We are always on the hunt for the best beaches on each island. Therefore, it came as no surprise that we ended up on Sandy Point Beach, part of the Sandy Point National Wildlife Refuge in St. Croix.
Sandy Point Beach is a three mile long beautiful powdery soft sand beach at the southwest end of St. Croix, just south of Fredriksted. It’s the largest beach in the USVI, but probably one of the least crowded. Sandy Point was the beach featured in the movie “Shawshank Redemption” when Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins reunited on the beach, supposedly in “Zihuatanejo”. Well, that’s one of our favorite flicks, so that little tidbit made us even more interested in checking it out. And, of course, we rented the movie again when we got home to see how Sandy Point looked in the film. Beautiful, of course.
From the main road, it is a bit of a drive into the beach, but it appeared they were improving the road when we visited and it wasn’t as bumpy as we had read. There are a few small parking areas and then a short hike to the beach. Immediately you are stunned by the beauty of this area.
Endangered green sea and leatherback turtles that lay their eggs on the Sandy Point Beach are protected by the National Wildlife Refuge. The park is only open on weekends from 10:00am – 4:00pm and is closed completely to the general public during laying and hatching season from April to August. I read that a visit might be arranged during hatching season by contacting the Wildlife Refuge ahead of time.
The beach doesn’t offer any shade or concessions and is not the best in St. Croix for snorkeling because the bottom is too sandy (what a problem!), but is a must see if you appreciate turquoise blue Caribbean water, soft powdery sand, fantastic photo opportunities and very few people. There were quite a few brown pelicans dive bombing for fish and we spent several hours watching them, walking the beach and floating in the crystal blue water.
The water is shallow at the shore, but seemed to drop off fairly quickly, at least in the area we swam, but the surf was not rough and we enjoyed spending time in the water. The sand was very soft in the areas close to the water and just a little more coarse the farther you got from shore.
If you’re lucky enough to be in St. Croix when Sandy Beach is open, I’d highly recommend a visit. Bring a cooler, a beach towel, plenty of sunscreen and an extra memory card for your camera. You’ll need it.
Have you been to Sandy Point? Tell us about it!
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just got back from st . croix. Sandy point is the most beautiful beach i have ever seen. It is also the most wonderful swimming beach i have ever been too. I coined a new phrase its called carribian nervana. Can only be done at sandy point because all conditions are met. It is and alter state you get by floating in 5feet of clear water with sugar white sand underneath you look up to the clouds and that blue carribian sky and you feel like you floating to the sky. And can be greatly enhanced by a few rum drinks . Also a new road was built that takes you 50 ft from the beach . 03/07/12
Michael – Sandy Beach is amazing, isn’t it? Love the phrase “Caribbean Nirvana”!
I traveling to STX soon. How do you get there? Is it passing Rainbow beach?
Hi Jay – Sandy Point is a little tricky to find, but well worth it. I’m attaching a link to a map that shows where it is. We took 70 over to the west side, then drove around until we found the entry. There is a road in that takes you pretty close to the beach, but then you need to hike in from there. Sandy Point is only open on weekends and is closed for several months of the year during turtle hatching, so be sure to check with Sandy Point National Wildlife Refuge to see if it will be open when you are there. Hope you have a great time in STX! http://www.villadawn.com/images/VIIShbmap4.pdf