IMG_1017 by
Scott Smith (SRisonS), on Flickr
The skyride takes you up to Paradise Point, where youll get AMAZING views of St. Thomas. If you want good pictures of the ship, with some scenic St. Thomas in there, this is your excursion!!! A cable car takes you to the top, where there are a couple of main viewing areas. At this destination, the area thats a little higher up is like a nature trail with a few wild animals; goats, peacocks, geese, a couple of caged birds. For a portion of that part, there are some wooden steps to guide you along. [You have to be careful near the railing though; some of the beasts leave presents.] But at a certain point, youll just be walking on dirt and rocks, through some forestry. You can completely avoid that aspect of the trail though. I didnt really get too adventurous here (I didnt say we for a reason), because I was trying to be quick with my journey. There is also another section that has a bar and a couple of little shops. Now this is the spot to really get the good views!!! When youre up on that nature trail, you see the roof the stores, and the loading area for the cable cars. But right outside of the bar, theres a railing with nothing in front of you except beautiful St. Thomas. There are a few houses on the hillside, you see the ships in port (even the ones in a further out port), the shops are less of an eyesore from up there, the layout of the waterways is just perfect, and you see the other various hills/mountains of the island. So all-in-all, not much in terms of adventure with this excursion. But for something low-key that will still give you a sense of St. Thomas, Id definitely suggest doing this.
IMG_1008 by
Scott Smith (SRisonS), on Flickr
IMG_1012 by
Scott Smith (SRisonS), on Flickr
The view from the trail
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IMG_1042 by
Scott Smith (SRisonS), on Flickr
IMG_1032 by
Scott Smith (SRisonS), on Flickr
Pretty much the total view from the bar area
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IMG_1037 by
Scott Smith (SRisonS), on Flickr
One thing I really have to mention though, is that this excursion is not the most child friendly; at least if you have super young kids. Not really knowing what wed experience at the top of this hill/mountain, but also helping out on the walk over, we decided to take our daughters stroller. If anything, we were lucky we had the umbrella one for this trip, so it was somewhat easy to deal with. But there is no use for any type of stroller when you get to the top. Not one single bit. When the cable car drops you off, you have to use stairs to get to/through the nature trail, as well as getting to and from the bar/shops area. So needless to say, I started off carrying this thing around. And to make matters worse, it was incredibly hot this day. So after my wife had enough of carrying out daughter up the stairs in this heat, they eventually just sat near the bar to wait for me to walk around a bit. But at least the bar is open-air, and you can still get somewhat of a view when in the shaded part of it. I guess I could use the term bar pretty loosely though. Yeah, they served drinks and all. But it was completely family-friendly. Not that there was anything super great about it. It just wasnt off-putting, I guess you could say. I will say that they have a very good $7 Virgin Piña Colada though.
IMG_1073 by
Scott Smith (SRisonS), on Flickr