Looking at possibly going to St Croix towards end of July to 1st of August. Anyone know what the conditions are like in the Virgin Islands?

Resorts fully open date? What about outside of the resorts?

I've got an extended family member who has been in St. Croix for the past two months working a refinery turnaround job. He posts pictures regularly and it looks gorgeous.

I could go back and look through his pix but, he has posted a lot of pictures of going out to restaurants. Looks like they still have to wear masks for some things.

Find out more info if you can. Thanks

We are booked for St John the last week of July. Still hopeful, but not sure where this is going to go. I do understand that BVI is closed to outsiders until September (at least at this point). Hoping that changes, or no trip to White Bay and the Soggy Dollar.

Got an answer back from my contact who is working in St. Croix right now. He said that they're still not open for tourism.

We have a trip planned in a few weeks, and the forum at the link below has been very helpful. It's how we found out that American Airlines cancelled our flight - no communication from AA.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowForum-g147400-i171-U_S_Virgin_Islands.html

Any USVI updates?

I am on hold to cancel my client's trip right now. The resort they are booked at opens 7/1, with mask wearing required in some areas (they haven't said "where" on the property though). With cases drastically increasing right now, they are choosing to postpone. I think they would have held out a little longer but their final payment is due today and they didn't want to shell out $$$$ only to cancel and have it held as a future credit.

I got back from St. John/St. Thomas on Saturday. They take your temp when you get off of the plane. They are requiring masks when you go into business. It's kind of funny going into an open air bar/restaurant with a mask only to take it off when you sit down. I guess it's not much different than here in that regard. Overall, we didn't have any issues. The beaches were less crowded, but we were able to eat/drink at the restaurants and bars that we wanted to.

We saw a sail boat flying an Aggie flag at Francis Bay. I was wondering if it was somebody on this board.

I am guessing St. Croix may be different from St. John/Thomas due to the more commercialization and population density. In general, I would recommend St. John over the other islands.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

AW 1880 said:

---

I got back from St. John/St. Thomas on Saturday. They take your temp when you get off of the plane. They are requiring masks when you go into business. It's kind of funny going into an open air bar/restaurant with a mask only to take it off when you sit down. I guess it's not much different than here in that regard. Overall, we didn't have any issues. The beaches were less crowded, but we were able to eat/drink at the restaurants and bars that we wanted to.

We saw a sail boat flying an Aggie flag at Francis Bay. I was wondering if it was somebody on this board.

I am guessing St. Croix may be different from St. John/Thomas due to the more commercialization and population density. In general, I would recommend St. John over the other islands.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

---

I love St. John.

We are chartering a sailboat out of Tortola in January. Planning on flying to St. Thomas and taking the ferry over. Next payment is due this month. We are worried that a fall covid wave will hit and shut Tortola down again. I guess that I need to read the refund policy of Moorings again.

I am leading a group of Scouts to St. Thomas Sea Base for 5 days starting July 17. I just got word that USVI may require a negative COVID test for people from Texas and Florida.

We are scrambling around trying to find testing centers that will test everyone (12 people)...no word on when the test has to be done in regards to planned arrival date. I will try to update when I have more info...

Just got a message from our management group in St John and they are requiring either a negative swab or positive antibodies 72 hours prior to arrival. Policy starts 7/13 and lasts 2 weeks as of now

Doc C said:

---

I am leading a group of Scouts to St. Thomas Sea Base for 5 days starting July 17. I just got word that USVI may require a negative COVID test for people from Texas and Florida.

We are scrambling around trying to find testing centers that will test everyone (12 people)...no word on when the test has to be done in regards to planned arrival date. I will try to update when I have more info...

---

It sounds like a done deal. Negative tests required for residents of Texas, Florida and Arizona within 72 hours of arrival.

Thank you!! We'll put that on the current plan. I just checked the USVI gov site and didn't see any "new" news.

ramblin_ag02 said:

---

Just got a message from our management group in St John and they are requiring either a negative swab or positive antibodies 72 hours prior to arrival. Policy starts 7/13 and lasts 2 weeks as of now

---

Silly question: Does this mean that if we are planning on arriving in USVI at 3 pm on July 17 that we would have to have a negative test done sometime between July 14 at 3 pm and our departure on July 17?

If this is the case we will more than likely need the Rapid Antigen test, correct?

Not a clue but as bad as turnaround times are I can't imagine any other option

I get updates from my wife, and haven't personally haven't visited the site, but she says the governor post the most current information on the Government House-US Virgin Island Facebook page. According to my wife, they haven't explicitly stated that rapid tests are permitted, but in the FB update today, they said tests will be available there if you are unable to get a negative test ahead of time. The whole thing seems somewhat vague so you probably want to confirm that though.

https://viconsortium.com/vi-experience_the_usvi/virgin-islands-tourism-commissioner-joseph-boschulte-provides-covid-19-update-for-usvi-visitors-responds-to-surge-in-coronavirus-cases-

Updates: They accept a negative antibody test up to four months prior to travel. The negative COVID must be PCR but they extended the window to 5 days prior instead of 72 hours. FYI, Carter Blood center is doing free antibody checks for anyone who donates blood. There's a big shortage of donated blood so it's a win-win for anyone wanting an antibody test.

I know an Ag who lives on St Croix. I'll see if I can get him to post on here.

To correct my own bad information, the test doesn't have to be PCR. Rapid antigen testing is permitted. Good thing too. Turnaround on PCR testing is 7-10 days in my area