My husband started it. That is, my obsession with tropical beaches with water so blue that you can’t take your eyes off of it. I had always dreamed about experiencing this amazing hue, but hadn’t gotten the chance to see it in person. Until our honeymoon in Hawaii….
Well, let’s just say I was hooked from that first Hawaiian beach we laid eyes on. The clear, azure water was absolutely mesmerizing and just as amazing as I had pictured in my mind. Since then, we have been lucky enough to enjoy many, many other beaches in Hawaii, Florida, the Caribbean, Mexico and the Bahamas. They’re all different and most are beautiful in their own way – but there’s still just something about that blue, blue water.
If you’re looking to find a tropical island to visit with incredibly blue water, here’s our list of 12 Tropical Islands with the Most Amazing Blue Water to start with. Are these the only ones? Heck no. As you can tell by the number of entries, it was very hard to narrow it down and there are so many more islands worthy of a mention. We could have actually named several entire island chains with incredibly blue water – such as the British Virgin Islands, Exuma Cays, Abacos, Turks & Caicos, US Virgin Islands, etc…, but space prohibited listing them all. These are some of our favorites to date for the amazing blue color of their water. Be sure to leave a comment with your favorites below!
St. Croix is the largest island in the United States Virgin Island (USVI) chain. The southernmost USVI island, St. Croix offers a wide variety of activities and experiences and a diverse landscape, including a sub tropical rainforest, a bio-luminescent bay, the best wall diving in the Caribbean, three national parks to explore and beautiful sandy beaches. In addition, St. Croix is home to the Cruzan Rum Distillery, the only golf courses in the USVI (Mahogany Run on St. Thomas closed after the hurricanes in 2017 and its future is still in question), a number of excellent restaurants, and historical sights to explore. Read on to find out why you should plan a trip to St. Croix, USVI.
US Residents Don’t Need a Passport to Travel to St. Croix
As with St. Thomas, St. Croix is a US Territory so US residents don’t currently need a passport to travel to St. Croix. (However, you may need proof of US citizenship to re-enter the US mainland, which may include a birth certificate and a government issued ID – be sure to check with your airline to make assure you have the required documents).
In addition, there are daily non-stop flights from several major US airports including Miami, Atlanta and Ft. Lauderdale so you can get to the beach faster! Are you finding better flights flying into St. Thomas? Consider taking the seaplane from Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas to Christiansted, St. Croix. It’s only 25 minutes from “downtown to downtown”!
Beaches
Before visiting St. Croix for the first time, we heard that the beaches were…just o.k. Not so! We’ve enjoyed several amazing beaches during our visits to St. Croix and look forward to our next return to find more! Some of our favorites?
Sandy Point Beach
Sandy Point National Wildlife Refuge. The gorgeous 2 mile white sand beach at the Sandy Point Wildlife is the longest in all of the US Virgin Islands. The beach and surrounding area serve as a protected area for the endangered leatherback turtle. It is closed to the public from April to August during turtle hatching season and is only open on Saturday and Sunday the rest of the year. Read more here.
Turtle Beach, Buck Island
Turtle Beach, Buck Island. Buck Island is a small, uninhabited island off the northeast coast of St. Croix. Designated a National Monument in 1961, the 176 acre island is home to several endangered species such as the hawksbill turtle. In addition to enjoying the gorgeous white sand beach with views of St. Croix in the distance, you can hike the island, and snorkel the underwater trail in crystal clear water with vibrant coral and fish below. There are excursions that can take you to Buck Island for 1/2 day or full day trips.
Shoy’s Beach
Shoy’s. Not far from Christiansted, this pretty, secluded beach is a great place to relax, unwind and just listen to the waves lap the shore. Usually not crowded, Shoy’s doesn’t have any amenities and is a little harder to access and that could be why it’s nice and quiet. There is some good snorkeling, and the beach is great for walking or just digging your toes into.
Jack and Issacs Beach
Jack and Isaac Beach. Access the hiking path down the hill from close to Point Udall. Do you want to watch the sunrise on the beach in St. Croix? This is the place!
Rum
Like rum? You’re in luck when you visit St. Croix. There is not just one, but two rum distilleries that you can tour and rum flows freely at restaurants and beach bars. Want to enjoy learning about and tasting rum on St. Croix? Here are a few ways.
Cruzan Rum Distillery. The Nelthropp Family began making rum on St. Croix in the 1800’s and today award winning Cruzan Rums are well known to rum lovers. Cruzan offers really informative tours that take you into the actual rum making process and at the end of the tour there is a rum and rum drink sampling. Find out more about St. Croix Rum Distillery Tours here.
