Our channel wouldn’t be called Boating Journey if we didn’t always have a journey to get to our destination and this trip to the USVI was no exception. After postponing our bareboat charter to February 2022, we opted to keep our flights and visit all three islands in the USVI. The entry requirements seemed fairly straightforward so what could go wrong? We should know not to ask that question!
USVI Travel Portal
Before you’re allowed to enter the USVI, you must fill out the travel portal, upload your negative covid test and be approved to enter. According to the site, we needed a negative covid molecular (e.g., RT-PCR, viral or nucleic acid amplification) or an antigen (rapid) taken 5 days prior to arrival to the territory. Our friends, Ben and Maria were traveling two days before us and all of us were on a red-eye flight. Their airline stated they needed the test taken 5 days prior to departure, but when they uploaded it, it was rejected as it was actually 6 days prior to arrival.
Lots of travelers we know recommended we go to Walgreens for our test, so we made an appointment at the Tukwila location for Monday (5 days from our arrival date). When we arrived, we found out that they DO NOT do the test we needed AND the results would be ready in 7 days! Yikes. The pharmacist recommended we drive to the Burien Walgreens and when we arrived there, we were informed they don’t take same day appointments. Great!
Trying not to panic, I jumped online and immediately booked an appointment for 11am (it was now 10:25am) at Rite Aid and Scott did the same. The test was easy, as you simply pull up to the drive thru window, swap your nose and give the vial back to the tech.
After we handed our tests back, we were informed we would have our results in 7 days! OMG, this can’t be happening!
Trying not to panic now
If you search the web for rapid covid tests, there are many sites that will give you your results in a few hours for a large fee $200 to $350. Scott and I were so desperate, that we were about to sign up for one of these. Then I remembered seeing another rapid test site, called GS Labs. Before I tried booking it, I first made sure that they were CLIA approved by the USVI portal. Thank God they were! The closest lab to us, was back in Downtown Seattle, so I made an appointment for 11:30am. As we drove, I used Scott’s phone to book the appointments and in the process, I managed to book 4 appointments for myself and none for him! Luckily, they took care of everything and after about 40 min, we were all done.
Ironically as I got ready to drive away, one of the workers shouted out my name. Turns out an old high school classmate owns the business and not only that, but he’s close friends with Ben! Now remember, Ben and Maria still at this point hadn’t gotten their results and were scheduled to fly out the next day. So I called them and told them to go get another test at GS Labs (which billed our insurance, so we were not out of pocket). Two hours later, we all had our results and we were good to go! Talk about a journey.
Are we there yet?
This trip has been planned for over two years and we couldn’t wait to finally get on the plane! We flew out on Thursday night around 11:15pm and arrived in Miami the following morning.
The flight to Miami was about 6 hours and we had about a 2 hour layover before our 2 hour flight to St. Thomas.
Finally we arrived around 1:30pm (11 hours later) to St Thomas! Ben and Maria had rented a Jeep, so they picked us up. We stopped by the local Publix grocery store for some drinks and snacks, before heading to the resort.
Though the USVI are a US Territory, they drive on the left with American cars and the roads on St. Thomas are very rough and steep!
Ben took the route that Google gave us. During the rest of our trip, our drivers took a few other different ways, all of which were still pretty steep!
What you don’t see well in the route above were the hairpin switchbacks! Talk about white knuckle drive – on the left side of the road!
We were really impressed with Ben’s driving skills!
Welcome to Margaritaville!
If you do have a car, parking can be limited near the hotel. But they do have golf carts that will take you to your room.
Ben and Maria had a fabulous room up on the hill, overlooking the bay.
Unfortunately, we were not so lucky. We were in the last building and our view was of a tree. Oh well, we were still in paradise!
The rooms were great, as they were kitchenettes that came with blenders! These rooms are actually condos and so we didn’t get housekeeping service. If you want extra coffee or towels, you have to go to the front desk and ask for them.
Time for some food and drinks
After checking in, the four of us headed to 5’Oclock Somewhere for a cocktail and enjoy the view and a few appetizers. Traveling to the Caribbean from the West Coast is exhausting, but worth it in the end.
That night, we took a taxi into Red Hook and grabbed some pizza at the Island Time Pub, which was fantastic! I highly recommend it and I don’t eat pizza! Overlooking the bay at Red Hook, the view is also fantastic!
For the next 10 days, we had a lot on the itinerary and we’ll share that journey with you over the next few weeks! Be sure to subscribe to both our blog and YouTube channel for the upcoming tour!
As always, thank you for following our journey! You can also follow us on social media @BoatingJourney and use the hashtag #boatingjourney. Cheers, Scott and Ally
Oh how we wish we had a Publix on STT/STJ/STX, but alas we do not. Might want to adjust your trip report to say Pueblo…that’s most likely where you picked up the drinks and groceries. ;*) Happy you are enjoying your trip! I stumbled on this post from your Caribbean Pork Loin recipe…might have to try that! Thanks!