Is it possible to travel cheap to and around the US Virgin Islands?

The bad news is flights to the VI are pretty expensive. Spirit usually has some good deals but even those are in the $200+ range. Once you get here though...yeah it's still pretty expensive. You can get by traveling on dollar safaris and buses but you'll be limited to just the bus routes. If you want to get anywhere out of the way you better makes some friends with a car or get ready to pay for a taxi. Food here is expensive in comparison to the mainland (we don't have a dollar menu, LOL!). Liquor though is incredibly cheap. Hotel rooms are (surprise!) also expensive. There are a few guest house where you can get a room for around $100 a night but you better book early. I heard a hostel recently opened on St. Thomas but I don't have any contact or rate information for them. Good luck!

I paid $500 roundtrip from the east coast, non-stop flight. I got a Jeep, and paid a premium price for it ($500 for a week); it was almost brand new. The hills in St Thomas are wicked. I mean REALLY bad. I saw a lot of people driving regular cars, but the Jeep was exactly what was needed. The cabs can be merciless. I met a guy who took a cab while carrying a camera bag. The cabbie never touched the bag, and tried to charge the guy a luggage fee.

If you are going to take cabs, be ready to be very assertive. They will add bogus changes and try to screw you at every opportunity. The cabs at St John aren't bad, much less mercenary.

If you are looking for a place to stay, try the Green Iguana. It's tiny, maybe 10 rooms, and it isn't fancy, but it's clean, and located about Charlotte Amalie. The people who run it are a couple, and they are the coolest people you will ever meet. They are also a wealth of information on where to eat, what to do, etc. I think I paid $850 for a week. Plus they don't have a bar, they have a fridge in the office. $2 for a beer.

Not really. That's high season in the USVI and Caribbean. Your cheapest option would probably be the raised tent camping on St. John [Cinnamon Bay and another, which I can't remember the name of right now]. But you have to reserve those way in advance. And you'd probably want a car, and driving on St. John is pretty dicey, what with the curvy, narrow roads and driving on the "wrong" side of the road.