Some of our guests were wondering so we just want to let you know how the current Government Shutdown situation is likely to impact your vacation on St Thomas and St John. The short answer is not much at all.
Most visitors plan at least one trip to the Virgin Islands National Park. The National Park Center is OPEN, the park is open and from a visitors perspective it's business as usual. Volunteers from Friends of the National Park have stepped up to fill any void in services a guest would expect. You have access to the hiking trails and all of the beaches including Trunk Bay.
People also have asked us about Magens Bay on St Thomas - it's also open and running full service. Both Magens Bay and Lindqist Beach operate under the local Magens Bay Authority and are not affected by the current situation with our Federal Government.
Thus far, none of our departing guests have reported longer than usual times to clear customs or TSA at the airport on St Thomas. And, charter boats are not reporting problems or delays clearing customs when returning from the BVIs. If and when Customs and/or TSA employees are furloughed, there may be longer wait lines but as of now it hasn't been an issue.
If anything significant changes we will update this post!