Top 10 Things to See on St. Croix
St Croix, in the US Virgin Islands, is by far the largest of the Virgin Islands. In fact, it is bigger than St Thomas, St John, Tortola, and Virgin Gorda combined. With this said it is also one of the lesser visited islands due to it being 35 miles removed from the rest of the Virgin Islands. Plus, it is the only island that was owned by France at one point. The Danish bought the island in 1733 and the US bought it in 1917, along with the other islands of the Danish West Indies (St Thomas and St John). With that brief history let’s dive into our top ten sites of St Croix.
Point Udall
The far east end of St Croix is fairly remote and provides some spectacular views over the sea. Plus, this is the easternmost point of American soil. Another cool thing you will find is the Millennium Monument, which is a huge sundial built for New Years Day 2000. I like to think that it is built the way it was to resemble two Ms, as in its name.
Salt River Bay National Historical Park
As big as St Croix is, there are not a lot of anchorages available. Salt River Bay is one of the best protected harbors in St Croix, but you must be very careful with the tricky entrance. The historical part of the area comes from the fact this is the only place owned by the USA that Christopher Columbus visited and is the site of the very first battle between Europeans and Native Americans.
St. George Village Botanical Garden
Set among the ruins of the St George estate, a 19th century Danish plantation, in the middle of St Croix is an amazing botanical garden. The garden contains over 1500 various plants and I loved how photogenic they all looked mixed in with the ruins. My favorite part of the garden was the palms collection. I had no idea how many different palm trees and plants there were in the world.
Cane Bay Beach
Located on the north shore many people love to come to this beach to hang out, but I think the best reason is that it is one of the few wall dives you can do from shore in the world. As you snorkel out, the floor slopes away to around 30-40 feet and then suddenly drops off to thousands of feet deep. If you are a free diver, you can snorkel down this wall a ways or scuba dive it by joining one of several dive companies.
Cruzan Rum Factory
Founded in 1760, Cruzan Rum has been run by over eight generations of the Nelthropp family. Today they run it for Jim Beam Whiskey. It is one of only two rum distilleries to be a part of the American Whiskey Trail. When you visit you start off with a tour of the facilities and are shown the steps to making rum. The tour ends at the gift shop and bar where you can sample various rums and cocktails.
3 Types Of Mills
Whim Plantation
Laid out in the 1730’s by the Danish West Indian Company, this plantation transitioned from cotton to sugar to cattle to homesteading to museum over the years. Nowadays the museum is a restoration of the estate including the great house decked out in period furniture and many of the sugar plantation buildings. My favorite part of the estate is seeing the technology grow to extract the juice from the sugar cane as it went from animal driven to windmills to steam equipment.
Annally Pool
Tucked away on the north shore is a large tidal pool that is protected from the sea by a natural rock wall. When the north swell is running in the winter and spring the water will cascade down like little waterfalls. To get to the Annally Pool you can drive down a 4×4 road that is extremely rough or take a two-mile hike through the forest starting at Carambola Beach Resort, which is what I recommend. Once there you will have to do a 20ish foot unprotected scramble across the rocks at water level, so you want some north swell but not too much.
Christiansted
This town has some of the best architecture in the West Indies and I love simply walking around and gazing at the buildings and homes with their shuttered windows and how the second floor extends over the sidewalk to provide protection. There is also the Christiansted National Historic Site, which consists of six historic structures: Fort Christiansværn (1738), a warehouse (1749), the Steeple Church (1753), the Customs House (1840), the Scale House (1856), and the Government House (1747). The scale is my favorite since everything coming and going on this island passed over this scale to assess taxes. When you want to relax, walk along the boardwalk and pick which restaurant to sit at and look out over the large anchorage protected by a barrier reef. You may even see the seaplane land and take off in the harbor.
Frederiksted Pier
Ask snorkelers around the island where the best snorkeling is and they will all tell you the cruise ship pier. I know it does not sound that exciting, but it truly is spectacular. Every one of the columns along this 1526-foot-long pier drops down 20-80 feet to the seafloor and is covered with an amazing selection of colorful sponges, coral, and fish. Other things to check out are the small nearby fort and any of the beaches along the west coast.
Buck Island Reef National Monument
Set aside and protected since 1948, Buck Island has everything you look for in a boating experience. In the middle of the south shore there is an entrance inside the reef where you can take your boat east of the island and snorkel the reef. One time I followed a school of blue tangs through a tunnel and ended up outside the reef, which is spectacular if the weather is calm. On the west coast you will find a very nice beach to hang out on and there is a trail you can hike up to the top of the hill.
As you can see, what St Croix lacks in anchorages compared to the other Virgin Islands, it more than makes up for in historical and natural beauty.
Captain Shane and 1st Mate Lily are back in the Virgin Islands this season running charters. Check out their adventures at svGuidingLight on the web or on social media.
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