After much research, we decided to go to St. Croix for 2 weeks for scuba diving, snorkeling, swimming & relaxing. We stayed on the north side of the island because that is where the best diving is located.

Even though the weather is usually quite good in March, we experienced 10 days of unrelenting wind so we spent most of our days on the west (leeward) side of the island. We discovered that Sand Castle on the Beach in Frederiksted let's you use their pool, beach & bathroom for $10 per person per day. There was no wind plus it was easy diving & swimming. They also have an open air restaurant with scrumptious food. This made our visit much more pleasant than it would have been!

http://www.sandcastleonthebeach.com/index.cfm

We encountered many friendly people and beautiful sights but we had to be constantly aware of our safety. We were told not to walk around anywhere at night. There were several armed robberies of bars & clubs while we were there. We were told not to lock our car & never leave anything in it because break ins are so common. So our vacation morphed into developing strategies every day for how we could explore areas and still be safe. By the end, we were ready to come home to relax!

If you decide to go, here is some useful info:

Friendly & reasonably priced car rental:
http://www.judiofcroix.com/

Best info on beaches updated daily by locals:
http://www.gotostcroix.com/beaches/fsted_beaches.php

1st: bring your passport, if you don’t have a passport you have to get it. You do not need your passport to get into the country, but as you’re leaving you need to go thru customs and present proof of citizenship (passport or state ID and birth certificate). Why do they do this? Simple... If you can take a boat to St. Croix from any other island, you as an illegal immigrant would be able to fly into the US, but you have to go thru customs first at the St. Croix airport. This prevents would be illegal immigrants from entering the country by plane.

2nd: island time is a real thing. We pretty much waited for staff there. They got to things as they got to things. Me as customer waited and waited for a check to come my way after a meal. Make sure you sip slowly on your drink. 30 min later it finally came. This was for every restaurant I ate at: EAT, Off the wall, Rum Runners.

3rd: Customer Service: you got to appreciate the US, Our American Airlines check in clerk told us, “If you don’t like it then go". After asking her why we couldn’t check in our bag 43 min prior to the flight leaving. Goes hand in hand with island time…

Finally RUM!, they definitely score points here, visit the Cruzan Rum Factory for 5 dollars, all you can drink after the tour. Buy yourself 6 bottles of it to take home. They sell for ~15-20 in the US, but you get them for ~7-8 bucks. 6 bottles is the limit per person. It won’t count against your luggage if its packed in a box. The factory does all this packaging for you. The factory is also the cheapest place to buy these bottles on the island.

St. Croix is really a beautiful island, although some charm is lost due to it's American-ness (ie: there are K-Marts, McDonalds, KFC, etc.)

It is an odd little island, in that the East End is almost desert-like while the West End is very lush, and almost considered a rainforest. Where Point Udall is located, which is also the Easternmost point of the United States, there are small cacti and dried up little patches of land, as if a fire had torn through it.

We stayed on the North Shore, but closer to the West End, and our resort is actually in the midst of a semi-rainforest. At night, you could hear lots of insects and animals making their little noises (which can be quite distracting, actually).

Still, St. Croix and its people are nothing but beautiful and friendly.

Would definitely recommend this to all my friends.

Me & my husband spent 5 days in St. Croix.
[ Aug 22-27] . And what a gamble it was since
hurricane's could easily ruin a vacation in the Carribean in August-Sept.

We chose St. Croix because we heard it was laid back.
I would say that is somewhat true. But when I think laid back
I'm thinking MAYBERRY ( the town in the Andy Griffith show).
This aint' MAYBERRY. Some Travel mags are referring to
the island as "Sleepy" ... and I disagree.
Compared to New York - its sleepy. ST Croix Is active.
There's plenty of cars on the roads. There's more than 1 traffic light on the island. Limited parking places.
Sometimes Long lines at fast food places.
So not what I call, "sleepy".

ST. Croix is a neat island to drive.
We rented a car and drove around to different beaches
to Snorkle. I recommend getting a JEEP if you can.
A car is fine, unless you want to get down more OFF- beaten
paths where really good snorkling areas are like: ANNALY BAY
Driving here, takes some getting used to since you drive
on the LEFT.
Just try making short trips at first, and then see how comortable you feel.
My husband did all the driving, and got the hang
of it. You need to constantly be careful though, the roads are narrow and there are many curvy roads and Tight and blind curves.

So I would only suggest driving around this island in LOW SEASON ! ! !
I have heard that if there is any accident
it is an absolute pain. No one can move their cars out
of the way until the cops come. Maybe someone that
knows for sure can clarify for sure weather the road
would be congested for a LONG time if there
was an accident.
These roads don't have shoulders.
SO - I would say your more prone to have an accident here - being that there's alot of narrow and curvy roads.
IF you deceide to rent a car/Jeep -BRING YOUR OWN GPS.
We did, and it was sooooooooooo helpful !!!