Captain Morgan Rum Distillery. Not far from Cruzan Rum (so you can tour both in one day!) is the Captain Morgan Rum Distillery. Built in 2011, Captain Morgan offers a different kind of tour than Cruzan, but both are worth exploring. Again, rum samples are provided at the end, so you might want to take a taxi!
Beach Bars. There are several fun beach bars to be found on St. Croix and…shock…they all serve rum! One of our favorites? Rhythms at Rainbow Beach. Not far from Fredriksted and the cruise ship pier, this can be a rockin’ place to hang out. Beach volleyball, a great beach, live music and spectacular sunsets make this a place to enjoy and enjoy a drink or two. Try a Cruzan Confusion or a Cruzan Chaos!
Frank Robinson at BES Craft Cocktail Lounge
Restaurant/Bar. We were blown away by BES Craft Cocktail Lounge and it’s owner, Frank Robinson. Located in Christiansted, we enjoyed some terrific food and originally crafted rum cocktails while there. It was so good, we returned the next night! Find out more here.
Other Things to See and Do on St. Croix
Crab Races at the Divi Resort
Crab Races – looking for something different and surprisingly fun to do with the family? Bet on your favorite crab at the crab races! Find out more about this popular St. Croix event here.
Point Udall
Point Udall – said to be the easternmost point of the US, Point Udall is marked by the Millennium Monument and offers stunning panoramic views of the sea surrounding St. Croix. Great place to catch the sunrise. Find out more about Point Udall here.
Dive the Wall – St. Croix has a number of great dive sites, but the best know site is simply called “The Wall”. This dive site can either be accessed by boat or by swimming out from the shore at Cane Bay Beach. Find out more about Diving the Wall here.
Beer Drinking Pigs at Mt. Pellier Domino Club
Beer Drinking Pigs – take a drive through the subtropical rainforest on the West End of St. Croix to the Mt. Pellier Domino Club to enjoy a beer with the resident pigs! Although the pigs are only given non-alcoholic beer, they certainly enjoy their beverage! Check out some photos of our visit here.
Explore the History of St. Croix with the St. Croix Heritage Map. Check out some of the highlights here.
Still want more ideas of what to do during your St Croix vacation? Check out a list of 100 Things To Do On St. Croix here.
What to Bring Home
St. Croix Hook Bracelet – available at several stores, but we chose to purchase ours at Sonya Ltd. in Christiansted. Sonya is said to be the originator of the St. Croix Hook Bracelet.
Cruzan Rum – available at the distillery and, well, mostly everywhere in the VI. Some flavors (aged and Single Barrel too) are even available stateside, but if there is a flavor you fall in love with, be sure to bring a bottle or two home with you!
St. Croix Food and Wine Experience Book – Featuring recipes from Top Chef and Iron Chef contestants and James Beard and A Taste of St. Croix award-winning chefs, this is a keepsake full-color 9×9 cookbook and island guide to St. Croix.
Before flying over to St. Croix from St. Thomas recently, a friend told us, “Be sure to check out the Scooter rental shop that’s also a bar in Christiansted”. Hmmm. Quite the combination. Sounded just strange enough that we wanted to check it out.
(Update: 6/2021. A recent search for contact information for Cruzin Scooters indicated that they may be permanently closed. If this is not correct, please let us know so that we can update this information.)
We caught a quick glimpse of Cruzin Scooters & Full Bar as we walked out of our hotel in Christiansted on our way to the boardwalk. It was right across the street, just off the boardwalk, and during the day, looked like a normal shop. Later that night, after returning from a relaxing evening at BES Craft Cocktail Lounge, the quiet shop had transformed into a rowdy little bar. All of the scooters and bikes were parked out front, making room for a small dance floor, and the musician was really rockin’ on the keyboard.
We walked in to see what was happening and were greeted by owner Philip who asked if he could get us a drink. We tried to chat a bit over the music and asked how he’d come up with the idea to put a bar in a scooter rental place. He said it just seemed like a good idea, after all, people tended to congregate in the area, so he applied for a liquor license and got it. Of course, the liquor is available only after rentals shut down for the day- scooter rentals by day, bar by night!
The musician, Zenith Apollo, was just killing it on the keyboard. Originally from the states, he had music in his blood; learning from his musician mom who’d performed at the Grand Ole Opry. He’d been friends with Philip in the States, and had come down to visit Philip and ended up staying.
