St. Croix Shore Day: A Virgin Voyages Adventure

Welcome to St. Croix, a slice of Caribbean paradise where relaxation meets adventure at every turn.  We arrived on the 3rd stop of our Eastern Caribbean Antilles Virgin Voyage we took in February 2023.  St. Croix is the largest of the US Virgin Islands, also including St. John and St. Thomas.  Being a US Territory makes this a fabulous option for those looking to travel to the Caribbean from the US without a passport.  

Arriving in Frederiksted

We docked in St. Croix at 8 AM and had until 6 PM to explore the island.  I did not book an excursion, as there were lots of options for a good beach day, like Rainbow Beach, right by the cruise port.  We like to get away from the masses plus I didn’t want to stare at the ship all day (no matter how pretty she is 😉), so we ended up talking to a local driver at the pier with a map and asked that he take us where the locals go and that’s great for snorkeling.  He drove us about 25 minutes away to Cane Bay, a very popular spot on the island known for its reef wall, which was exactly what we wanted.  

Travel More Tip:

Talk to the locals!  The ride was $100 and while Will did try to get others to join/split the costs, everyone was so skeptical (Why? We are on the Virgin boat too 🤷) and he ended up being our private driver for the day.  He waited for us for 4 hours at Cane Bay while we swam and enjoyed the beach and then took us back; for him, not a bad day’s work at all! Win win! 

Cane Bay and Reef Wall Exploration

Cane Bay is located on the north side of the island and is famous for “The Wall” which is about 150 yards from shore in 40 ft. of water and drops dramatically to over 3.000 ft.  Whales and Hammerhead sharks have been spotted swimming here and I saw a nurse shark while I was snorkeling!  This is a beautiful spot to post up for the day and also offers 4 beachside restaurants, a full service dive center, kayak and paddleboard rentals, beach chair rentals and more.  We always bring our mask/snorkel with us on beach days so we can easily hop in the water and check out the underwater life. 

The Landing Beach Day

The driver dropped us off at The Landing Beach Bar and it was AMAZING!  It doesn’t take much to make us happy with food as long as it's got carbs.  😂 We grabbed a spot at the bar, ordered a round of drinks and sandwiches and chatted with the locals.  

Most of the staff at the restaurant were US Citizens that had relocated there from the mainland years ago.  Our bartender was actually on leave from medical school and working there in the summer while she stayed with her grandmother.  Her goal is to come back to the island to practice medicine when she graduates! 🙂 We met an interesting mix of residents and found that St. Croix is the more practical island for living, filled with local, working people.  St. Thomas is for tourists, and St. John is the most undeveloped and only has a few properties that are exclusive and elite. (Yes, we signed up for real estate alerts with Chris Hanley Realty. 🙃)

The Landing had a walk up/take out order spot right off the beach where I saw locals bringing jugs up to fill with beer and water and then take back down to the sand.  We spent all day lounging here and loved it so much we came back again in May for a week.

Are you a Scuba Diver? Discover Sweet Bottom Dive Center

We came back to this exact spot on the island to stay longer because of the convenience of everything we want and need in one place.  We spotted “Sweet Bottom Dive Center” which is also located at the Landing/Cane Bay!  This dive shop has it all, is a top rated PADI dive center and is owned/operated by a retired Chicago Fire Chief and retired Chicago Medical Nurse! I'd say you are in good hands if anything goes wrong. 💪

When we returned we did a Wall dive and then a Pier dive, which was outstanding, shallow and probably one of the best, if not THE Best, dive I have ever had. I will expand on their amazing service and diving in a longer post to come, as we will definitely be going back. This is where I want to experience my first ever 'night dive' at the pier. 😱

Travel More Tip:

Use the cruise stops as inspiration!  This is the second time we have gone back to a port that we loved for longer and it was amazing.  We got out all of the first time jitters by being introduced to the location via the cruise.  You have a feel for the local vibe and can adjust / enjoy sooner, IMO.  

Frederiksted Pier Exploration

Our driver dropped us off in the same spot and we spent the last hour walking around perusing the vendor stalls and stores along the main strip.  This is a new cruise port for Virgin Voyages and we were the only ship in port that day, so everyone on the island was ready for our arrival (and I'm sure departure! 😂)!  

Check out our YouTube video from this perfect day at Cane Bay

Ready to turn dive into St. Croix’s Paradise? 

Go to the “Contact” page now to easily schedule an initial discussion with us to get things started!  Thank you for reading and following our travel adventures!  Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube Channel and to follow along @travelmorewithkristin on Instagram for the latest travel tips, tricks and our newest locations visited.  

Thank you!

Kristin & Will

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