If you come to St. Croix, come in the low season
( August - Oct) - - it was great time to go.
The Beaches weren't crowded. The stores downtown
Christianstead and Fredrickstead were not crowded.
Now, keep in mind when the Cruise ships come - its
probably going to be way too congested in those towns
of Christenstead or Fredrickstead. We didn't see any
Cruise ships that particular week in AUGUST.

The things we didn't visit that everybody seems to visit
in St. Croix: BUCK ISLAND and the Beer Drinking Pig and
the Whim Plantation.
One of our favorite snorkling places were:
TAMARIND REEF at GREEN CAY MARINA.
IT is closer to the BUCCANERR Resort.
The water wasn't calm. There were waves and this location
of the island probably always has some amount of waves.
But it was a great place to snorkle.
You don't have to be a guest at Tam. Reef to snorkle there,
the guy that works at a little stand - near the beach area-
will let you know they charge $5 for using the Beach Chairs.
And if you need Flippers that's $5 per person.
So you can rent some snorkling equipment and Flippers at Tam. Reef. And there's a bathroom & place to eat off the beach at Tamarind Reef.
Another very calm beach to snorkle: SHOY'S BEACH -
the water is calm -however not much to see snorkling. ;[

Another neat place to Snorkle: THE PIER at Fredrickstead
The water is calm at the pier. And there's lots of fish.
However, good luck finding somewhere to park.
Which is another reason, you need to come to ST. CROIX
in LOW SEASON.

There's some other places to Snorkle in ST. Croix,
but you won't be near bathrooms, snack bars, or
where there's hardly no sign of people.
If you want to get off the beaten path, you probably will
find a great snorkling place all to yourself........
however if you drown or get caught up in a Rip current
and can't get back........ Sorry --- your seriously in trouble.

What we brought and didn't bring that may help others PACK:
We didn't bring: ANY DRESSY CLOTHES.
If you want to have a nice dinner, with entertainment -
you'll most likely need to pack some Dress Clothes.
A place that is highly suggested is, HOTEL on the CAY.
We did not go but it is highly suggested since
there is a huge buffett like $26 per person.......
And TUESDAY night is the time to go.
You will have to go to CHRISTIANSTEAD to get on
a breif boat ride ( off the boardwalk) to get to the
HOTEL on the CAY.

We did pack: BEACH TOWELS, Plastic water bottles, Beach Bag
Beach Sandles/Shoes, Snorkling gear, Sunscreen of course.
Cell phone charger, Camera charger.
Get a pocket map of ST. CROIX ( www.gotostcroix.com)
Or wait until you get to your resort - which should have one.

CELL PHONES - we had ATT ( pka: CINGULAR) and it worked
just fine. No Problems. We never added the international calling
feature.

BUYING SOUVINEIRS: One of the best places to shop is
Christenstead at PURPLE PAPAYAS. But you can find
some simpler souviners ( not really any decent shirts) at
KMART. Kmart will be in the SUNNY ISLE area/town.

BUYING GROCERIES in St. Croix: This helped our budget
a little bit, but we never ate it all !
Here are some costs: 1 gallon of water $1.99
Gallon ZipLoc Storage bags: $3.59 ( so bring your own)
OREO COOKIES $4.99
Loaf of bread $3.29
Lunch meat - chopped ham - $3.29
PRINGLES (chips) $1.99
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FASTFOOD:
McDonalds ( only 5 things for breakfest)
( 3 of the 5 B-Fest items are Mcgriddles)
No Dr. Pepper, no ice tea
SUBWAY - No Dr. Pepper, no ice tea, but HOT TEA
DOMINOS
KFC
WENDY'S

_______________________________
The TIMEZONE in ST. CROIX -- Alantic Time Zone
which was actually just 1 hour ahead of Central time Zone
( before the fall time change in Nov 2009)
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What to expect: St. Croix looks mainly hilly.
If you fly in from CAPE AIR, its so unique looking.
The water is beautiful ! ! So many shades of pretty !
You have to get in !
And the island has some nice beaches, just a few will
have something on site like bathrooms/ resturant/ snack bar.
And it was something else to drive and just see all the terrain.
The Hills, the rainforest, in towns, the scenic road.... and Northshore Road.
Like I said, lots of the roads are narrow - so they LOOK like
ONE WAY roads - BUT THEY ARE NOT. [ * So be Careful *]
And driving the island would look so much better if someone would MOW or more Road Crews would get out there and weedeat ! !


Also, you won't see in St. Croix the Gas Stations your used
to in the mainland. EXXON, SHELL, CONOCO....
These are independently owned.
So they have different names.
THE GAS PRICES. I say at least .10 -. 20 cents better than
what it was in the mainland.
In August we paid: $2.35 -$2.45 per gallon.
At home ( Texas) it was a bit more.
We drove 300 miles in St. Croix in 5 days and just paid $25-$33 in Gas. (we had a compact car)
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We liked St. Croix. We picked a great time of year to come - even
though it was quite a gamble to come during Hurricane Season.
I definately recommend coming to ST. CROIX to Snorkle.
We missed out on Buck Island, but we had fun checking out
different beaches.
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If you want to go on a Snorkling Tour
this may help plan your trip:
www.stcroixsnorkeltours.com