he U.S. Virgin Islands offer the best and worst of the West Indies, and a good deal in between. You can find perfect hidden beaches where you may be the first to plant your feet one morning, as well as overdeveloped coves where too many bags of cement have been sacrificed in the name of condo and time-share developments. There is some of the Caribbean's best dining, and then there's a Hard Rock Cafe for the cruise-ship masses who (seemingly) are giving their taste buds a vacation from McDonald's. There are miles of idyllic and peaceful hiking trails in one of America's most beautiful national parks, but you'll also find a rush-hour commute in and out of the capital when traffic slows to a snarled crawl. If it sounds schizophrenic, it is, but despite these extremes, you can have a great vacation in the USVI - you just have to know where to go and what to avoid. There are fifty USVI in all, most of which are little more than uninhabited rock outcrops. Of the three islands on offer for vacationers, each has a unique personality and individual attributes, but you won't have to read far to figure out which one we prefer.

Of the territory's total population (just over 100,000), about 95 percent live on the two primary islands, St. Thomas and St. Croix. These islands aren't large by Caribbean standards, but they have been well established as vacation destinations for decades, drawing about 2 million visitors annually to their shores. With its striking harbor surrounded by spindly mountains, St. Thomas is the Caribbean's busiest cruise-ship port - more than ten ships dock in the harbor at Charlotte Amalie on busy winter days. On an island that already boasts one of the highest population densities in the region, the daily cruise-ship infestation is a major contributing factor to St. Thomas's congestion, blight, and local unfriendliness. Added to this are condominium developments, massive resorts, and shopping malls clogging the view in almost every direction and you'll see that little of the traditional Caribbean personality survives. Crime, in the form of muggings and robberies - especially in Charlotte Amalie at night - can at times make New York seem like a country village. On the positive side, St. Thomas is more accessible than most island destinations, and you will find excellent dining and great shopping (and note that the USVI has no sales tax and the highest duty-free limit in the Caribbean: $1,200 per person).

St. Croix, on the other hand, is more than twice the size of St. Thomas but has a much smaller tourism infrastructure - 1,000 hotel rooms compared to St. Thomas's 4,000, and only a few cruise-ship visits each week. In fact, tourism plays second fiddle to St. Croix's primary breadwinner, the Hess Corporation oil refinery, the largest such operation in the Western Hemisphere. As on St. Thomas, crime has been a problem on and off through the years, and Crucians always grumble about the preferential treatment that St. Thomas seems to get from politicians, businesspeople, cruise-ship operators, and so on. (Charlotte Amalie is the USVI seat of government). But St. Croix offers many of the same shops, a well-rounded menu of vacation activities, and less expensive hotel rates than its siblings, and is set to a more relaxed pace than you'll find on St. Thomas.

The jewel of the U.S. Virgins, however, is St. John. Almost two-thirds of the island is part of the National Park Service, and most of the rest is not heavily developed - there isn't even an airport. Because the remaining land is quite expensive (and there has never been a large population here), the relatively small number of homes are usually very tasteful and restrained. There are just two resorts here, and a selection of smaller hotels, plus two unique campgrounds that helped create the region's burgeoning eco-tourism industry. Consequently, St. John is one of the most unspoiled and handsome islands in the West Indies. There are incredible snorkeling and swimming areas within an easy swim of shore, trails to hike, ruins of the old Annaberg sugar plantation to explore, and a variety of programs conducted by the Park Service and by outside vendors. In short, St. John is the closest thing to virgin territory in the USVI.