St. Croix

St. Croix sits forty miles south of St. Thomas and operates entirely on its own terms. Direct flights arrive from Miami, Atlanta, Charlotte, Fort Lauderdale, and Orlando, making it reachable without the St. Thomas connection most USVI trips require. Christiansted is one of the most beautiful small colonial cities in the Caribbean. Buck Island holds the only underwater national park snorkel trail in the US National Park System. Cane Bay Wall drops from 35 feet to 1,000 in a vertical wall that draws divers from across the world. Most people who go once come back.

St. Croix is the largest of the US Virgin Islands and the most geographically varied, running from green hills and rain forest in the northwest to dry scrub on the east end. The Queen Elizabeth IV ferry connects Charlotte Amalie to Christiansted at Gallows Bay in about two hours, which makes a combined St. Thomas and St. Croix trip practical without flying twice. The ferry runs Wednesday through Monday and is subject to occasional mechanical disruptions, so check the current schedule and confirm before building it into your itinerary.

Christiansted

Christiansted on the north coast is the main entry point and the island's most historically intact colonial town. The harbor is ringed by 18th-century Danish buildings in yellow, ochre, and red, and the National Historic Site covers the old fort, customs house, wharf, and scale house along the waterfront. It is genuinely walkable and genuinely beautiful, with enough going on at street level to spend a full day without covering everything.

Savant has been one of the most acclaimed restaurants on the island since 1998, known for its candlelit courtyard and high-end Caribbean fusion cuisine that blends Caribbean, Asian, and Mexican flavors. Reservations are recommended a day or two in advance and worth the planning. Brew STX on Company Street is the right call for a casual lunch or an afternoon in the taproom. The Mill, in a historic sugar windmill just outside Christiansted, is worth a dinner for the setting alone.

Buck Island

Buck Island Reef National Monument sits about a mile and a half off the northeast coast of St. Croix and contains the only underwater snorkel trail in the United States National Park System. The trail is marked with signs on the reef at depths between 12 and 25 feet, identifying coral formations and marine life, and the reef itself is in better shape than most in the Caribbean. Charter boats depart from Christiansted daily. The trip takes about twenty minutes each way. Give yourself a full morning.

Cane Bay Wall

Cane Bay on the north shore is where the wall is. The reef starts at about 35 feet and drops straight down to 1,000 feet, a vertical face covered in coral, sponges, and more sea life than a single dive can take in. You can swim directly from shore to the reef in about 200 yards. It is one of the most accessible world-class wall dives on the planet. Cane Bay Dive Shop and several other operators work the site daily. Come for two dives. One will not be enough.

Sandy Point

Sandy Point National Wildlife Refuge at the southwest tip of the island is open Saturdays and Sundays only, 10am to 4pm, from September through March. It closes entirely from April through August to protect nesting leatherback sea turtles. When it is open, the beach is one of the most secluded in the USVI, a long white spit with no facilities and no crowds. Check the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service website for current status before making the trip.

Frederiksted

Frederiksted on the west coast is quieter and less visited than Christiansted, with its own cluster of 18th-century buildings and a pier that doubles as a cruise ship dock and an excellent night dive location. Rainbow Beach just north of town is low-key and local. Rhythms at Rainbow Beach is the right stop for a late afternoon beer watching the sun go down over the water.