Zenith Apollo would sing and play for a while and then he’d accompany a friend or a friends child as they sang a tune or two.
The vibe was super casual, biker-bar(esque) and we had such a good time that we stopped in once again the next evening to enjoy an ice cold beer at a most unique Caribbean bar.
Have you stopped by Cruzin Scooters to rent a scooter or enjoy a cold beer while on St. Croix? Tell us about it!
St. Croix, the largest of the US Virgin Islands, not only has beautiful beaches, top-notch culinary experiences and a wide variety of great accommodations, it offers two distinctly different, yet interesting, rum distilleries tours for rum lovers – or those that would just like to learn more about rum.
Cruzan Rum and Captain Morgan are the two distilleries found on this, the largest US Virgin Island. Cruzan Rums have been crafted on St. Croix by the Nelthropp family for generations while Captain Morgan opened it’s St. Croix Distillery in 2011 and a visitor center on the site the following year. What does that mean for rum lovers like you and me? You’ve got two completely different tours to experience on St. Croix and you can easily do both in one afternoon!
We began our rum tour by getting a lift in Christiansted from Joseph, of Joseph’s VIP Taxi Tours (contact him at 340-277-6133). We knew we would be enjoying the rum drinks at the end of each tour and hiring a taxi is the way to go. Joseph was a great tour guide and was recently voted taxi driver of the year on St. Croix. He was warm and welcoming, and gave us some great info on St. Croix along the way.
First stop? The Captain Morgan Experience Center. Here we started the tour with a short and entertaining movie about Captain Morgan, then followed a tour guide through the Information Center, learning about the history and current Captain Morgan products.
Outside, we boarded a small tram to take a short tour through the distillery, learning about the distilling process along the way.
Once back at the facility, we were treated to two rum drinks of our choice and tastes of any the different types of rums, if desired.
At the end of the tour, you can peruse through the Captain Morgan shop and take home a souvenir of your visit.
Joseph was waiting for us outside and we boarded the van for our next rum experience. Just a short hop away, we entered the Cruzan Rum facility.
We were immediately taken by the Cruzan rum culture and our first view of a sugar mill surrounded by the flags of the seven nations that have ruled St. Croix – the most of any of the US Virgin Islands.
Walking up to the Visitors Center, we enjoyed the sights of a generations old facility.
Our tour guide took us through the actual distillery and we loved being so close to the process, smelling the molasses and watching it ferment.
In one of the storage rooms, filled with barrels and barrels of the delicious aging elixir, she explained the aging process and the color variations of different rums.
At the end of the tour, we were deposited in the Cruzan tasting room – not a bad place to be, where we enjoyed our choice of several different Cruzan Rum cocktails and again could sample the individual rums, if we wished (we did…).
After a few minutes of shopping, we headed back to find Joseph, who was waiting patiently for his, then, very happy crew, and we made our way back to our home for the night, Hotel Caravelle in Christiansted.
Have you taken the rum tours on St. Croix? Tell us about it!
His business card reads “Frank Robinson, a bartender who cooks” and should, in our opinion, include, “award winning mixologist and one of the nicest guys around”. Frank recently opened his own cocktail lounge called BES Craft Cocktail Lounge in the heart of Christiansted, St. Croix.
We wanted to visit BES during our recent adventure on St. Croix and wandered into Frank’s establishment at about 9pm on a Thursday to an intimate and well designed space with lighting and music that created a welcoming vibe and a perfect place to meet, mingle and chill. We introduced ourselves to Frank, who behind the large bar, was busy creating some beautiful craft cocktails – cocktails where many of the elements are handmade, include interesting and creative flavor combinations, and are tailored specifically to the drink. If you’ve never experienced a true craft cocktail, well, the results of the hard work can be quite…satisfying.
While assembling our cocktail choices using fresh and local ingredients and liquors infused with fruits, vegetables, roots and herbs (you can see the array of infusions in bottles and jars behind the bar), Frank alternated between moments of intense concentration and bouts of joviality – his infectious, booming laugh filling the bar.
We ordered a drink called “The Darker The Berry”,
featuring Plantation Rum and a caramelized spiced orange,
and a “Crucian Queen” that included Cruzan Single Barrel and a Tamarind-Habanero Syrup.
Both unlike anything we’d tried before and both quite delicious.
Did we enjoy our visit with Frank at BES? So much so that we returned the following night, where we enjoyed a private rum tasting with Frank, who so very kindly brought in some of his private and vintage Cruzan Rum stock to share and compare with us.
