St. Thomas
An American Island Paradise
The hilly, volcanic island of St. Thomas is 32 square miles and has one of the best natural deepwater harbors in the Caribbean. The U.S. Virgin Islands are rightfully celebrated for their beaches, including Magens Bay, St. Thomas's Bay, Trunk Bay and St. John. The coral reefs at Sprat Bay, the Virgin Islands Coral Reef National Monument and the Buck Island Reef National Monument in St. Croix can't be matched for their beauty and accessibility.
Our Island Home
A Thriving Tourist Economy
The U.S. Virgin Islands are among the most popular tourist destinations in the Caribbean, with two million visitors annually. About 75% of those arrive on cruise ships, with the remainder arriving by air. According to the St. Thomas Internal Revenue Bureau, tourists have spent more than $300 million on excursions every year since 2000, excluding the travel moratorium during the COVID-19 pandemic.
For 2020, a record 642 cruise ship dockings were scheduled for St. Thomas prior to the impact of COVID-19. Per the Virgin Islands Now website, the port is expected to see a return to a full schedule by the end of 2023, with 507 ships already scheduled to dock between Oct 2022 and Sept 2023. Resort and hotel expansions have brought in record bookings, and these guests tend to stay for a week, making our tourist excursions particularly attractive.
Flights to the British Virgin Islands usually land in St. Thomas, providing an excellent side trip for those who live or are visiting the BVI. Annually, more than 600,000 come to St. Thomas/St. John for day trips per the Hotel and Tourism Association. Annual tourist visitors exceeded two million in 2022 and are expected to exceed three million per year by 2025, which will support full submarine occupancy projections during the peak winter tourist season as well as the rest of the year.
What about the weather?
The USVI Government website shows that extreme weather conditions are quite rare and St. Thomas is known to have at least 330 sunny days per year. Even so, Deep Blue Submarines has a comprehensive emergency contingency plan to protect our staff, our vessels and our facilities. We expect to be operational for an estimated 339 days per year, with 12 days anticipated for cancellations due to factors such as weather and 14 days for maintenance.