St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands
St. Croix is the largest of the United States Virgin Islands, spanning a whole 82 square
miles in area. Within these 82 square miles there are natural attractions that surpass her
sister islands. This island offers more diversity and activity than St. John - without
suffering from the overdevelopment and cruise ship commercialism. There are wildlife
refuges for birds and leatherback turtles, botanic gardens, rain forest, three
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nature preserves and two above land parks and one under the sea park. There are two major
towns in St. Croix - Christiansted and Frederiksted. This is the island where Christopher
Columbus' crew actually landed in November of 1493 along the North Shore at Salt River.
Christiansted and Frederiksted of St. Croix
Christiansted is the main town of St. Croix and still retains a number of historic
buildings from the early period of the Danish settlement. For night-life and bar hopping -
this is one of the most enjoyable towns in the Caribbean. Shopping is plentiful in quaint
shops filed with French perfumes, crystal, clothing, jewelry and china. The town of
Frederiksted overlooks a deepwater harbor on the west end of the island. The pier itself
is a well known dive. Its pilings have become an underwater forest with
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a depth of 35 foot, with sponges, plume worms and multi-colored sea horses.
The Rain Forest of St. Croix
A hilly northwest corner of St. Croix is covered with a dense woods. There is not actually
enough rain fall to qualify as a rain forest, but it appears to be a pretty close like.
There are enormous mahogany trees throughout, silk-cotton, kapok trees, gumbo limbo or red
birch, swamp fern and strap fern. You will encounter sweet lime, mammee apple, mango, hog
plum and other tropical fruit trees throughout. The roads are winding and sometimes
unpaved, but accessible with a jeep. There is Scenic Road which travels from the heart of
the Rain Forest and winds through beautifully wooded areas.
Cruzan Rum Distillery
Virgin Islands rum is distilled on West Airport Road in St. Croix as it has been for
centuries. Tours of the distillery are conducted daily and can see them making the rum.
The tour includes a walk through the plant, viewing long, flat sections of kegs, up ramps
past the rum itself to the bottling and labeling machines. The history involved in this
old craft will be explained to you. You will watch "coopers" at work making the barrels as
they have for centuries.The old windmills that were used for power before electricity was
available are still there. Afterwards you can visit the gift shop and purchase duty free
Cruzan Rum, rum cakes, T-shirts and other gift shop items.
St. George Village Botanical Gardens
The botanical gardens cover a 16 acres site and surround the runs of a
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workers' village on a Danish sugar planation of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
The site is a volunteer project started in 1972 as a clean-up project for a slum site. In
1976 it was discovered that this was an Arawak settlement inhabited from A.D. 100 to 900.
There are some 800 species of trees and plantings. Some of the buildings have been
restored and others are used as backgrounds for the plantings. The gardens are open daily
and the library is open on Thursday.
Buck Island Reef Botanical Monument
Buck Island is a volcanic islet of some 300 acres surrounded by 550 acres of under water
coral gardens. This is a favorite site for snorkeling along on the inner reef and
deepwater diving on the outer barrier reef. Brown pelicans and frigatebirds
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roost on the island. The different coral formations are varied - staghorn, elkhorn, brain
and finger coral, sea fans, feather duster worms and sea anemones. There have been some
300 different fish identified on the reef and it takes approximately 45 minutes to swim.
There are glass-bottom boat excursions and motorboats with snorkeling equipment for hire.
Salt River Bay Estuary for Deep Sea Diving
A large bay at the mouth of the Salt River is an estuary and an important Arawak site. The
Aquarius, an underwater research laboratory where scientists live, is also located here.
There are more than two dozen birding sites around St. Croix, many located in the estuary.
Among the nesting species are the pledbilled grebe, green-backed heron, egret, common
moorhen, American coot, Wilson's plover, willet, common ground-dove and smooth billed ani.
The Salt River Drop-off located at the mouth of the rive is a prime dive site that is
actually walls of a submerged canyon. The west will begins at 30 foot and then drops to a
shelf. The wall has caves and crevices with corals and tube sponges. The east wall
descends at more of an angle and has large schools of fish. The Salt River Marina has
fully equipped dive operators and boats for hire.
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