The Ultimate Guide to The St Croix Virgin Islands
Ah the US Virgin Islands. Beautiful white sand beaches in the Caribbean, and no pesky need for a passport to get there. The USVI are no secret. In fact, you will hear people talk ALL DAY LONG about St. John and St. Thomas. But what about the St Croix virgin islands? Did you even know that St. Croix was US owned? For some reason or other, maybe because it’s a bit further, this island seems to be the one that tourists forget. It’s always the one you can’t remember the name of, even though you know the US owns 3 virgin islands. So, let’s talk about everything you need to know about this glorious island.
Don’t have time to read this right now? Watch this quick Youtube video instead!
Driving And Logistics
I know, I know, I always start with the somewhat boring stuff! But of all the information I can give you, driving is the most important. Why? Because in the St Croix virgin islands, you drive on the left side of the road from the left side of the car. What? Yep. This means that absolutely everyone in the world will be doing something backward from what they are used to.
This is because St. Croix has a complicated colonial history. The island changed hands between the Dutch, French, and British before ending up in the hands of the US. As a result, you end up with driving laws completely different than the rest of the US and world. In countries, where you drive on the left side of the road, the steering wheel is usually on the right side of the car. In the US, we drive on the right side of the road but sit on the left side of the car. So you as driver, regardless of where you drive, always keep your shoulder to the middle of the road. In St. Croix, your shoulder is always to the outside of the road. Just keep thinking to yourself “left shoulder to the left shoulder.”
I have driven all over the world. This was one of the craziest places I’ve ever had to drive. I kept screwing up my left from my right. A right hand turn was from the furthest lane into the next furthest lane. It is totally possible to get the hang of it, I don’t want to scare you off of it. But it definitely takes some getting used to.
Travel Tip: Be sure to download Google Maps offline. Internet is not available everywhere on the island and you will frequently find yourself without signal. Make sure you have an offline map. Further, even though Google Maps does a good job, we often found ourselves asking for directions.
What Do To In St. Croix
The St Croix virgin islands have so much to do that it’s honestly difficult to understand how tourists forget about this amazing place. But let’s pick some of the best of the best things do to. Spoiler alert, they involve getting in the water!
Again, if you want a shortcut, here is a Google Map that you can download!
The Annaly Bay Tide Pools
I have written extensively on the Annaly Bay tide pools, in a separate blog post. So, I am not going to talk about them too much here. Just know that they are these amazing, picturesque volcanic tide pools that are worth the extra effort to get there. We had quite the adventure driving to and from the pools that I will never forget for the rest of my days. Definitely go check out the other post for more details.
Scuba Diving and Snorkeling
St. Croix is one of the only places in the Caribbean where you can scuba or snorkel a wreck, a reef, a wall, and a pier all in one place. There are tons of beaches with extensive reef systems that make for great snorkeling or shore diving. For example, we went to Cane Bay beach to snorkel, and I ended up seeing an octopus! My first ever time seeing one of these amazing animals. Further, we did some great boat diving on the Frederiksted side of the island, where the water was so calm it was almost like a lake.
We also did some boat diving along the wall on the Christiansted side, but didn’t have as good experience due to tumultuous waves making us sea sick. The waves also churned up all the sand making for low visibility. Those conditions are not normal for the St Croix virgin islands, but a hurricane had just blown through.
The only thing we missed was diving or snorkeling along the Frederiksted pier. It’s an amazing place to see lots of sea life from fish to seahorses. I would highly recommend it and am a bit devastated that we missed it. But there was just not enough time. Guess I’ll have to go back someday!
Travel Tip: When traveling to the USVI during the summer, be sure to check for weather and be ready to change activities appropriately. We got lucky that our scuba diving was only slightly affected with the hurricane.
Some Scuba Love – photo by Shane Sparks 
“Okay” Scuba Sign – Photo by Shane Sparks 
A Scuba Wave – Photo by Shane Sparks
Night Sea Kayaking to Bioluminescent Bay
In my opinion, sea kayaking in the bioluminescent bay is the number 1 most amazing thing you can do on the St Croix virgin islands. Like, if you only could do one thing during your vacation, this would be it. If you have never heard of a bioluminescent or “bio” bay, it is a bay that is filled with tiny micro-organisms that light up when they are disturbed. There are also larger organisms called comb jelly fish, which do not sting, but also light up. It is kind of like holding a squishy blue light bulb in your hand.
There are very few bio bays in the world, and a lot of them are in far off places like the Maldives. But there are a couple in the Caribbean, including Puerto Rico and St. Croix. St. Croix’s is really beautiful because it’s very well protected. You cannot have motorized boats in the protected area which is why you have to do a sea kayaking tour. We did a glass bottom kayaking tour with Sea Thru Kayaks (they were awesome!)
I have zero pictures from this experience, because unless you have a really great camera it will not show up. So, I didn’t even try and instead just enjoyed the experience. Believe me when I tell you it will change your life. It was like kayaking through space and all the organisms were like stars. It brings tears to my eyes just writing about it.
Relaxing By The Beach!
Of course it doesn’t all have to be exercise and adventure. Since you are on an island filled with glorious beaches, you can definitely take a day (or two) to relax and just be. My sister in law and I did just that while the boys went and played golf. We had amazing massages and just took some time to pamper ourselves. There are plenty of resorts to choose from when building in your relaxing day.
There are also tours that take you to Buck Island Reef National Monument, which is a national marine park with an underwater trail. We would have loved to do this, but again, so little time.
Exploring Christiansted and Frederiksted
There are two main towns in the St Croix virgin islands, Christiansted and Frederiksted. They sit basically at opposite ends of the island and look very similar, but are both worth exploring. They are filled with colorful buildings that make for great pictures, but the real reason you’re going, is for the food! As a disclaimer, I have really not explored the Caribbean all that much. So, I don’t know if the food is awesome on all the islands, but I can tell you that the food in St. Croix was amazing!
The seafood of course is divine, because it’s fresh and local. What’s more though, are the marinades and sauces. I feel like everything was spiced to perfection, and every restaurant had these super special hot sauces that you couldn’t get anywhere else. There was also a vegetarian or vegan friendly option on almost every menu I passed, and I ate Johnny Cakes to my heart’s content.
So, after reading all this is St. Croix now on your bucket list? I sure hope so, it was definitely a great getaway that I think everyone should visit!
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