Flora & Fauna

Visitors to St. Thomas should take advantage of Virgin Islands Ecotours' guided kayaking and snorkeling tour through St. Thomas' Marine Sanctuary and Mangrove Lagoon. Led by experienced local naturalists, these tours let visitors see the fragility and beauty of the mangrove lagoons firsthand. Snowy egrets, great barracudas, dwarf herrings, spotted eagle rays, jellyfish, mangrove crabs, and breeding nurse sharks are only a few of the species visitors might see on the tour. Snorkeling is done in designated areas without fins to protect the delicate marine environment. Virgin Islands Ecotours also offers a new tour on Magens Bay. On the north end of the island, Humpback whales can be seen breeding from January through April. Both Jacques Cousteau and "Wild Kingdom" filmed specials on whales in the waters off of St. Thomas.

St. Thomas is a mountainous island, so visitors will find that climbs to the peaks offer dramatic views. Drake's Seat, one of the island's most famous views, overlooks Drake's Passage, the channel where Sir Francis Drake sailed among the islands in the late 1500s. Visitors will also note the abundance of the yellow cedar, one of the world's most beautiful flowers found in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Down along the coasts, visitors will quickly understand why St. Thomas' beaches are legendary. Magens Bay is just one of several beaches worth visiting on the island.