The tram will bring you back down the mountain. There is no charge for the public beach. You can walk to the beach from the Atlantis. The cab ride is $4.50 (I believe) from the dock to Atlantis. Blackbeard's Castle is a tourist trap, some people really enjoy it. This is the Queen's staircase. It is in a beautiful setting. Red Hook is the name of the dock that the ferry runs from on St. Thomas. The ferry also runs from downtown (Charolette Amalie) but not on a precise schedule. The cab fare to Red Hook is around $20/pp. The cab fare from the dock in St. John to Trunk Bay is around $4.50, entrance to Trunk Bay is around $4/pp.
I think the tram was $18 or $19 for a round trip and well worth it. It is a fairly short tour and could be added on to anything else you wanted to do in St. Thomas. The Ferry from Charlotte Amalie is a pretty long ride and can be very breezy. We liked the ferry from Red hook better, even though it meant a cab ride on St. Thomas to get there.
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Laurie
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Cabbage Beach is the same beach that Penny is talking about and yes you can walk from Atlantis.
As for Sunny Liston Tours, his web site is www.sunnylistontours.com
They will pick you up at the ship and drop you back there at the end of the day. They took us shopping for 2 hours, then took us to Mountain Top. After that they took us to the beach for 2 1/2 hours. All of this for only $25 per person. It was a nice day and Sunny was GREAT.
29dawgs, oh that sounds great, and the price, that is unbelievable. I will have to check this out.
The price sort of reminds me last year when we were in St. Lucia (awesome island), and we tour a tour. The tour cost $45, and it was to be around 3 hours, we wound up being gone almost 7 hours, plus he gave us something to drink and eat, which he had no clue was coming. He was tops. I'm sure if we had booked through the cruise line, it would have been more expensive.
I spent a week in Antigua last year, and can tell you that the snorkeling is just okay. My husband and I drove all over the island and probably visited all the major beaches and were disappointed everywhere we went. Lots of small fish, but the big fish just weren't there. We talked to an islander there and he said they were hit by a hurricane a few years ago and it really hurt their reefs. Fish are slowly coming back, so it might be better this year. That being said, the beaches are all beautiful, with white sand and sparkling water. We were there in May and went to a few of the all inclusives for a day here and there and enjoyed them, especially Pineapple beach. Take a taxi, because the roads are narrow with ditches on either side and not many street signs!!! It is really one of the most picturesque places I've been, but snorkeling was only fair! We also spent a week in St Thomas a few years back and stayed at Secret Harbor where the snorkeling was great. It is on the red hook end of the island and had the best snorkeling of all the beaches we visited. Shopping is GREAT in St. Thomas with best prices on gold, liquor, Seiko, etc. We spent a week in Nassau about 5 years ago and stayed on Cable Beach. It was a great beach with good snorkeling and a wedding every day, which was fun to watch. Hope this is helpful!
You mentioned GOLD, and that is right up my alley.
Are most of the places about the same prices, or are there any places to "watch out" for, that you might know, to STAY away from, when purchasing jewelry?
I know the cruise ship will annouce several places to shop, but we like to check things out for our self, and so far, I don't feel I have been taken anyplace, whether the ship recommended it or not.
love gold or jewelry. I'll have to check out the "prices" 
first.
away from, when purchasing jewelry?
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