During our rum tasting, we picked up a mouthwatering aroma coming from the kitchen and ended up ordering some Beef Meatballs Smothered in Curry Sauce, created by none other than Frank (remember – the bartender who cooks?) which tasted even better than they smelled, if that’s even possible. Excellent night, excellent experience at BES.
Have you enjoyed some time at BES Craft Cocktail Lounge? We’d recommend putting it on the list of places to visit while in Christiansted!
To find out more about BES, follow them on Facebook and Instagram or give them a call at 340.773.2985.
When visiting new locations, do you look to find out more about the local cuisine and restaurants? Do you consider yourself a foodie? Are you equally as interested in local culture? If you answered yes to any of those questions and you’re visiting St. Croix, you will love the Virgin Islands Food Tour in downtown Christiansted.
We joined our guide, Anquanette for the Virgin Islands Food Tours – Taste of Twin City tour last week while on St. Croix. This 3 – 3.5 hour food tasting & cultural walking tour meets in Christiansted and winds its way around Christiansted’s historical sites and restaurants.
We enjoyed a good sized taste of local cuisine from 6 very different restaurants that featured food samples with Crucian, Trinidadian, Latin and West Indian influences,
as well as treats from a local bakery, a homemade ice cream shop and a rum drink.
In addition to the delicious food and drink samples, the tour introduced us to Christiansted and St. Croix history – made even more interesting by Anquanette, a personable and knowledgeable Crucian native and by actually stopping to visit some of the sites.
Want to know what Bush Tea is? What does West Indian Food taste like? What are Lentil Balls?
Delicious Lentil Balls
How many flags has St. Croix flown under? What is Armstrong Ice Cream? For answers to these questions and so much more – consider booking yourself on a Virgin Islands Food Tour in Christiansted during your next visit to St. Croix!
During our recent VI adventure, we were given the opportunity to visit Caravelle Hotel & Casino, a newly refurbished waterfront boutique hotel in the heart of Christiansted, St. Croix, and we jumped at the chance. In previous visits we found ourselves wishing for more time to explore this pretty, historic town on the north side of St. Croix and we were excited to have the chance to do so.
Our trip to St Croix from St Thomas was via a Seaborne Airlines sea plane. The short and convenient flight left from Charlotte Amalie and landed in Christiansted Harbor within walking distance of Caravelle Hotel, just down the scenic boardwalk. You can read more about the sea plane flight here.
Caravelle Hotel recently underwent extensive remodeling, re-opening in 2016 and now has a breezy, modern tropical feel on the inside, while the exterior vibrantly retains the Danish architectural charm found in much of Christiansted.
Lobby In addition to the new décor in all 42 rooms and the lobby, Hotel Caravelle now incudes a new on-site casino with 76 slot machines.
What we loved the most about our stay at Caravelle Hotel & Casino was its close proximity to the many fine amenities found in Christiansted. All within walking distance, (or request a ride on one of their golf carts), you will find fine dining options such as balter, St. Croix, Zion Modern Kitchen and 40 Strand Eatery. BES Craft Cocktail Lounge is just a few blocks from Caravelle Hotel and is an excellent place to relax and enjoy craft cocktails masterfully created by award winning mixologist Frank Robinson. In addition to the many dining and drinking options, we enjoyed shopping at the nearby jewelry stores which offer beautifully handcrafted and original pieces, boutique clothing shops – and exploring the rich history of Christiansted at Fort Christianvaern . We also enjoyed learning about (and tasting!) some of the authentic flavors of St. Croix on the Virgin Islands Food Tour – an excellent guided food tasting and cultural walking tour in Christiansted. Or, if you don’t want to leave the comfort of Caravelle Hotel, you can dine and/or enjoy a cocktail at Rum Runners(downstairs and on the water),or stop in Big Beards Adventure Tours(attached to Caravelle) to set up an excursion to beautiful Buck Island.
In addition to all the wonderful things to explore in Christiansted, we took the two St. Croix rum distillery tours: Captain Morgan and Cruzan Rum. We easily toured both in one afternoon via a taxi so that we could enjoy the rum drinks offered at the end of each distillery tour.
After all of the exploring, we had a hard decision to make; pull up a lounge chair at the pool overlooking Christiansted Harbor, or take a short water taxi from the boardwalk to the pretty beach on Protestant Cay. We ended up doing (and enjoying) both!
