Paradise Point Tramway in St. Thomas

I recently visited the island of St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Though I was visiting friends, they made sure that I hit as many of the tourist attractions to make my trip as full as possible! One of my favorite spots was the Paradise Point Tramway ride, which was absolutely beautiful and had many good points, but a few negative things that turned me off.

Let's start with the good. The Paradise Point Tramway costs only about $5USD local price (I believe the tourist price was $10USD) and gives you an absolutely gorgeous view of the harbor, especially at night. In my nighttime ride of the tramway, I was able to look out over the harbor and Charlotte Amalie. The area was completely and beautifully lit up by the cruise ships, restaurants and shops in the area. For those who are only slightly wary of heights, the ride only lasts between 5 and 10 minutes. Once you reach the top, you are greeted by the friendly staff of Paradise Point. Paradise Point is a great place to pick up souvenirs, and even has a small bar and restaurant in which you can buy a drink or food. I would consider Paradise Point a very romantic place for a date (fellas, what a way to impress your lady on vacation!), and a perfect place for photographers!

However, there are a few aspects of my time at Paradise Point that did not thrill me. As I mentioned earlier, there is a lower price for locals than there is for tourists, which is the case in most island/tropical vacation spots (be aware if you did not know this already!). And, also as I mentioned, the tourist price is double the local price. Now, as I was traveling with locals I was able to get away with paying the local price for the tramway, but if I had paid $10USD I would have honestly felt ripped off. $10 for a 5-10 minute tram ride is a bit much - and that is just paying to get from the bottom to the top; what you buy once you get to Paradise Point is more cash out of your pocket, which brings me to my next point: The prices for the trinkets and food at Paradise Point are outrageous! My friends and I sat down at a table and when the waitress brought us the menu, at first we thought it was a joke - $6 for a small drink, $8 for a regular, and $10-$12 for a large (depending upon the drink, some people more expensive than others), $8 for an order of french fries, and the rest of the menu was even more ridiculous. We would not be paying that much for food and drinks that may not even be that great when we could ride the tram back down, run across the street and get food and drinks we knew were good for much cheaper. Needless to say, I bought nothing at Paradise point.

The other negative was the crowd. There were about 90 people up there when we got there that night, and considering the Point isn't all that big, it felt a bit claustrophobic to me. It made it a little difficult when we were trying to take pictures as well, because people kept walking by.

Overall the experience was beautiful, but is very costly and crowded. I will probably not return to Paradise Point on my next visit to St. Thomas, and I don't recommend it unless you are prepared to shell out a good amount of money.