the ship and headed across the Charlotte Amalie waterfront. It was a hot day so the breeze through the open aired boat was welcome.
We cruised at a nice pace past Hassel Island where we could see the Fort Willoughby Garrison House and the Head House, which housed the power mechanism that hoisted the large steam-powered vessels onto land for repairs and maintenance in the mid 1800s.
After a quick history lesson on the island, we stopped at Crown Bay to pick up passengers from another ship. With the steel drum playing in the background, we cruised further along the coast.
Before we hit the beach we stopped along the North Shore of Water Island to check out some of the coral on the bottom of the ocean. The Kon Tiki boat has three viewing areas, each with two huge glass areas to give everyone a good look at the ocean floor. It wasn’t terribly colorful down there but there was a shipwreck that my oldest son was pretty fascinated with.
Pretty, the beach we docked at was also secluded and pretty much all ours! My kids couldn’t get off the boat fast enough.
We had about 90 minutes to explore and swim before we got back onto the Kon Tiki and headed back to our ship.
Ready to party, the crew showed off their dancing skills while leading the boat in the Macarena, Dollar Wine and a conga, which led into a limbo contest.
From start to finish our tour was just under 4 hours. Leaving the dock at noon gave us some time in port to shop and enjoy the town.
If you are looking for a nice relaxing afternoon excursion in St. Thomas the Kon Tiki is a great option. The staff is friendly, the view is beautiful and you practically get the beach all to yourself, which is a tough find when there are four cruiseships in port!
