After a busy month here working and playing in the sun, salt and sand, we think we have a pretty good feel for winter in St Croix.
The frequency of posts has been intermittent because time has been scarce, and honestly a lot of the play activities look the same – snorkel, sit on the beach, lay by the pool, watch the wave action from the balcony.
That means a long wrapup post with a lot of photos, feel free to skip over the writeup and enjoy the pretty pictures.
The Pros of Winter in St Croix
Before we get into the reasons why we won’t be returning, we’ll start with the great things about St Croix.
Hawaiian Sunset
The sunset view from Carambola Beach Resort looks exactly like Hawaii
104 in January
The Jeep is exaggerating, but not by much!
Now the bad stuff.
The Cons of Winter in St Croix
Lack of diversity in recreational activities
After last winter’s Puerto Rico trip we had big hopes for our month here, and while we enjoyed our time it certainly fell far short of expectations.
There are 5 things to do on St Croix.
- Dive or snorkel.
- Fish, preferably from a boat.
- Lounge on the beach.
- Go out to eat.
- Sit in a beachside bar and have a drink or three.
That’s pretty much it, and really only 3 things for us since we’re not big on eating out or beachside bars. Some may argue that this sounds a lot like the Keys, but there you have sailing and kayaking to add to that list.
St Croix Winter Weather Blows. Literally.
Winter in St Croix brings in the tradewinds blowing from the East relentlessly. Not just a light breeze, but constantly strong enough to rip the condo door out of your hands.
Office View
Not a bad office view for the days you have to sit inside and pay the bills
All of this wind creates a lot of wave action, which stirs up the sea bottom and makes snorkeling a non-starter in most of the 8 or so good spots. You have to drop everything when there’s a calm weather window.
Write off shore diving or snorkeling unless you’re lucky enough to get a calm day. If you’re a diver there are multiple charters that will take you out to the wall that drops off around the island, it’s just going to be a really bumpy ride.
We were also surprised at just how much salt spray the winter winds kick up, our "luxury" oceanfront condo was built in the 1970s and every bit of exposed metal was rusted, even inside the refrigerator. There was a squeegee in the condo so we could windex and squeegee the balcony windows and sliding glass door every day to see out.
The Jeep would be covered in salt everytime we would go to leave, enough to have to run the windshield wipers.
Between the wind and the salt, we probably only used our oceanfront balcony maybe 10-15 times the entire month. It’s just too brutal to sit out there and get pummeled and have your eyes end up stinging from the salt.
An additional note on the salt and rust: we bought an additional beach chair upon arrival since we would have guests and there were only 3 chairs at the condo. A brand-new chair started showing rust within a week!
Buckets and Buckets
When it rains here, it really rains. Combine that with the constant tropical wind and it really makes a mess.
We had really high hopes for our visit to Buck Island Reef National Monument and while beautiful, reality doesn’t meet expectations. A lot of the coral is damaged or bleached, and it just doesn’t live up to the hype.
Poor Infrastructure
If you decide to winter in St Croix, we highly recommend renting a Jeep as we did. The roads are simply horrible and we even saw a new rental car broken down in the middle of a major “paved” road with the front suspension and driveshaft ripped out.
Not good especially when you’re dealing with driving on the left side of the road and not on the right like we’ve done for our entire lives.
It appears that taxes on the island are extremely low, and you need that tax money to maintain and upgrade the infrastructure. No money, no fix-ey.
So many crumbling buildings in populated areas, trees growing over power lines, and vegetation growing over roads with high activity causing dangerous driving conditions.
Little Bit Of Work
There’s a lot of unchecked urban decay like this around St Croix.
There are pockets of very nice areas like Carambola Beach Resort or the Buccaneer, but then you have to drive through crap to get between them.
Lack of Groceries and Goods
The price of everything here is ridiculous, from lodging to groceries. We understand that it’s a travel destination, but it’s seriously whacked.
You would think that it would be easy to get bananas on a tropical island.
But everything on St Croix is shipped in except for Cruzan rum and Captain Morgan rum. This includes tropical fruit.
Some days every store on the island has a full display of bright green bananas. Then they suddenly have a display of rotten bananas. Then they have no bananas for a while. Rinse and repeat.
Green Bananas
These will ripen in 3 weeks, then they’ll rot in 2 days.
Old Bananas
You either get grape-green bananas, or rotting already
Prices for the same item can vary as much as double between different stores, with no consistency.
And Colette’s favorite – dynamic pricing. One day a dozen eggs is $13, a few days later it’s $18 – with no price change on the display. Maddening.