And – at the end of each day, this was a really great place to land…
View of Christiansted Harbor from our room
Caravelle Hotel & Casino – comfort and convenience in the heart of Christiansted.
A special thank you to Caravelle Hotel & Casino for arranging our wonderful stay. Stay tuned in the next couple of days as we post more about some of the fun things we experienced in Christiansted!
All information is correct to our knowledge at the time of writing, but be sure to verify current information before your visit.
Pictures and other content may not be re-used without written consent from Rum Therapy, LLC
“Port to port with no airport” is the phrase used by Seaborne Airlines representative Angelia when spoke to her about the short flight on a sea plane from Charlotte Amalie in St. Thomas to Christiansted Harbor in St. Croix.
And sure enough, we conveniently boarded the sea plane from a dock in Charlotte Amalie, received our flight safety information from the pilot while in the cockpit, then skimmed over the water of the harbor, passing boats and buoys, taking off on our way to St. Croix.
20 minutes later, after a smooth and scenic flight, we descended into Christiansted Harbor, gently touching down on the water and then pulling up to the dock to de-plane.
No airports – no fuss and there we were, just feet from the boardwalk in Christiansted! How convenient is that?
From there, we were able to walk right down the boardwalk to our hotel in Christiansted without having to rent a car or get a taxi – although both are available right at the Seaborne Terminal as well, if needed!
Check out the Seaborne Airlines website for more information on the Sea Plane flight from St. Thomas to St Croix and other flights available.
A special thanks to Seaborne Airlines for providing our flight from St. Thomas to St. Croix!
To see more posts on St. Croix and other islands, check out our Island Blog Directory
A bucket full of crabs = a whole lotta fun? In St. Croix the answer would be yes!
Crab Racesin St. Croixtake place in several different locations, several times a week. We experienced our first Crab Races at the Divi Resort on the SE side of St. Croix.
Tito and Sue run Crab Races at the Divi once a week and it’s a surprisingly good time!
We arrived that evening and paid $2 each for a crab, assigning them a winning (or so we thought) name for the event. Michael Johnson, Crab-tastrophe, Send Momma Home (don’t ask…) and Pinch Me all seemed strong and ready for the race.
Once all bets were placed, Tito began to whip the crowd into a frenzy.Well, not really a frenzy, but we were certainly excited to see how our crabby athletes could perform.
They turned the bucket of crabs over in the middle circle and watched as they began to scurry.
Within a minute or two, we had our first winner. There were several heats, and the winner of each heat then competed for the Grand Prize. UnfortunatelyMichael Johnson, Crab-tastrophe, Send Momma Home (don’t ask…) and Pinch Me did not win, or actually even place, so we didn’t win any of the great prizes offered from local establishments such as locally made jewelry, dinner or a trip for two to Buck Island, but we had a great time anyway.
And, while enjoying the races, enjoyed a number of delicious Cruzan Confusions masterfully concocted by the crew at the Divi Resort. Mmmm. good.
Have you enjoyed the Crab Races in St. Croix yet?
To see more posts on St. Croix and other islands, check out our Island Blog Directory
Well, the name certainly doesn’t even hint as to the interesting things you will encounter at this bar/attraction tucked into the rain forest on the northwestern side of St. Croix. In fact, the only thing we knew about it prior to visiting was that they have beer drinking pigs (non-alcoholic) and we should definitely order some Mama Wanna (a homemade liquor made with rum, honey, and secret roots and spices). So, we set off to find the place. Finding it is a bit of a challenge – the road is windy and there are not a lot of street signs, but we thought it was well worth a bumpy drive through the lush rainforest.
Thank goodness for a good sign! We pulled in and headed for the bar.
It was mid afternoon and there we just a few others throwing back a cold one in the bar, although we hear this place can get hopping at times.
We were served by Norma, the owner and chef who happily told us about the Domino Club…and her beer drinking pigs.
After sampling a Mama Wanna Shooter (mmm…), we headed over to see the current pigs named Hurricane and Grunt. There was a small admission fee per person and $2 per non-alcoholic beer to feed those thirsty pigs.
We love to explore while on any island and this place was definitely one of those interesting finds. We didn’t have a chance to sample the food (which we hear is tasty), but the rum and conversation were good, we enjoyed exploring the St. Croix rainforest (a complete contrast to the islands eastern, more arid side) and beer drinking pigs? Yes, we’re easily amused, but really, where else do you get to experience that?
Have you been to Mt. Pellier Domino Club on St. Croix?
To see more posts on the St. Croix and other islands, check out our Island Blog Directory
