Years ago, sitting in the sun at Paradise Point at the top of the St. Thomas tram drinking my very first Bushwhacker (certainly not my last!) I saw a seaplane curve around Charlotte Amalie and gently splash down in the water. Quite cool, I thought – must put that one on the list.
Fast forward 10-15 years (wow, where does the time go?) and we find ourselves in St. Croix needing to get to St. Thomas. The two choices: 1. Ferry, cost $50.00, time 90 minutes 2. Seaplane, cost $80.00 (plus $1.00 per pound of luggage over 30 pds), time 20 minutes. A little more costly, but much shorter travel time and hey – it was on THE LIST.
We called and booked our flight on Seaborne Airlines for early the next morning and packed our suitcases. Unfortunately, both suitcases were over the 30 pd. limit (just the snorkeling equipment, I’m sure…), so there was an additional charge of about $10.00 each.
The next morning we headed down to the Seaplane Terminal in Christiansted. There were just a few clouds in the sky, but it looked like a beautiful morning. We were quite early, so we checked in and then headed over to Angry Nates for a warm cup o’ joe. The clouds began building and we had a quick 5 minute resulting in a beautiful rainbow over the harbor!
Sipping our coffee, we watched as our plane landed in the harbor and taxied over to the terminal. We headed over to the waiting area to board. It appeared that there were only 4 other people on our flight.
The pilots opened the doors and let the previous passengers out, then welcomed us on. All luggage was packed under the plane and we were allowed only to bring on our cameras (and a small handbag).
One of the pilots gave our safety briefing and then slid up in the cockpit and we were off!
Besides being a bit loud, I was amazed at how smoothly the plane zipped along the water during takeoff.
Once in the air, it was a beautiful sight looking back on St. Croix and the different hues in the water around it.
After about 10 minutes, we saw Water Island and St. Thomas in the distance.
As we approached St. Thomas it seemed we were going to fly right into the hillside around Charlotte Amalie – a little concerning, but then suddenly we took a sharp turn and a pretty steep dive right down into the harbor. We could see the cruise ships and mega yachts in port and the tram in the distance.
It was an odd feeling to set down in the water, but smooth once again. Nice ride, nice experience!
As I looked over towards the tram, I couldn’t help but wonder if someone was sitting up on Paradise Point drinking their first Bushwhacker and adding a seaplane ride to their list!
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