Figure $3-6 for a beer, we saw regular frozen pizzas at the local supermarket for $20, and the aforementioned eggs – we can’t understand how locals can afford to eat.
The grocery stores themselves are a far cry from what we’re accustomed to in the States, sagging ceilings, messy floors, even birds nesting inside.
Grocery Shopping
Of course there are birds living in the grocery store
Passport-Free Alternatives to St Croix
Puerto Rico
Despite also having crumbling infrastructure, American food and goods are consistently available.
There is a wider variety of activities available simply due to the size of the island.
The cost to visit Puerto Rico is far less than St Croix.
They drive on the right…
The Florida Keys
Despite lacking diversity of recreational activities (kayak, dive, snorkel, "beach",drink, fish, boat), we feel that these activities are more plentiful than on St Croix.
Still in the continental 48, with the ease of access that entails.
They drive on the right… or the center… Be careful in Key West on a weekend.
Photos of St Croix make it look like the idyllic dream destination and our gripes may be minor annoyances if you’re only here for a week, but we think there are plenty of other options with much better bang for your travel buck.
Sandy Point
Turns out that the final scene in Shawshank Redemption wasn’t actually filmed in Baja California, it was filmed right here on St Croix in the Sandy Point National Wildlife Refuge – www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRBl0GPBm4o
Caribbean Blue
When you’ve just arrived and there are Carib beers already in the fridge
Green Windows
Wander along the Christiansted boardwalk and find the Mutiny Bay vodka tasting tower
Christiansted National Historic Site
Unfortunately we left our annual Park pass in the States and didn’t want to spend ten bucks each to tour the interior.
Serious Staircase
This staircase is certainly out of place here
Company Street or Hospital Street
Work day or sick day?
Caribbean Arches
Not the Golden Arches, much more colorful with a lot less hamburgers
Cleaning Time
I’m glad I’m not the poor sap who has to clean all of these windows!
Lotsa Sticks
Sailboats are popular here in the Virgin Islands due to the constant tradewinds blowing through
St Croix Posers
It’s almost like we had Bob and Lila pose for this photo!
Big Smiles
Happy people spending the day on and under the water
Thou Shalt Not Pass!
Creative signs
Private Beach
We have the Tamarind Reef beach all to ourselves!
Happy Sailor
Not a great shot, but it certainly shows the smile level here!
Do Not Enter
Pretty sure this trimaran doesn’t care
Enter
Enter the water — here
Jeep Commercial
Yet another Jeep commercial photo as the group chills out at Haypenny Beach
Best Life
Jimbo relaxing with noodles in the water at Haypenny Beach
Sun, Salt and Coffee
JP takes his sunrise coffee on the deck
Taking It In
Colette enjoys the view of sailboats at anchor despite the wave action off of Frederiksted
Pop’s Blow Hole
Worth a stop on a heavy surf day
Soaking It In
Looks like a pretty crappy day
There She Blows
Group photo with Pop’s Blow Hole in the background
Hitting the Surf
About to head out on the boogie board
Must Do
Cheesy, but it’s a must-do
Purple Sunrise
A particularly colorful sunrise from the balcony
Wahoo and Mango Salsa
JP whips up another amazing meal of freshly caught wahoo with veggies and mango salsa
Point Udall
Watching the sun rise from Point Udall, where sunlights touches US land every day first.
Prankster
You never know where pranksters will hide empty beer cans…
Family Pose
A quick photo with da Momz
End Of The Rainbow
Da Momz tries to see where the rainbow ends. Definitely the largest and widest (and double) rainbow I’ve seen in my life, it looks fake.
Distant Shores
Looking out to the horizon
Morning Love
Of course there must be bacon
Let’s Go Play
Ready to go out and play
Escort
Making sure nobody topples over
More Cheese
Still cheesy…
Warming Up
Da Momz warms up after snorkeling at Cane Bay
Eagle Eye
No shortage of large iguanas here
Travel Brochure
This looks like any tropical vacation brochure
My Beach
Solitude – just the way we like it
Hate On Me
The guys on my team all hated on me when I posted this in our work chat.
Cluck Cluck
Plenty of chickens
Unlikely Nest
But not many chickens nesting in flowerpots!
Blending In
A gray stingray trying to blend in with the bottom.
Posing Pretty
I’ll take turtles anyday!
Silly Snorkeler
Goofing Around
Beach Time
Mom enjoys her water time
Splish Splash
Jason hits a wave just right
