My family and I vacationed in St. Thomas in March 2003 and it was my first visit to the Virgin Islands. I have been to the Cayman Islands a long time ago and loved it! St. Thomas was equally as beatiful with the blue/green water and white sandy beaches. I was not as impressed with the snorkeling in St. Thomas though as I had been in the Caymans. However, we never went out on the far out reefs we just ventured out from the different beaches so I'm sure there were better spots. We did see some pretty coral and fish and the water was clear, beautiful and warm!

Sapphire Beach was by far the most beautiful place we could've stayed. We were all pleased with the resort. There were a few minor problems with the room that could occur anywhere but the resort itself was fantastic. The beach was better I thought than any of the others we saw on St. Thomas or St. John which we also visited while we were there. We went to Magens Bay, Cinnamon Bay and Trunk Bay and none of them (though all spectacular!) quite compared to Sapphire beach. We spent almost every morning enjoying the comfy lounge chairs that were always plentiful along the beach and towels were free. The view of the water there was also amazing and you could see some of the neighboring islands as well.

There was a bar and water sports shop where you could sign up for Scuba Diving trips, check out (free) snorkeling gear, etc. It was very convenient. Also there is a restaurant right next door and they catered at least 2 or 3 beach parties while we were there that cost only $10-$20 for the buffet and included almost anything you could imagine. I am a vegetarian and they charged me $5 because I had no meat on my plate! The staff was friendly and helpful and the overall experience was very pleasant. Also on Sapphire Beach is a very nice pool (which of course we didn't use because we were too busy sunbathing and swimming in the ocean!). The pool however is frequented by some of the large iguanas that roam around the point past the resort. They are all over down there. It was really neat to watch them. There is a bar right beside the pool that serves lunch and we ate there a few days because the food was really good and reasonably priced. Our experience with the local restaurants was not as good. Whale of a Tale we thought was WAY overpriced for the quality of food. However, we loved the Greenhouse in Charlotte Amalie. They have buy one, get one free drink specials and dance parties on Thursday nights. That is supposed to be the main place to go on a Thursday if you want night life. Duffy's Love shack was the local dance place/bar and Poor Man's Bar was fun because you could play pool there and the bartender puts all the alcohol for your drinks on the bar and you mix them yourself! Cheap too! In St. Johns, I highly recommend Woody's for happy hour! That was the most fun we had I think. They even take your picture and post it on their website. Also, the Duffy's over there is better for dancing than the one in St. Johns I thought. The best place to go for breakfast was Deli Deck in the Havensight Shopping center. They have an indoor/outdoor dining area and the food is good and reasonably priced! It was more of a casual dining place kind of like a Denny's.